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Books cited on
this page:
The
Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean
By Paula Wolfert
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China Express
By Nina Simond
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THIS BOOK
Fresh
From the Farmers Market
By Janet Fletcher
BOOK
REVIEW
BUY THIS BOOK
 The Olives Table : Over 160 Recipes from the Critically
Acclaimed Restaurant and Home Kitchen of Todd English
By Todd English, Sally Sampson, Carl Tremblay (Photographer)
RECIPE: Garlic Roasted Radicchio
BUY THIS BOOK
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Chef Book Store for more books about seasonal cuisine |
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A Global Selection of Recipes Featuring Eggplant
Baba Ghanoush
(Eggplant Dip)
Arabian Chickpea-Eggplant Stew
Teriyaki
Eggplant
Saucy Chinese Eggplant
Eggplant Caponata
Melanzane a Scapici (Pickled Eggplant)
Roasted Eggplant Salad
Arab merchants discovered
the eggplant in India 4,000 years and carried it to all the ports of call on their
far-flung trade routes. Thomas Jefferson brought the first
eggplant seeds
to America. It is now a key
ingredient in cuisines stretching from the Mediterranean and the Middle
East through Asia to the United States. Chefs like eggplants
because they "change completely to reflect the technique used to
cook them and the flavors they are combined with," says Todd English,
the Boston-based Italian chef, who is the source of one of the recipes
below. English says the best eggplants are
firm, shiny, and heavy. Buy them just prior to using because they do not store
well, and "an old eggplant will be very bitter."
The first two
recipes below are from The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean, by Paula Wolfert. To infuse eggplants with a smoky
flavor in the kitchen, she wraps a large eggplant in a
double thickness of foil and sets it over high flames on top of the stove,
turning often until the skin is charred and the flesh has melted into a
creamy pulp. Both of Wolfert's recipes call for Near
East or Aleppo pepper, distinctive ground red peppers that are
"famous throughout the Middle East," says Wolfert. They
can be found at some Middle Eastern markets and through mail order
outlets. If you can't find either, she says, a mixture of 3 parts
sweet Hungarian paprika and 1 part ground hot red pepper flakes "will
make an acceptable substitute."
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Baba
Ghanoush
(Eggplant Dip)
1 large eggplant (1 1/4 pounds)
4 level tablespoons tahini
1/2 teaspoon garlic, peeled and crushed with salt
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice or more to taste
3 to 4 tablespoons cold water
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
Garnish:
Aleppo or Near East pepper or hot
Hungarian paprika
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
Diced ripe tomatoes
- Pierce the eggplant in several places with a toothpick. If you
are cooking indoors, wrap the whole eggplant in aluminum foil and
set it over a gas grill to cook on all sides until it collapses
and begins to release a great deal of steam. If you are
cooking over coals, grill the eggplant until blackened, collapsed,
and cooked through.
- Dump the eggplant into a basin of cold water; peel while still
hot and allow to drain in a colander until cool. Squeeze pulp to
remove any bitter juices. Mash the eggplant to a puree.
- In a food processor, mix the tahini with the garlic and lemon
juice until the mixture contracts. Thin with the water. With the
machine running, add the eggplant and the salt, pepper, and olive
oil.
- Spread out in a shallow dish and garnish with pepper, parsley,
and tomatoes.
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Arabian
Chickpea-Eggplant
Stew
Serves 6
1 cup chickpeas, soaked overnight
1-1/2 to 2 pounds large eggplants (about 2)
Coarse salt
8 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to taste
2 large onions, halved and cut lengthwise into thin strips
10 small cloves garlic, unpeeled
1 cup fresh or canned tomatoes, seeded and chopped, juices reserved
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon Near East or Aleppo pepper
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed with I teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice or cinnamon
Fresh lemon juice
Sprigs of fresh mint
- Peel and halve the chickpeas; set aside.
- Remove and discard 3
vertical strips of skin from each eggplant, leaving it striped,
then cut the whole eggplant into 2-1/2-inch chunks. Salt the
pieces and leave to drain in a colander for at least 1 hour.
- Rinse the eggplant, squeeze gently, and pat dry with paper
towels. Working in batches, lightly fry the chunks in 5
tablespoons hot oil until golden brown; drain. Sprinkle the
eggplant with pepper and set aside.
- In a 2- or 3-quart casserole with a tight-fitting lid, warm the
remaining olive oil and add the onions. Sweat them over low heat
10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until limp and golden. Add the
chickpeas and fry 2 minutes. Stir in the drained eggplant,
unpeeled garlic, tomatoes and their juice, tomato paste, and Near
East pepper.
- Cover tightly and cook over reduced heat without
stirring 40 minutes. Carefully fold in the crushed garlic,
parsley, vinegar, sugar, and allspice.
- Cook 10 minutes longer, or
until thickened. (Up to this point, the dish can be made one day
in advance. Cool, cover, and refrigerate so that the flavors will
meld.)
- To serve, return to room temperature, adjust the seasoning with
salt, pepper, and allspice, and sharpen the taste with a few drops
of lemon juice. Garnish with the mint.
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The next two recipes
come from my favorite Chinese cookbook, Nina Simonds' China
Express.
