September 21, 2010 - 1:14pm
Eggplant recipe
I'm looking for a superb eggplant recipe for these three beauties which I harvested from my garden about an hour ago. If you have a favorite and perhaps out of the ordinary recipe, I'd love to try it. Many thanks. Bernie Piel
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Hi, Bernie.
Those are indeed gorgeous eggplants!
There is no shortage of recipes for Eggplant Parmigiano, but here's a recipe that is our favorite ... Well, it's my wife's favorite and, certainly, one of my 5 favorite eggplant preparations.
3 small or 2 medium eggplants (A bit more won't hurt. You want to end up with a quantity that will fit in a single layer in your pan.)
2-3 T chopped garlic
1 T chopped parsley
Olive oil
Salt
Peel the eggplants and cut into 3/4 inch cubes. Place cubes in collander and toss with generous salt. Allow to drain for 30 minutes, then squeeze water from eggplant cubes by the fistful into paper towels. (You will use a lot of paper towels.)
Heat a heavy-bottomed 12 inch saute pan with 3-4 T olive oil over medium heat. (I use a cast iron skillet.)
Saute eggplant, turning very frequently, until half-cooked (about 20-30 minutes). Turn down heat to medium-low when the eggplant is browned somewhat. Continue turning frequently.
Add the garlic to the pan and toss with the eggplant. Continue cooking on medium-low until the eggplant is super-soft (as in "melt in your mouth") - another 15-20 minutes.
Add the parsley and toss. Cook for another couple minutes or five.
Serve hot or room temperature.
The ideal accompaniment is lamb chops, but this is delicious with roast chicken as well.
Note: Wishing you had made more is the normal response to tasting.
Enjoy!
David
If Bernie hadn't asked, and if I didn't just happen to have 3 lovely eggplants from the farmer's market ... I wouldn't have had to make this for our own dinner tonight.
I've got step-by-step photos, if anyone wants to see them, but here's the dish, ready to serve:
I'm going to take a walk, then finish cooking the zucchini frittata and enjoy dinner!
David
What a wonderful delicious way to enjoy eggplant.
Sylvia
What if you were to separate your dough, have thin sliced (salted and drained) eggplant scattered over the shaped dough and then wrapped in a thin layer of rolled out dough. Let rise and when slashing cut thru to the eggplant or thru it and see how it bakes out.
Mini
Or baba ghannouj depending on who you ask, I guess.
Take your eggplant, pierce some holes in it, and grill it (or roast it in the oven at 400 degrees F) until the skin is blackened, should take about 30 minutes.
Take them off the grill, let them cool, peel the skin off and put the flesh into a food processor. Blend with garlic (about a clove per eggplant works well for most, I like garlic a lot and thankfully so does my wife so I use two cloves), a couple tablespoons of tahini (if you don't have tahini available, buy some sesame seeds and roast them in a dry pan on the stovetop until brown, different flavor but still awesome), and add lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper to taste.
I make fresh pita bread to go along with this stuff. It never goes uneaten.
Oh your a weak, weak man David!
Until I read your recipe for eggplant, I've never seen one that I thought complimented the actual flavour of it. Eggplant parmigiano has never done a thing for me, but your take on it is something I'll try. Copied and saved. Thanks!
Franko
I didn't say this was a version of eggplant parmigiano, 'cause it's not. My point was just that, at least in the US, that's the eggplant dish most are familiar with.
This dish is definitely about eggplant.
David
Sorry David, I wasn't clear.
Your recipe isn't even remotely close to eggplant parmigiano and that's what I like about it. When I wrote " your take on it " I was referring to the eggplant itself not a parmigiano version. It looked great and I'm sure you had a lovely meal of it.
Franko
day. All of the recipes look wonderful and I can taste each of them now. The nice thing about this post is that I still have a few more weeks till the eggplant stop growing so I should be able to use all of them in the next few weeks. If I can get my favorite Vietnamese Restaurant to tell me their eggplant recipe (sweet, spicy and served very hot) I will share it, as well. Thanks, David, for the photo of your dinner. Next tiime you're passing through Oklahoma I'll provide the vittles and equipment, if you provide the culinary prowess. I must admit that babaganoush was never a favorite dish of mine, but those presented here look very tempting--I was not aware that tahini was an ingredient. I just happen to have a split leg of lamb in the freezer and I think a sampling of these dishes would make wonderful accompaniments. Mini your idea (or Shiao Ping's) of making a bread filled with eggplant slices sounds interesting--my first thought would be to add sundried tomatoes and maybe asiago cheese chunks with the eggplant, maybe even served to be dipped in a quality seasoned EVOO. Hmmm. Again, thank you all for your responses.
