Posted on

Eggplant With Tahini

whole eggplant

I’m a big eggplant fan… that is, when it’s cooked properly.  There is nothing worse than undercooked, “green” tasting eggplant.  It tastes awful (usually bitter) and has a kind of chewy styrofoam texture. I think the texture gets to me more than the taste.  But the thing is, it’s really easy to undercook it, as the opposite is mushy eggplant that’s been cooked within an inch of its life, which is also unappealing, and desirable to avoid.

There is an Italian restaurant around the corner from me that cooks their eggplant perfectly.  It truly a delight to eat – the texture is perfect, almost creamy, with a little bit of a smoky taste.  I expect they grill it to get the taste and texture like that.

roasted eggplant

I get around all of this by cooking eggplant for purposes of a dip, which means the vegetable is very forgiving for this.  I roast it with olive oil for about 45 minutes, and that usually does the trick – the flesh turns nice and soft, and the cut side caramelizes, which adds a little sweetness to the mix.

Usually “dip” means baba ganoush, aka eggplant with tahini.  I love the combination of flavors – the roasted eggplant with buttery tahini, some garlic, lemon juice, and an unusual ingredient I’ve been experimenting with.

before grinding

I received one medium sized eggplant in my CSA share this week, so this recipe was created around that.  You can adjust amount as you like – I mean really, baba ganoush (as well as hummus) has always seemed to me as one without strongly defined amounts of flavoring.  It should be to your liking.  For instance, I like my baba ganoush to have a pronounced lemony-tart flavor, and a little spicy.  Others prefer a stronger tahini flavor. Recipes like this make it easy to adjust seasonings to one’s own taste.

eggplant with tahini

Baba Ganoush (Eggplant with Tahini)

1 medium eggplant
olive oil
salt
2-3 tbs tahini
1 tbs olive oil
1/4 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp aleppo pepper (red pepper flakes will work, too, but reduce to 1/4 tsp)
2-3 cloves garlic, crushed
juice of 1/2 lemon
salt to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Cut the eggplant in half, coat cut sides with olive oil and a sprinkling of kosher salt, and cook, cut side down on a baking pan, for 45 minutes.  Take out the pan and let eggplant cool for 15-20 minutes. Remove cooked flesh from the skins and place in a bowl.  Discard eggplant skins.

To the eggplant, add the tahini, olive oil, sumac, aleppo pepper,  garlic, and lemon juice.  Grind everything in either a food processor or with a stick blender, until it achieves the texture you prefer (I like something fairly smooth).

Serve topped with olive oil and sumac, with bread of your choice.  Feta cheese is a very nice accompaniment to this, along with some fresh raw vegetables like carrots, celery, and bell pepper.

This is particularly delicious the day after, when all the flavors have had a chance to meld.

Makes 2 cups.

Posted on

Spiced Okra, Easy and Delicious

cooked okra

For the longest time, I wouldn’t even consider eating okra.

Mainly, it was because of its famous sliminess (or, “mucilaginous juice”, eh), which is a total textural turnoff for me.  I’d heard there were ways to avoid the slime – don’t cut off the stem tip, or pickle it in vinegar.  Still, I wasn’t convinced.

raw okra

However, this past week we got okra in our CSA share, and so I found myself in a position where I had an opportunity to find a way to eat it.  Additionally, the weekend prior I picked up the September issue of Food & Wine, which had a very simple recipe for okra in it, that assured a lack of sliminess.  I figured it was vegetable kismet, and worth a try.

To my delight, I found the recipe extremely easy to make, and even better – the cooking technique indeed did eliminate the slime!  I’m also a sucker for charred or caramelized vegetables, yum.  Plus the spice mixture contained some of my favorite flavors.  This is one delicious dish.

spice mixture

I made some adjustments, and will include them here.  If you are curious about okra, but are scared of the slime, this is an excellent way to try out this curious vegetable.

in the pan

Skillet-Roasted Spiced Okra
Adapted from a recipe from Food & Wine.

1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1/8 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch of cinnamon
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 pound small okra, halved lengthwise
Salt
juice of one lemon

In a small bowl, blend the cayenne, chili powder, cumin, coriander, fennel, turmeric, an cinnamon.

