- [Presenter] "Sara's Weeknight Meals is made possible by - [Advertiser] Aboard Oceania Cruises, we share a journey of culinary discovery.

From shore excursions dedicated to local food traditions to our hands-on cooking school at sea.

Our master chefs take inspiration from vibrant markets and flavors as they create the international dishes served to guests each evening.

That's the Oceania Cruises Epicurean experience.

(gentle rhythmic music) - And by USA Rice.

Today, on "Sara's Weeknight Meals", we're hooked on classics.

I mean, classic foods with a new lease on life.

Starting with my take on eggplant Parmesan.

I have a new light version.

Inside-Out Eggplant Parmesan with all the yummy stuff, but just lighter.

The eggplant is not fried, it's baked.

The breadcrumbs are made into croutons.

And it's altogether much tastier.

I think.

Later, an old buddy of mine from Gourmet Magazine pre-makes classic ham and eggs.

- We are doing these lovely eggs that are baked in ham cups and- - You are famous for this.

- [Lori] One has a savory filling of beans.

The other one is a mushroom duxelle.

- Ooh woo.

So, this is truly one of my favorite dishes.

I mean, it's breakfast or brunch or lunch or dinner, or hey, a midnight snack.

Speaking of snacks, in Vancouver's Chinatown, I learned an ancient version of hard-boiled eggs made in tea.

- Little marks you get in there.

- Yeah, exactly.

- [Sara] It makes it look antique, which is why I love it.

- Mm, mm.

That is so good.

That is so good.

And on "Ask Sara", a chicken owner with a great question.

- So, do you have any tips for poaching eggs?

- You have fresh eggs, you're way ahead of the game.

Classics reborn today on "Sara's Weeknight Meals."

(gentle bright music) Who doesn't love eggplant Parmesan?

But let's face it, it's a little heavy.

I have a new light version, inside-out eggplant Parmesan with all the yummy stuff, but just lighter.

So, the eggplant is not fried, it's baked.

The breadcrumbs are made into croutons and it's all together much tastier, I think.

Any rate, starting with the bread, we're making croutons, which will go in the center in the filling.

And I've got two slices of white bread.

We took off the crust.

You don't have to take off the crusts.

We need about 1 3/4 cups.

And I'm gonna toss them in this bowl.

And then, I preheated the oven to 400 degrees.

And I'm gonna toss them with a tablespoon of olive oil and hefty pinch of kosher salt and toss it up.

And we're just gonna put it on a pan and give it 8 to 10 minutes till they look golden and they're firm.

'Cause we want them to keep their crunch.

We want that crunch that we would've gotten on the outside if we'd fried the eggplant.

And I'm gonna go pop this in to the oven.

(tray rattling) So, now I'm gonna show you a really quick marinara sauce that only takes 20 minutes.

It's amazing.

You can also use store-bought.

But this version starts with two cloves of crushed garlic.

Sort of fun, bad day at the office.

(palm smacking) There we go.

And that is very easy to peel the garlic.

And the reason we crush it is 'cause we just want some garlic flavor.

We don't want a ton.

If we minced it, we'd get more flavor, but this is good.

Okay, so into a cold pan with two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, good quality.

And we're gonna bring it up to medium temperature.

It will take about four to five minutes till the garlic gets lightly golden.

I've got a 28 ounce can of fire roasted plum tomatoes.

And it's best to get whole tomatoes.

They just have better flavor.

But you gotta chop 'em up.

So, I use a pair of trusty scissors and just snip away.

It's sort of fun.

The other thing you can do is dump the whole can into a bowl and then just squish it with your hands.

That's sort of fun too.

Okie dokie.

That's nicely chopped.

That is nicely browned.

Pinch of red pepper flakes.

I'm gonna go a little light.

Here go the tomatoes.

(pan sizzling) We have a bonus because there's Parmigiano Reggiano, the real deal in the recipe.

We grated it and we saved the rind.

That rind has lots of flavor.

Don't throw 'em out.

And we're gonna bring it up to a boil, turn it down to simmer, and simmer for about 20 minutes.

But it also needs a hefty pinch of salt.

Yeah, look it.

It's already simmering.

So, while that's simmering, I'm gonna take two large eggplants, two pounds total.

And we're gonna take off the top and the bottom, and we're slicing it lengthwise.

