This month: Eggplant - or whatever is burgeoning in your garden.
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-JT
Fried eggplant. Love it.
Not sure I ever understood the love affair with eggplant, zucchini or squash, I don’t hate them though
I make a mean eggplant parmigiana, and I owe its success to salting it and letting it weep for 30 minutes or so before I start breading and browning the slices.
I would like to try your recipe sometime soon, so thank you.
As an aside, our grown children started a family food challenge about 2 weeks into the shutdown. We rotate turns between households picking a theme for the week, and the point is to try something new, and maybe even out of your comfort zone, each week. We each make a presentation sometime on Saturday or Sunday.
Though I have been cooking and baking since I was about 11 or 12, I think our kids are sharpening my skills. Themes have ranged from “lemon” , “pastries”, and “sandwiches” to more specific categories like “Mexican”, “Polynesian”, and even “breakfast/brunch” as a theme.
It has been a fun thing to keep us together, and in touch weekly. We live all across the USA, literally from coast to coast, and destinations in between.
This is my favorite way to eat eggplant. I make sure to peel the bitter skin off.
Stuffed Eggplant - Melenzane Ripiene
Ingredients
2 medium sized black eggplant
4 cups Marinara sauce
2 cups sliced potatoes
4 large eggs
1 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons fresh parsley
1 tablespoon fresh mint
extra virgin olive oil
salt
Directions
Cut off the stem of the two eggplant. Cut the eggplants long way in the halves.
With a small knife remove the pulp of the eggplant and leave just a bit more than 1/4 inch of the pulp attached to the skin. Place the skins in water to prevent oxidation.
Cut the pulp in small cubes and saute` with 1/4 cup of EV olive oil, chopped garlic and a bit of salt. Saute` until the eggplant pulp is soft.
In a mixing bowl add the eggs, bread crumbs, most of the cheese, parsley and the mint. Mix everything well.
Add the sauteed eggplant pulp and mix well again.
In a baking pan, add a layer of marinara sauce to completely cover the bottom.
Place the sliced potatoes to completely cover the bottom. Sprinkle some parsley and EV olive oil.
Dry the eggplant shells and position them over the bed of potatoes.
Fill each shell with the stuffing as even as possible.
Cover the stuffing of each eggplant with marinara sauce. Sprinkle cheese over the marinara sauce.
Bake at 375F for one hour.
https://www.cookingwithnonna.com/italian-cuisine/stuffed-eggplant-melenzane-ripiene.html
Not sure I ever understood the love affair with eggplant, zucchini or squash, I don’t hate them though
I really like Eggplant Parmesan where the eggplant is coated in Italian breadcrumbs and fried first.
On a side note...I made the Mississippi Pot Roast yesterday with the peperoncini, ranch dip mix and au jus mix and I have to say neither of us liked it that much. I could only find medium peperoncini and it was a little too spicy and quite salty even though I added no extra salt and used unsalted butter. Hubby said he likes my regular pot roast recipe and I agree.
This is a recipe most similar to mine (minus the oregano, pepper flakes and peppers). I peel the skin off of mine and cut them into thin circles. It tastes so good served on crusty Italian bread.
Italian-Style Pickled Eggplant (Melanzane Sott’aceto)
Ingredients
6 young eggplants (firm, unbruised)
Kosher salt (to taste)
1 1/4 cups white vinegar (or cider vinegar)
2 1/2 cups water
3 to 4 cloves garlic (peeled and thinly sliced)
Leaves from 1 bunch fresh parsley (washed, dried, and finely minced)
Optional: fresh or dried mint leaves (finely minced)
Optional: 1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 to 1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes (for a spicier pickle, instead use a few small fresh red chile peppers (sliced lengthwise)
Optional: 1/4 green bell pepper (minced)
1 to 2 cups extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
Steps to Make It
Note: while there are multiple steps to this recipe, this eggplant recipe is broken down into workable categories to help you better plan for preparation and pickling.
Prepare the Eggplant
Gather the ingredients.
Wash the eggplants thoroughly to remove all traces of dirt and pat them dry with a paper towel.