Bernie Piel
day. All of the recipes look wonderful and I can taste each of them now. The nice thing about this post is that I still have a few more weeks till the eggplant stop growing so I should be able to use all of them in the next few weeks. If I can get my favorite Vietnamese Restaurant to tell me their eggplant recipe (sweet, spicy and served very hot) I will share it, as well. Thanks, David, for the photo of your dinner. Next tiime you're passing through Oklahoma I'll provide the vittles and equipment, if you provide the culinary prowess. I must admit that babaganoush was never a favorite dish of mine, but those presented here look very tempting--I was not aware that tahini was an ingredient. I just happen to have a split leg of lamb in the freezer and I think a sampling of these dishes would make wonderful accompaniments. Mini your idea (or Shiao Ping's) of making a bread filled with eggplant slices sounds interesting--my first thought would be to add sundried tomatoes and maybe asiago cheese chunks with the eggplant, maybe even served to be dipped in a quality seasoned EVOO. Hmmm. Again, thank you all for your responses.
Bernie Piel
Hi Bernie,
I was watching a cooking show on the T.V. yesterday and I thought I'll do that for dinner. So we had a eggplant dish last night. Here is the recipe. What a coincidence.
Ingredients:- 1 Large Eggplant, medium potatos, fresh garlic to taste, I can of diced tomato, Tablespoon of tomato paste, 1 onion, olive oil, and parmasean cheese.
Cut eggplant into 1/3rd inch thick slices. No need to salt as you will now fry the slices in hot olive oil till nearly half cooked. Drain on absorbent kitchen paper as eggplants will soak up a lot of oil while cooking
Cut your potatos slightly thinner and fry till just soft. Again drain on kitchen paper. Browning is not neccessary.
Mix canned tomato with tomato paste. Add herbs if desired but not neccessary. Salt and pepper to taste.
Thinnely Slice onion and garlic(do not cook) and mix together.
Using a baking dish or pan(we used a one litre casserole for 2 people) place a small amount of tomato mix covering the base. Then place eggplant slices on the tomato, then the potato slices on the eggplant and then the onion and garlic on the potato. Cover with tomato mixture and repeat process. Try to finish on a mixture of eggplant and potato and cover with grated parmasean cheese. Bake at about 180 degrees for about half an hour or till totally soft. I used the above quanity for two people and still have half left over. The wife is using it cold for lunch today.
Simple Eggplant Parmigiano Eggplant, canned diced tomato or fresh tomatoes cooked down with garlic salt and pepper to taste, olive oil and parmasean cheese
Slice your eggplant in half inch slices. Salt on both sides to draw moisture out and wipe off moisture after about 15 minutes. Fry slices in olive oil till half cooked. Drain on kitchen paper and place slices on baking tray. Top each slice with your tomato mixture and cover each slice with parmasean cheese. Sprinkle with paprika. Bake in hot oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. Sometimes I have added fresh sliced (uncooked) mushroom between the eggplant and tomato for a change. Remember being an Italian dish to enjoy with an Italian ciabatta loaf.
Bon Appetite.............Pete.
it was delicious. I used tahini, 1/3 of a small roasted vidalia onion for a hint of sweetness, 2 large cloves of garlic, 2 T's of sea salt; 1 T of freshly ground black pepper, juice of one lemmon; 1 T of pomegranate juice ("Pom"), 1 t of EVO; into the blender until smooth and topped w/ a solid drizzle of EVO and chopped Italian parsley. Served it up some whole wheat pita and it was scrumptious. I'm hoping the flavors build even more by tomorrow.
But, I must say the link to the marinated eggplant looks equally wonderful. I suspect David would like that, as well. Hopefully, my friendly Vietnamese chef will part w/ his sweet,tangy and spicy eggplant dish. I believe this is the only dish that I consistently order from any one restauarant--its that good. I go there a lot so I'm hopeful he'll give it to me.
Daisy, I also wanted to tell you I looked at the second of the two links you first sent and was really impressed with the flavors subtlely resting in that dish: basil, pomegranate seeds, pine nut, saffron youghurt, etc. That was the kind of dish I was looking for. Very different and out of the ordinary fare. So many thanks for opening up your recipe treasure trove and adding them to the thread.
