Eggplant Fritters

Yes, I’m quite aware of how neglectful I’ve been of posting here.  You know that feeling when you’re so far beyond the point of procrastination/missed deadline that the thought of even bothering to attack the task just seems silly and pointless?  Well, I passed that point about a month ago, rapidly followed by alternating patterns of guilt, shame, anger, and apathy.  At the moment I'm having a rare lucid moment of "yeah, why not?".

Also, even though our weather here has been a deep, dark shade of crappy, there’s still been enough activity in the yard to keep me busy.  I’ve managed to have a bit of a food crop going in a small plot out back (peas, kale, arugula, lettuce, cauliflower, turnips…), as well as a greenhouse with a variety of tomato plants which are showing signs of promise.  Unlike last year where the tomatoes I’d planted in the yard got about a foot high, then rotted and turned to slime.  And yet people say climate change isn’t real.  Sigh.  I seem to recall summers where one would actually have to turn on the sprinklers once in a while.

Anyways, in the time since last I rambled there’ve been a few things which have come out of the kitchen which may be noteworthy.  This post is about one of the standout items, which will be making another appearance on tonight’s menu.

I love me my eggplant.  Whether smooshed into a babaganoushey dip, basted in oil and roasted, swimming in hoisin in a Chinese hotpot, sliced and roasted in a moussaka, etc.  It’s true it doesn’t have much flavour of it’s own, but what it lacks in flavour of it’s own is more than made up for by it’s ability to absorb the flavours of around it.

Eggplant fritters (makes about 12)

·      2 eggplant, peeled and sliced into ¾ inch (2cm) slices

·      salt

·      olive oil (for basting)

·      1 egg

·      ½ cup grated parmesan cheese

·      good handful chopped fresh parsley

·      1 tsp thyme (generally I’d use fresh, but since I busted the cat pissing on the plant, dried thyme is just fine)

·      Salt & Pepper to taste

·      handful breadcrumbs (about ¼ cup)

·      1-2 Tbsp flour

·      oil for frying

·      mozzarella, cut into ½ inch chunks, one for each fritter

Sprinkle sliced eggplant with salt, and let stand (I usually arrange them on cooling racks).  When moisture has been drawn out, blot dry, and preheat oven to 350°.  Arrange on baking sheets, basting both sides with olive oil, and place in oven for 45-50 minutes (flipping the eggplant at about the 25 minute mark).

Eggplant should be somewhat collapsed, and dry when done.

Remove to racks until cool enough to handle.

Give them a rough chop, and toss into a bowl, adding egg, cheese, seasonings, breadcrumbs and flour.  Mash thoroughly with your hands until evenly mixed.

Heat oil over med-high heat in a deep-sided pot (or if you have a deep fryer, just use that, I guess). 

Take slightly more than a tablespoon of the eggplant mix in your hand, and flatten. Slightly.  Place a cube of mozza in the center, and form the eggplant around it, adding more of the eggplant mix if needed.  Continue until you’ve used up all the mix.

When a wooden chopstick pressed to the bottom causes a steady thread of bubbles to rise, the oil is ready.

Drop into the oil in small batches, never over-crowding the pot.  Turn frequently with a slotted spoon or tongs to ensure even browning.  After about 4 minutes, when deeply bronzed, remove from oil, and drain on paper towels.

Serve immediately, or place in a warm oven, and continue frying the rest.

When ready to serve, serve alongside a good tzatziki , or even just lemon wedges to spritz over top.

Squash: so much more than a weird sport

Tis the season for members of the Marrow family to start showing up in the grocery stores.  Acorn, spaghetti, butternut, Turk's Turban, pumpkin, and gourds out the wazoo.  I often find myself stocking up on various squash with the best of intentions, but more often than not they become ornamentals.  Condemned to become the centerpiece of a rotting, impromptu cornucopia amongst appliances and unopened mail on the counter.

This year will be different, I swear.