So, about a quarter of an inch.

You can use a mandolin, but if you do, be so, so, so, so careful.

It's easy to cut yourself.

That's why I'm doing it by hand.

(light airy music) I'm gonna arrange these slices of eggplant on two sheet pans.

First, I'm gonna spray our sheet pan.

We've lined it with parchment.

With olive oil 'cause you wanna have it lightly oiled, the eggplant on either side, so.

You want at least 12 slices.

(airy upbeat music) I'm gonna season the slices with salt and then spray the top of the slices.

(spray spritzing) My croutons should be done.

I'm gonna get 'em out of the oven and put these two trays of eggplant in, and bake them for 16 to 20 minutes or until they're lightly golden, but still pliable.

(airy upbeat music) (tray rattling) Now, while the eggplant is baking, I'm gonna make the filling.

So, here's our croutons.

And I have here one ounce of Parmigiano Reggiano, the real McCoy.

That's the rind we have in our sauce.

And this is fresh mozzarella.

So, I've patted it dry quite a bit.

I like fresh mozzarella.

It's really delicious.

But it can be a little wet, so that's why I patted it dry.

We're gonna cut it into quarter inch cubes.

You could use a different cheese if you wanted.

I think Fontina, Italian Fontina would be wonderful in here.

Fresh mozzarella is very soft.

All righty.

Well, we have some roasted red pepper.

We want about a half a cup chopped, just small cubes.

This is not rocket science.

You can use the jarred stuff or you can roast your own roast peppers.

What I like to do is set the oven to, like, 450 and then put a couple of oiled red peppers on the top shelf and let the pepper get charred.

And when it's charred on all side, you take it out, let it cool, peel it, and then it's good to go.

(bright upbeat music) And finally, one teaspoon of finely minced garlic.

(bright upbeat music) You know, what the heck?

I'm gonna use my impeccably clean hands.

(bright upbeat music) All right, now we have the filling done.

I'm going to go wash my hands and grab the eggplant.

(tray rattling) (bright upbeat music) These are perfectly cooked.

I let 'em cool.

Okay, I'm gonna check the marinara.

I gotta take this Parmesan rind out.

Look at how soft it is.

That's because it's just melted in there and it's contributed great flavor.

I'm gonna put half the marinara sauce in the bottom of this 9 by 13 casserole dish.

Oh, okay.

And we're gonna spread that around.

I just wanna have the bottom coated.

Now, I'm gonna mount the filling on all the eggplant slices before I roll them up.

Let me see if I can do this evenly.

(lively upbeat music) Next, I'm gonna roll all the eggplant slices up over the filling to enclose it and put them seam side down on top of the marinara sauce.

Don't worry if they fall apart a little bit.

That's fine.

Now, if you happen to hate eggplant, you could use some of those really large zucchini in the summertime.

I top all the eggplant rolls with the remaining marinara sauce.

(lively upbeat music) Now, this is gonna go in the 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until it's bubbly around the edges.

Melty and quite yummy.

(lively upbeat music) (tray rattling) Ooh, this smells so good.

Yay.

So, I have here a little salad to go with it, with radicchio and orange.

(gentle upbeat music) Yummy, and it all really melts down.

And now, we need a little basil to go on top.

(gentle rhythmic music) Okay, I think I need to get a bite with everything in it.

(gentle rhythmic music) This is delicious.

My Inside-Out Eggplant Parmesan.

You gotta try it.

(gentle rhythmic music) (bright cheerful music) Of all the hats I wear on "Sara's Weeknight Meals", this little segment here is my favorite, "Ask Sara."

Today, I have Naruby Bollom from Austin, Texas.

Hi.

- Hi.

Thanks so much for inviting me.

- Tell us a little bit about yourself.

- We rent chicken coops and backyard chickens for families here in Austin, Texas that wanna enjoy fresh eggs.

Because even even with the freshest of eggs, I can't quite get Eggs Benedict right.

So, do you have any tips for poaching eggs?

- The very first thing you said, which is that you have fresh eggs, you're way ahead of the game.

What happens when eggs are harvested is like us, they start to go a little flabby.

That white starts to separate out into a very watery part.

I've strained this to get rid of the watery part of the white, because then we will have a prettier looking poached egg.

