Chorizo Madness: Eggplant Casserole, Miso Honey Bokchoy, Mashed Potatoes

Chorizos are great! So much flavour is such a small package. It has a smokiness, really salty, and a bit spicy. Like a very condensed pepperoni if I have to compare it with something.

So it's a great enhancer and a great way to spice up a few dishes. So I used it for my eggplant and mashed potatoes.

Eggplant casserole, it is baked with kimchi and chorizo then topped with cheese until golden brown.
Miso honey bok choy, it is stir fried with butter and mixed in a miso and honey sauce.
Mashed potatoes, with a kick from the chorizos.

This serves three people.

Eggplant Casserole



Ingredients:
Chinese eggplants - 3
Kimchi - 2 cups (by which I mean handfuls lol)
Chorizo - 1 stick (120g)
Kraft tex mex cheese mix (I can be trashy sometimes and it tastes good) - as much as you like
Cornstarch - 1 1/2 teaspoon

Instructions:

1. Cut the eggplants in half, (like so they're equal), then in threes.
2. Add some oil in the pan at medium heat and give some browness to the eggplants. (Only half of the eggplants are in that picture)

3. Take the eggplants out, add a bit more oil to brown the chorizo (sliced), when there is some browned bits on the pan, add the kimchi and let the kimchi juice deglaze* the pan.

4. When the kimchi is hot, add the eggplants, then add enough water till it's half way. Turn the heat to low then cover with a lid. Eggplants will shrink down so you don't have to worry that it's too little water. Rearrange the eggplants once in awhile so they all get submerged in the liquid at some time.
5. When all the eggplants are cooked, preheat the oven to 350.
6.make a slurry with the cornstarch and just enough COLD water to dissolve it (so like 2 teaspoons of COLD water) and add it to the liquid. Turn the heat back to medium and wait till the liquid thickens into a more saucy (like pasta sauce) consistency. If it doesn't reach to a consistency to your liking you can add more slurry.
7. Add the eggplants to a pan, should be fairly large since you don't want to stack the eggplants too much. (In fact mines was mostly just one layer of eggplants and than cheese lol) Top the thing off with cheese (don't go too crazy now...)

8. Put the pan in the middle rack for ten minutes, than turn the temperature to broil, put the pan on the top rack and wait till cheese turns all golden brown.

*Note: What is deglazing? Well when you heat something up on the pan, there will eventually be some sort of brown bits stuck at the bottom right? Well that's all flavour, adding some liquid and then using your spatula to lightly scrape the bottom will get it off the pan and mixed in the liquid, adding tons of flavour to it. If the brown stuff turns black you shouldn't use it though because that is just burnt. Also non-stick pans don't do this so when making a nice sauce for your steak or pork chop, always go for the cast iron or stainless steel or something.

Miso Honey Bok Choy



Ingredients:
Bok Choy - 1 bag (1 pound maybe? It's about the same in all Asian supermarkets)
Miso - 1 1/2 tablespoon (or to taste)
Honey - 1 1/2 tablespoon (or to taste)
Butter

Instructions:

1. Wash the bok choy by cutting the ends and submerging it in water. Then dry it off in a salad spinner.

2. Melt butter in a pan at high heat. Add the bok choy.
3. When the leaves are wilted, turn down to low heat, add a bit of water and cover till the stems are soft.

4. Turn it back to high heat, when only a small amount of water remains, add the miso and honey. Stir evenly. You can always change the amount of miso and honey to your liking. There's no screw ups in stirfrying! Well don't burn it...
5. When the sauce is to the consistency and taste you like. Take it off the heat and it's done.

I love stirfrys, so easy and so many ways you can really make it your own!

Mashed Potatoes



Ingredients:
Russet Potatoes - 2 large
Chorizo - 1/2 stick (60g)
Milk - to taste
Salt and pepper - to taste

Instructions:
1. Peel and dice the potatoes, cut the chorizo in quarters (lik 4 long sticks) then slice into little pieces.

2. Put the potatoes and chorizo in a rice cooker*, add water to 1/4 way and turn it on to cook. Check periodically to make sure there is enough water.

3. When the cooker is on 'keep warm' make sure the potatoes are fully cooked (if not just add a bit more water and put the button on cook again) then add the milk until the right consistency, season.

Note: If you don't have a rice cooker, just boil a full pot of salted water, add the potatoes. After 14 minutes, drain the water out and then add the chorizo and milk and stuff. It won't have as much chorizo flavour but it'll still be good!

So this was actually a really easy meal. The chorizo made something relatively simple and sometimes a bit boring (like mashed potatoes) and made it sound and taste more special.