I return. With recipes.

Wow, after over a week with no blogging, it's hard to get back on the horse. I don't feel that anything interesting has happened to me, and I don't remember hearing anything interesting I wanted to share. But in the interest of getting back on the horse, and putting another useless bit of information out on the internet, I will put out my latest concoction: Quick Tomato and Eggplant Risotto. This isn't becoming a cooking blog, but it's just as easy to put my inventions on this site as it is to write them up somewhere else. Also: mmm, eggplants...

Relatively Quick Tomato and Eggplant Risotto

1 cup long grain or arborio rice
1 cup chicken stock / broth
1 tbsp butter

3 cups eggplant (essentially 1 medium eggplant)
salt & pepper
3 tbsp olive oil

3 tbsp vegetable oil
3 tbsp butter
1 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp basil
2 tbsp oregano
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp coriander
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Heat oven to 350C. Slice eggplant into large chunks; rub with olive oil, salt & pepper, and bake in oven for approximately 20 minutes.

Cook rice in chicken stock and butter until all liquid is absorbed, about 15 minutes. It'll be undercooked, but that's okay; we'll remedy that later. Chop the roasted eggplant in a blender or mash until it's mixed consistency.

Meanwhile, fry onions in vegetable oil and butter over medium heat until translucent; add minced garlic and cook for another minute. Stir in crushed tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes; stir in remaining spices, eggplant, and rice, cook over low heat for 10 minutes or until rice is done. Stir in parmesan cheese and serve it up.