- That's one of the things I didn't like when I made them, that they were watery.

- Yeah.

- So, that's perfect.

- Yes 'cause the watery whites give you those spidery edges.

All right, so now how to poach.

So, what you do is you fill up a straight-sided pan like this.

I've got in here 2 1/2 quarts of water that I brought to a boil.

And I'm adding 2 1/2 teaspoons of white vinegar.

White vinegar helps the egg to set up so that you get fewer of those little strands.

So, I break my eggs into ramekins so that they're very easy to just drop into the water.

I'm going to turn off the water completely and then put the lid on.

And 2-2/12 minutes later, they'll be done.

- No swirl necessary?

- No swirl required.

Okay, Naruby, are you ready?

Here we go- - Right.

- For the ta-da moment.

Okay.

Ta-da!

Oh, that looks awful.

I only strained the one I showed you, and the other three must have been very old eggs.

So, I'm gonna take the very pretty one.

If you wanna serve it right away, you just take it out while it's still hot.

Just dry it on a little napkin or you know, side towel.

And then, I'm gonna put it, this little guy on top of a salad.

Yikes.

There we go.

I hope that was helpful.

I wish I'd had fresher eggs.

- Thank you so much.

That was super helpful.

- Thank you.

And for all of you there, send me your questions to the website.

I would love to meet you this way and talk about your big issues in the kitchen.

- [Advertiser] In this impossibly beautiful city, on the edge of the continent lies one of the largest Chinatowns in the world.

- In Vancouver's Chinatown, I visited Treasure Green Tea, owned by Olivia, a second generation tea sommelier.

(soft percussive music) Some drink tea.

Mm.

Oh, that's so delicious.

Others cook with it.

An ancient take on hard boiled eggs.

Who knew?

- Lot of ingredients there.

- Lot of ingredients.

So, what have we gotten here?

- So, I have six cups of water there and then we'll be adding star anise.

- Okay, here we go.

Can I do that?

- Please.

- Okay.

I love star anise.

- Yeah, and then the bay leaves.

Okay.

- That's a lot of bay leaves.

Woof.

All right.

- You want the aroma.

And then, the garlic, cinnamon here.

- [Sara] Five-spice powder.

- [Olivia] Yes.

Citron peppercorn.

- Yeah.

- And then, this one is optional, chili pepper.

This is a cup soya sauce here.

And then, dark soya sauce.

Even give a little more richer color as well.

- [Sara] Yeah.

Look at how rich that is.

Okay, last but not least.

- Yes.

This is the Yunnan black tea.

- Okay.

- Yunnan is very famous for their black tea.

This one has a nice cocoa-like chocolate aroma to it.

- Ooh, ooh.

I love that.

- And then, we will bring that all to a boil and then simmer it for 15 minutes.

I have already boiled some tea eggs here.

- [Sara] Olivia boiled the eggs for seven minutes in the hot tea soup before chilling it.

That's cooled.

You chilled it overnight?

- Yes, I did.

- Okay.

Okay.

- Yeah.

You can just simply crack it to make a more mobilized look.

And you steep it with the shell on, of course.

- [Sara] And then, that goes into this?

- Correct.

Yes.

- Again, for 24 hours.

- Yes.

- Okay.

- [Olivia] I made this one in advance.

It's a street food, right?

So, you can see it everywhere in Asia.

So the more you crack it, the more- - Little marks you get in there?

- Yeah, exactly.

- Yeah.

It makes it look antique, which is why I love it.

(Olivia laughs) All right.

- That's true.

I never thought of that.

- Yeah.

- Antique eggs.

- [Sara] Well, now we get to taste it, right?

- I'm gonna cut this up.

- Wow.

I'm just gonna try, take a bite of one of these.

- Oh, I'm gonna dress it for you.

- Oh, excuse me.

Of course.

So, that's nori again.

Mm.

Mm.

Oh.

Oh my God.

Mm, mm, mm.

(lips smacking) That is so good.

That is so good.

(gentle spirited music) I'll always remember my next guest, Lori Powell as my sous chef at Gourmet Magazine.

Here we are in the 1990s.

Well, we don't look any different, do we?

- Amazing.

- I know.

- Amazing.

- It's like.

it was yesterday.

- It really was.

- Yes.

- Or is.

