Grilled Eggplant Recipe

I slice Eggplant thick, like a steak. Seasoned with salt and pepper, I then slide sliced Eggplant on my outdoor gas grill for about 10 minutes until browned and tender. A Grilled Eggplant is a tasty summer treat.

While bitter when raw, when cooked, Eggplant is soft, peppery, and earthy like mild mushrooms. When cooked, it can be creamy like a baked yam or tender like boiled squash or zucchini.

I usually grill sliced potatoes when I barbecue, but lately, I go with Eggplant. I can get a whole large one for less than $2, not a bad deal. 

Eggplants come in many sizes, from long and thin to fat and wide. When cooked, the interior flesh is soft and tender, while the skin is chewy and paper-thin.

I've cooked Eggplant a few ways (click on any recipe name to see all the delicious details). Breaded, fried, and covered in cheese, then baked in a tomato sauce, and you have an Italian Eggplant Parmesan. 

Baked, peeled, and blended with olive oil, tahini, lemon juice, parsley, and garlic, it makes a creamy Baba Ganoush that pairs with pita bread.

My sister, Denise, is well known for her Eggplant Burger. It takes a few steps to get there, but her friends and family rave about it.

Next time you are manning the grill, throw on sliced Eggplant seasoned with salt and pepper. It only takes a few minutes longer than grilling a burger or steak. Anyway you slice it, Grilled Eggplant is a tasty and tender addition to your grilling repertoire.

Grilled Eggplant - VIDEO            Play it here, video runs 1 minute, 10 seconds.

My YouTube video link for viewing or embedding, just click here.

Ingredients

• Eggplant - any type. I sliced and grilled a large one. For thin and long eggplant, I would slice lengthwise.
• Salt and Pepper - to taste.

Directions

For a large Eggplant, cut it into one-inch-thick slices. For a long and thin Eggplant, slice it in half, lengthwise.

Salt and pepper to taste. It's okay to add vegetable oil to sliced Eggplant to reduce the grilling time. It will brown quicker with a coating of oil. I made my recipe without oil.

Grill the sliced Eggplant over a medium/low heat for about 10 minutes. I like to cook it slower to make sure the Eggplant doesn't blacken or brown too much. Although even when blackened, it will be tasty, just extra charred in flavor.

Grill Eggplant on both sides until soft and tender to the touch. Sometimes the Eggplant will turn creamy, and other times it will be soft and spongy. It's delicious both ways. 

National Potato Day - Recipes and a Reviews

The most humble and one cheap veggie is the tuber or potato. I can get Russet potatoes for way less than a dollar per pound. So there is every reason to celebrate National Potato Day. Be sure to click on any recipe name to see the tasty original blog post recipe.

I'll start my potato recipe roundup with the most soul-satisfying Mashed Potatoes. I make mine the easy way with just boiled potatoes, milk, butter, a lot of black pepper, and a touch of salt. I always serve them with my Thanksgiving Turkey.

Here's my video below (Click on the recipe name above to see my photos and recipe text.)

Carrying on the Mashed Potato theme, my next recipe is from across the pond (Great Britain,) Shepherd's Pie or Cottage Pie.  Potatoes are at their best when playing second fiddle to the main ingredient, often it's meat.

It's a hearty one-pot meal that has it all. Ground meat, green peas, carrots, onions in a bath of au jus gravy, and topped with mashed potatoes...it's so good. Once assembled, you finish the Shepherd's Pie off in the oven to get a browned topping. The prep work is straightforward, just some veggie chopping and pre-cooking the meat, veggies, and mashing potatoes. See how I do it below.

You can't get more red, white, and blue than a picnic-style chilled Potato Salad. I still make it quite often, too. My version is a Classic Potato Salad. 

Again, the ingredients are cheap, simple, and easy to get. I like the added crunch of finely chopped raw onion and chunks of celery. I make mine extra decadent with the addition of chopped boiled eggs. 

For your next picnic or backyard BBQ, make a cool batch of my Classic Potato Salad. 

This is one of my most controversial recipes, and it's called Mom's Cajun Potato Salad. Mom came to visit me in Los Angeles and I got her to make it. My Mom lives in Louisiana, and she knows her Cajun cooking.

When I saw what she was doing, I had to point out to her that she was making Mashed Potatoes, not Potato Salad!

Well, we had it out and she won, of course, I should have known better butting heads with her. I'll let you make the call if it's mashed or salad-style after watching the recipe video below.

Originating in Central and South America, the potato comes in many varieties and colors. I like red potatoes, but orange sweet potatoes are especially delish. Lately, I've been grilling them more than typically baking in the oven. 