I solemnly vow to buy squash as needed only.  I shall purchase with purposeful intent, and a recipe in mind.  I shall not say “Oooo, that’s pretty!” and bring a miscellaneous weird gourd home and permit it to decompose on a random surface in the kitchen.

In this moment I grow.

I recently picked up the book ‘Moro East’ by Sam and Sam Clark.  I’ve ogled their books often in the past.  Their recipes celebrate Mediterranean foods, with particular focus on the Moorish influences. 

‘Moro East’ also reads as something of a requiem.  The Clarks were part of a gardening community on one of the garden allotments in London’s East End.  Sadly, despite the fact that the land had been bequeathed to East End families “in perpetuity” back in 1900, they were bulldozed in 2007 to become part of the lands used for the 2012 Olympics.

So much for perpetuity.

You can read more about the loss of these properties, as well as the displacement of an entire community here.

Within the pages of ‘Moro East’ there’re recipes based on ingredients harvested from the garden allotments, the people of varied ethnic backgrounds who contributed to the community, as well as people the Clarks have met on their travels.

This past week I zeroed in on two recipes in particular.  Pumpkin Pisto, and Roast Chicken with Sumac.  I’ll focus on the Pisto, though, as it was by FAR the scene-stealer!

As per usual, I made several significant alterations and additions to the recipe.  Since this was to be the only accompanying dish to the chicken, I wanted there to be more veggie variety, so I added carrots, yam, tomatoes and eggplant.  Here’s the recipe as I made it, with a strong nod to the original in ‘Moro East’.

 Harvest Veggie Pisto

·      About 6 tbsp Olive oil, more as needed

·      1 onion, diced

·      1 red pepper, seeded and diced

·      2 cloves garlic, sliced thin

·      1 acorn squash, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks

·      1 large carrot, peeled and cut into large chunks

·      1 yam or sweet potato, peeled and cut into chunks

·      1 eggplant, peeled and cut into chunks*

·      1 -1 ½ tsp finely chopped fresh rosemary

·      1 or 2 bayleaves

·      1 tbsp oregano (preferably fresh, but I used dried)

·      About 1 ½ cups tomatoes, diced

·      ½ -1 tsp ground cumin

·      A few grates nutmeg (teeny pinch)

·      Handful (total) chopped cilantro and parsley

·      1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

·      Salt & pepper

In a large saucepan (I used the base of my Ikea tagine) over medium heat, sauté the onion with a pinch of salt in olive oil for about 15-20 minutes.  Stir and cook until beginning to caramelize. 

Add the red pepper, and continue to cook for another 10 minutes or so. 

Add carrot, yam or sweet potato, garlic, bay leaves, and rosemary, cooking and stirring for a few minutes until all ingredients are evenly mixed.

Next, add the squash, reduce the heat and cover.  Allow to simmer about 10 minutes, before adding the tomatoes, eggplant, oregano, cumin and nutmeg.  Mix well, cover and allow to cook a further 10 minutes until the veggies have softened.

Toss the cilantro and parsley over the vegetables, sprinkle the balsamic vinegar over and stir gently until evenly dispersed throughout.

Adjust seasoning as desired, and serve.

*Often eggplant can be somewhat bitter, and it’s recommended to sprinkle cut eggplant with salt and allow the bitter juices to be drawn out.  I didn’t find that was necessary with this recipe, as the sweetness from the other ingredients defeated any bitterness which may have tried to rear its head.

Lasatouille? Moussagne? Ratataka?

It all boils (or bakes) down to the same thing: a veggie lasagne, of sorts.

Years ago while travelling, a friend in Germany made a simple dish of eggplant fried in olive oil, then layered with tomatoes and slices of bocconcini cheese.  It was then baked until the eggplant had sopped up the juices from the tomatoes, and the bocconcini was an oozing puddle, binding it all together.

I’ve replicated that dish, and it’s every bit as lovely as my memory of that fall day in Bonn. 