- Yes, here we are again with my friend and former sous chef Lori Powell.

(Lori vocalizing) All right, so what are we making?

- We are doing these lovely eggs that are baked in ham cups and- - You are famous for this.

Was it on the cover of the magazine?

- A couple of things, but yes, yes, yes.

And one has a savory filling of beans.

The other one is a mushroom duxelle.

- Ooh woo.

Fancy.

- With an egg on top.

And then, it has some tarragon, so it's very French.

- Now tell us, do mention, oh you're gonna chop that salad too?

- Yes, I do need to something.

Right?

- Do mention your relationship with mushroom filling or duxelle.

- When I was in cooking school, the first time I ever tasted it or made it, I thought, "Why is this the first time I'm eating this?"

It's just the aroma and then the taste made me wanna put it on everything.

- You could use it- - You could toast.

- So many applications.

- Yeah.

Traditionally it's Beef Wellington.

Coats the outside of the steak and then it gets puff pastry surrounding it.

- You know, very fancy.

- Quite yummy.

- Yes.

- Quite yummy.

Okay, and here I've got a lifetime supply of mushrooms.

- [Sara] Okay, so we're gonna start with the beans?

- [Lori] We are.

And I am going to put in two tablespoons of oil.

- [Sara] Exactly?

That was exact?

- [Lori] Yeah, that was.

- Yeah, after all these years, you know exactly how to eyeball it.

- [Lori] Yes, and then we're gonna saute these onions just to get them softened.

- So, that was a half a cup of onion- - Yes.

- Two teaspoons of garlic.

- Yes.

Nicely done again.

- [Sara] I'll bring over the spices.

- [Olivia] Cumin and beans.

- Yes.

- Happy marriage.

- [Sara] Yeah.

It's a match made in heaven, yes.

- [Lori] I'll let you sprinkle that in.

- [Sara] Go.

- [Lori] I'm much better at stirring than sprinkling.

- Okay.

- It's quite the art form you have.

- Yeah.

- It's all in the wrist.

- And then, we have a half teaspoon chili powder.

It could be your everyday chili powder or it could be designer.

- Yeah, or any, yeah.

Like ancho.

- Or smoked.

Yeah, we like that.

All right.

Smelling good.

- [Lori] Yeah, it is.

Really yummy.

- Now, we're just using canned beans today, right?

- [Lori] We are and we drained them.

- [Sara] Put this in.

- [Lori] Put those in for me.

Thank you very much.

- [Sara] You're welcome.

- Fun cooking with you again.

- [Sara] I know.

Really.

So, we're gonna add a little water too.

- A cup of water.

- Okay.

And this helps it to just meld and cook down and come together.

- Marry everything together.

And a little bit of salt and pepper 'cause beans are salty.

Usually, right?

- Canned beans.

- Canned beans?

- Yeah.

- We have our pepper.

Ooh, nice pepper grinder.

I like it when it really gives off some good stuff there.

And so, now we go ahead and we do this.

- Mash, yeah.

- Don't we?

- Yes.

Yes.

- So we get it nice.

You don't have to mash them- - Not all of 'em, right?

- [Sara] No, just enough to thicken it, right?

- [Lori] Yeah.

- So, that's a potato masher and I use it for beans.

I use it for ground beef, I use it for potatoes.

So, we just let that simmer down, huh?

- [Lori] Yeah.

Let the liquid evaporate.

- So, now we're moving on to the mushroom filling.

This is something that we learned, right?

In cooking school.

It's a weird word, duxelle.

- It is.

It is.

- Mention all these little ducks running around, right?

- Yeah.

(laughs) - It's D-U-X-E-L-L-E-S.

It's a French word.

And it's sauteed shallots, mushrooms, and a little bit of cream.

And in our case, we're adding some tarragon.

I love tarragon.

Not everybody does.

- [Lori] It is relatively strong.

So, you do have to be kind of, don't use a lot.

- Cautious with it.

- Exactly.

- I think we need a tablespoon.

- [Lori] But it is great with chicken, fish, mushrooms.

So, I'm gonna go ahead and put the shallots in.

- So, we need a quarter cup of shallots, minced, and two tablespoons of butter.

- [Lori] Oh, this smells wonderful already.

- Doesn't it already?

- Yes.