You can grill them just like you would a regular Russet potato. They soften and char quickly and easily. So next time you're at the grill, throw on sliced sweet potato and make Grilled Russet and Sweet Potatoes.

My Cajun nephew Zak works as a cook and learned a great Sweet Potato Hash to go with his classic Blackened Fish recipe. It's a 2'fer you can check out below.

You'll find these Breakfast Potatoes at truck stops and diners just off the interstate almost everywhere. This potato recipe sautes chunky potatoes with a veggie mix of bell pepper, onion, and garlic. They're also called Skillet Potatoes and Home Fries.  Make a big batch, and they reheat fine the next day, too.

I like spuds fried, boiled, and grilled, in the morning, noon, and night. For breakfast, I'll grate a potato to make Old School Hash Browns. 

You may think I'm scraping the bottom of the barrel for this Cheap$kate Deal of the Day review of canned Corned Beef Hash from years ago - you know, I kinda liked it, really.

I can't argue with you here; I guess you get what you pay for. But, you know, this canned potato and meat breakfast side is not too bad...really. You can read my review/taste test by clicking right here - reading is believing!

Speaking of Corned Beef, here is a classic St. Patrick's Day dish of Corned Beef and Cabbage - with potatoes, of course.

I make mine with cabbage, carrot, and red potatoes. Normally expensive corned beef drops to half price or less during the holiday. I cook the corned beef first and finish up the dish by boiling the veggies in the broth until tender.

It's actually a very easy recipe to make, just watch it below to see for yourself.

Ribeye Steak and Red Potatoes may be my favorite oven-broiled combination. I usually start the potatoes first because I slice them thick. 

After one side of the potatoes are browned, I throw on the Ribeye. When it's cold outside the oven does double duty by warming up the kitchen, too!

A most unusual tuber is a Yuca. It looks foreboding, but when boiled, it is super tender and very mild in flavor. I first had them at L.A.'s premier Cuban Restaurant, Versailles, served with white rice, black beans, and roast pork.

I buy Yuca from local Latin groceries and even at 99c Only Stores in the frozen deli cases, all peeled and ready to reheat.

I have a most delicious and tangy recipe called Yuca and Mojo Sauce with Onion. 

I had a neighborhood restaurant I would frequent on Sunday mornings for an espresso and a Spanish Omelet to go with my Sunday L.A. Times newspaper. 

A Spanish Omelet is simply scrambled eggs with sliced potatoes. You should sauté the potatoes first, as the eggs only take a couple of minutes to cook.

I have a great Fritatta to start your day. Again, it has sliced potato, but with a Latin pepper called a pasilla or poblano. But don't worry as they are not spicy. They are more like a sweet red or yellow bell pepper.

It's basically an omelet as well, that's finished with a layer of cheese and baked in the oven under the broiler to get a nice cheese-charred topping.

And let's not forget the French Fry, or Chips, as they call them in England. 

The trick to a crispy Fry with a soft center is to fry them twice. Check out my video below of Fish and Chips, and at the end of the video, I show you the frying technique.

I'm always coming up with recipes that include the common potato. So do check back for more eats that feature the most versatile spud.

Snoop Dogg Rap Snacks Review - O.G. Bar-B-Cue Cheddar Potato Chips

First off, Snoop Dogg's O.G. Bar-B-Cue Cheddar Potato Chips are the bomb!

I first ran across them while on a cheap$kate liquor store beer run for a 40 ouncer of Miller High Life, the Champagne of Beers. I usually pick up a bag of potato chips to go with a cold brew.

 When I saw these Rap Snacks with Snoop Dogg on the bag, I had to grab a bag.

How do they stack up to my favorites of Zapp's and Lay's Potato Chips? Well, read on.

Thin and crunchy, with a lingering hit of hot spice, Snoop Dogg O.G. Bar-B-Cue Cheddar Potato Chips pack a whole lotta cheddar cheese flava, fo shizzle!

They are very salty, just as potato chips should be. The Bar-Be-Que flava is well balanced with Chedda. The Bar-Be-Que is sweet and ketchupy. The cheddar cheese flavor comes through sharp. 

The potato chips are thin and crunchy, just the way I like them.

Potato chip ingredients are typical for fast food chips....hmmm, I don't see CBD or THC listed....yet.

If you are looking for nutritional value here, well, you should know better. If you are looking for a cure to your munchies, you have found the right snack.

I enjoy Zapp's and Lays Potato Chips the best, especially when I'm on the road, but Snoop Dogg O.G. Bar-B-Cue Cheddar Potato Chips are an excellent backup.

