Asian Style Eggplant

 

I threw some vegetables together that needed some attention. I was excited that it actually worked.  I love it.  I went right out and bought more eggplant from the farmers market.  going to the farmers market for me now is like a kid going to the candy store.  I go crazy and often go a little overboard but we end up eating all of it.

Asian Style Eggplant 

3 small eggplants, chopped in 1 inch dice

2 green bell peppers, chopped in 1 inch dice

1 onion, chopped in 1 inch dice

1 Chile, chopped fine

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Sauce

3 tablespoons broad bean paste

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 white pepper 

1/2 teaspoon red chili flakes

1 tablespoons maple syrup

1 clove garlic, minced

2 tablespoons tapioca powder

1/4 cup water

Sauté the bell pepper and onion and chili and olive oil for 10 minutes. Add chopped eggplant and cover. Continue to cook for 10 to 15 minutes until eggplant is wilted.

Make sauce while waiting for the bell pepper for the eggplant to cook when just about done add and sauce until thick. Serve with basil over top.

Eggplant Meatless Balls

I saw this recipe for eggplant meatballs. I had to try it.  Of course I changed a little, well, a lot.  I like them okay.  If I was a  vegetarian I would definitely put it on my rotation.   But honestly, its not meatballs and alas, that is what I prefer.  I don't really make meatballs all that much but when I do, I want the real thing.

Having said that, I might make them again because they are pretty healthy but I would change a few things. I probably would have added some more pecorino romano and some finely chopped walnuts or even finely chopped mushrooms.

Eggplant Meatless Balls

3 cups eggplant, roasted and pulsed in the food processor
2 eggs
1 cup TVP (textured vegetable protein)(You can definitely replace this with bread crumbs if you like)
1/4 cup bread crumbs or panko, give or take
1/4 cup of basil chopped finely
1 1/2 teaspoons oregano
2 garlic cloves minced finely
1/4 cup heaping, parsley, chopped finely
1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 to 1/2 cup Pecorino Romano or Parmesan cheese, grated

Mix everything together except the bread crumbs.  Let eh mixture sit for 30 minutes at least.  This will give the TVP time to absorb the liquids from the eggplant. After you let it sit, if the mixture is still very liquid like and you are unable to roll it in balls, then add some bread crumbs.  A little at a time.  Once you are able to form balls, roll them all up into balls and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 350F until they turn golden.  After that they are ready to take a bath in the sauce. Yeah!

Eggplant Chickpea Curry

School is winding down, soon the kids will be off and we will be running around.  I keep the kids as busy as possible.  It keeps them from fighting and it keeps their minds fresh and hopefully learning new things and experiencing new things.  We do save some days for the week for cleaning and other chores.  I do can and freeze with the various harvests and then of course the big one when they are back in school in the Fall.  Next one coming up is strawberries and that is when I do my strawberry freezer jam.  Everyone loves it.

Eggplant is one vegetable I like but am at a loss a lot of times on what to do with it.  Usually I just roast it and salt it and eat it.  Or I roast it and make baba ganoush.  Those are pretty much my go to dishes for eggplant.  In the summer when it is all over the market, I make this, my canned eggplant. An old Italian recipe, not for the faint of heart with canning because the Food and Drug Administration would probably say that the way I can it is unsafe...  Besides that I never know what to do with it so I started a list of recipes for eggplant.  This recipe here will be one of them.  It is so good.  With fresh eggplant it will be even better.

Eggplant Chickpea Curry
If cilantro isn't your thing add parsley but add it in the beginning with the tomatoes.

1 large eggplant, skinned and cubed
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper seeded and diced
1 tablespoon butter

1 1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
1/8 teaspoon asafetida (or 1 clove garlic, pressed)
1 14-ounce can diced tomatoes (fire-roasted preferred)
2 teaspoons minced ginger root
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1 15-ounce can (or 2 cups) cooked chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon garam masala
1/4 cup minced parsley or cilantro

Saute onion and pepper in butter, once translucent add in cumin seeds.  Cook one minute more.  Now add the remainder of ingredients except for the cilantro.   Cook for 20 minutes.   Add in cilantro after you remove the curry from the heat.

