EATING YOUR STUPID (aired March 26)

Today’s show was entitled “Eating Your Stupid”. For feeling stupid. And Eating. Maybe at the same time. Anyways, I've got a lot of recipes for feeling stupid, including Sloppy Joe’s, baked eggplant parmesan, brussel sprouts with white beans and pecorino cheese, and last but not feast, krispy kreme bread pudding. Oh. my. Word. What have we done to the donut.

Sloppy Joe's

Ingredients:

1 Pound Lean Ground Beef

1 Can Tomato Sauce

1 Onion, Chopped

¼ Cup Catsup

1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar

1 ½ Teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce

1 Tablespoon Cider Vinegar

½ Bell Pepper, Sliced

Hamburger buns

Directions:

In a large skillet brown the meat with the onions over medium high heat. Discard fat and add remaining ingredients. Bring contents to a boil; reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Divide equal parts of Sloppy Joe mixture over each hamburger bun. Toast your hamburger buns for an extra texture.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

• 3 eggplant, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 4 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
• 6 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
• 1 (16 ounce) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 5 minutes on each side.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. Repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with the cheeses. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

I always feel stupid when I hear people around me speaking French. Well, see...I don’t speak French, and I always assume that they must be talking about selling pastries...because they’re speaking French...and that I’m just sitting there like a silent clown in front of them. Ohhhhhh dear...do they think I’m trying to be one of their mimes? I hope not. Well, I’m sitting there in front of them, probably like a mime (eck), too intimidated to ask them if I can purchase any pastries from them. So, of course, my mind wanders to the next best thing – Is Dunkin’ Donuts open. – and if so, will they have Crullers? You know, the FRENCH donut. When I order them, I like to say Crruyaayz, because, deep down, I want to sound as intellijannt as the French people do. Wi wi, pu pu!

Brussels Sprouts with White Beans and Pecorino Cheese

Pecorino is a very sharp, aged hard cheese typically made from sheep’s milk. It is known for its strong, salty flavor, and will definitely add some zing to your Brussels Sprouts, the tiniest member of the cabbage family!

Ingredients:

8 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided
2 lbs Brussel Sprouts, trimmed, cut in half lengthwise
6 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1 15oz can cannellini beans, drained
2 tbsp butter
1 cup coarsely grated pecorino cheese

Directions:
Heat 3 tablespoons oil in heavy large skillet over high heat. When just about to smoke, add half of brussel sprouts. Cook until brown, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Transfer to large bowl. Heat 3 tablespoons oil in same skillet and repeat with remaining pound of brussel sprouts. Transfer brussel sprouts to same bowl.
Add remaining 2 tablespoons oil to skillet, increase heat to high. Add garlic; saut? until brown, stirring constantly, about 1 minute. Add broth and brussel sprouts. Cook until brussel sprouts are crisp tender, stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Add beans and butter; stir until butter melts and broth is reduced to a glaze, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in cheese.

The worst is when you do things that you think seem like really good or maybe even smart ideas at the time. Like pudding balloons. Which surprisingly aren’t as easy to assemble as the water balloon, their close cousin. Or watching re-runs of court dramas on television. I’ll tell you – if I’ve seen the Law and Order SVU episode with the 8^th graders deep in the hmm-hmm scandal ONCE, I’ve seen it THREE to SIX TIMES. Each time, I think to myself, this time, THIS TIME might be better. Maybe I’ll notice more clues. Maybe it’ll just be a relaxing way to spend an hour...or 47 minutes...plus commercials. But before you know it, an hour passes by, and pretty soon it’s 11am (...why wouldn't Law and Order SVU start at 10am...?)and I realize for the 3^rd time that what I just did was time-down-the-toilet and I’m never going to get that time back. Repeatable offenses like that...those can really make you feel stupid. I blame Law and Order. They're written to be too intriguing for the weak-willed. We can't help ourselves.

Paula Deen's very own Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding

!!!

Ingredients
· 2 dozen Krispy Kreme donuts (!)
· 1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated)
· 2 (4.5-ounce) cans fruit cocktail with juice
· 2 eggs, beaten
· 1 (9-ounce) box raisins
· 1 pinch salt
· 1 or 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Cube donuts into a large bowl. Pour other ingredients on top of donuts and let soak for a few minutes. Mix all ingredients together until donuts have soaked up the liquid as much as possible. Bake for about 1 hour until center has jelled. Top with Butter Rum Sauce.

Ingredients and Directions for that Butter Rum Sauce:
1 stick butter
1 pound box confectioners' sugar
Rum, to taste
Melt butter and slowly stir in confectioners' sugar. Add rum and heat until bubbly. Pour over each serving of Krispy Kreme Bread Pudding.

Bottom Line: Maybe you feel stupid sometimes, but that doesn't make you stupid all the times.
Also, even if you feel really really stupid, you're definitely smarter than the ringworm. Cause whenever I see a ringworm trying to make its worm-ring, I'm like "for serious?! what, that's like all you can do?! Get a life!"

ok, i'm going to leave you with that image for now. over and out until next time~!