• This recipe leaves a lot of room for customizing.  Choose whatever flavor of yogurt you want.  I prefer plain.  You can also choose whatever granola and fruit.  In my case, I only had blueberries, but I bet this would be great with just about any berry, stone fruit, dried fruit, etc.
• I used this recipe of granola sans fruit, but feel free to purchase if you don't want to make it!

But the homemade pie crust concept sat there in the back of my mind, reminding me it was still there, and it wanted its time in my kitchen.  So, one day I decided to make it, and I decided to make it right after I got my first issue of Cooks Illustrated, which was its best recipes special edition.  Titled Foolproof Pie Dough, this recipe is truly a good pie crust, easy to make, with decent room for error.  If you, like me, might want to try a pie crust from scratch, this is a good one to try.

The instructions are clear, and even though I think I took the dough a little too far in the food processor, the crust still turned out well. The dough was easy to roll out, and baked nicely.  I used part of the recipe to make a quiche, and it worked well in this application.

What CI does is skip the breading and frying steps, thereby saving time and calories.  The whole thing is made in the span of something like an hour and can be broken up into stages.  Funny thing?  And don't slap me for this one, but you don't even miss the breading.  Seriously.  See, the breading usually becomes a little soggy during the baking process, so the crunch is a bit lost.  If you did miss it, then you could probably sprinkle the tops of each roll with regular or panko breadcrumbs before baking and still get a similar effect.

If you have a lot of eggplant, or just love eggplant recipes, try this one.  It's a keeper!

Eggplant Involtini
adapted from Cooks Illustrated, July/August 2014

serves 4

2 medium eggplants, each approximately1 ½ half lbs.
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup ricotta cheese (recommended NOT skim ricotta)
¾ cup Pecorino Romano cheese (or Parmesan/Parmigiano Reggiano/Asiago)
½ cup bread crumbs
½ + ¼ cup fresh basil, chopped – divided
1 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed
Kosher Salt and Pepper
1 (28 ounces) can of diced tomatoes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
¼ teaspoon oregano
Pinch of red pepper flakes
1/4- 1/2 c grated mozzarella cheese

Pre-heat your oven to 375 F Degrees and prepare 2 baking sheets with parchment paper, lightly sprayed or oiled.
Peel the eggplants. Cut them lengthwise ½ inch thick slices. Trim the rounded ends so that they will lay flat.  Place the eggplant on the baking sheets in an even, single layer.

Brush the eggplant slices on each tray with olive oil and season with ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Flip each slice and do the same thing for the other side.

Place both sheets in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until they are tender and lightly browned. To ensure even baking, switch and rotate sheets half way through the baking process.

In the mean time, make the filling. Place 1 cup of ricotta cheese , ½ cup bread crumbs, ½ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese, ¼ cup chopped fresh basil, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir until they are all combined. Set aside.

To make the tomato sauce, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large ovenproof skillet. Add the garlic, ½ teaspoon salt, oregano, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Stir them with a wooden spatula and cook for 30 seconds. Stir in the tomatoes and cook in medium low heat, until it thickens. Cover and set aside.

When eggplants are baked, let them cool for 5 minutes. Do not turn the oven off. Heat the broiler.

With the widest side of the eggplant slices facing you, evenly distribute the ricotta mixture onto each slice. Starting from the widest end, gently roll each piece and place it, seam side down, in the pan with the tomato sauce.

Bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Allow it to cook for 5 minutes.  Place the skillet in the oven and broil for 5 minutes for the eggplants to be browned and the cheese to cook thoroughly.  If you want, halfway through the broil, top with about 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese.
To finish it up, sprinkle it with ¼ cup of grated Pecorino Romano and 2 tablespoons of chopped fresh parsley or basil.

Notes

• This is the recipe that allowed me to have leftover ricotta mixture for these bruschetta.  Any leftover filling works great as a spread for crostini/bruschetta or likely in another pasta dish. 
• I did not love the tomato sauce I made for this (followed the recipe).  It wasn't bad, but it just didn't taste...completed.  You can of course use jarred sauce.  Less kitchen cred, but more of a time saver and sure bet.
• If you want to make this in stages/ do some make ahead, you can make the ricotta mixture and bake off the eggplant ahead of time.  If you do that, you will want to let the ricotta soften a bit before you try to spread it over the eggplant by taking it out of the fridge about 15-30 minutes before you plan to spread it on the eggplant.  
• The original recipe didn't call for it, but I did grate some mozzarella over the top and put it in with about 3 minutes to go in the broil.

This recipe is simple to make and comes together pretty quickly.  It uses a vegetable peeler or mandoline and a food processor, so your work is minimal.  If you have a pile of zucchini silently screaming to be used before it goes bad, try this.  You won't be disappointed.

Zucchini Ribbons With Almond Pesto
from Smitten Kitchen Cookbook

1/2 cup almonds, toasted and cooled
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 small garlic clove, peeled and crushed
Pinch of red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup olive oil
2 pounds medium zucchini, trimmed (about 4 medium, thin and longer if you can find them)

Grind almonds, Parmesan, garlic and red pepper flakes in a food processor until they are finely chopped. Add the lemon juice, salt and olive oil and pulse a few times until incorporated. Pour the dressing into a large salad bowl and let it roll up and around the sides.

Peel the zucchini with a vegetable peeler or mandolin and place zucchini ribbons in the dressing-coated bowl. Toss the ribbons gently (your hands work best) attempting to coat the zucchini as evenly as possible. Serve at room temperature.

Some foods have the weirdest names, don't they?  Thankfully Shakespeare is right, for what's in a name?  This breakfast treat is not a baby anything, but it is so good, and a nice departure from the normal breakfast treats.  It's actually fast to whip up on a weekday (if you have a little time), but best enjoyed on a day when you can be leisurely and really savor it.  Make some coffee to sip with the dutch baby, and, well, I could just sit there all day.

They freeze well and can make a nice homemade gift.  It comes together easily and is so good.

Zucchini Bread
Adapted from Southview Bapt. Cookbook/Joyce Riley

3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
3/4 c. chopped pecans
3 eggs
1 3/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tb. vanilla extract
1 tsp. almond extract
2 cups shredded, unpeeled zucchini
1- 8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prep either two loaf pans, two muffin tins, or a tube pan by spraying with oil or cooking spray and coating with flour (or in the case of muffin tin, use liners).  In a large bowl, stir or sift together dry ingredients (flour- cinnamon).  In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, mix together the eggs, oil, sugar, and extracts.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.  Stir in the pecans, zucchini, and pineapple.  Pour the mixture into your pan(s), distributing the batter evenly throughout the chosen pans.  Bake loaf pans for approx 1 hour, muffins 18-20 minutes (or longer, depending on your oven), or a tube pan for around 45 minutes to 1 hour.  Bread is done when lightly browned and a tester comes out clean.

Notes

• The original recipe called for a full cup of oil and 2 cups of sugar.  In an effort to reduce the greasiness of the bread, I decreased the oil, and have found about 3/4 cup to be a good amount.  You may need to go up or down depending on your own tastes and preferences.  Same with the sugar.  
• I added almond extract where it was not previously included in the recipe, and reduced the vanilla extract.  The original recipe calls for 2 Tb. vanilla and no almond.  I think the almond helps increase the sweetness while reducing the overall sugar content.