15 September 2010

Eating Aubergines


I still like the word.

This is for my Etsy friend AMK who asked what to do with eggplants. They're a lot like squashes and usually about as flavorful (or not.) If you've got a favorite recipe you could try substitution. Your dish will turn out differently but it's one place to start. The long ones are often sold as baby eggplants at farmer's markets. Like all baby veggies they're super tender but not as flavorful as the more mature fruit.

We Fuzzys like our food fairly simple. Eggplant sliced and lightly coated in olive or sunflower oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper then grilled on the barbeque is a favorite. Don't try this approach with an out-of-season specimen as you won't get any flavor if it wasn't there to beginning.

A second approach is to fry them southern style. This works for practically any vegetable and your husband and kids will even eat sweet potatoes done this way. Mr. Fuzzy does, at least. Slice the eggplants about 1/4 inch thick, toss them in buttermilk, and then dredge in fine cornmeal. You can add salt, pepper, and herbs to the meal if you like but it's not required. (We like tarragon in ours.) Fry in hot oil... olive, canola, sunflower-- whatever you prefer ... until they start to brown, then turn and finish. You'll need about half an inch of oil.

Finally, you can hide the things in any tomato based sauce. I dry our excess, turn it into a powder, and use it in winter sauces.

PS- If you have a negative reaction to the solanine in the skin soak the sliced eggplant in salted water for 15 minutes or so. The offending chemical will be neutralized.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

They can also be grilled in a toaster oven and just brushed with shoyu. But our favorite is cooked in a red miso sauce. recipe upon request. gr