A Tale of Two Eggplants - or rather one eggplant two ways

I was so happy when I saw this beautiful eggplant in my share last week. I love eggplant, but have never actually cooked it myself. A new adventure. I just love a new adventure.

Pretty purple eggplant

I searched for recipes, as usual wanting to find ones where I had all the ingredients already in my house. Let's say it is because I want to use all the in-season ingredients in my CSA and not because I'm too lazy to go into a grocery store unless I'm out of coffee.

So many wonderful options. Seriously, this is an all-around good vegetable. But I only had one eggplant. I finally decided to divide it in two and make two recipes. The first is mostly based on this one from Real Simple, though I cut it in half (http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/curried-eggplant-tomatoes-basil-00000000011403/index.html). Why? Because my friend Rob said he likes curry. I do too. And it is awesome in this recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 5 tomatoes, cut into 1/2 in. pieces (approx. depends on size and how much tomato you like)
• 1/2 eggplant cut into 1/2 in. pieces
• Olive oil as described below (or other veggie oil. Does not need to be olive for this recipe)
• 1 tsp. curry powder (maybe a bit more if you like curry like I like curry)
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 1 cup water or vegetable broth
• 1/2 can of cannellini beans 
• 1/4 cup basil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Greek yogurt or sour cream to top (optional)
• Rice or whatever you want to serve the eggplant curry over. I used Forbidden Rice (AKA Black Rice, but that doesn't sound as cool)

Directions:

Coat the bottom of a pan with oil. Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes, eggplant, curry powder, red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper. Cook and stir for about 2 minutes. Add water and bring to a boil before reducing heat to a simmer and partially covering. Cook for about 15 minutes, or until eggplant is tender.

Uncover and stir in beans. Cook for about 3 minutes to heat through. Remove from heat. Stir in basil.

Smells devine!

Serve over whatever rice, pasta, potato, quinoa, grain, etc. that you want. Top with Greek yogurt or sour cream if desired.

Yummy finished eggplant curry.

With the other half of the eggplant I made a Martha Stewart recipe for eggplant-tomato relish. Don't diss Martha. She is like Chuck Norris, only you'd eat well with her and say it is a good thing.

Ingredients:

• 1 14 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes, torn into small pieces (I would have used fresh, but Martha said a can... and I'd used the fresh ones I had in the curry. Include juices.)
• 1/2 eggplant
• 2 unpeeled garlic cloves (or 2 cloves of garlic you've already roasted)
• 1/4 small red onion, diced (I used half, but it was a very tiny red onion)
• Olive oil
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450. On a rimmed baking sheet, stir together tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves (unless using already roasted), and cumin and a drizzle of olive oil. Place half eggplant on top of mixture, cut side covered with tinfoil and up. Roast until eggplant is very tender and tomato juices are thick, about 25-30 min. Let cool. Scrape out flesh of eggplant (discarding seeds if there are a lot) and roughly chop the flesh. Place in a bowl. Peel and cop garlic and add to the bowl. (If using pre-roasted garlic, add it now as well.) Stir in tomato and red mixture from baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper.

Uses:

This is great on toasted french bread or thin with some pasta water or wine and toss with pasta of your choice. Or just eat with pita chips. I didn't take any photos. My bad.

As I said, I love a new adventure. Here is another adventure I tried right after making these eggplant dishes. It was way more exciting. Way.

Skydiving adventure, thanks to the very able, always smiling, lovable JT.

So these are the adventurous things on my plate at the moment. Hope what is on your's is keeping life just as interesting and joyful. 

Potatoes & Green Beans in (Turkey) Bacon Balsamic Reduction

I confess: I love rich, complex-flavored sauces. I'm not ashamed to lick my plate when I'm done, or better yet sop the remainder up with some good, fresh-baked bread. Normally I'd find this a bit too heavy for summer, but we had thundershowers so I had an excuse to eat something hearty while curled up with a good book and the Norah Jones station on Pandora. You get the picture.