- Butter, butter.

- Butter and onion.

Oh my gosh.

This is looking pretty softened.

- So, (glass clacking) look what I did for you.

- Wow.

- I did that for you.

- [Lori] How long did it take you?

- A while.

(both laughing) So, that's three quarters of a pound of just plain old white button mushrooms.

- [Lori] Yeah.

- You could use other mushrooms, but they're greatness.

- You could use cremini.

You could use a mixture.

- [Sara] So, tell me, how do you wash your mushrooms?

- You actually taught me how to wash the mushrooms.

- Oh dear.

- Way back when.

However, what I always revert to is I have kitchen towels in my kitchen that are used just for cooking.

So, I use that to rub the mushroom, the outside of the mushroom to get.

But the first thing I do is when I go to buy them, I look for ones that are the cleanest, so I don't have to work so hard.

- Yes.

(Lori giggling) Well, I used to do that until you have to do large amounts of mushroom.

And then, if you're taking one mushroom- - Oh yes.

- At a time, you know, let's say you- - Probably with this - A three pound box.

It takes hours.

- Yeah.

- So, here's what I do instead.

I fill up a bowl with water.

It's sort of like how you wash lettuce.

I put in five or six mushrooms at once.

I go womp, womp, womp just very quick and get 'em out.

The point is you're not supposed to leave mushrooms in water because even though they're like 80% or 90% water, they'll still absorb more water and they're already plenty wet.

Wow.

That looks like we've reduced it by half.

- [Lori] All your hard work.

- Oh no.

- Gone to half.

- All that chopping.

(Lori laughing) - [Sara] And then the creme fraiche?

- [Lori] Yes.

- You can also use sour cream if you can't find creme fraiche.

- Yes.

- Two tablespoons.

- Yeah.

So, that is an exact two.

- Yeah, exactly.

Yeah.

Right.

(Lori laughing) All right, ready?

- So, this gives like a creamy, sour sweetness all at the same time with this creme fraiche.

- [Sara] About a tablespoon of tarragon, I think.

- [Lori] The freshness of adding some herb.

- Now, this you could make ahead and put in the fridge.

Let's say you're having people- - Absolutely.

- Over for brunch.

- Exactly.

- Whether you- - You could even fill the ham cups ahead and just cover it.

Black Forest ham is gorgeous.

I love the little flowery edges.

And you wanna make sure no holes.

- No holes.

- There we go.

- Although, if there is a hole, you can kinda overlap it.

- Yeah.

- You just wanna make sure it's pressing into the bottom.

But it does this little curly- - [Sara] It fold over on itself.

- Each one is gonna be individual, so.

- [Sara] And you could put any filling in here, right?

- You could.

- You could get wild with this.

- You could, yes.

You could put goat cheese in here.

- I saw cheese always.

- With the mushroom.

- Yeah, yes.

- Or Parmigiano Reggiano.

It's really kind of fun.

You can have your 5-year-old do this.

- [Sara] I know!

This is a good thing to do with the kids.

- [Lori] Depends on the 5-year-old.

- [Sara] Yeah.

Right.

All right, I'm gonna do the beans.

- Yes.

- Duxelle.

- [Lori] That's what you're gonna do?

- [Sara] Yes, I will do that.

Okay, so now we're gonna do the eggs.

(egg shell cracking) (gentle percussive music) - So, one of the tricks I do think of with filling these cups is that I try to get the egg white in first.

- Oh, interesting.

- And then, so that the yolk is more popped up.

- We should mention that we've oiled the muffin tin well.

So, that if the egg should happen to break through, then it won't get stuck to the pan.

(bright percussive music) (egg shell cracking) Okay, now mine get cheese on.

- Oh yes.

- Sharp cheddar, Gruyere.

Anything you want.

And I forget, do we season the eggs too?

The top of the eggs or no?

- No, because the filling is so- - Ham is salty.

- And the ham is salty.

- Yeah.

- All righty.

- Okay.

400 degrees?

- Yes.

For what?

About 15 minutes?

Yeah, I got it.

(bright cheerful music) Okay.

It is salsa time.

- Nothing like a fresh salsa.

- No.

- Really.

- You can use store bought.

- You can.

- That's perfectly fine.

- But it, yeah.

- This is better.

