What to do with eggplant?

[SierraCook]

The "Do you peel and eggplant?" topic inspired me to buy an eggplant. Ok, so now I have an eggplant. What do I do with it? I was thinking of grilling it. Hopefully, somebody will have some suggestions.

Thanks, SC

PS, I have never cooked an eggplant before.

 

[Andy M.]

You could slice it and fry it for eggplant parmesan.

Eggplants are like a sponge. They'll soak up a marinade. If you marinate and grill it, you should have a tasty result.

 

[SierraCook]

I was just going to brush it with olive oil and sprinkle it with herbs and then grill. Andy, would you recommend marinating the eggplant first. What would you marinate it in?

 

[Andy M.]

Your idea will work great. A marinade was only a suggestion. You could use something as simple as Italian salad dressing. You could do an Asian flavored marinade with soy sauce and ginger. Use whatever you like.

 

[SierraCook]

Thanks for the input. I agree Italian Salad dressing would be great.

 

[Haggis]

One of my favourite simple things to do with eggplant is to cube it into say 1/2 inch pieces and cook it in some olive oil until its dark golden and soft, then add some sliced garlic and cook till the garlic softens then toss some fine lemon zest, lemon juice and chopped parsley through it, season to taste.

Goes great with a roast, especially chicken. Could even toss it through pasta if you wanted.

Another favourite of mine is to mix some feta cheese, finely sliced red chilli, mint and lemon juice to taste. Thinly slice the eggplant lengthways, brush with a bit of oil and grill them till golden and tender. Place some of the feta cheese mixture on a part of the eggplant slices and roll them up. Delicious!

 

[Barbara L]

Not the healthiest way, I'm sure, but I like to dip slices in a milk/beaten egg mixture, then in seasoned flour, then fry it.

Barbara

 

[kadesma]

Not the healthiest way, I'm sure, but I like to dip slices in a milk/beaten egg mixture, then in seasoned flour, then fry it.

Barbara

The only way to go I love fried eggplant, but it can be fixed almost the same by just brushing with evoo and putting under the broiler, of course there isn't any breading but it tastes great and a sprinkle of garlic powder is nice too. I take the small japanese eggplant and slice, brush with evoo and then broil and it's like a small chip..Take the large size eggplant do the flour egg and fry then make an eggplant sandwich with provolone slices between two slices of eggplant, make a lemon butter sauce with a touch of white wine and drizzle over the eggplant and bake til cheese melts..yummy
kadesma

 

[jtluvsjl]

I love eggplant parmesan, I use my italian grandfathers recipe. Peel the eggplant, slice it thin and layer it between flour sack towels or paper towels. Put something heavy on top and leave it for 3 or 4 hours. Then dip in egg, bread in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels. Pour a thin layer of sauce in a baking dish, then a layer of eggplant, then shredded mozzerella. Keep layering until you've used up all the eggplant and bake on 350 until the sauce sauce bubbles. Its great!

 

[kadesma]

I love eggplant parmesan, I use my italian grandfathers recipe. Peel the eggplant, slice it thin and layer it between flour sack towels or paper towels. Put something heavy on top and leave it for 3 or 4 hours. Then dip in egg, bread in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels. Pour a thin layer of sauce in a baking dish, then a layer of eggplant, then shredded mozzerella. Keep layering until you've used up all the eggplant and bake on 350 until the sauce sauce bubbles. Its great!

jt,
sounds wonderful, welcome to DC and thanks for sharing a special recipe with us. I will be making some soon..

kadesma

 

[Piccolina]

You could try making the Russian dish eggplant caviar, although that often calls for two or more eggplants. It’s really cool though, and definitely out of the ordinary. It's especialy nice on a warm flat bread or pita.

