The great Baba Ghanoush

[heidih]

I have been making a variation of this for the last few weeks since the local 99 cents store has been selling 2 plump beauties for 99 cents.

I prefer them outside on the grill. I use a Weber kettle and prick them, cover with the vents half open and let then go until they collapse. On a rainy day I did them in the oven so they did not get the smoky taste but (some of you may need to avert your eyes), I left in a few tiny shards of the charred skin and it seemed to add a a smokiness.

I did mine more in the Greek style with a grassy olive oil. I also used a good bit of parsley and the basil was so lovely a could not result snipping some in as well in one batch. I second Nick on the quality of the lemons as a factor- and although I have used roasted garlic, I prefer the bite of fresh.

When the eggplant is well roasted, I scraped the flesh out and just whipped it with the fork or spoon as I incorporated the other ingredients. There were no stringy bits and it seems to get "fluffy". It benefits from resting to mingle the flavors and when using the leftovers I let them come to room temp or nuke them to take the chill off.

I have had wonderful classic versions with pita but for myself I like it with grilled or toasted slices of a baguette or with cornbread!

Off to buy more purple lovelies in the morning.

[nakji]

Right, well an advantage of living in China is the powerful gas range you get in your kitchen. I set a couple of long eggplants on the burner turned to half-wok blast this evening while making dinner, and roasted them to a crackling black. My exhaust fan barely shrugged at the smell, too. A quick whizz in my blender with some third-rate export olive oil and some first-rate Israeli tahine; some lemon, garlic, salt, pepper and I was wiping the damn blender walls down with bread trying to get each last schmear. The eggplants were pure smoke. I strongly recommend this method.

[nickrey]

Smoking eggplants on wok burners? I am so going to make up some baba ghanoush.

I haven't had a decent one for ages and the combination of bite and creaminess on the middle palate is still indelibly etched in my mind. It's almost an archetypal taste.

[nakji]

Smoking eggplants on wok burners? I am so going to make up some baba ghanoush.

Whatever works, right?

I agree about the taste. If you get enough lemon juice, balanced with the tahine and the eggplant, the flavour is on the same street as addictive. I've been smearing my first batch over fresh cucumbers and bread heels, but my second batch might necessitate some home-made pita.