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<pre>Kaye, many thanks for your olive oil/aubergine recipes and the various leads
Edward [Sussex, England]
-----Original Message-----
From: Kayenoble@aol.com <Kayenoble@aol.com>
To: OliveOil@onelist.com <OliveOil@onelist.com>
Date: 06 August 1999 21:41
Subject: [OliveOil] More Aubergine/Eggplant Recipes


>From: Kayenoble@aol.com
>
>I was finally able to access Paula Wolfert's site
>(http://www.paula-wolfert.com/ <A
HREF="http://www.paula-wolfert.com/">Click
>here: Welcome to Paula Wolfert's Web Site</A> ) today and she has the
>following two aubergine/eggplant recipes. Though not Syrian, they sound
good,
>and as usual, her tips are most helpful.
>
>http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/caviar.html <A
>HREF="http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/caviar.html">Click here: Recipe:
>Mediterranean Caviar</A>
>
>Mediterranean Caviar
>
>The following spread, served cool on toasted slices of French bread, is a
>combination of eggplant caviar and the famous samfaina of Catalonia.
Samfaina
>is a ratatouille-style garnish of tomatoes, onions, peppers, and eggplant
>cooked down to a marmalade and used to accompany fish, poultry, and meat.
>Though its ingredients are classically Mediterranean, a really first-rate
>samfaina is not easy to make. The Catalan food commentator Josef Pla has
>called it "a dish of optimism." Made properly in autumn, when its
component
>vegetables are in a state of absolute perfection, it becomes a truly great
>thing-- great enough, to paraphrase Pla, to give one optimism about the
>possibility of perfection on this earth.
>
>Makes about 1 1/4 cups
>
>1 eggplant (1 1/4 pounds) firm, smooth-skinned
>3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
>1 medium onion, sliced thin
>1 large, fleshy sweet red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and cut into small
>squares
>1 small green bell pepper, cored, stemmed, seeded, and cut into small cubes
>1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped, or 1/2 cup drained canned
plum
>tomatoes, seeds discarded
>3 garlic cloves, minced 2 flat anchovy fillets, drained and crushed with a
>fork
>salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
>
>1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prick the eggplant; brush it with 1
>tablespoon of the olive oil, and place it in a baking dish. Bake 40
minutes,
>turning midway. Place the peppers (red and green) in a baking dish and set
>in the oven to bake for 20 minutes, stirring them midway, too.
>
>2. Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil over low heat in a heavy
>skillet; add the onion and 3 tablespoons of water, and cook, stirring , for
>10 minutes. Add the tomato and cook until very thick, about 5 minutes.
Add
>the baked peppers and the garlic, and cook over a low heat, stirring,
until
>the mixture thickens, about 10 minutes. Fold in the anchovies and cook 1
to
>2 minutes. Leave the mixture in the skillet off the heat.
>
>3. Remove the eggplant when it is completely soft and the skin is
blistery.
>Scrape the flesh from the skin (this is very easy if you first split the
>cooked eggplant lengthwise while still hot, then allow it to cool for 10
>minutes under a kitchen towel). Discard any hard seeds and the skin. (See
>note.)
>
>4. On a wooden work surface, mash the eggplant with a wooden spoon until
>smooth. At the same time work in the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
>Add the eggplant, salt, and pepper to the other vegetables. Fry,
constantly
>stirring, until all the liquid evaporates and there are only oil and
>vegetables left, about 15 minutes. Stir carefully to avoid scorching but
be
>sure to allow the mixture to become somewhat dark in color. Season to
taste.
> Cool, cover, and refrigerate the mixture until you are ready to serve.
>Return it to room temperature before serving.
>
>Note to the Cook:
>However carefully you select them, some eggplants will be extremely bitter.
>After scraping off the baked skin, taste the flesh; if necessary squeeze
the
>warm pulp through the fingers to remove the bitter juices.
>---------------------------------------------------------------------------
---
>---------------------
>http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/chop_liver.html <A
>HREF="http://www.paula-wolfert.com/recipes/chop_liver.html">Click here:
>Recipe: "Chopped Liver" Made with Eggplant (Israel)</A>
>
>"Chopped Liver" made with Eggplant (Israel)
>
> "This dish was developed in the late forties, when there was hardly any
>meat here and food was rationed," writes Israeli food writer, Dalia
Lamdani,
>in a letter to me from Tel Aviv. Dalia is describing the background of this
>vegetarian "chopped liver" salad in which eggplant stands in for the liver.
>She goes on:"The dish lost its popularity as the economy improved and
nobody
>wanted to remember the hard times. It reemerged in the nineties, and pops
up
>now in the most unlikely places----Arab restaurants, the deli corner of a
>supermarket chain, even in the latest edition (1991) of the IDF (Israeli
>Defense Forces) cookbook."
>
> Some cooks have a talent for frying eggplant without needing to add
more
>oil to the pan. Others find they must keep adding oil, and so end up with a
>heavy dish. Because frying really enhances the flavor of an eggplant salad,
>I've devised a solution based on a method I learned years ago in Morocco:
Fry
>as many slices as possible with the amount of oil specified in the recipe;
>when you run out of oil, steam the remaining slices, then crush all the
>slices (fried and steamed) in the skillet, stirring constantly over medium
>heat until all the moisture has evaporated and the oil is released. This
way
>all the eggplant is imbued with the same good fried-eggplant flavor. Since
>you want coarse texture, please don't puree the slices in a food processor.
>
>
>Serves 6 to 8 and makes 1 quart
>
>2 1-pound eggplants, peeled and sliced
>Coarse salt
>Flour for dusting the eggplant slices
>4 tablespoons olive oil
>2 cups finely chopped onions
>3 hard-cooked eggs, shelled
>Freshly ground pepper
>
>1. Lightly salt the eggplants and leave to drain in a colander for 30
>minutes.
>
>2. Rinse, squeeze and dry the slices. Dust them with flour and fry in
batches
>in hot oil until brown on both sides. Drain eggplant in a colander. When
you
>need more oil, add the remaining eggplant to the skillet, cover and steam
the
>slices until tender. Return the fried slices to the skillet and over medium
>heat, cook and gently crush all the eggplant with the back of a spatula
until
>the oil is released and the contents begin to fry. When the eggplant is
>lightly browned but still retains some texture remove from the skillet and
>let cool.
>
>3. Add the onions, 1 teaspoon salt and 1 cup water to the oil left in the
>skillet and cook for 20 minutes. (Most of the water should have
evaporated.)
>Uncover and let the mixture slowly turn golden, stirring occasionally.
Remove
>from the heat and let cool.
>
>4. In a wooden bowl, or on a wooden work-surface, combine the eggplant with
>the onions and eggs, chopping until well blended. Season with salt and
pepper
>and serve chilled.
>
>
>
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</pre>
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