Austen Variations Recipe Roundup!

Hi, friends! As some of you may know, we’ve been celebrating all things food over the past couple of months here at Austen Variations. With everything that’s going on in the world, it seems like many of us have been turning to cooking and baking for comfort–whether it’s dusting off our favorite recipes, or branching out to learn some new ones. So for today’s post, I thought it might be fun to take a sneak peek at what some of the JAV authors have been cooking up in quarantine. 🙂 If you’re looking for a bit of culinary inspiration, read on!

Jennifer Altman’s Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

2 medium sized eggplants

Kosher salt (Note: Do not use regular table salt or eggplant will be too salty)

Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

2-3 large eggs

½ cup milk

Vegetable oil for frying

3 cups marinara sauce (store bought works fine for this)

1 (8 ounce) bag of shredded whole milk mozzarella cheese

1 (5 ounce) bag of shredded Parmesan cheese

Chopped fresh basil leaves for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

Peel eggplant and slice into ¼ inch slices

Place sliced eggplant on foil-lined baking tray(s) and sprinkle both sides with Kosher salt. (Do not use regular table salt or eggplant will be too salty. Use Kosher salt only or skip this step). Allow salted eggplant to sit for one hour. After one hour, you will see beads of moisture on the eggplant. Blot up liquid with paper towels and then rinse briefly in cool water and blot dry with additional paper towels. (Note: Salting the eggplant draws out the excess water and also makes the eggplant less bitter).

In shallow bowl, beat eggs and milk together.

Pour breadcrumbs onto large plate or platter.

Dip both sides of eggplant slice into milk/egg mixture then coat in breadcrumbs. Repeat until all eggplant slices have been coated.

Preheat oven to 375 (F) degrees

Heat a skillet over medium high heat and add vegetable oil. Once the skillet is hot, add eggplant slices a few at a time (depending on skillet size), and cook on both sides until golden brown. Drain on baking sheet lined with paper towels. (Note: You will probably need to add more oil as you go. Also, I usually wipe out the pan to remove any burned breadcrumbs halfway through cooking). Repeat until you’ve pan-fried all eggplant slices.

Coat the bottom of a square casserole dish with a thin layer of marinara sauce. Add a layer of eggplant slices. Dollop marinara sauce on top of the eggplant slices. (You don’t want to smother them in sauce, just one spoonful on top of each slice). On top of the eggplant slices, sprinkle mozzarella cheese and then Parmesan cheese. Repeat the layers until you fill the dish, topping the casserole with cheese before you place in the oven.

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 375 (F) degrees, then switch the oven to broil for an additional 2 to 5 minutes to get the cheese bubbly and brown on top. (Note: Watch carefully while it is under the broiler. It browns fast, so you want to remove it before the cheese burns).

Serve hot and garnish with chopped fresh basil, if using.

Note: This recipe serves four, but you can double and make it in a rectangular baking dish as it’s great as leftovers, too. 🙂

Diana Birchall’s English Scones

Note from Diana: A dear English friend from Kent shared her delicious recipe for scones with me.  They’re easy to make, and delicious to eat, preferably with clotted cream and jam, or just with good butter.

Ingredients:

225g/or 9 oz. plain flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

50g/or 2 oz. butter

25g/ or 1 oz. caster sugar (not having caster sugar, I use ordinary sugar!)

150 ml/ or 3/4 cup milk

1 egg

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450, and lightly grease a baking tray.

Sift flour, baking powder and salt into a bowl, and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Stir in the sugar, and add the milk. Mix lightly into a soft dough.  (Sultanas, raisins or blueberries can be added if desired.)

Turn the dough out onto a floured bowl and knead briefly.  Do not overwork the dough or the scones will be tough!

Roll out the dough to 1/2 inch thickness, and cut into rounds.

Place on the greased baking tray. Brush the tops with beaten egg and bake for 7 – 10 minutes until well risen or golden brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

Maria Grace’s Smoked Sausage & Sweet Potato Sheet Pan Dinner

 Ingredients:

1 pound smoked sausage

1 large sweet yellow onion

3 C sweet potato, peeled

1 small head cauliflower

1 lb peeled baby carrots

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground thyme

2 teaspoons paprika

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

2 teaspoons fresh cider vinegar

2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Slice sausage, potatoes, cauliflower and onions into bite-sized pieces and place into a large bowl. Add carrots.

Drizzle on olive oil and vinegar and add seasonings. Stir to coat evenly.

Pour mixture onto 2 foil or parchment lined sheet pans.

Bake for about 50 minutes, stirring every 15-20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Joana Starnes’ Gran’s Summer Plum Cake

 Ingredients:

6 eggs

1 ½ cups of superfine sugar (360g caster sugar)

2 ½ cups (360g) self-raising flour, sifted

1/3 cup of water (6 large spoonfuls, approximately 90ml total)

1/3 cup of sunflower oil (6 large spoonfuls, approximately 90ml total) (Note: vegetable or canola oil can also be used)

Vanilla extract (flavouring), a few drops

Rind/zest of half a lemon

Ground cinnamon

15 plums, halved, stones removed (Halved apricots could be used instead)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 375F (190C gas mark 5).

Gently heat the water and sugar in a non-stick pan, stirring until the sugar turns into a thick syrup.

Separate the egg whites and beat them until stiff.

Mix in the sugar-and-water paste a spoonful at a time, and in between the spoonfuls mix in 1 egg yolk, then 1 spoonful of sunflower oil, until all the oil, sugar syrup and egg yolks have been incorporated.

Keep beating the mixture as you add the lemon rind and vanilla flavouring, then mix in the sifted flour little by little.

Pour the mixture into a rectangular (9.5 x 11 inch) greased (or lined with greased paper) baking pan

Top with plums (cut side up).

Sprinkle cinnamon and 1-2 teaspoonfuls of superfine (caster) sugar over the fruit.

Bake on a low shelf for 45 mins or until a skewer comes out clean.

Allow to cool at room temperature.

Cut into squares and serve warm with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.

Thanks for reading! I hope everyone is staying healthy and safe and enjoying some fabulous food. If you have a recipe of your own you’d like to share, feel free to do so in the comments.

Until next time!
JA