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Teriyaki
Eggplant
Serves 6
6 medium Chinese eggplants (about 1-1/2 pounds)
12 scallions, trimmed and cut into 1-1/2-inch lengths
2 tablespoons sesame oil
About 16 to 20 ten-inch bamboo skewers, soaked in water for 1 hour
Teriyaki Sauce:
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup rice wine or sake
2 tablespoons sugar
1-1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
- Trim the stem ends off the eggplants, halve or quarter lengthwise,
depending on thickness, and slice into 2-inch chunks. Thread 2
eggplant pieces and 3 scallion pieces alternately
onto each skewer, starting and ending with scallions. Arrange the
skewered vegetables on a cookie sheet and brush with the sesame oil.
- Prepare a medium-low fire for grilling, and place the grill 3 to 4
inches from the heat. Arrange the skewered eggplants and scallions on
the grill and cook, turning frequently,
until well browned. Arrange on a serving
platter.
- Meanwhile, combine the Teriyaki Sauce ingredients in a saucepan and
heat until boiling. Stir to dissolve the sugar and transfer to a
serving bowl.
- Drizzle a little sauce over the skewers, and serve the rest on the
side for dipping.
Saucy
Chinese Eggplant
Serves 6
2 pounds eggplant, rinsed, trimmed, and cut
lengthwise into ½-inch-thick slices
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon sesame oil
Sauce:
1-1/2 cups Chinese Chicken Broth (broth flavored with
ginger, scallions and rice wine)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1-1/2 tablespoons rice wine or sake
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon Chinese black vinegar or Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
Minced Seasonings:
2 tablespoons minced scallions
1-1/2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1-1/2 tablespoons minced garlic
1-1/2 teaspoons hot chili paste
2 tablespoons minced scallion greens
- Arrange the eggplant slices on a cookie sheet lined with paper
towels and sprinkle on both sides with the salt. Let sit for 1 hour.
- Preheat the broiler. Brush off the salt from the eggplant, and brush
lightly with 1-1/2 tablespoons of the sesame oil on both sides. Place
the eggplant about 3 inches from the heat source and broil for about 8
to 10 minutes, or until golden. Turn over and broil for 8 to 10
minutes longer, or until golden on both sides. Let cool slightly, then
cut into finger-size pieces about 3 inches long and 1 inch wide.
- Combine the Sauce ingredients and blend well.
- Heat a large flameproof casserole, add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil,
and heat until hot. Add the Minced Seasonings and stir-fry for about
15 seconds, until fragrant.
- Add the sauce mixture and heat until
boiling. Add the eggplant fingers, cover, and cook over medium heat
for about 10 minutes, or until tender.
- Uncover, increase the heat to
high, and cook until the sauce is reduced to a glaze. Transfer to a
serving platter and sprinkle with the minced scallions.
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Todd English says he was
inspired to name his Boston restaurant Olives after hearing his uncle wax
nostalgic about the olive farm in Italy owned by Todd's
great-great-grandparents. "The whole concept of Olives was of
cooking food from where olives grow. The whole Mediterranean
belt," he writes in his book, The Olives Table,
from
which the next recipe comes. For his caponata recipe, he took a
"great classic dish" and "embellished it with some unexpected but harmonious
ingredients," he explains. "If you can, make
this the day before you need it, it tastes even better the second day."
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Eggplant
Caponata
Serves 4 to 6
1 eggplant, peeled and cut into
medium dice
1 tablespoon plus
1 teaspoon kosher salt
12 ounces sweet Italian sausage
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small red onion, minced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup golden raisins
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh ginger
2 to 3 teaspoons rinsed, chopped capers
1 cup chopped fresh or canned tomatoes
1 cup orange juice
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon honey
1/4 to 1 cup water
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro leaves
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary leaves
2 tablespoons chopped scallions
- Sprinkle the eggplant with 1 tablespoon of the kosher salt. Place a
large nonstick pan over medium heat and when it is hot, add the
eggplant. Cook until the eggplant is golden brown on all sides, about
10 to 15 minutes. Remove the eggplant from the pan, drain on paper
towels, and set it aside.
- Reheat the pan. Add the sausage and cook over medium-high heat until
golden brown and cooked through, about 7 minutes. Drain the sausage on
paper towels. Discard the fat from the pan. When the sausage is cool
enough to handle, roughly chop it.
- Reheat the pan and add the oil. Add the onion and garlic and cook
until the onion is softened, about 2 minutes. Add the reserved
sausage, reserved eggplant, raisins, ginger, capers, tomatoes, orange
juice, curry powder, pepper flakes, honey, and 1/4 cup water, and the
remaining 1 teaspoon salt, stirring well after each addition. Reduce
the heat to medium-low and cook, adding a bit more water as needed,
until the eggplant is soft and the mixture is chunky and has the
consistency of a sauce, about 30 minutes.
- Remove the pan from the heat and add the vinegar, basil, cilantro,
parsley, rosemary, and scallions. Serve at room temperature.
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Carlo Middione, in La
Vera Cucina: Traditional Recipes from the Homes and Farms of Italy,
says the recipe below will yield "the
tastiest and prettiest tower of pickled eggplant you can imagine, ready
for a quick snack with crusty bread or on a large platter of antipasti."
