Lycopene Stew

This week I am up to the neck in obligations... but somehow I couldn't resist making a giant pot of eggplant mush.

As usual with eggplant mush: tastes delicious, looks strangely nasty.

This eggplant salad is inspired by the so-called "house eggplant" at Falafel King, a Mediterranean chain in Denver and Boulder. I frequented Falafel King in middle school and I recall that the pita sandwiches -- which always broke at the bottom and bled copious amounts of tomato sauce and tahini dressing -- reminded me of eggplant sloppy joes.

The key to this salad is a long cooking time, allowing the tomato paste to become richer in flavor. Note that I made a double recipe so that I'll have plenty left over -- the massive quantity you see in the photos is completely unnecessary.

Ingredients
1 medium/large eggplant
1 large or 2 small onions
1 red bell pepper or 2 slender sweet peppers
1/2 jalapeño
3 cloves garlic (no joke)
1 1/2 small cans tomato paste
salt, pepper, cumin, coriander
1 pinch sugar
lots of olive oil

Cut the onions and peppers into thin slivers. Saute in olive oil until somewhat softened.  Meanwhile, cut eggplant into slivers.

Ancient sweet peppers are kind of cool-looking.

These large chunks of jalapeños are somewhat ballsy -- you can dice them if you wish.

You can't tell from this picture, but this eggplant is 14" long. I've nicknamed it "Dolly."

Fries! Or... not.

Add tomato paste, crushed garlic, and a generous swoop of olive oil to the onions. Saute the tomato paste until it darkens, stirring frequently to avoid burning, ca. 10 minutes.

Mmm.  <--- brilliant caption

Add eggplant slivers and coat with tomato mixture. Add about 2 cups water and cover.

Cook on medium until eggplants gradually reduce down and soften. Stir relatively frequently and add water as necessary. The sauce should have the approximate consistency of marinara. When the eggplants are so soft that you can cut through them with a fork, the salad is done.

About 10 minutes in.

About 30 minutes in. Note that it will take less time if you avoid using giant genetically-modified eggplants.

Turn off heat. Season with salt, pepper, a pinch of sugar, and desired spices -- I suggest cumin and coriander, but you can experiment as you wish. Chopped fresh parsley couldn't hurt, either.

Serving suggestions: eat inside falafel sandwiches (of course), on rice or couscous, on bread as an appetizer, or straight out of the bowl. It's lycopene-lickin' good.

Eggplants of Chinatown, Episode 2: Eggplant with garlic sauce

Last week I paid another visit to Lao Sze Chuan in Chicago's Chinatown -- but I was discouraged from being adventurous owing to my negative experience last time, in which my eggplant dish swam in so much oil that it gave me indigestion. This visit, I opted for the boring but ever-tasty eggplant with garlic sauce, a safe choice. 

Facts:

This dish is delicious.
I am incapable of making it.
This needs to change. 

And since most of us know what eggplant with garlic sauce tastes like, this entry is now terminated.


BUT WAIT
I made leek and fennel tarts today! They... may or may not have excluded eggplant... but a photo couldn't hurt... because I'll put eggplant in the next tarts, I promise...

My form of "studying" for my French translation exam tomorrow. Caramelized leeks, fennel, onions, custard, with some asparagus on top and a rosemary olive oil crust.

Eggplants in Seattle, Episode 3: Issaquah Farmer’s Market

The farmer’s market in Issaquah is one of the largest and nicest I’ve seen, including about half a dozen flower stalls, bakeries, food stands, fresh pasta in bizarre flavors, dozens of fruit and vegetable vendors, handmade soaps and crafts, and even live entertainment. In a setting like this, eggplants weren’t hard to find.  I observed them peeking around every corner.

But for the most part, the market did not feature unusual varieties of eggplant. The sole exception was Darrell from Westover Farm in Maple Valley, who sells a Japanese/Chinese variety called Kaga Nasu. These large, bulbous eggplants are special in that they are virtually seedless. Westover Farm attests that they are the only vendor for this variety in the area, with the next closest residing in Portland.

"Nasu" meaning "eggplant" in Japanese

At this stage, I would normally demonstrate what I did with the Kaga Nasu eggplant we bought – Farmer Darrell recommended slicing it into thick “steaks” and grilling with olive oil – but on our busy trip, we didn’t have a chance to cook it before the top of the eggplant softened with rot. I cut the top off and left it in my grandparents’ fridge, where it hopefully will get chopped up and put in the daily frittata. Ah vell.

Also, one more note: GRILLING. OMG. I don’t have a grill, and therefore can’t fully express to you the wonders of grilled eggplant.

The product of my uncle's master-grilling.

 In the meantime, I’m going to experiment with attaining that smoky flavor in the oven. Supposedly if you coat the eggplant skin in oil first before baking it, the burning oil smokes the eggplant slightly, but I have yet to attain good results.