Chef Belton is in the kitchen at WWL Louisiana cooking it up.
NEW ORLEANS –
Eggplant Gratin On
2 eggplants, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
12 oz. Italian sausage, casings removed
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 14 ½ oz cans fire roasted tomatoes
½ cup fresh basil, chopped
3 oz. grated parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Brush foil generously with extra-virgin olive oil. Arrange eggplant slices in even layers on prepared sheets. Lightly brush tops of eggplant slices with olive oil. Sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate the pans and bake for another 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
Heat a medium saucepan or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the Italian sausage and cook until lightly browned. Break up the sausage with a spatula and stir occasionally as it cooks.
Drain excess fat and reduce heat to low. Add Italian seasoning and garlic and cook, stirring constantly, for 2 more minutes.
Add the fire-roasted tomatoes to the pot and increase the heat to high. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cook for 20 to 25 minutes, until the sauce begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. Add the fresh basil and cook for 5 minutes more. Remove from the heat.
For the Parmesan sauce, pour the heavy cream into a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until simmering. Reduce heat and continue cooking until reduced by about half. Add the Parmesan and mozzarella. Stir over low heat until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and set aside.
To assemble the gratin, lightly grease an enameled cast iron skillet, casserole dish, or low-sided Dutch oven. Arrange half of the eggplant in the skillet. Pour about half of the meat sauce over the eggplant, then repeat the layers.
Stir the Parmesan sauce well and pour it over the top of the eggplant and sauce.
Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees and bake the gratin until bubbly and beginning to brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and let stand for 10 minutes before serving.
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
4 cups fresh sweet cherries, pitted, each cherry halved
Use a 9 x 3-inch springform pan or a 9-inch round cake pan.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees with rack in middle. Grease sides and bottom of pan with butter. Line bottom of 9×3-inch springform pan or 9-inch round cake pan with parchment paper. Grease parchment paper as well.
Sift together flour, baking powder and baking soda in a medium bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the butter, sugar and 2 eggs until very light and fluffy, 2 to 3 minutes on high speed. Add the vanilla and Greek yogurt and continue beating until very creamy and light in color, about 1 minute more.
Keeping the mixer speed low, add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients until well combined. Do not overmix.
Transfer half of the cake batter to the springform pan. Top with sliced cherries. Top with remaining half of the cake batter. Top with more cherries.
Bake until cake is golden brown and tester comes out clean in the center, about 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on your oven.
Halfway through baking, if desired, add a few more cherries on top of the cake for extra beauty and return the cake to baking.
Once the cake is baked, let it cool on a wire rack. Once the cake has cooled for about 40 minutes, unmold it.