With a batch or two of these "variegated, chewy, briny disks,"
you'll have a month's supply at hand. "With the addition of some tuna fish and
chunky bread and a little sliced onion, you have quite a meal with hardly
any work," he says.
The curious abbreviation "q.b." appears in
most of Middione's recipes. He explains, "I can
hardly think of a dish handed down to me by my mother or father or
other Italian cooks that did not include the phrase 'quanto basta.'
Quanto basta means 'enough,' or 'the amount that is needed.'.... Q.B. is also a way of saying 'to taste' -- who knows better than you
how much you need or like."
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Melanzane a
Scapici (Pickled Eggplant)
Makes about 12 slices
1 large plump perfect eggplant, about 1 pound
Salt q.b.
2 cups best-quality white-wine vinegar
1 cup extra-virgin olive oil q.b.
6 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced thin
Big pinch of red pepper flakes, about 1-1/4 teaspoons
Big pinch of dried oregano, about 1 tablespoon
- Wash and dry a 6-cup glass jar or crock and keep it handy. The
container you use should just hold the eggplant completely covered
with oil.
- Wash the eggplant and trim off the calyx (green stem end).
With a vegetable peeler, peel the eggplant lengthwise so that it has
purple stripes every inch or so.
- Cut the eggplant into disks about 1/2
inch thick. Lightly salt the disks and put them in a colander. Weight
them with a 6- to 8-pound dish for about 45 minutes, to bleed out any
bitter juices. After a quick wash in cold water, pat them dry and set
the slices aside until later.
- Boil the vinegar in a shallow nonreactive skillet or saucepan and
put one or two slices at a time into it for about 1 minute. Put about
2 tablespoons olive oil on the bottom of the jar or crock and a few
pieces of garlic. Put two slices or so of hot eggplant on the oil and
scatter on some red pepper flakes, oregano, and some more oil.
Continue until you have pickled all the eggplant slices and have
layered them with olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, and oregano.
Cover the jar or crock and put in the refrigerator (if you have a cold
wine cellar you can store it there).
- The eggplant is ready to eat in about a week and will stay fresh and
tasty in the refrigerator for about a month. As you use the eggplant,
most of the oil will remain in the jar and you will have it to use for
other dishes. It will be congealed, so take some out of the
refrigerator and let it liquefy. You can use it to saute fish,
vegetables, or even potatoes. Any bitter juices at the bottom of the
jar should be discarded.
NOTE : If you have any vinegar left over, you can store it in a jar
and use it again for making more eggplant, but taste it to be sure it
has not become bitter. If it has, discard it.
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On the cusp of
summer and fall, the farmers' market offers three vegetables dear to
Mediterranean cooks: tomatoes, eggplants and sweet peppers," writes
Janet Fletcher, in Fresh from the Farmers Market.
This recipe is her California contribution to this global array of
eggplant dishes. The recipe is from a popular dish at the
Pasta Shop in Oakland, California. "I think it is best when it has rested
for a few hours, allowing the flavors to blend. Make it in the morning for
an afternoon picnic, or in mid-afternoon for a dinner with grilled chicken
or lamb," Fletcher advises.
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Roasted Eggplant Salad
serves 6
1-1/2 pounds Japanese or Italian eggplants
6 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 head garlic
1 red bell pepper
1 golden bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 large red onion
1/2 pound cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 cup coarsely chopped Italian parsley
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Cut eggplants in half lengthwise,
then in 3/4-inch chunks. Place in a bowl and toss with 4 tablespoons
oil and salt and pepper to taste; transfer to a heavy baking sheet.
Roast until just tender and lightly browned, about 30 minutes,
stirring once or twice with a spatula to make sure eggplant chunks
aren't sticking to the baking sheet. Transfer to a large, shallow
serving bowl.
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Meanwhile, with a small knife, cut all around the head of garlic at
the "equator," penetrating the paper skin but not the
cloves.
- Remove the papery outer layers from the top half of the head
(opposite the roots), exposing the cloves. Place garlic on a large
square of aluminum foil and drizzle with 2 teaspoons olive oil.
Loosely wrap the foil around it, sealing edges tightly. Slip garlic
into oven alongside eggplants and bake until cloves are soft, about 45
minutes.`
- Remove seeds and ribs from bell peppers. Cut peppers and onion in
1-inch pieces. In a large skillet, heat remaining 2 tablespoons olive
oil over high heat. Add bell peppers and onions, season with salt and
pepper and saute until tender but not mushy, 8 to 10 minutes. Transfer
to bowl with eggplant. Add cherry tomatoes to skillet, season with
salt and pepper and saute just to heat them through, about 1 minute;
do not let them lose their shape. Transfer to bowl with eggplant and
add parsley.
- Squeeze the softened garlic out of the skins into a small bowl and
mash to a puree. Whisk in vinegars. Pour about three-fourths of the
mixture over the vegetables and toss gently, taking care not to break
up the eggplant. Taste and add more of the vinegar mixture, salt or
pepper if necessary. Serve at room temperature
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