partners in crime

the following "staple" dish was served at home, always usually on a sunday night, to go with bulgur pilav .... and for good reason: they go together excellently. of course, it can be partnered with rice or orzo pilav just as nicely, and alongside a salad, it makes for a nice light meal.

the recipe, written on a very old yellowed card by some relative, was like many (sephardic) recipes — totally unclear about the measurements. much of the time you'd see just the name of the ingredient(s) and it was kind of assumed you knew what to do unless, of course, there was something specific or special about what you were making. over the years, however, this one was deciphered and resulted in the following.

hope you like it — simple, uncomplicated and always good!

berenjena kon kyma (karne)
eggplant with ground beef

serves 3 - 4 people, easily doubled or tripled if wanted

ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
150 g (a little more than 1/4 lb) ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, diced
6 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tsp (approx) salt
1/8 tsp black pepper (or more) - hot red pepper flakes, too, if you like spicy
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp pomegranate syrup*
1 tsp red pepper paste, if wanted
3 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

1 "kupa"/turkish tea cup = 1/2 c water

3 tbsp fried pinenuts & extra chopped parsley for garnish, if wanted

*if desperate or you can't get it, substitute 1/2 tsp molasses + 1/2 tsp lemon juice; it's not the same thing but close enough. try to use pomegranate syrup!

method:

prepare the eggplant —

wash and dry your eggplant. then take a sharp paring knife and, beginning from the bottom end to the stem end, remove a 1/2 inch strip of skin. don't cut too deeply. repeat this every inch or so until you have a striped pattern.

cut the eggplant in approximately 1 inch slices (rounds).

place the eggplants in a wide bowl and sprinkle a lot of salt on them, on each side. cover with cool water and let sit for about 45 minutes.

after 45 minutes, rinse under water and squeeze them dry. repeat and place on a plate with paper towel.


fry the eggplant —

heat a [cast iron] fry pan (if you have one, it's the best way) over medium heat for about 5 minutes. add 2 tbsp oil and fry the eggplant on one side until it is browned. don't burn it. turn them over and add another 2 tbsp oil (or brush the oil on top of the eggplant rounds) and fry until the other side is browned.

place these on a plate and set aside to cool.


make the meat layer —

in the same pan, over medium heat, add another 2 tbsp oil and fry the onion until it is almost browned. add the garlic and fry for another 2 to 3 minutes.

add the meat and fry it for about 10 minutes or until it is cooked.

add the diced tomato and fry the mixture for 5 minutes.

add the spices and parsley and cook it for about 1 minute.

remove from the heat and let it cool a bit while you put the dish together.

assembling your layers —

in a pot with a lid that can accommodate ONE LAYER of the cooked eggplant, place the slices side by side.

add the meat layer on top of the eggplant layer and deglaze your pan.

take 1/2 c of water and place it in the fry pan you cooked the meat in. heat it up and stir it to release the flavours of what you just fried. important: if you burned anything, then just add the water straight to the finished layered dish; don't deglaze your pan or the final dish will not taste good.

add the deglazed liquid to the eggplant and meat layers.


cover the pot with its lid and cook the mixture for 30 minutes over medium low heat or until all the liquid has been absorbed. if you have a little liquid, that is okay.

once cooked, the top of it won't look so nice but once you serve it out, it will look fine :)


serve the finished dish with bulgur pilav or rice or orzo pilav. garnish with fried pine nuts and finely chopped parsley, if wanted.

enjoy!

kitchen essentials — roasting an eggplant; the direct heat method

many months ago, i posted an entry on how to roast eggplants on the stovetop. that method, in my opinion, is (still) the best way to do it. unfortunately, not everyone has a grill type pan which elevates the food one is cooking off the direct heat. this, however, isn't really a problem; you'll see from this new post that you CAN roast directly on a heat source albeit with a minor modification. the reason i prefer the grill pan, and recommend buying one, is the heat the cast iron generates and smoked/grilled flavour it imparts on the foods one cooks on it. there definitely is a difference.

the following way to roast eggplants involves nothing but eggplants, tin (aluminum) foil and 60 minutes of your time. it also does the same job as using a grill pan but saves on the clean up as you will just throw out the tin foil once the eggplants are cooked. i will admit, there is a less of a pronounced smoked flavour with this method, as compared with the other one, but it is still decent and something which the average home cook can do with no problem. the bonus to this method is that you can actually roast up to 4 eggplants at a time, provided you have 4 burners.

what about the oven method, you say? the answer for me on that one is: NO! i've tried it on more than one occasion and it does not yield the same results. the flavour you are left with is quite insipid. the oven method also uses much more energy than when done on stovetop and heats up your kitchen tremendously.