Ratatouille

Summer is coming to a close.  Pretty soon the kids will be back at school. Lately, I have been reflecting on this summer and what we have done and not done. 

I had a bucket list of what I wanted to do with them and I have to say, we did nothing on the bucket list. I felt bad about this for several weeks but then I realized some really important things were going on.  You see, my parents moved from my childhood home to an apartment for Seniors.  This was pretty significant as my parents have been living at that home for 52 years. 

My parents are in their 80's.  They have needed to move.  Some circumstances in the Spring kind of forced their hand.  The kids spent a lot of time helping them out.  They each would go and stay at my Mom and Dad's for a day or more working hard, carrying boxes, moving things to the curb, helping my Mom donate unwanted items.  All that lifting.  The kids really eased the burden for my Mom.  Of course, it was a pretty huge task packing up a house that she has been in for so long.

Everything went really smooth.  My brother and sister in law came in from out of town to help out.  We moved the boxes from the house and movers came and moved the furniture.  The kids helped out so much.  They never complained, they just kept on working.

Even though we may not have hit the jackpot of bucket list excitement and fun.  We sure hit the jackpot of family time, responsibility to others, helping and honoring.  It just doesn't get any better.  I could not have been more thrilled with what I seen them do and how they behaved.  Well, except for a little fighting... I don't want to make it sound perfect or anything...

Here is one of my bucket list dishes for this summer.  I have made it before but I wanted to try different ways of making it until I found a fast and easy one.  Bingo.  I scored a great pot of ratatouille.

Ratatouille
Recipe slightly adapted from Emerill Lagasse.

1/4 cup olive oil, plus more as needed
1 1/2 cups small diced yellow onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 cups medium diced eggplant, skin on
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
1 cup diced green bell peppers
1 cup diced red bell peppers
2 cups diced zucchini squash
1 1/2 cups peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes
2 tablespoons thinly sliced fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Balsamic Vinegar

Sauté onions in olive oil for about five to ten minutes.  You want them lightly golden. Add garlic, cook one minute more.  Add in eggplant and thyme, cook for about seven minutes.  Add in bell peppers and squash and cook for five minutes.  Add tomatoes, basil and parsley and cook for five minutes.

Drizzle balsamic over top.  The balsamic really makes it all pop!  If you have balsamic reduction, by all means, use that.

 

Eggplant Parmesan

This here is eggplant parmesan.  While I love it- it sure is a pain in the neck to make. It's so worth it though. Always when I make it, I make three batches.  One big one and two smaller ones for the freezer.  We get our fill while eggplant is in season and stock up for a day when I have other things to do and need some "fast food".  My husband always says when I make these big batches, lets eat it all now.  You can tell he does not do the cooking. If he did he would understand that the foods I freeze come in handy at a later date when I am either too busy or bored with cooking.
I do peel my eggplant because I hate dealing with the skin if it is not tender enough.  I want to eat my eggplant parm unencumbered by pieces I have to get rid of while eating.

Eggplant Parmesan

For a modest 1- 9x13, you will need:

6-8 eggs, beat in a bowl
3-4 cups seasoned bread crumbs
approximately 4- 10 inch eggplants
8- 10 cups marinara sauce
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
2 cups, plus canola oil for frying

Peel and slice in 1/2 inch slices. This was my sous chef- oh, the abuse he takes for this crazy baker/cook.

I will not hide the fact that eggplant parmesan is a messy endeavor because it is one of the messiest. Dip the slices in egg and then in the breadcrumbs. I use seasoned.  A lot of people salt their eggplant after slicing.  One of these days I will try it that way, it's just that this is the way I was taught.

Now, it is time for frying those beauties. Really, they are pretty darn good eating at this stage too.  (I have been known to eat one or two like this, shhhhh).

Layer them in a 9x13 baking dish. Layers like this: sauce, eggplant, overlapping a bit, more sauce and a sprinkling of parmesan or pecorino romano or asiago... When putting on the sauce make sure to put it in thin layers. I do about a cup and half between the layers.