Slice the eggplants into long strips (about 3 inches long and 1/4-inch thick).
Layer the strips in a colander and mix liberally with kosher salt.
Place the colander in the sink, put a dish on top of it, and put something heavy on top of the dish to weigh it down. This helps remove excess water from the eggplant.
After 1 hour, squeeze the eggplant to drain out any remaining excess water.
Transfer the eggplant to a large pot. Cover with 1 1/4 cups vinegar and 2 1/2 cups water (or for a larger batch, use the ratio of 2 cups of water to 1 cup of vinegar).
Bring to a boil. As soon as it boils, remove from heat and allow the eggplant to cool in the water.
In a large bowl, place the sliced garlic, parsley, optional mint and oregano, red pepper flakes (or fresh red chile pepper), and optional bell pepper.
Squeeze as much water out of the eggplant as you can, and add it to the bowl. Pour in 1 to 2 cups of extra-virgin olive oil (at least 1 cup) and 1/4 cup of vinegar. Stir well.
Pack the Eggplant
Transfer everything to a one-quart jar or two-pint jars that have been washed well (sterilizing isn’t necessary but you can if you wish), pressing down to remove any air.
Leave about 1 inch/3 cm of space at the top, and pour in some olive oil so that all the eggplant is submerged. What’s important is that you not overpack the jars with the vegetables and in all cases fill them to the brim with oil or vinegar.
Place the screw-top lids on, wipe the jars and store in the refrigerator. They should be ready to eat in 24 hours but waiting an extra day will only improve the flavor.
Tip
The filled jars must be stored in the refrigerator for up to one month. Do not store them at room temperature.
https://www.thespruceeats.com/pickled-eggplant-recipe-melanzane-sottaceto-2020466
I did not plant eggplants this year, but we have lots of tomatoes coming in all at once. No way we can eat them all - my SIL is giving her extra produce to the fire station guys up the road & we’ve given some to neighbors. We still have too many so it may be “salsa” time. This is the recipe I’ve used for a couple of years - it’s for canning; however, you can also just freeze it - delicious either way. You can use fresh tomatoes or canned tomatoes or a combo. This stuff is REALLY good - I have people beg for it, if I’m giving out canning presents. I do use lime juice.
Wonderful Salsa
https://chickensintheroad.com/farm-bell-recipes/wonderful-salsa/?fbclid=IwAR2cFZuneUpWIzUswl-k4HQNtaUrtyY-YJ_KMzC8ylupKmtspSBnQALLW44
Everything below is from the link:
Ingredients
8 cups tomatoes – can use three 28/29 oz. cans tomatoes, well drained (I buy petite diced when I can find them on sale)
2 ½ cups diced onion
1 ½ cup diced green bell pepper
1 cup diced hot peppers (I usually use all banana peppers)
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. canning salt
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup white vinegar
29 oz. can of tomato puree
1 ½ cups tomato sauce
1/4 cup bottled lime juice*
Directions
Mix everything together in a large saucepan. Bring slowly to a boil & boil gently for ten minutes (or less – be sure the onions & peppers remain somewhat crisp).
NOTE: At this point you could cool & refrigerate & use without canning if desired.
Pour into hot jars, cap with hot rings & lids.
Process in boiling water bath for 15 minutes.
Yield: 7 to 8 pints.
A happy note to add here: David (tractor57) tested this recipe after making it with commercially canned tomato products (whose label states that citric acid has been added) and the pH was 4.1 – more acidic than the required magic number of pH 4.6 for safe preserving via boiling water bath.
*I started adding the lime juice to increase the acidity when I was making this with fresh tomatoes. I’m adding that in – it’s terrific!
Corgettes? Just be sure to be careful of rogue cucurbitacins.
This is a story about the incident I remember, Summer of 2015:
https://www.thelocal.de/20150821/courgette-stew-kills-pensioner-in-heidelberg
This happened last month: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/12134566/mum-poisoned-rogue-courgettes/
(The latter is making think of the seed packets people claim to be finding in the mail.)