Interesting things to do with eggplant?

[Llyra]

I love these threads when they happen. One of our family's favorite meals came from one about lentils; we eat it like once a week now.

So there you have it: eggplant. We have a glut right now, nice young fresh tender eggplants. What do I make?

eggplant parmigiana-- my kids won't eat it.

baba ghanoush-- we've been living on it for three days, and they're all tired of it.

ratatouille-- is so "last week."

Is there anything new I can do with eggplant?

[cristeen]

Personally I love it fried. There are two ways I do it... cut "thick" - maybe 1/4 inch, then weep it, dredge in seasoned flour and fried in a shallow amount of oil.

Or cut paper thin (usually I use Asian eggplant for this), and pan fried with plenty of oil. These should turn a nice brown and get almost crispy around the edges. Plenty of salt after they come out of the pan.

It's also great stuffed - I cut the eggplant in half and bake it until it's about halfway done, hollow it out. Then cook up some ground meat (lamb and/or beef) with some greek spices, plenty of fresh herbs, tomato, feta, parmesan, whatever I have on hand, along with the excess eggplant I pulled from the hollows. Stuff it back into the eggplant, top with more cheese and bake until done.

It's also great in moussaka - but if your kids won't eat parmigiana, not sure they'd eat that either... why won't they eat it?

I also like to cut it into fingers and roast it... it needs plenty of oil, it's kinda like a sponge, but cook it until it's cooked down by at least half, and starting to brown around the edges.

It can also be added to stir frys, but one of my favorite dishes is just plain old Szechuan eggplant, which is just eggplant stir fried in a spicy sauce. Now if I could just figure out how to cook it myself instead of ordering out.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by cristeen

It's also great in moussaka - but if your kids won't eat parmigiana, not sure they'd eat that either... why won't they eat it?

DD1 and DD2 don't like tomato sauce very much. DS and DD1 don't eat melted cheese. That kind of kills parmigiana. They'll eat chicken parm sometimes if they're in a good mood that day, just because they love chicken so much, though they mostly scrape the sauce and cheese off, but eggplant is a "difficult" food for them anyway, and asking them to eat it parmigiana is asking way too much.

Great suggestions, though. Keep them coming!

[BetsyS]

We like it stewed with andouille. Just saute onions, peppers, and celery with the andouille, then add tomatoes and eggplant. Simmer until it's done. Season with cajun seasoning. Serve over rice.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

We like it stewed with andouille. Just saute onions, peppers, and celery with the andouille, then add tomatoes and eggplant. Simmer until it's done. Season with cajun seasoning. Serve over rice.

That's a great idea. DD2 especially loves spicy stuff, and if the eggplant is mixed in with other, more familiar, veggies, they'll be more likely to eat it. I learned that with the ratatouille. We only get eggplant in the summer, so a long time goes by before they see it again, and little kids are so conservative about food.

But excuse my ignorance, please-- what's andouille? (off to google it...)

[BetsyS]

Originally Posted by Llyra

But excuse my ignorance, please-- what's andouille? (off to google it...)

It's a type of smoked sausage that is a bit spicy and cajun flavored. We can get it in the grocery store here easily. You could substitute any sort of smoked sausage.

[babygrant]

My sister made this recipe and everyone loved it!

[noobmom]

Do you have Italian eggplants or Chinese/Japanese eggplants?

For Italian eggplants, what about moussaka? You can find lots of recipes online, but the basic idea is to make a casserole with layers of seasoned ground beef/lamb alternated with layers of sliced fried/grilled/roasted eggplant. You top the entire thing with a bechamel sauce (with or without cheese, your choice) and bake it. It's delicious and the nice thing is that it's just as good warm as it is hot, which I find is nice for children who don't like their food too hot.

For Chinese eggplants I usually make a side dish to go with a stir-fry. After cutting into wedges, I cook the eggplants until tender by steaming or boiling. Then I stir-fry them in oil with lots of garlic and some salt. You can add a splash of vinegar (a sweet one like balsamic or rice vinegar) or red pepper flakes too. Or a splash of soy. My favorite way is to add a cube or two of fermented tofu, but that's a very acquired taste. The tons of garlic is the key ingredient along with the eggplant. Cook until it gets melty.

[Aubergine68]

Ah...my kind of topic!

My favorite eggplant thing is to slice it and oven roast with sweet peppers and zucchini and maybe onions. This makes a roasted veggie sandwich that is to die for on good bread or a toasted bun, with or without some lovely cheese. It is nicest fresh, but I keep leftovers in the fridge for lunches.

[Merf]

The From Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook has a wonderful Thai Eggplant dip recipe. The recipe says to dip pita bread in it, but I've used crackers or just spooned it. : It freezes well too.

