Tip of the Week by Robert Reynolds Chefs Studio
Posted on: Sep. 23, 2011 | Category: In Season, Market News, Recipes, Tip of the Week | Tags:
Crazy Eggplant Day is tomorrow – chef demos, eggplant tips & recipes, and eggplant-related love all day at the market. See you there!
Eggplant - Eggplant was sent by the gods to test us. It will soak up oil like nobody’s business and it tastes terrible when undercooked.
To successfully prepare eggplant: Cut the eggplant into pieces – small to medium chunks are best. If the eggplant is big and tough-looking, you can sprinkle it with salt, let it sit and blot the resulting liquid from the surface. If you’ve got a fresh, firm, cute eggplant from the farmers’ market, however, don’t bother.
Start with a small bowl of olive (or canola) oil at your side and with a heat-proof brush. Heat a frying pan to medium-hot, brush it with oil, allow it to heat slightly, and then add the eggplant. Cook it until the surface of the eggplant is a medium brown, then brush some more oil in the pan, and turn the chunks on another side.
Continue brushing and turning until all the sides are beautifully browned. Now cover the pan, turn the heat to super low, and let the eggplant steam itself until it collapses.
Above all else, the flavors of cooked eggplant should be sugar & cream, not acid & oil.
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We tasted a wonderful eggplant salsa on Saturday which was served in the hollowed out eggplant. The vendor had run out of copies of the recipe and thought it might be posted on the HWFM website. Any chance of that happening? Thanks in advance.
Rick
But of course! I’ll add it to a post with pictures when I’m back in the office later this week, but I’ve pasted it below for you so you can get started on making it now! Glad you enjoyed it~
EGGPLANT-MUSHROOM SPREAD
1 Large eggplant (about 1.5 lbs)
¼ cup olive oil
1 medium-size green pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup fresh mushrooms, chopped
1 (6oz) can tomato paste
½ cup water
2 T Wine vinegar
2 t sugar
½ t salt
½ t oregano
¼ t pepper
Lettuce leaves (optional)
Cut a 2-inch lengthwise strip form top of eggplant. Carefully scoop out pulp, leaving a 1/4-inch shell, and chop pulp to measure 3 cups, reserving remaining pulp for other uses. Set eggplant shell aside.
Heat oil in a heavy saucepan over medium-low heat; add 3 cups chopped eggplant, green pepper, onion and garlic. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Add mushrooms and next 7 ingredients; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes or until eggplant is tender.
Cool slightly; cover and chill at least 2 hours. Spoon into lettuce-lined eggplant shell (lettuce is optional for a liner); serve with a crusty bread or bagel chips. This spread is very nice out of the freezer months after summer is gone and fresh eggplant is only a memory. Yield: 3 cups.
*** Try substituting paste with fresh Farmers market tomatoes ***
*** Crumbled bacon is a nice addition to this spread ***