http://www.chefdecuisine.com/vegetables/eggplant/EGGPLANT_CAVIAR.asp
(a fusinon-food sort of style recipe for this dish that incorporates things like tabasco into it)

http://veggietable.allinfo-about.com/recipes/eggplantcaviar.html
(with tomatoes and garlic)

http://www.google.ie/url?sa=t&ct=res&cd=5&url=http%3A//vegetarian.allrecipes.com/az/ggplntCvir.asp&ei=9d7-QoLxJ4-kQY3bqbMB
(this seems along the lines of being traditional - plus it only calls for one big eggplant)

 

[ironchef]

Probably too late for this, but just excercise some care when you do marinade it. Because it does soak up the marinade, you may have a tendency to add more and more. If it's an oil based marinade, you may end up with a mouth full of oil when you do bite into the eggplant.

 

[SierraCook]

Thanks for the advice, everyone. I have not done anything with the eggplant, yet. I am leaning towards Barbara's suggestion. Yum!!

 

[TomW]

Do you sew?

... Ok, so now I have an eggplant. What do I do with it? ... Hopefully, somebody will have some suggestions.

Tom

 

[SierraCook]

Tom, very funny. Thanks for the good laugh!!

 

[SizzlininIN]

I love eggplant parmesan, I use my italian grandfathers recipe. Peel the eggplant, slice it thin and layer it between flour sack towels or paper towels. Put something heavy on top and leave it for 3 or 4 hours. Then dip in egg, bread in flour seasoned with salt and pepper and fry until golden. Drain on paper towels. Pour a thin layer of sauce in a baking dish, then a layer of eggplant, then shredded mozzerella. Keep layering until you've used up all the eggplant and bake on 350 until the sauce sauce bubbles. Its great!

Welcome jtluvs! Care to share the sauce recipe that goes along with that eggplant? If you haven't already read an old post of mine......I'm trying to find some good italian recipes as I absolutely love Italian food.

 

[Gerrycooks]

Here is an old family recipe for eggplant.

Stuffed Eggplant
3 eggplants, same size
7 mushrooms
1 med onion, chopped
1 large can whole tomatoes in sauce (Dei Fratelli)
oregano
salt pepper
seasoned salt
2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup raw rice

Slice eggplant in half lengthwise. Scoop out inside pulp and chop. Brown onion and mushrooms in some oil. Add chopped eggplantand cook until slightly soft. Remove from pan. Saute ground beef until cooked. Drain if necessary. Add cooked eggplant and season with oregano. Add chopped tomatoes to filling.Taste and adjust seasoning. Reserve some tomatoes and sauce for topping. Add rice.
Place in shells and top with sauce from tomatoes. Add a small amount of water to the pan. Bake uncovered at 350 for 1 hr.
Servings - 6 large ( 1/2 eggplant) or 12 small

 

[SierraCook]

Thanks for the recipe, GC!!

SC

 

[CARO]

I make something similar to jtluvsjl's recipe.

You shouldn't need to salt eggplants these days, so what I do is slice across about quarter to third inch thick, put into a plastic bag and drizzle in a bit of oil. Then shake the slices around to get oily - doesn't use as much as brushing - they are like sponges!

Then I griddle them [I use my electric machine] but you can bake or grill [that's broil in US, isn't it?] till softened.
Meanwhile, make a tasty thick tomato sauce. I use oil to soften onion and garlic, then add tinned chopped tomatoes, dash balsamic, pinch chilli flakes, couple sun dried tomatoes chopped, herbs eg oregano, basil, and salt and pepper - cook till thick.
Layer up the eggplant slices in an ovenproof dish with tomato sauce, putting a layer of torn-up mozzarella in the middle. Finish with a layer of eggplant, then sprinkle the top with freshly finely grated Parmesan. Spray lightly with oil and bake till bubbling.

Yum yum!!

 

[TomW]

Houston, we have a winner here...

I love eggplant parmesan, I use my italian grandfathers recipe... Its great!

Yes! Yes it is great.

The only thing that I may have done different was to fry the eggplant in olive oil.

My wife cleaned her plate, and my five year old made excellent progress with his meal.

Karma to you jtluvsjl!

Tom