Dinner, book, wine, snuggly couch = perfect. You should look up the Latin on the paperweight.

Ingredients:

• Potatoes cut into about 1 - 1.5 in. pieces. I used 10 very small Yukon Gold Potatoes that mostly had to be quartered. Fingerling or red potatoes would also be good. Maybe 2-3 cups? I should measure things before giving a recipe, huh?
• Half an onion, roughly chopped (they like it rough)
• Fresh green beans, ends trimmed and cut into 1 - 1.5 in. pieces - about 1.5 cups
• Herbs - I used about 1 tbsp fresh chopped rosemary, 1/2 tbsp fresh thyme, and 1 tsp dried tarragon, plus salt and pepper to taste
• 6 slices turkey bacon, cut into 1/4 in. pieces
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Olive oil to coat pan, etc. (see notes below)
• Splash of red wine from your "cooking glass"
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 1.5 tsp honey or dijon mustard
• 1 tsp honey

Directions:

Heat oven to 425. Add potatoes, onion, and herbs to a 9X13 pan (or similar sized roasting or stoneware pan.) Drizzle lightly with olive oil and toss to coat. Roast for 20 minutes. Add green beans (salt and pepper to taste and tossed with olive oil) to pan and continue roasting another 10 minutes.

 Before oven

When adding green beans

Once green beans are added, start the sauce. In a medium-ish pan, coat bottom with olive oil over medium heat. Add diced bacon and cook, stirring frequently, until done. Put in a splash of of wine from your cooking glass to deglaze the pan, especially if you realize it needs to cool down quickly. If you don't have this glass, I don't understand how you cook. However, you could add any wine or broth or maybe water or lemon juice or more vinegar. Add vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, honey, and about a teaspoon more of olive oil. Stir to combine. Reduce to medium-low and simmer until reduced a bit - about 5 minutes or so. Pour over roasted vegetables and serve warm.

Plate-licking sauce

 

I don't want to hear it from you bacon purists about using the turkey bacon. You can make it with the real stuff and I'll envy you, but my arteries and girlish figure thank me. Vegetarians, I think a warm caramelized onion-balsamic reduction or perhaps with some kind of mushrooms would work well. I wanted the indulgence and the protein.

So in the moment that the summer storm rages, this is what is on my table. I hope you are just as comforted by what is on yours.

Sweet and Spicy Shiro Plum Sauce

Sometimes we cook something and realize it has a personality that matches our own. Sweet and Spicy Shiro Plum Sauce was that way for me: sweet with a definite kick, messy, that something you can't quite put your finger on, and it gets along well with almost anything. And it is yellow and green - very Oregon.

I put this sauce on grilled chicken, dipped a spring role in it, poured some over chèvre and spread on crackers, and topped Haagen-Dazs vanilla bean gelato with it. I'm thinking of putting it on a cheese quesadilla and a peanut butter sandwich too. Seriously - this goes with everything.

This week's CSA Share. The pretty little yellow plums in the bowl are Shiros.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped Shiro plums (don't peel - there is good stuff in there!)
• 1 jalapeño pepper - finely diced (I removed the seeds and most, but not all of the ribs. Do not touch your eyes for the next 24 hours.)
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 oz. white wine (I used King Estates Pinot Blanc)
• Fresh thyme - leaves only (I think I used about 1/2 Tbsp - maybe a little more)
• Zest of about 1/4 of a lemon - maybe a little less
• Pinch of salt

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Stir until sugar is completely dissolved. Reduce to a low boil/simmer and continue cooking, stirring regularly, for about 20-30 min. until reduced by about a third. Skim any foam that forms. Pour into glass container to cool completely, then refrigerate. Serve on anything and everything. Serve hot or cold or room temperature. 

Sauce over vanilla bean gelato with a mint leaf garnish.

Trust me: in this moment jalapeños and thyme do go with ice cream. I hope you find something that is exactly you - whether it goes with everything or only one special thing or is a one-dish wonder. When you find it, enjoy the moment at your table.