Cooking With Stanley 56

Well ladies and gentlemen, this is the final meal in the Cooking with Stanley series. Next week I will have a few desserts to share but this is the home stretch! It has been one wild 15 months and I am grateful you've all stuck along for the ride. I'm beyond excited to share some new plans moving forward. There's only more great stuff ahead. Until then, let's dig in to our final meal.

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Roasted Pork Loin (substituted for Rabbit)
Rice with Sage
Eggplant and Zucchini Casserole with Potatoes
Weekday Extra: Basil Pesto

There's a recipe for Roasted Rabbit that sounded delicious. As much of a carnivore as I am, I could not even think about eating a poor bunny though. The guilt was killing me just thinking about it. Stanley included a note in his introduction about how pork loin is fantastic prepared the same way. Lucky for me, I had two pork loins in the freezer. He was right, it was equally delicious prepared with pork. I left it in a bit too long so the pork got a little dry but the flavors were fantastic. I would not recommend eating the prune in the middle if you're not a fan of them. My cousin did and turned the lightest shade of gray I've ever seen. It made for good entertainment, that's for sure. 

The Rice with Sage was very simply prepared and paired perfectly with the Eggplant and Zucchini Casserole. The Rice with Sage used Arborio rice like you normally use in risotto but was prepared with much less labor involved. Just make sure you don't forget about it and burn the bottom. The Eggplant and Zucchini Casserole with Potatoes was fantastic, possibly my favorite dish of the night. It was so light yet packed with flavor, especially from they marinara. I had it for lunch the next three days. The casserole prepares pretty easy. There are a few steps though that require a decent amount of attention so smoke doesn't start coming out of the oven. It's well worth it and makes for great leftovers.

I made the Basil Pesto on a weeknight for a quick supper. Pesto is incredibly easy to prepare and requires no cook time. All the work is done in the food processor. All you need to do is boil the pasta. I definitely recommend this for nights when you're short on time or simply too tired to cook anything. If you have allergies, omit the pine nuts. I love a pesto with pine nuts but our nut allergy keeps me from using nuts in main dishes.

Have you ever had roasted rabbit? I've read it's very tender with a mild flavor but I just couldn't make myself.