So, on the 99 Cent Chef's CheapSkate Dining Scale of 1 to 9, 9 being best, Snoop Dogg O.G. Bar-B-Que Cheddar Potato Chips rate a....just watch the video below to find out!

Snoop Dogg Potato Chips - Video             Play it here. Video runs 2 minutes, 3 seconds.

To view or embed from YouTube, click here.

I'll leave you with Snoop Dogg's affirmation quote on the back of the potato chip bag. 

And, check back for more Rap Snack reviews, including "Cardi B" Habanaro Hot Cheese Popcorn, "Lil Boosie's" Louisiana Heat Wavy Potato Chips, "Rick Ross" Sweet Chili Lemon Pepper Potato Chips, "Money Bagg Yo" Dill Pickle Jalapeno Potato Chips...and more!

National Dollar Day

 The Dollar ain't what it used to be. But being the cheap$kate that I am, I can still stretch a buck even today, August 8th, on National Dollar Day. Well, I guess I should call it a Dollar and 25 Cents Day. 

National Dollar Day commemorates the establishment of the U.S. monetary system by Congress on August 8, 1786.

So read on to see recipes that use foodstuffs that cost about a Dollar. And you know the deal, just click on a highlighted recipe name to see all the tasty details from my extensive collection of cheap and tasty blog postings.

Yay, Dollar Tree!!

You can't get more basic than a Sandwich, and I don't mean a boring Fried Baloney Sandwich, although I do crave one every once in a while. 

Let's start with a Philly Hoagie Sandwich. My wife, Linda, was raised just outside of Philadelphia and when we visit her kin and friends I always make a stop for a local Hoagie Sandwich. It's really just an Italian Sandwich filled with deli cuts of meat, usually salami, pepperoni, ham, and provolone cheese, and topped with lettuce, onion, and tomato. 

The above sandwich is from Dale's Deli in Levittown, Pennsylvania, and this is where I get the best local Hoagies. They use salami and ham for theirs.

You want a bread roll with some crunch on the outside and soft on the inside. Instead of the usual mayo and mustard, a  Hoagie has a dressing of oil, vinegar, and dried Italian herbs. Check out my video below to see how I make mine.

The way I keep my sandwiches cheap is to buy "day-old" bread from my local supermarket bargain bin. If you toast bread that's been out a little too long, I bet you can't tell the difference from fresh-toasted bread, at least I can't. I even get croissants on sale that cost less than a dollar apiece when you break the package down.

I can still find tomatoes for about a dollar per pound, especially Roma tomatoes. Lettuce is cheap when you break it down, even if it costs a couple of bucks per.

Two easy side dishes are Easy Coleslaw and Potato Salad, again, I can keep the ingredients at a buck each, including the condiments, mustard, pickle relish, and mayo. 

My Homemade Potato Salad is the bomb, just check it out below and rock your next patio party with it.

How about Dollar Tree cereal and Toast 'em breakfast? And that includes coffee.

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I like fruit with my yogurt, especially when yogurt is still pretty cheap. Bananas, peaches, and even mangos can be found on the cheap at my nearby ethnic market. The container of yogurt can be small but it's enough for a snack or light breakfast when you add fresh fruit.

The same goes for Pancakes. I also like mine with fruit. You can still find pancake mixes in the box for a buck twenty-five at Dollar Tree. While the syrup there is not pure maple, you can always splurge for the real thing elsewhere - don't tell, but that's what I do these days. 

You can't get much cheaper than an Egg Sandwich. Egg prices have at least doubled, but you only need one fried egg for my recipe. 

I add lettuce, tomato, and mayo to mine. I like my egg fried with a slightly runny yolk. You can scramble an egg as well. I use toasted bread. Get fancy and use a Pretzel Roll or Croissant. I often start my day with a Fried Egg Sandwich using day-old bread.

I get many breakfast ingredients for around a buck each, and here are just some of the deals I've found.

My Old School Country Breakfast is made with some of the above ingredients. Check out my recipe below, which my dad made for me as a kid.

Pasta is still a steal and I have a few recipes up my tattered sleeves. Let's start with a fresh Fresh Veggie Pasta Salad. Just purchase the cheapest veggies on sale like carrots, onions, celery, cabbage, and spinach. You could just use a package of fresh-frozen veggies, too. Steam the chopped veggies for a couple of minutes and mix them into cooked pasta. Serve warm or cold.

And since the late, great, 99c only Stores shut down, I get the cheapest veggies at my local Latin grocer, Superior. This bottom-feeder cannot survive just on Dollar Tree ingredients!