This isn’t that recipe, though. 

As you’ve probably noticed, my masochistic nature is such as to make things far more complicated for myself.  This hasn’t been without positive results.  An occasional meltdown or tantrum in the kitchen?  Most definitely.

When it gets to this time of year the local produce departments, and farmers markets turn into a torrid orgy of bright, fresh, local veggies that just beg to come home with me.  It’s an agricultural red-light district, and I’m the unscrupulous tourist.  Hence it would be foolish to restrain myself, and attempt to keep things simple.

Veggie hedonism ahoy!

2 small zucchini, cut lengthwise (approx 6 six strips at about ½cm thick each)

2 Japanese (long) eggplant, cut same as zukes

2-3 large tomatoes, sliced thin

½ onion, chopped fine

2 cloves garlic, minced

about a dozen large mushrooms, chopped (I definitely recommend reconstituting some dried porcini mushrooms and adding them to this)

a good handful fresh basil leaves (about 2 dozen leaves)

1 ½ c chopped cooked spinach, liquid squeezed out

Mozzarella, about 2-3 cups, shredded*

I started out by pre-grilling the zucchini and eggplant (lightly basted with olive oil) on the BBQ.  You could skip this, though.  Just be sure you slice the zucchini as thin as possible if you do.  Set aside.

Gently fry the onion in olive oil until slightly soft.  Add the minced garlic and chopped mushrooms.  Cook until the mushrooms have softened, adjust salt and pepper to taste, then set aside.

In a 9x13 in pan begin layering your veggies.  A wise person would start with the eggplant slices, as they’ll absorb the juices from the other constituents as they fall to the bottom of the pan.  I was not wise, and used the zucchini first.  I wasn’t thinking.

Continue layering the veggies, adding desired handfuls of shredded cheese between select layers.  Although the particular order isn’t critical, it can be useful to alternate the larger pieces with layers of the less substantial items (mushrooms & spinach).

Here’s my suggestion from the bottom to the top of the pan, respectively:

Eggplant

Spinach

Mozza

Basil leaves

Zucchini

Mozza

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

Whole lotta mozza

Now you may look at the photo below and think there’s something wrong with my mozzarella.  You would be correct.  That would be because it’s partially cheddar.  I ended up buying one of those dainty globules of imported mozzarella, which turned out to be almost half the size of most domestic packages.  Although gorgeous, it proved to be a little bit insubstantial in volume.  So, the nubbin of cheddar in the fridge rapidly found itself called in to flesh out the cast.  You could also add a sprinkling of parmigiano, grana padano, or even an asiago as one of the layers, or mixed in on top.

Back to the mechanics of it: place the pan onto a large baking sheet (if you’re concerned about the juices spilling over and setting off fire alarms), and pop it into a 400° oven, and set the timer for about 45 minutes.  It may require less time than that, however, so definitely take a peek at 5 minute intervals after half an hour has passed.

Once the cheese has bronzed, and the veggies juices are burbling happily in the pan, remove from the oven, and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.  Trust me.  This stuff holds its temperature in ways which would make enriched uranium jealous.

It’s true that the quantity of cheese in this particular version doesn’t exactly make this a “light” meal.  However, since there’re no noodles, as in conventional lasagne,  one may feel inclined to serve it with garlic bread or any crusty bread for the upping of the carb factor.  And you should.

*most local vegans are aware of this stuff already, but feel free to substitute Daiya "cheese" in place of the mozzarella.  They've nailed it as far as cheese substitutes go!

Hot pot hankerin'

Well, I didn’t get this post up Thursday day as I’d originally intended.  As some of you may know Vancouver was a disaster zone in the wake of the Stanley Cup loss on Wednesday evening.  My initial plan to write this post was rapidly put to the sidelines as I (and 99% of the rest of the population of the city) watched in horror as our downtown core was ripped apart and set ablaze.

