Eggplant recipes

[rosyposy]

We planted some eggplant plants that have very long slender fruit, instead of the rounder variety we expected. I desperately need some recipes. Only prepared fried eggplant before, so at a loss as to what to do. Help!
Catherine

[gardeningmom]

My favorite way is to make parmesan. Peel and thinly slice the eggplant. Salt and let sit for several hours to release the bitter liquid. Then lightly flour and frie the slices. Thenk layer in casserole dish with spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese (we don't use mozzarella but go for it if you like). Bake until heated through.

I actually love this leftover cold on white bread!

[PlantSwap]

That sounds like Japanese eggplant. It's really good in stir frys. Some ideas:

http://japanesefood.about.com/od/veg...ngeggplant.htm

[Mandy]

We've used that variety in stir frys and it's delicious! I'm going to check out that link. Thank you PlantSwap!

[rosyposy]

Thank you one and all. I checked the japanese eggplant website. Mine are much longer and thinner than the one pictured. Another question - how long should I wait before harvesting? I have no idea when they are ready to harvest.
Catherine

[onyx]

You can pickle eggplant! Japanese have pickled eggplants.. Their name for pickling is Tsukemono, there's hundreds of recipes for all kinds of tsukemono, eggplants, ginger, plums, etc. Korean's also have pickled eggplants, their pickled stuff is called kimchi & there's about 200 varieties of kimchi. I'm still learning about Tsukemono.. I have a kimchi book around here somewhere that has eggplant recipes... I'll have to dig around & look for it.

Meanwhile, here's another idea: One time my mom made a lasagna with eggplant strips, instead of the regular noodles & it was awesome. She made ours vegetarian, but it would still taste good with meat sauce, if that's your thing. You can bread & fry the strips for added "meatiness", if you want.. I would give you a recipe, but, I don't know exactly how she did it. I'm sure you could just use your current method of making lasagna, just replace the noodle part with eggplant. Or you could just cube or slice up the eggplant & make it part of the sauce you add to the noodles. That would be good

Some more recipes:

Mini Eggplant Burgers:

Ingredients:
1 eggplant, peeled & cut into 1/2 inch slices
Sea Salt
4c Unbleached white flour
1/4 tsp. Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp. Onion Powder
1/4 tsp. Basil (even better if you grow your own)
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper
oil for frying (whatever you like to use, olive, corn, etc)

Sprinkle a little salt over your eggplant pieces & mix well, so the salt gets distributed all over the eggplant pieces. Let them sit for about 20 minutes, to draw out the moisture, then pat them dry with paper towels & set them aside.

Mix the flower with the garlic powder, onion powder, basil & black pepper. Dip your eggplant pieces in the flour mixture, shaking off any excess. Deep fry in a skillet that has about 3/4 of an inch of hot oil, until the eggplant is golden brown. Drain them on paper towels & dress as you would a normal burger, put in between small buns or biscuits & eat them.

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Eggplant & Tomatoes:

Ingredients:

4 c. Eggplant, sliced 1/8 to 1/4 inches thick
1 T. Olive Oil
1 1/2 c. Onions, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Jalapenos, minced
1 1/2 tsp. Garlic, minced
3 c. Tomatoes, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. Sea Salt
1/8 tsp. Cayenne pepper

Heavily salt both sides of the eggplant slices, let them sit for about an hour, then wipe off the salt & liquid. Gently press the slices between absorbent towels, squeezing out as much liquid as possible. Saute the eggplant in half the oil until it becomes soft. Set aside on paper towels to drain the excess oil. In the rest of the oil, saute the onions, and jalapenos until the onions are soft. Add the garlic and tomatoes and cook for about two minutes. Add the eggplant, salt, and cayenne pepper. Cook until most of the liquid has evaporated.

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Gaeng Kiow Wahn Gai | Green Chicken Curry:

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast
2 chicken thighs
1/2 c. coconut cream
1/4 c. green curry paste
3 c. coconut milk
1 1/2 c. cubed eggplant (cubes should be about 1 inch)
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 T. palm sugar or brown sugar
1/2 t. salt
12 lime leaves
1/2 c. fresh basil leaves
3 fresh red chilis, sliced on the diagonal, into ovals about 1/2 inch thick, or use about 9 long, thin sweet red pepper strips (you can use whatever pepper you like- doesn't have to be a bell pepper or a chee fah chili. - Korean chilis work well for this, too!)

Bone & skin the chicken breast & thighs (or buy them boneless & skinless LOL)- whatever you do, you should have about 1 lb of meat. Cut the meat into large bite-sized pieces & then set it aside.

