Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

Some of the best meals are made or broken by some of the simplest details. Slow cooking your chicken to perfection, a glaze on pork that you take the extra time to re-apply every 20 minutes, or in this case, a cream sauce.

This sauce is a perfect complement to most pasta creations (or maybe its just my love of Gorgonzola cheese).

As "Professor Wikipedia" puts it:

Gorgonzola is a veined Italian blue cheese, made from unskimmed cow's milk. It can be buttery or firm, crumbly and quite salty, with a 'bite' from its blue veining. It has been made since the early Middle Ages, but only became marbled with greenish-blue mold in the eleventh century. It is frequently used in Italian cooking. The name comes from Gorgonzola, a small town near Milan, Italy, where the cheese was reportedly first made in 879; however, this claim of geographical origin is disputed by other towns

...or as I put it, the best of the blue cheeses.



The easiest recipe with a Gorgonzola cream sauce is to make pasta, chicken, broccoli and toss it all together with the sauce.

And now onto the sauce itself

Gorgonzola Cream Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tbsp flour
• 3/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 wedge of Gorgonzola cheese crumbled, about 6 oz.
• White pepper

Directions:

1. In a saucepan melt butter and stir in flour (roux)
   
   
2. Cook the roux over low heat, stirring for 3 minutes - do not brown
   
   
3. Add hot cream
   
   
4. Keep stirring while sauce starts to thicken
   
   
5. Blend in crumbled cheese until it has melted
   
   
6. Add pepper to taste

Go be creative with the tastiest and rather simple cream sauce.

Crispy Eggplant Fritters with Smoked Mozzarella

I have a not-so-secret love of cheeses, especially mozzarella. My old roommate and I would buy a tub of mozzarella balls and force ourselves to restrict how many we'd eat just so it would last longer then the ride home from the store.

This relatively simple though a bit tedious to start.
Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants (2 pounds total)
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
• Olive oil (for brushing and frying)
• 3 large eggs
• 3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 1/4 cups plain dry breadcrumbs, divided
• 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour
• 4 ounces smoked mozzarella cheese (mozzarella affumicata), cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• marinara sauce for dipping

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut eggplants crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place on layers of paper towels. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt; let stand 30 minutes. Brush 2 large baking sheets with oil. Pat eggplant dry; arrange in single layer on prepared sheets. Brush lightly with oil. Bake until eggplant is tender and dry, about 1 hour. Cool slightly; chop coarsely.
   
   
2. Whisk 2 egg, grated Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup breadcrumbs, parsley, thyme, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in medium bowl. Stir in chopped eggplant (mixture will be soft). Spread 1 cup breadcrumbs on plate. Whisk 1 egg and flour in another bowl. Press and shape eggplant mixture into 1 1/4 -inch-diameter balls. Press 1 piece smoked mozzarella into center of each ball, making sure eggplant mixture covers cheese. Dip balls, 1 at a time, into egg batter; roll in breadcrumbs to coat.
   
   
3. Pour enough oil into large skillet to reach depth of 1/4 inch; heat over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add balls to skillet; sauté until browned, turning often, about 4 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer to paper towels to drain. Sprinkle with salt and serve with marinara sauce for dipping.

Things to try:
I've seen a note that said that this recipe is delicious with sautéed mushroom chopped and mixed with the eggplant.

Also I heard it comes out much better and easier to use if you put the eggplant along with the thyme, Parmesan, breadcrumbs, etc in a food processor.