Bake in a 375F oven for about 45 minutes, covered with foil. The last fifteen minutes remove foil.

Melanzan Salad

I hesitated to tell you about this one for many reasons.  Mainly because there is no recipe (though I did find this one here).  The second reason is that if you check a few blogs out there they will tell you that canning without a recipe by Ball or one of the like is really taking your health into your own hands.  But then there is this flavor that I just had to share with you. So I am posting it. You can make a small quantity and have it as a side for one of your meals or serve it with pasta (delicious) or simply eat it plain with bread.


This is the first year I used Sicillian eggplant (pictured above) mainly because I have never seen it before.  I find that it is whiter and more absorbent than my usual eggplant (pictured below at the bottom) but it is also a bit flatter in taste.  It truly is perfect for Melanzana marinata.  I love that name.  When I was a kid, it was always referred to as (spelled phonically) "mole-in-john" salad. Now that I know what the word for eggplant is -melanzana- I know I was always interpreting it in my own way.  Nevertheless we still call it that.  Maybe it is a dialect- I dunno.

I am posting it mainly for a reference for myself for next year.  I want to chronicle our family's canned goods, per the instructions of my mother.  This way I always have it and my family can check the recipe if they need it as well.

Melanazan Salad aka "Molinjon"

2 Sicilian eggplants
8 regular eggplants
2 heads of garlic
3 cups oil canola
4 cups distilled white vinegar
1/3 cup kosher salt
3 teaspoons red pepper flakes (optional)
12 basil leaves, chiffonade
4 tablespoons oregano

Cube eggplant and boil until just tender.  You want it limp but not mushy. Remove from water and drain immediately.  Run cold water on it to cool.  Squeeze until you have removed as much liquid as possible. Place in large bowl. Add the spices and most of the vinegar and oil.  What you are looking for is a soupy consistency.  The reason why is so that the eggplant, being the sponge that it is, will absorb the marinade. So keep mixing preferably with your hand because it is one of those, "you got to go by what you feel" kind of things. Place in pint sized canning jars and seal.  Process for twenty minutes in canner.

Do not be alarmed if your garlic turns green after a time.  You can read about why that happens here.

A recent market trip. 

Does your higher self know?

I havent been on in so long. I promise to get better. I guess with less light around I have been in a funk. I have been playing lots of online games like Zuma and Bubblehead (Thanks Lola). Totally addicted. I go through periods like this when I bow out of my busy schedule and do this shut down thing. It is usually followed by some transition. The busy schedule thing is totally my own doing. Blogging, sewing, crafting, gym, library, major organization projects. I have certainly been to the gym and wow have I been streamlining my house. Another indicator of oncoming transition. Why is that? Do I know something I don't know?

Sometimes I really believe that we do know the course of our lives in some crevice of our mind or soul. Like we have our operating int he hear and now self and then our higher selves "know" things. When you have deja vu. Its like your higher self knew all along and you hear and now self recognized that you kind of already knew that.

No, I am not drinking here on Super Bowl Sunday. Just thinking. Just saying.

I love eggplant. I am always searching for ways to make it that does not involve frying. Eggplant is a sponge and manages to sop of copious amounts of oil. In the rare exception of eggplant parmesan (once a year treat), I do use oil and fry fast to try and avoid this.

I found this recipe in Mediterranean Street Food. A really good resource that is filled with delicious recipes.

TURKISH IMAM BAYILDI
(The Imam Fainted)
based on a recipe from Mediterranean Street Food

2 medium onions, chopped
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 medium eggplants, peeled and cubed
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice


PREPARATION:

Saute the onions in a little oil until golden. Add the garlic, tomatoes, sugar, chili flakes salt, and pepper. Cook until most of the liquid evaporates. If you don't like it quite as stewey, keep cooking until all of the liquid has evaporated.

Steam the eggplant until tender and add to the tomato mixture. Squeeze fresh lemon juice over the top and spinkle with parsley.