In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil. Add the okra, cut side down, and cook over high heat for 2 minutes.

Reduce the heat to moderate and cook until browned on the bottom, 4 minutes longer.

Turn the okra and cook over low heat until tender, 2 minutes. Season with salt and sprinkle with the spice mixture. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, 30 seconds.

Drizzle the lemon juice over the okra and serve.

The okra is good with a little plain yogurt or a dollop of fresh chevre.

Posted on

Gratin Dauphinois – Creamy and Comforting Roasted Potatoes

potatoes daphaunoise

Cool weather continues to reign here in NYC, even though it’s almost mid-April.  It’s also feels kind of damp to me, which makes it seem even chillier.  Some of you might laugh when I say that temperatures in the low-60s make for chilly times, but I (like to joke that I) have thin California blood and have always found that this kind of weather produces in me an intense longing for 80-degree days.

naked potatoes

However, weather like this is perfect for roasted root vegetables – they are so comforting, plus it’s not hot enough yet to eschew your oven.  Sweet potatoes with rosemary and garlic are nice; butternut squash with thyme is also delicious; carrots, onions, and parsnips underneath a roasting chicken is truly fantastic.  However, what’s really calling me these days is gratin dauphiois – a simple dish of roasted potatoes in milk.

potatoes simmering

Contrary to popular belief, there is no cheese in this dish (though I’ve seen some recipes that ask for it).  You wouldn’t know it by just looking at it – to me, it really looks like there must be cheese in there.  What else would produce such a glorious and tasty crust? Well, it’s the starch in the potatoes that encourage this, actually.  Whoever figured this out was brilliant.

in the dish

The potatoes come out perfectly cooked – warm and creamy and smooth.  The milk/half-and-half/cream thickens from the starch.  The garlic and nutmeg add a nice hint of flavor, too.  Be sure to use a good quality milk/half-and-half/cream – preferably from grass-fed cows, which provides so much more nutrition, not to mention superior taste.  Organic potatoes are preferred because of the pesticide residue that can remain with conventionally grown potatoes; Yukon Golds would be nice.

potatoes again

As an aside, whenever I read the name of this dish, I think of the piece by the great French theorist and composer Jean-Philippe Rameau, La Dauphine.  Of course, gratin dauphinois is named after Dauphiné, a former province in southeastern France, where the dish is a specialty of that region. In any case, La Dauphine is the first piece of Rameau’s that I ever played, and it is the only solo harpsichord piece he wrote after spending his time writing operas.  It was written in the style of an improvisation, to honor the marriage between Marie-Josèphe of Saxony and Louis XV.

Gratin Dauphinois
Clotilde’s recipe from Chocolate & Zucchini

2 pounds potatoes, a mix of waxy and baking potatoes (if you prefer to use only one type, pick waxy potatoes, not too firm), preferably organic
2 cups half-and-half or whole milk (absolutely not skim milk), preferably grass-fed
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
freshly grated nutmeg
1 clove garlic, sliced lengthwise
3 tablespoons finely chopped chives (optional)
1/4 cup heavy cream, preferably grass-fed

Peel the potatoes, rinse them briefly, and slice them thinly (about 1/10th of an inch) and evenly.  Do not rinse after slicing, or you will lose all that precious starch.

Combine the sliced potatoes, milk, salt and a good grating of nutmeg in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat, and keep simmering for 8 minutes, stirring the potatoes and scraping the bottom of the pan regularly to prevent sticking/scorching. The milk will gradually thicken to a creamy consistency.

While the potatoes are simmering, preheat the oven to 430F and rub the bottom and sides of a medium earthenware or glass baking dish with the cut sides of the garlic clove.

Transfer half of the potatoes into the baking dish, sprinkle with the chives if using, and drizzle with half of the cream. Add the rest of the potatoes, pour the cooking milk over them, and drizzle with the remaining cream.

Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until bubbly on the edges and nicely browned at the top. Let stand for 5 minutes before serving.

Serves 6 as a side dish.

This post is participating in Real Food Wednesday, hosted by Kelly the Kitchen Kop.