A starter we had the other day, simple, delicious and beautiful, with all those gorgeous summer hang-ons:
mellow yellow tomatoes, herbs, Moroccan-style eggplant cooked with garlic and cumin, roasted capsicums, and olives to garnish. Worthy of being painted!
Postscript: I've been asked how we prepared the eggplant, so here goes: using a vegetable peeler, remove 1 cm wide strips of skin along the length of each eggplant. Cut the eggplant into 1 cm slices. With our home-grown eggplants, we didn't need to do the next step(in italics) but with shop-bought ones you will have to. Sprinkle with salt and layer the slices in a colander. Leave for around 20 mins, then wash under cold water, drain, then pat dry with paper towels.
Heat olive oil in a frying pan and fry the eggplant slices in batches until browned on each side and set aside on a plate. Add more oil to the pan as needed. After all eggplants are browned, cook 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped, over low heat for a few seconds. Add paprika, cumin, and pepper--or a little fresh chilli--then add the eggplant slices back to the pan and cook, mashing them gently with a fork(but not too mashed!)Continue to cook until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add some chopped coriander and lemon juice--and serve! Can be served hot, warm or cold.
Lovely! So, can you give us the recipe for the eggplant dish or is this something we simply need to create ourselves? I do experimental cooking too, but I have never really done well with eggplant and it's so good for you, not to mention a good thing to cook for vegetarian guests.
ReplyDeleteHi Sue, I've just updated the post with the eggplant recipe--enjoy!
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