[treemom2]

We love it sliced, sauteed in a little olive oil to soften it, then put in curry (Japanese sweet curry, Thai curry, Indian curry--Keema with eggplant is my fav out of these). We also love Spicy Szechuan Eggplant. . .even our kids like it this way, cut into small chunks! We like it sliced, rubbed with olive oil and sea salt, then grilled or broiled. Once we made a lasagna with eggplant instead of noodles. . .it was pretty good. Our family doesn't like it unless it's a little overcooked. . .I can't stand the texture unless it's mushy.

[umsami]

My three, well four favorite things are:

1. Baba ghanoush... eggplant dip. Broil the eggplants either over a gas flame, gas grill, or in the oven until they fall apart. (If doing it in the oven... prick it with a fork...then place in a foil lined pan... and put in a very hot oven (I use 450) for about 30 minutes). Then blend in a food processor with 2-4 cloves of garlic, a splash of olive oil, some salt, pepper, cumin, and lemon juice.

2. Moussaka. Cut and salt eggplant slices...then fry or broil in the oven. (If putting in the oven, I usually brush with olive oil, and add a sprinkle of salt and pepper.) Cook some ground meat with salt, pepper, a bit of cinnamon, and two chopped onions. Add in a can of tomato sauce and cook a bit more. Taste and adjust seasoning. Put half of the eggplant on the bottom of a rectangular pan, the meat, then the rest of the eggplant. Cover with a bechamel sauce, bake, and enjoy.

3. Maqlouba (? Spelling) This is a Palestinian dish which basically means upside down. You can do it veggie.... or with the meat. You can make it with just fried cauliflower.... or with cauliflower and eggplant. I like this version which has layers of eggplant, tomatoes, cauliflower, and potatoes. It really looks pretty. Scroll down to see recipe with pictures http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index....iraqi-recipes/

4. Ratatouille.

Yum. Eggplant.

[lotus.blossom]

I like to cut it lengthwise (if you have the big kind) into thin strips and marinate in olive oil and then grill. Roll it up with some some good cheese (goat or ricotta or mozzarella or anything really.....)

[rebirth]

Grilled eggpant with balsalmic glaze is delish, and so easy! Just make a balsalmic glaze (cook it on the stove for 15-20 min till well reduced) and brush of 1/3'' slices and grill. Rosemary is a good addition to this.

I also had eggplant chips- made in a dehydrator- recently, and they were really good.

[baglady]

I read through the thread kind of fast, but I didn't see anyone mentioning the eggplant salting method. If you already know about it please ignore.

You cut the eggplant up (however the recipe specifies) then salt it and lay it out on a towel or place in a colander. Then let it sit for a while. (I do at least half an hour.) It draws out the moisture and makes the eggplant a lot less bitter and quite a bit firmer. You'll see a brown liquid come out. Then pat it dry (some people rinse, I don't because I'm afraid it'll absorb the water). Next, prepare it just like the recipe calls.

If you google "how to salt an eggplant" you get tons of instructional links with pictures.

I wasn't the biggest fan of eggplant before I discovered this and now we cook it all the time.

Good luck.

[Llyra]

Originally Posted by baglady

I read through the thread kind of fast, but I didn't see anyone mentioning the eggplant salting method. If you already know about it please ignore.

You cut the eggplant up (however the recipe specifies) then salt it and lay it out on a towel or place in a colander. Then let it sit for a while. (I do at least half an hour.) It draws out the moisture and makes the eggplant a lot less bitter and quite a bit firmer. You'll see a brown liquid come out. Then pat it dry (some people rinse, I don't because I'm afraid it'll absorb the water). Next, prepare it just like the recipe calls.

If you google "how to salt an eggplant" you get tons of instructional links with pictures.

I wasn't the biggest fan of eggplant before I discovered this and now we cook it all the time.

Good luck.

Our eggplants are not storage eggplants, like you can buy at the supermarket. They're not bitter and don't require salting, because we don't pick them until we're ready to eat them. They're sweet all by themselves. So this doesn't really apply to us.

Thank you for putting the information out there, though. There are a lot of people who think they don't like eggplant, because all they've ever had are the storage eggplants you can buy at markets. It's good for those folks to be aware that salting can help the taste.

It's also good to be aware that the smaller, lighter-colored varieties of eggplant are naturally sweet, and that the longer eggplant travels to get to you, and the longer it sits in the store, and the longer you take to cook it once you have it, the more bitter it will be. Sweet eggplant is locally grown and freshly picked, and eaten the same day it's picked, or within a few days at least.

[BetsyS]

We don't salt our eggplant, either. But, it never tastes bitter. I guess it is the variety? This year, we're growing a lot of the light purple variety. They don't get anywhere near as big as the ones in the store. Very tasty! :

[baglady]

Originally Posted by BetsyS

We don't salt our eggplant, either. But, it never tastes bitter. I guess it is the variety? This year, we're growing a lot of the light purple variety. They don't get anywhere near as big as the ones in the store. Very tasty! :

When I grew them one year, they were small and bitter. I guess I picked the wrong variety. That's why I started salting. I'm a really bad gardener though so who knows.