In a medium, heavy bottomed saucepan warm the coconut cream over medium heat until it boils gently. Adjust the heat to maintain a gentle boil and cook for 6 to 8 minutes, stirring occasionally. The coconut milk will become fragrant as it thickens. When you see tiny pools of oil glistening on the surface, add the curry paste and stir to dissolve it into the coconut cream. Continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes.

Add the chicken pieces and stir fry for 1 to to minutes to coat them evenly with the paste. Cook for about 2 minutes. Increase the heat and add the coconut milk, eggplant, fish sauce, sugar and salt, then stir it well. Stir in 6 of the lime leaves, adjust the heat to maintain a gentle active boil and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste and adjust the seasoning with a little more fish sauce, sugar or curry paste.

When the chicken is done & the eggplant is tender, remove from heat & transfer to a serving bowl. Scatter the basil leaves, pepper slices, and the remaining 6 lime leaves on top & serve the dish hot or warm.

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Kajitchim | Steamed Stuffed Eggplant (The kind you are growing):

Ingredients:

3 eggplants
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
2 oz ground beef
1/2 cake bean curd (tofu)
1 onion, sliced thinly
1/2 green onion, chopped thinly
1 clove garlic, minced
1 T. red pepper paste
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. sesame salt (roasted sesame seeds)
1 T. sesame oil
1/2 c. broth (beef/chicken- whatever's handy)

Cut the eggplant in half (not long ways, just if you're looking at it, cut it in half, so it's still round shaped). Take one of the cut halves & slice it 3/4 of the way down (as if you were going to cut it long ways). Don't cut all the way through it. Then turn it & cut it again. - If you're having trouble imagining what I'm talking about, here's a video clip of a lady called Maangchi making some oisobagi kimchi (cucumber kimchi). She is cutting the cucumbers how you should cut the eggplant halves.

After you have cut the eggplant, add ground beef to a bowl, then squeeze out the excess water from the tofu. Mix the beef & tofu with a little salt & pepper, along with the red pepper paste, minced garlic, 3/4 of the thinly sliced green onion. Put the thinly sliced onions on the bottom of a pot, and add the beef or chicken broth & simmer until the eggplant is tender & the meat is cooked. You can also steam the eggplants in a steamer, with the onions & broth at the bottom.

In a small bowl to the side add soy sauce, green onions & sesame salt.

You can dip your stuffed eggplant into the soy sauce mixture for added flavor.

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Chaeso Chon | Fried Vegetables:

Ingredients:

Eggplant
Potato
Zucchini
Carrot
Green peppers
Onion
1 c. Flour
1 c. Water
1 T. Salt

Add water to the salt & flour. Mix well.

Cut potato into 1/8 inch thick slices. Dredge in flour, dip into the flour paste & fry in a heated, oiled pan.

Fry the eggplant & zucchini the same way.

You might want to slice the leftover pieces of the potato, eggplant & zucchini into thin strips and mix them with strips of green peppers, carrots & onions. Add an egg to the paste. Dip the vegetables in it & fry it the same way. (like tempura)

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There ya go.

[marasri]

I love stir fry eggplant onion dried mushroom and meat of your choice, and then add a thai curry sauce (red, green) cooked in coconut cream. You can get the curry past from oriental stores. Add Thai Basel and/or Kefir lime (magrud) to it. Often the thai like to julien it and stir fry it on medium heat dry, without oil.

[marasri]

OH, I forgot, Japanese love to tempora their thin bodied egglant. The italians have a really fine pickled eggplant. as a teenager I would get it from the Italian market in Philadelphia.. God, I would love to find that recipe.

[onyx]

those sound yummy, marasri! *drools* lol you can get the curry online, too.. importfoods.com has a bunch of thai ingredients & recipes available on their website. mmm curry. lol

[onyx]

Thank you one and all. I checked the japanese eggplant website. Mine are much longer and thinner than the one pictured. Another question - how long should I wait before harvesting? I have no idea when they are ready to harvest.
Catherine

oh are these the kind you have? http://www.evergreenseeds.com/koeghyblco.html

[marasri]

When thery are nice and purple unless you got the lavedar coloered ones. I think that evev if thy can grow further , they still taste good, Damn, I am having a senior moment and I can't access the french eggplant stew dish name that I love and cook. Basically cut and salt egglant and wait 45 min, cut onions, green peppers, olives. Saute, onions, then add, eggplant, and then green peppers and olives. add a small amount of white wine and cook 30 -45 min. I can't be more exact than that. Ive been cooking it for 40 years, long enough to forget the name. I cook it till the egg plants get soft and breakdown a bit but not totally. I got it, Ratatoulle, now guys, don't laugh at my spelling. Only my husband is allowed to laugh at that.

[PepperDude]

Here ya go! There's bound to be one ya like?

http://www.aubergines.org/recipes.php