the "direct heat" method for roasting eggplants

ingredients/items needed:

eggplant(s) - make sure they are not bent or curved
tin foil - try to use the heavy duty kind (like for bbq'ing)

electric (or gas) stove top element
tongs to turn the eggplant or use two soup spoons

method:

wash your eggplant(s) and pierce them in several spots all around with the tip of a knife. set aside.

take a piece of tin foil that will be long enough to wrap over the eggplant and completely cover it. this is important as you don't want any messes with liquid dripping out.

turn on the heat of the cooking element to medium high while you wrap the eggplant. make sure there is nothing around the element that may catch fire or anyone whose fingers may touch it!

place the eggplant on the foil as shown below.

fold one side over.

fold the next side over.

use the rest of the foil to cover the eggplant so it is enveloped.

if using regular tin foil, REPEAT again. if using the heavy duty kind, once should be enough but just make sure it is completely wrapped with no holes or openings.

set the eggplant on the heat and let it cook for 12 minutes (i advise setting a time to remind you or mark down the time on a piece of paper). no, it won't burn! just make sure you don't have the heat up too high.

after 12 minutes, turn the eggplant a quarter turn and let it cook for another 12 minutes. REPEAT this until you have roasted all 4 sides.

once all 4 sides have roasted, take the eggplant and sit it upright and let it roast now for 10 minutes only.

carefully place the unwrapped eggplant on a baking sheet and let it cool for about 15 minutes.

open up the the tin foil to reveal your roasted eggplant.


and, if you don't know already.......

how to prepare your roasted eggplant

make an "I" shaped incision along its length. make the cross cuts (top and bottom of the "I" at the blossom and stem ends.

open up the eggplant from each side.

using a spoon, remove the seed pods. these are considered to make the flavour of the eggplant bitter. they also affect the texture and make your final dish "gritty" if they are kept in.

once all the seeds have been removed, take the spoon and remove the flesh from the eggplant and place it in a dish. don't forget to scrape close to the skin as a lot of the (smoked) flavour is located there.

use as directed by your recipe.

enjoy!

two for one — a versatile israeli appetizer

eaten throughout israel and abroad, this specific appetizer is well loved in the jewish community and seen at almost every function. i guess it could be considered a standard.

it can be served two ways, either plain or with a small amount of mayonnaise making it creamier and richer. most people prefer one or the other. it wasn't until recently that i liked the one with mayonnaise.

many different versions exist for this roasted eggplant dip and everyone, it seems, has his or her own particular way of making it to personalize and call it one's own. having tried many different mutations over the years, i still like this one as it is plain and simple and shows off its main ingredient — smoky roasted eggplant and not much else.


israeli roasted eggplant appetizer
(salat hatzileem — סלט חצילים)

i guess this could be considered baba gannoush's less robust sibling. made without the addition of tehina paste, this version is somewhat lighter but in no way inferior. always served at either room temperature or slightly cold, this appetizer is great for anytime.

ingredients:

1 roasted eggplant
1 large clove garlic, finely minced
1/3 c finely chopped onion*
1 tsp salt
sugar to taste, opt.
1/4 tsp black pepper

2 tbsp extra v olive oil
(some people use regular vegetable oil)

juice of 1/2 small lemon

2 tbsp mayonnaise, optional
1 - 2 tbsp chopped parsley, opt.

method:

*measure your chopped onions and place them in a small bowl. add a heaped 1/3 tsp salt and mix well. let it sit for 1 hour. this step is optional but it helps to extract and break down any harshness the onion may have. after one hour, drain the onions and discard any juices. there may be little juices as it is a small amount here. if making a larger amount of onion, adjust the salt accordingly. also note that some people don't add onion at all, only garlic.

roast your eggplant (instructions here) and finely chop the pulp. set aside.

note that you can either finely chop the eggplant or do as some people do and purée it in a food processor or blender. some aficionados of this prefer a perfectly smooth texture.

mince the garlic and add it to the eggplant. add the drained onion and stir.

add the salt (sugar if using) and pepper along with the lemon juice and the olive oil. stir again.

at this point, this version is done. it needs to sit for a few hours in the refrigerator before serving.

if you want version 2, then add the mayonnaise. the mayonnaise will change its colour to a nice beige.

chopped parsley can be added to either; i tend to make it without any.

serve with pita, crackers, challah or crudités.

enjoy & b'téavon! (bon appétit)

kitchen essentials — how to roast an eggplant

many appetizer dishes call for using roasted eggplant. while there are different ways to do it, i prefer using the stovetop or barbeque. it makes a lot less heat than doing it the oven and gives, in my opinion, a more smoked flavour to the eggplant.

it can be done in a cast iron (grill) pan or on the hobs of an gas stove. if doing it directly on the hob, it maybe be a good idea to loosely wrap the eggplant in tin foil after having pricked it in several spots.