I get packages of penne, macaroni, and spaghetti for around a buck. And I have a lot of recipes that take advantage of cheap pasta, including Pasta Salad with Artichoke Hearts, Veggies in Cream with Pasta,  Chicken Stroganoff (with egg noodles,) Creamy Mushrooms & Pasta, etc. Again, just type and enter the word "pasta" in the Search window located at the top-right side of this blog.

I even find enough ingredients for a quick Homemade Pizza. Dollar Tree sometimes sells cooked pizza crusts. So all you have to do is top them with pasta sauce and anything else you like, then heat the pizza in the oven until bubbly.

Canned pasta sauce is still cheap and so are small tins of fish. Hey, that's a meal right there. Just cook the pasta and mix in some tomato sauce then add a can of fish at the last minute to heat through. Some tinned fish has tomato sauce added, so that's even cheaper to make. Click here to see my Sardines in Tomato Sauce & Pasta.

A simple pasta dish is a Bolognese that uses cans or jars of tomato sauce and a small package of ground beef or turkey. Add some garlic and dried Italian herbs and simmer. It's a small serving but hearty enough. Cooked bags of meatballs show up, too, that are good in a pasta sauce or pizza topping.

In my bachelor days, I even used grated cheese from those plastic shakers on my pasta dishes. If my wife did not object, I would still be using it, but go ahead and shave it if you got it, a block of Parmesan, that is. And most pasta benefits from garlic, which I still find fresh and in jars.

When I watch sports on TV I will invite my rowdy buddies over for hot dogs. Now, this is a meal for cheap$kates, especially when they bring the beer!

Plus, it's so easy to make hot dogs my way. I set out the condiments of mustard, pickle relish, chopped onion, and cheese. Believe it or not, I get all of that for about $1.25each.

I like a Stir Fry because you can make it cheap and fast. Rice is always a bargain, along with chicken, my favorite protein to use. I also find frozen veggies and typical Chinese condiments easily.

The cheapest Stir Fry I've come up with is Chicken, Carrot & Cabbage. Serve over rice.

Here in Los Angeles, you can get Mexican food everywhere and I do.

I have mucho recipes from Carnitas made from Pork or Turkey, to my Mom's Homemade Tex-Mex Enchiladas. To see a complete roundup of Latin recipes, just click here. 

A favorite cool summer patio party appitzer is my cheap$kate Krab and Black Bean Ceviche, made with imitation crabmeat.

I make a damn good Huevos Rancheros and I sometimes use canned beans and a jar of salsa with a fried egg, all on the cheap. I make this recipe all the time and I courted my wife with this recipe - she loves it. Try it with Tortilla Chips instead of corn tortillas sometimes.

Love or hate them, canned Tamales are a bargain and plentiful. I barely remember the taste from my bachelor days, but I used to have a can or two in my pantry as a late-night meal of last resort.

The first frozen meals I had were made by Banquet and Swanson. Old habits die hard...I do like their Salisberry Steak - there is something about the mushy sides that have stayed with me and that I crave. I have a sadly funny post on frozen Banquet Turkey Dinners.

l admit to having a sweet tooth. When I make my own sweets I usually keep the sugar amounts to half what a typical recipe calls for. I have recipes for Cobblers and Fruit Pies with fresh or canned fruit. The ingredients list is small and if you use canned fruit look for unsweetened or low sugar. Click here to see Mom's Cherry Pie and my Pineapple and Peach Cobblers.

I love my Mom's Cherry Pie and it's the best, so do check out my video below.

You will want to bookmark her Pumpkin Pie recipe, especially now that organic pumpkin puree is out there.

I get sweets that are ready to eat at my local Dollar Store. Sometimes it's a good call and other times not. Cordial or Chocolate Covered Cherries are a success, and I still have a Moon Pie on occasion.

I went to a garden party and brought some Dollar Tree Cream Puffs. Check out what my neighbors thought of my edible (?) gift -- oh boy!

I find enough ingredients for a luscious Egg Salad, a pungent Tuna Salad, and even a creamy Tuna Melt.

Canned Meat? Every once in a while it brings a flashback to my childhood school lunch dazes. 

Be sure to check out my Vienna Sausage Corndog Party and see how lowdown I can go!

My wife calls me her "Louisiana Man" so you can be sure I'm all over Cajun dollar deals that show up on the shelves.

Don't know how long dollar days will last in this economy, but keep checking back to see how to ride out any economic earthquakes, tornadoes, or hurricanes, and still have a full belly.