Eggplant/Aubergine

[helenjp]

I like the idea of babaganoush "deconstructed" - the thought of putting lots of work into less than wonderful eggplants was bothering me!

The curry....was made with Japanese roux. I had other plans, but got a phone call from son at school saying "Please meet me at the hospital..." ...so roux it was. The "waterless" treatment is always tasty, though.

Ratatouille...yes, but you have to put other ingredients in, and with 5-10 eggpants, there ain't room!

Pickles, I think that is a FINE idea.

Mabo nasu (like mabo tofu, but with eggplants) is another quick but tasty dish I'm planning to use.

[helenjp]

I'm going to try that, thanks Lindsey!

By the way, did the long, "drying" darken the eggplants significantly?

[Heartsurgeon]

Eggplant Terrine:

this is to die for:

Software:

1)crushed head of garlic in 1/2 cup of olive oil

2)red bell pepper (char the skin throughly over flame, reserve in a covered bowl)

3)egg plant (sliced 1/4-1/2 inch thick, heavily salted both sides, on a wire rack over he sink, let it drain for 1-2 hours. Rinse off salt and stack the eggplant up and hand squeeze as much moisture out of eggplant slices as possible. Rinse, and repeat...egg plant slices should be wafer thin.)

4)goat cheese

5)balsamic vinegar

6)salt/pepper

Hardware: saran wrap, soup bowl, vacumn sealer/vacumn bag

The Program:

brush eggplant slices with garlicky olive oil and saute at medium heat until well browned

Peel and remove seeds from bell pepper (do not rinse), lay skin out as a flat sheet

line the soup bowl with an excess of saran wrap.

line the bell pepper in the bowl until interior surface covered, and excess bell pepper hangs over the edges of the bowl. season bell pepper with salt and pepper.

add a flat layer of eggplant

add a flat layer of goat cheese, drizzle small amount of balsamic vinegar and garlicky olive oil over the goat cheese.

add a flat layer of bell pepper,season bell pepper with salt and pepper.

repeat the layers and seasonings until the bowl is full.

fold the excess red bell pepper from the first layer, over the top of the terrine, fold the excess saran wrap over the top off this, an dpress down to remove air pockets.

at this point I have placed the bowl in a vacuum bag and sealed it under vacumn to compress it and refrigerate at least over nite. alternatively, it could be covered with a plate and a heavy can placed on top to compress.

at service, remove the vacuum bag, use the saran wrap to pull the terrine out of the bowl/mold. open the saran wrap, and invert the terrine onto a plate, remove the saran wrap.

the terrine should appear like a bright red dessert cake...use a serrate knife to cut into cake wedges, serve cold as an appetizer.

it's looks great, and the taste is profoundly good.....next time i make one, i'll post a pic..it's really a nice way to present eggplant, it tastes ethereal, and you can make it a day or two ahead of time, making it ideal for dinner parties..

Edited August 2, 2009 by Heartsurgeon (log)

[zoe b]

I have a nice eggplant in the fridge, but I haven't been able to make anything with it, because i can't make up my mind what i want--I love eggplant almost any way....

baba ghanouj --at room temp, very oily, lemony & garlicky, with pitas

tempura style

eggplant parm--I do love this

japanese style--broiled with soy sauce and sugar

any other thoughts?

[ambra]

My absolute favorite eggplant dish is meat(less)balls.

Basically, fried eggplant balls. I can't stress to you how delicious they are. Better than meat meatballs.

Polpette di Melanzane

2 medium eggplants

1 medium (or large if youre a garlic lover) clove of grated garlic

Roughly 2 tablespoons (QB) of fresh chopped parsley,

2 small handfuls of grated parmigiano, or pecorino or a mixture

2-4 handfuls of DRY preferably homemade breadcrumbs* depending on your hand size and wetness of eggplant

More breadcrumbs for frying

1 egg

A drizzle around the bowl of olive oil

Salt and fresh cracked pepper QB

Oil for frying. (I used Corn oil, olive too heavy)

Tomato Sauce for dipping

Cut eggplants in half and bake halves at 180-200 until soft about 20-30 minutes. Scoop out and combine with all the above ingredients. Mixture should seem almost too wet to form. If you put too little bread crumbs, they wont hold their shape. But if you put too much, they will be bread balls with a little bit of eggplant. Form into medium sized flat meatballs or shape of your desire, coat in breadcrumbs and fry on medium heat until golden brown. Really, you just have to get a little color and cook the egg which is why I made them flat. Serve with tomato sauce/marinara sauce...