it will take up to an hour for the whole procedure, so plan around it and keep and eye out to prevent burning.

roasting an eggplant (stovetop)

ingredients:

eggplant(s)

method:

wash the eggplant(s) while heating your grill pan over medium heat. i like using the cast iron ones with grilling ridges so that it does not make direct contact with the heat of the pan and burn before being cooked on each side.

prick the eggplant with a toothpick or a fork in several spots to avoid the eggplant swelling and possibly exploding while roasting.

i like to sit the eggplant bottom down for the first 10 minutes in the pan.

next is to roast it for 10 minutes on four of its sides.

by the last turn, it will have started to ooze juices — that's fine.

carefully remove the eggplant to a plate or chopping board and let it cool.

once cooled, make a vertical incision from the stem end to the bottom and then two more cuts across the top and bottom, as if writing the letter "I". open up the eggplant and start to scoop out the flesh, scraping right against the skin as that is where the grilled flavour is most intense.

discard the seed pods. a few seeds left is okay but it is considered more refined not to include many of them. some people say it makes the dish you're making bitter. i personally just don't like an abundance of the seeds in whatever i am making.

store the eggplant in the fridge until using. most of the time, the flesh is either finely chopped or puréed in a processor but that will depend upon the instructions in your recipe.

happy roasting :)

a favourite appetizer

seen on every mezze (appetizer) table, this is hardly anything new or novel. rather, it is a just a good and easy-to-make recipe for something that almost everyone enjoys when it comes to middle eastern type fare.

part of its charm is the fact that it is made from roasted eggplant which gives it its characteristic smoky flavour. i prefer using a grill pan on top the stove or the barbeque to do this but you can also do it in the oven with okay results. in addition, it works perfectly if you're so lucky as to own a gas stove, where it can be roasted over the hobs. just pierce it in several spots to avoid exploding eggplants bombs!

whichever way you choose, the results will be rewarding.


baba gannoush (moutabal)

perfect for serving at parties, as part of a buffet or just to have on hand for everyday noshing, the following roasted eggplant dip is always well-appreciated. this recipe makes enough for a few people, so you may want to double or triple it to serve a crowd.

serves 4 - 6 people, approx.

ingredients:

1 good sized eggplant, roasted

4 - 5 tbsp tahina (sesame seed) paste
juice of 1/2 large lemon or 1 small one*
3/4 - 1 tsp salt
1 large clove garlic*
1/2 - 1 tsp sugar* (optional)

4 tbsp olive oil
1/4 c chopped parsley

*note that this may not seem like much in comparison to other recipes but i find less is more, so to speak. there is nothing worse than only tasting the predominating harsh flavour of garlic and lemon, with no roasted eggplant in the spotlight. use these two ingredients judiciously; you can always add more later. too much of anything ruins a dish, especially after all your hard work. i also add sugar to balance the acidity, especially when the lemons are considerably acidic.

method:

roast the eggplant and remove all the pulp. try to get rid of as many seeds as you can. (choose a male eggplant to begin with!). i like to finely chop the pulp with a knife and make it by hand. you can do it in a processor buy why waste extra time washing up unnecessary things?

mash the garlic with 1/4 tsp kosher salt. it should be a paste. this is easily done in a mortar or the back of a knife.

place the chopped pulp in a bowl and add the tehina paste and mashed garlic. mix it well. it will turn a beige colour.

add the lemon juice and oil. mix again.

add salt and sugar (i use about 3/4 - 1 tsp of each) and the chopped parsley. taste and adjust with more seasonings, oil and/or lemon.

mix well and refrigerate until serving.

recipe note: to add extra richness to this, though not traditional, you can also add 2 to 3 tbsp of mayonnaise.

serve with pita or crackers or crudités (vegetables).

enjoy!

kitchen essentials — is your eggplant a boy or a girl?

okay, so you're probably wondering what in the world i'm talking about ..... and asking yourself why you would even need to know the sex of your eggplant?!

apparently, you can tell whether your aubergine is male or female from the marking on its bottom. the female will have a round brown one, and the male, a small line instead. this is relevant in terms of cooking because the male fruit, or vegetable as we generally call it, contains fewer seeds than the female, making it the better choice for many dishes. of course, the older the eggplant is (harvested), the more developed and tougher any seeds it does have will be. i'm not sure if this works with all types of eggplant, though.

example of a male eggplant:

note the straight line across the center

almost no seeds inside [this time, at least! i've been duped in the past but it often works — of course, someone may turn around and comment that this is total BS but it's still fun to believe it's true. and hey, here's the proof before your very eyes.... and this was a fairly large eggplant] :

very few seeds ....