Travelling is fun and something I get a lot out of. Two of my favourite parts are the photography and the food. I was spoiled rotten staying with extended family while at the conference - my Uncle made me some traditional Indonesian dishes learned while he lived over there, and my Aunt sent me off with an enormous portion of homemade honey and spice baklava. And then I got to eat at a few of my favourite places in my home city, noshing on things that aren't readily available (or just aren't the same) in Regina. I came home with most of my culinary cravings satisfied, and feeling ready to cook again. Doesn't hurt that when I left we had just lost our last bit of snow, and when I return it looks like full-on summer with green grass and trees coming into leaf. The farmer's market even starts here tomorrow - bring on the fresh food!
In a fairly celebratory mood, I decided to make a larger dinner tonight. Everything was kind of ad hoc, as I got home yesterday evening and picked up some random groceries without really having my food plan drafted. All in all, I am fairly lucky that there were a few recipes that worked with what I had on hand. The first is Burnt Eggplant with Tahini, which I served with a rye bread, and the second was a Chickpea Saute with Greek Yogurt. They made a great meal in combination. I also started putting together a strawberry sorbetto, but it was too hot in my flat to churn it properly tonight, so I'll have to re-freeze my mixer bowl and churn it again tomorrow night. It's going to be good though...
Give this recipe a chance - I know the title sounds strange and perhaps a little off-putting, but it's actually really fantastic. As usual, the ingredients are straight from the book, and the description includes my alterations and additions.
Burnt Eggplant with Tahini
(p. 122, Plenty)
Serves 2-4
1 large eggplant
1/3 cup tahini paste
1/4 cup water
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 garlic clove, crushed
3 tbsp chopped parsley
salt and black pepper
3 mini cucumbers (6 to 7 oz in total, optional)
3/4 cup cherry tomatoes (optional)
seeds from half a large pomegranate
a little olive oil to finish
First, a few slight changes: I didn't have pomegranate molasses, and so substituted a pomegranate balsamic vinegar that I had. I think if I were to make this again, it would be worth tracking down the pomegranate molasses - the online reviews I read on it sounded quite favourable. Second, I didn't have any parsley, so I subsituted cilantro - for such a small amount it wasn't a problem. I also used a standard English cucumber instead of the mini's because it was cheaper, and sadly had to omit the pomegranate seeds as they weren't to be had at the grocer due to seasonality. I think they'd be a fun addition though.
To begin, you want to burn your eggplant. To do this with an electric range, wrap an oven safe baking pan in foil and set it aside. Take your eggplant (use two medium if you can't find a really huge one) and stab it multiple times with a sharp knife. The objective is to create vents for steam to release as the eggplant roasts. I imagine this is to help prevent it from exploding, although Yotam doesn't really say why it's necessary. Place the pierced eggplant in the dish, and place the dish in the oven.
Set the oven to "Broil" and let it roast for roughly an hour, turning once or twice. You want the eggplant to collapse in on itself (completely deflate, like a spent balloon) and the skin to char in places. Kind of like this:
If you have a gas range, Yotam says that you can char it using metal tongs over one of your burners, turning it until blackened all over and collapsed.
Once the eggplant is thoroughly roasted, remove from oven and set aside to cool. I split mine open with a knife to help it cool faster, but I was being impatient.
Once the eggplant is cool enough to handle, scoop the flesh away from the skin and set it into a colander to drain well. Yotam suggested leaving it to drain for 30 minutes, but I found mine was ready after about 10, as most of the eggplant juice had seeped out of the eggplant while it was still in the foil wrapped pan.
While the eggplant is draining, find a medium mixing bowl. Into that bowl measure the tahini paste, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley, and salt and pepper.
When the flesh has sufficiently cooled, add it to the bowl with the other ingredients. Whisk to combine. This resulting smooth paste can be used as a dip for vegetables or pita as is, or you can add the optional cucumber and/or tomato and turn it into something more robust. If you are adding the cucumber and/or tomato, you want them chopped fairly fine. For the cucumber, if using mini cucumbers, cut them lengthwise into quarters and then cut each quarter into 3/8-inch long pieces. If using a larger cucumber, cut it in half lengthwise and cut each half into quarters lengthwise as well. Dice into 3/8-inch pieces from there.
If adding cherry tomatoes, cutting them in half will be adequate. If you are using larger tomatoes like I did, cut them into slightly smaller-than-bite-sized pieces. Include the tomato guts for fullest flavour.
Once all of the ingredients are in place, give everything a thorough stir and adjust the seasoning as necessary to achieve a robust sour/slightly sweet flavour. To serve, spoon out into a shallow dish and drizzle with a bit of olive oil. If you have pomegranate seeds, sprinkle them on top and then serve.
This was really, really good. I advocate the use of the largest eggplant you can find - mine was just slightly more than a medium-sized one, and I felt the tahini was a little too present for my tastes, which could have easily been due to too little eggplant. I also very much recommend the inclusion of the cucumber and tomatoes as they seemed to liven up the dish and help it to taste very fresh. I think it would make an excellent dip for fresh veggies, and also a great filling for a wrap or sandwich, along the lines of an egg salad-type offering.
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