Basically its your average meatball (with slight variations) recipe sub eggplant for chopped meat.

I also don't usually grate garlic, but I think it worked REALLY well in this recipe.

Another optional ingredient is capers. I am not a fan though.

*The reason you use dry breadcrumbs as opposed to wet stale bread like in meatballs is because the eggplant is somewhat watery and with the addition of egg, you need to soak up the liquid.

You might also consider:

Caponata

Stuffed Eggplant

Or

Funghetto (yummy!!)

Edited November 30, 2009 by ambra (log)

[Prawncrackers]

My favourite is Sichuan Fish-Fragrant Aubergine. Peel one large aubergine then cut into chunky batons. Deep fry them till golden, carefully drain them from the oil. Make the sauce; fry garlic, ginger and scallion white till soft then add a dollop of chilli bean paste (one or two tablespoons to taste). Add a splash of shaosing wine, soy, sugar and Chinese black vinegar. Loosen with water or stock if required to cook out the ingredients. The sauce should be thick and glossy from the sugar. Add the aubergines back in and coat with the sauce gently. Finish with chiili oil and green onion tops. The balance of flavours should be hot, sweet and sour and should look something like this:

[HungryC]

Shrimp, crab, and eggplant dressing wins my vote.

[Jenni]

Deep fried, Bengali style

[zoe b]

oh, my word--these are amazing suggestions!

I don't know which one to try first. I think the polpette, since it's a gloomy day, and a good one to spend time on cooking something.

I'll be interested to see what the Hub thinks of these as he's not a huge fan of eggplant, but does love meatballs--he's always begging for them, and i rarely make them.

But i'll make the Sichuan Fish-Fragrant Aubergine next week--I think i've had this at a restaurant, and i love it--wondered how the wonderful texture was achieved--it's great to have the recipe.

And Prawncrackers--do you approve of Paul Prudhomme's recipe for the dressing? I've read it, but never tried it-- it does sound delicious.

[pyrguy]

I had an eggplant pharm that was great a while back.

The eggplant was sliced verrrrry thin and fried slightly crisp on the edges without breading before assembling the dish as usual. Made a big difference.

[ambra]

I just realized that I meant to write 180-200 celsius or 350ish F (?)

Sorry!

Edited November 30, 2009 by ambra (log)

[kayb]

I made an eggplant and chickpea casserole recently for a dinner that included a vegetarian as a guest. Sliced and roasted the eggplant, brushed with olive oil, until soft; layered in a tomato sauce that started with sauteed onions and garlic, added some oregano, a little basil, the tomatos, a touch of cinnamon, and a can of drained chickpeas. Really good.

[Werdna]

I've never figured this one out, how do some restaurants (seems thai places most often) serve fully cooked, even soft eggplant with skin that's still a bright purple? I just heard someone else asking how a place was making baba ganoush with cooked, pale white-instead-of-brown eggplant. Any tips or techniques?

[nakji]

A Japanese cookbook I have calls for searing the eggplant skin-side down quickly on a hot pan to preserve the colour. I also find that beautiful colour stays bright when I deep-fry my eggplants, so I suspect high heat must be what does it.

[LindaK]

Today there was an incredible variety of eggplants piled high at my local farmers market—from big Italian to tiny Thai. They were beautiful and I bought far too many, with no real plan of attack.

There are already some great topics on the forums for favorites like eggplant parmesan, ratatouille, and moussaka. But I'm finding myself drawn to lesser known dishes such as lebanese pickled eggplant and eggplant preserves. Eggplant is really versatile, isn't it?

This topic seems to be the gathering place for eggplant ideas from across cooking cultures. Is anyone else cooking with eggplant these days? I'd be especially interested in Indian or SE Asian recipes.

[LindaK]

I took the easy way out and ended up grilling most of my eggplant last night at a friend's cookout. But during the afternoon I tried my hand at making the pickled eggplant that starts off the Small Batch Pickled Vegetables topic. I'd seen the recipe in Marcella Hazan's cookbook but never thought to try it. And unlike similar recipes, it does not require cooking--an extra bonus in hot weather. It's not clear to me how long the eggplant needs to macerate before it's ready to eat, so I'll start taste-testing in another day or two. One thing that surprised me about the many variations of this recipe that I've seen is that they all call for fresh mint. Not an herb I associate with italian cooking.

There was still one big eggplant remaining, so I've cubed and salted it to make the eggplant, tomato, and chickpea stew in Paula Wolfert's Mediterranian Cooking for dinner tonight.