To those friends who were there, and are expressing regrets about not having “done something” please know that the fact that you’re still here to have those regrets is thanks enough.  The city can be rebuilt (both physically and emotionally).  You cannot.

Also, to those citizens who took to the streets the day after to voluntarily clean up: THANK YOU!  As much as everyone is saying that this kind of selflessness is what Vancouver is all about, it is also what basic human decency and goodness is all about, and my dears, you’ve displayed it in spades!  Thank you, thank you, thank you!  I am proud to call you my neighbours.

Now, where was I?  Oh right.  I blab about food here.  Best get blabbing.

Some years ago I was working for a company which would on occasion make the job seem almost worthwhile by treating the staff to lunches.  One of my favourites was when we’d get taken to a local, somewhat higher-end Chinese restaurant.  I was introduced to an absolutely stunning eggplant hot pot which, when I ordered it, the senior partner wielding the credit card for the meal would lean over to the wait staff and whisper “the OLD way”.  I didn’t dare argue, and it always came out incredible.  Soft, spongy, sweet eggplant snuggled in with minced pork, conducting their forbidden coitus on a bed of noodles bathed in sauce.

I ordered out from them on a few occasions, and even went independent of my coworkers, ordered the eggplant “the old way”, and it wasn’t the same.  I can’t even put my finger on it.  Yet, I’d return with my employers and entourage, and the partner would once again endeavor to place the whispered addendum on my order.  The waiter would give her a knowing wink and nod, and the hot pot would arrive brilliant once more.

Even though to this day I don’t know what exactly it was that was different, or why I got ripped off when I tried to act like I was in the know, I’m pleased to say that I came up with something which is delightfully close.  It’s not a hot pot.  In fact, it’s just a fully loaded stir fry, but I no longer feel the need to go pleading on hands and knees for my old job back purely for the sake of getting my hot-pot done the right way.  The OLD way.

Eggplant Hot Stir Pot Fry

1 package ground turkey (or chicken, or pork…)

Vegetable oil

¼ - ½ tsp 5 spice powder (I suspect what I thought was 5 spice was actually just cinnamon.  Turned out good, though)

1 tsp ginger (I used dried since my “fresh” ginger was withered like the old guy in the Metallica “Enter Sandman” video)

½ red onion - diced

6 (approx) shitake mushrooms – remove stems and discard, slice heads

½ red pepper - sliced

1 Japanese eggplant – cut into “French fries”

1 handful snow peas – ends cut off, and weird string thing removed (I didn’t bother)

2-3 heads baby bok choy – separated into leaves and stems.  White stems cut into crescents, leaves torn into bite sized pieces

1 package steam-fried Chinese noodles – cooked, drained, set aside

Hoisin Sauce to taste (expect 4 – 6 tbsp)

Heat a large skillet (god bless my flat-bottomed wok), and precook the meat in a splash of oil until cooked through, adding a pinch of salt and the 5 spice powder.  When no signs of pink remain remove and set aside.

Fry the onion slightly, adding the ginger after a minute or two.  You know what?  I think I added a clove or two of minced garlic at this point.  It was an afterthought then, it’s an afterthought now.  Consistency!

Next I tossed in the eggplant, adding oil as required, and tossing thoroughly.  When evenly coated add the peppers, bok choi crescents, and mushrooms.

Again: toss toss toss.  Stir and fry, one might say.

At this point I returned the meat to the pan, and about 3 tbsp of Hoisin sauce, stirring to coat.  The snow peas and bok choi leaves got tossed in next.  You could add the peas earlier with the peppers and other veggies, but I really like them having their crunch more intact.

Add a splash of water (about ¼ cup), and cover lightly, allowing the snow peas to soften slightly.

Finally, add the reserved noodles, mixing thoroughly, and adding more Hoisin sauce to taste.

Serve.

What meal doesn't need to be capped off with a dessert?  For that, sally on over to Crass Cuisine and check out how she channeled her frustrations with the hockey aftermath.

Enjoy!