Monica Bhide I am so thrilled to have the super talented Judith D. Schwartz blog here today about Modern Spice. Judith is the author of the newly released book – Therapist's New Clothes.
Guest Blogger – Judith D. Schwartz —
Understand, I’m not the cook in the family—that would be my husband, Tony, a wonderful guy but a bit intimidating in the kitchen. So it takes some extra inspiration for me to assert myself and try a new recipe. Which I received yesterday upon flipping through Modern Spice. I had two beautiful eggplants—one “Purple Rain” and one “Caspar White”— from my garden that I wanted to use while still fresh, and there on page 131 I found “Eggplant and Tomatoes With Cilantro” which allowed me to use more home-grown produce.
The dish proved simple to make. I used a pre-made ginger-garlic-chile paste (thanks, Tony) we had in the freezer. The eggplant, tomatoes, and potatoes (I used our French Fingerlings) could be cut into same-sized cubes and tossed into the pan at the same time, perfect for the beginning cook. And beyond adding a bit of water and some spices, all I needed to do was wait and let it all meld. The dish came out great: mellow and satisfying, it went perfectly with the leftover chicken curry. Maybe I can stand proud in the kitchen after all!
Judith D. Schwartz writes and generally avoids cooking in Southern Vermont, and is author, most recently, of The Therapist’s New Clothes. Her blog is: http://litadventuresinpod.blogspot.com
Thanks so so much, Judith! If you would like to be a guest blogger here and talk about your experience with Modern Spice, please email me. We have 20 + folks signed up already!
The dish was excellent. I think that by the word “intimidating,” Judy really means “annoyingly critical.”