Reading through so many eggplant recipes the past few days, I've been struck by the wildly different directions for salting eggplant before using, from 1 hour to overnight--even across recipes that are otherwise similar. I followed the directions in the pickled eggplant recipe for the lengthy salt, since I know nothing about making pickles, but otherwise I usually only bother for an hour or so.

[Darienne]

One of my favorite things to do with extra eggplant is to make up Eggplant Cutlets and then freeze them for later use in a number of dishes. The recipe is on eG from Rachel Perlow as part of her recipe for Moussaka.

Right now I am making pickled eggplant with my extra eggplants from a recipe that I downloaded from who knows where. Made them before and they were delicious.

[Pierogi]

I knew this day was coming. For 10 months, since I joined my CSA last September, and made the sincere Vow To The Food Gods that I would "Always Use Everything in My Share, Each Time, Without Letting it Slime and Throwing it Away", I KNEW, eventually I'd have to face my worst fears. And I've been absolutely dreading it.

EGGPLANT.

Aaacckk, as "Cathy" used to say, or "Arrrggghhh" as Charlie Brown used to say.

I honestly have to admit, I've never had an eggplant dish I can tolerate, let alone say I like.

I've tried ratatouille (great without eggplant). I've tried moussaka (love it with zucchini instead of eggplant). I've tried baba ganoush (I guess no alternative to that). I've tried eggplant parmigiana (spent a lot of time pushing the food around my plate). I've tried it fried, roasted, grilled, you name it.

I've tried the traditional European eggplants, I've tried the small globe eggplants, I've tried Japanese and Asian eggplants.

All I can say is.....blech. I don't (or at least haven't to this point) like eggplant.

And in my CSA share today, I got FIVE OF 'EM ! Now, they're mostly real small (one small Japanese cultivar, one small globe, a couple of very small ones of the Euorpean variety and one big guy), but all together it's about 2 pounds of (shudder) eggplants.

Make me love these things please ! Or at least tolerate 'em enough to work through this glut, and not just watch them decompose in my veggie drawer.

One of my friends says to peel it, and then just use the slices of flesh, that it's the skin that's the nastiest. What say all y'all about that idea?

TIA !!!

[Mjx]

Peeling makes sense; that, or slicing thinly crosswise, to minimize the amount of skin on each piece. I don't love eggplant, either, but have found that small pieces pretty much disappear in a well-seasoned stir-fry. I admit I'd probably be foisting them on my friends.

[nikkib]

We have a dish on the menu where we coat them in a light batter and fry them then spread them with a mild goats cheese with chopped mint and drizzle them with honey. Served with a grapefruit, orange & mint salad the aubergine is overwhelmed by the other flavours.... Or in a Thai or Indian style curry maybe?

[nikkib]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2011/jan/19/moroccan-spiced-aubergine-recipe-marcus-wareing

This recipe was also the one that finally converted my sister into being an aubergine eater too - its really very good and you could use it as a side dish with some nice lamb koftes if the idea of aubergine as the main part of your meal is too much to handle!

[kaszeta]

I feel your pain. Right now I'm trying to barter away all of my CSA eggplants, since the *only* dish I've ever found containing eggplant that has any enjoyment for me is Baba ghanoush. So I made a fairly large batch of that, and am now trying to trade eggplants for fennel and kohlrabi, since I seem to be one of the few people in my CSA that enjoys those.

[tazerowe]

Best dish I know for eggplant is Moroccan eggplant salad. Essentially, take an eggplant and remove some or all of the peel (to taste), then cube. Put in a steamer with a few peeled garlic cloves and steam for 30 minutes or so, until both eggplant and garlic are very soft. Separately, cook some chopped tomatoes (I often use canned, but fresh work as well if peeled), cumin and olive oil until you have a somewhat thick sauce. Once the eggplant is cooked, roughly mash it and the garlic cloves in a bowl and mix in the tomato sauce, some lemon juice, more olive oil to taste and some chopped cilantro.

[Darienne]

I LOVE eggplants and make cutlets for moussaka and parmiagano, and I roast them in Ratatouille and I also make marinated eggplants as a salad side dish. And Szechuan eggplant.

However, if I were you, I would give them to an eggplant loving friend and be done with it.

I always peel mine except for cutlets. DH does not like the peel.

[patti]

Shrimp & Eggplant Dressing

However, I am an eggplant lover, so I don't know if this will convert you.