Skip to main content

Silky Perfection

By
I'm not sure why so many eggplant recipes begin with roasting the eggplant, but I'm certainly not going to argue with the resulting silky perfection!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Depending on the size of the eggplant, slice them lengthwise in halves or in quarters. Roll the eggplant in olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.

Cover your pan with aluminum foil and roast in the oven until the eggplant is completely soft - usually between 1-1/2 hours and 2 hours. Undercooked eggplant, to me, tastes like chalk. Yuck!

Once your eggplant is cooked, squeeze lemon over it, then scrape the meat from the skin.

This silky eggplant puree is the basis for so many Mediterranean recipes. I'll post some of my favorite recipes shortly.
Labels:

Comments

  1. OuroborosNovember 20, 2010 at 8:31 PM

    I normally roast the whole eggplant over the gas burner (prick with fork, then nearly burn the skin, remove, cover to let steam, peel later).

    In this oven method what purpose does the lemon juice serve?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Camilla M. MannNovember 28, 2010 at 6:07 PM

    You know, I'm not really sure what the lemon juice does. It'd be fine without it. I think it just adds another flavor-layer.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hot Chocolate Agasajo-Style {Spice It Up!}

By
photo by D For my Spice It Up! kiddos this week, I was looking for an exotic drink to serve while we learned about saffron. I found a recipe from food historian Maricel Presilla that mimicked traditional Spanish hot chocolate from the 17th century where it was served at lavish receptions called agasajos . When I teach, I don't always get to shoot photos. Thankfully, D grabbed my camera and snapped a few. Ingredients serves 14-16 1 gallon organic whole milk 3 T dried rosebuds - or 2 t rosewater 2 t saffron threads, lightly crushed 3 T ground cinnamon 3 whole tepin chiles, crushed 2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise 1 C organic granulated sugar 1 lb. bittersweet chocolate Procedure In a large soup pot that can hold a gallon plus, combine milk, dried rosebuds (or rosewater, if you are using that), saffron threads, ground cinnamon, chiles, vanilla beans, and sugar and warm over medium heat till it steams. Whisk to dissolve sugar, then lower heat an...
183 comments
Read more

Ki Ngombo = Okra

By
In honor of Mardi Gras, I searched for traditional recipes for gumbo...only to discover that there is no canonical recipe for gumbo. It seems there are as many recipes for gumbo as there are cooks!  The only two constants in a gumbo: variety and okra. The term 'gumbo' likely comes from an African dialect whose word for okra is ki ngombo .  Gumbos can have meat, seafood, just about anything.  In Mark Huntsman's "The History of Gumbo" he refers to written mentions of using muskrat and owl in gumbo recipes.  I embraced the unlimited potential of ingredients and opted for a combination of fish, chicken, pancetta, oysters, mussels, octopus, shrimp, and squid...and lots of okra!
Post a Comment
Read more

A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige #ItalianFWT on CulinaryCam.Com

By
I am in the process of migrating over to my new domain. Come on over to read " A Cheese Board Anchored on a Trio of Italian Cheeses + A Pinot Nero from Alto Adige " for December's #ItalianFWT.
Post a Comment
Read more