Okay, so plug, you're gonna do the tomatoes.

- I am and I'm gonna trim off the end.

- We need about a cup and a half finely chopped.

So, while you do that, I'm gonna work on our jalapeno.

Let's hope this guy has heat.

I think you're a spicy girl.

I seem to remember.

- I am.

- Okay.

I'm gonna chop about two tablespoons.

- [Lori] I'm doing about 1 1/2 cups.

- And we are using plums 'cause they have good texture.

Although you could use any tomato.

- Yeah.

- [Sara] And I love cherry tomatoes.

- Oh yeah.

- But it's a lot of work to chop them up.

- It is.

It is.

It's a little sweeter too.

It gives you a sweeter salsa.

- [Sara] Right, right.

- [Lori] Oh gosh.

That's beautiful.

- [Sara] There we go.

Cilantro, you're gonna do?

- Yes, I will do that.

And I'm not only chopping the leaf, but I'm also chopping the stems - [Sara] Stem.

Right.

And how much of that are we adding?

- [Lori] Quarter cup.

- [Sara] So, here's my onion and ice water tip.

You know, if you don't wanna have onion breath for the rest of the day, you put your onion in a little strainer and put it in a bowl of ice and water and just leave it for about 20 minutes.

So, I'm just gonna pat add dry quickly and everything.

Oh, that cilantro smells so good.

- That's about quarter cup, don't you think?

- Yeah.

Half a cup of chopped red onion.

We're gonna add a tablespoon and a half of lime juice.

We're gonna eyeball it.

Just do a little.

- Yeah, I love acid, so to me, it's like- - Oh, me too.

- You can't use enough.

- I'm an acid queen.

So, here we go.

So, do you think the eggs are done?

- [Lori] I think I better check them.

- Oh dear.

- 'Cause I can smell it.

- Oh no.

- I got so involved in the salsa.

- I know.

- [Lori] Oh, and look at these little babies.

- [Sara] Voila!

Oh, they're so gorgeous.

- Oh my god, they're so cute.

- Oh my goodness.

- And so delicious.

- I think we need one of each, don't you?

- Oh, absolutely.

And to get these out, you could just do this.

You know, they cool off pretty quickly too.

If these are sticking at all, you could do this.

- Use a knife- - And then- - Or an offset spatula.

- Get this.

Yup.

In this case though, these are flying right out.

We did a nice greasing job on our tins.

- Each one of these guys is gonna get a big spoonful of salsa.

As if that wasn't good enough, some crushed tortilla chips.

- Crispy bits are always a good thing.

- Yummy.

Oh, so many layers of flavor.

There we go.

I think it's time to eat.

- Yes!

(laughs) (gentle music) Gosh, look how gorgeous they are.

- Yeah, they are.

- That's crazy.

You, you, you, you genius.

- Oh no.

Can I get you some potatoes?

- Yes, yes.

Go ahead.

- Taters.

- Okay, so what am I gonna, I'm gonna try yours first.

- All right.

- Yeah, that beautiful egg.

- Ooh look.

- Oh yum.

Okay.

You know, I could just see maybe the husband picking up the whole thing, you know?

And just eating it straight up.

Here comes your duxelle.

- You have the cheesy.

Oh yeah, the duxelle is the kicker.

It's the one you want.

You want all of it really.

Add more sauce to mine.

- I love the tarragon.

- The creaminess of the beans is so good.

- So, this is truly one of my favorite dishes.

I mean, it's breakfast or brunch or lunch or dinner, or hey, a midnight snack.

- You could eat it- - Thank you.

- Every week if you wanted to.

Oh, you're quite welcome.

- Yes.

There we go.

- And thank you.

- Yes.

Couldn't do it alone.

No, we're a good team.

(Lori chuckles) - [Sara] For recipes, videos and more, go to our website, saramoulton.com.

"Sara's Weeknight Meals" is made possible by - [Advertiser] A journey aboard Oceana Cruises is designed to cultivate curiosity.

Guests can explore local treasures and epicurean traditions.

Staff and crew are dedicated to guests' interests, relaxation and entertainment.

Evenings offer craft spirits, international wines, and dishes prepared by our master chefs.

That's the Oceana Cruise's small ship experience.

- [Presenter] And by USA Rice.

(soft melodic music) (bright music)