Bernie Piel
of an Indian dish that I have had before, years before, I belive. That will have to be added to my list of recipes to try before the crop decides to quite producing. I used the larger of the eggplants tonight to make Baba ganoush which was really easy but a bit tricky in the roasting of the eggplant. You must prick the plant w/ a fork or knife to give the internal steam a opportunity to escape and to keep from having exploded eggplant all over the innards of your oven. After cooking it, put it in a plastic bag and seal it very tight for about five minutes which causes the peel to loosen from the flesh and makes it very easy to skin. Then just add 2 gloves of chopped garlic, 1/4 C of tahini paste, 1/3 small and sliced vidalia onion (I believe this name refers to the place where these very sweet onions are grown and you may have difficulty finding that particular name of onion--if you use the sweetest onion available, that will work equally as well), be certain to cook it in a pan w/ the eggplant. After the veggie is done cooking, skin it, chop it and then mash it and put it in a blender, add the onion, garlic, tahini sauce, 3 t's of sea salt and 2 t's of freshly ground black pepper, 2Ts of pomegranate juice (a Syrian version); the juice of 1 large lemon and blend till smooth and still with some texture. Put it in a plate and generously drizzle EVO and lots of chopped Italian parsley. I used the largest of the 3 eggplants for the dish tonight and served it with Pita bread while it was still warm--yummy. The remainder went in the fridge and I suspect the flavors will intensify overnight. Making this dish changed my thinking about Baba ganoush. I would also say that the trick to this dish is to add the flavors you like and not follow any one else's proportions. Eggplant, to me is pretty bland, but it carries lots of flavors really well, like lemon or garlic or peppers or olive oil and even good ripe tomatoes. The smokiness of the eggplant imparts its own nuance of flavor to these other flavors--so let your mind loose and enjoy.
Your recipes are on my list to make and I thank you for adding them to this thread. It's been a treat for me just seeing how world wide TFL.com really is. Many kudos to Lloyd for creating this digital wonder.
Bernie
Think Greek - nothing beats Moussaka!
Karin
In a 9-10" pie plate, put an entire knob of garlic in the center, (skin and all!); put a sprig of rosemary on top of the garlic (or a half-teaspoon of dried rosemary would do)
Place medium-thick slices of potato, just touching, around the garlic. Top potato slices with eggplant slices and then top them with slices of zucchini
Drizzle everything with a bit of extra-virgin olive oil and sprinkle a little sea-salt over the lot, adding pepper and mild salad herbs, if desired
Bake in a 180-190°C oven until it looks 'done' to your taste, at least 25 minutes, or until the potato is slightly crispy.
Buttered rye toast and a large mixed salad would make this a good lunch or a light, healthy dinner, perhaps? [Make sure you have plenty of mouthwash and try not to breathe on people the next day!]
Cheers,
copyu
and I will just have to print off the recipes and try them out one by one! Have been looking for good recipes for egg plant that are simple and easy to prepare.
I cook with the KISS principle (keep it simple stupid) because I find I don't waste food when I do, and usually its devoured with haste and requests for cook this anytime you want!
i completely forgot about Moussaka, but that would also be a good and traditional dish, as well. Copyu your smorgasboard of veggies has some interesting taste notes which I could see developing from the Garlic clove center. I think I'be be tempted to see what basil would impart to the melange.
Thank you both for sharing your ideas. Karin, I love your breads as I've told you many times and I'm very curious to know which one do you think would be a great accompaniment to Mousaka?
KISS was my daughter's response: Slice it, EVO it, SaltnPepper, Grill it , Enjoy it, no muss, no fuss. Nothing wong with that either.
Thank you all.
Bernie Piel
Bernie, you flatter me!
In principle my "eat-with-everything-bread" is pain a l'ancienne, which I bake every week - and now and then I keep one for us. But I tried recently a really nice rosemary focaccia from "Cooks Illustrated" and that would definitely go very well with it.
When I was in Cyprus I had some wonderful Moussaka, but I cannot say that any remarkable bread came with it - usually they also served something like focaccia, but it didn't taste like anything special.
Karin
Hi All,
Seems we might have have to start up an Egg Plant web site!!!!!! LOL
Can you imagine TFEP.............Pete