Every week at the grocery store, they call to me, begging me to buy one. I gave in one day and took the plump purple fella home, only to watch it die a slow mushy death, because I didn’t know what to do with it.
Try these:
http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/EpisodeInfo/Season5Info.htm#Eggplant
By the way, you may want to read the transcript of that show. Apparently it helps to know if the eggplant is a boy or girl as that can affect the bitterness.
For bitterness, I always heard you slice it and salt the cut sides and let it bleed goo for a least a half-hour, then rinse off the salt and bitter liquid.
Go look at the “3-4 ingredient recipe” thread for the chicken-simmered-with-eggplant dish. That’s awfully good.
I also like to brush sliced eggplant with olive oil, garlic, and basil and grill it for about 5 minutes on a side.
If you like Indian food, there is a great dish called “Baigan Bhartha”. You can find the recipe here: http://www.recipedelights.com/recipes/vegdishes/BaiganBhartha.htm
You should be able to find the ingredients in any supermarket. If you have trouble, let me know and I would be happy to send them to you 
Happy eating!
You can grill it and make baba ghanoush. Here’s a recipe – http://appetizer.allrecipes.com/az/babaghanoush.asp – but I like it grilled before blending it for a nice smoky flavor.
Wow . . . never thought this would happen – I get to be the first to mention John Thorn in a recipe thread that Ike’s already posted to.
John Thorn (Simple Cooking, Outlaw Cook, Serious Pig, etc.) has a recipe on his web site for caponata that my wife has really enjoyed the couple of times I’ve made it. I even liked it fairly well, and I’m no fan of eggplant. It does take a while to make but it’s worth it.
I second Islandgirl’s suggestion! Baingan Bharta is one of my favorite Indian dishes and it’s surprisingly simple to prepare. You might want to use the recipe in Step-By-Step Indian Cooking by Sharda Gopal–it’s currently out of print, but you can probably get it at your local library. That’s what I did and I liked the book so much I bought it from an OOP book seller. Also, don’t buy spices in the supermarket, they’re way too expensive there. There’s probably an Indian grocery around and you can get all the ingredients there really cheaply!
In the hardbound (not paperback) version of Joy Of Cooking, there is the absolute best recipe for Mousakka (a Greek specialty) that is out of this world. Takes awhile to put together, (I substitute ground beef for lamb) but it will impress all!
BTW…the recipe calls for browning the sliced eggplants in oil in a pan, but a Greek cook told me the fast, easier way is to simply lay them on a cookie sheet and throw them in a medium heat oven until they brown a bit…a whole lot easier and faster!
Mmmm…might have to make this again this weekend.
One of my very favorite recipes is …
Ratatouille
1 eggplant
salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1 yellow and 1 red bell pepper, sliced
2 cloves garlic
1 can peeled tomatoes, undrained
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp oregano
pepper
Cut unpeeled eggplant into long strips, then cut strips down to about finger-length size. Put in colander, sprinkle with salt, and let drain for half an hour.
Heat olive oil. Saute onion in it for 5 minutes, then add peppers, garlic, and tomatoes and stir well. Mix in thyme and oregano.
Rinse eggplant and dry it. Add to pan. Cover and simmer over low heat, stirring now and then, til soft–about 20-30 minutes.
Season to taste w/salt and pepper. Can be served hot or at room temperature. Serve over rice – superb!
Great recipe Ellen, but I only know Ratatouille with browned ground beef (and your basic recipe) then put over white rice!
(Didn’t even know there was a vegetarian version…)
Thanks everybody. I just bought an eggplant, now i have to decide which recipe to use first.
Too funny. I thought ratatouille was a vegetarian recipe. I had no idea you could make it with meat. Call me sheltered! LOL
Here’s another one I just found. I haven’t made it but it sounds delish. Maybe I’ll make it this weekend!
Eggplant Enchiladas
1 TBS olive oil
1 cup diced onion
6 cups diced eggplant (peeled)
1 green pepper minced
4 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup Monterey Jack cheese
2 cans Rotel (diced tomatoes and green chilis) or your favorite red/enchilada sauce
12 corn tortillas
Saute onion in olive oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat. Add eggplant, salt and pepper and cover. Cook 10-15 minutes, stirring often, until eggplant is soft.
Add green pepper and garlic and saute about 5 more minutes or until green pepper is soft.
Add cheese to eggplant mixture.
Roll 1/4 cup eggplant mixture in each tortilla and place in casserole dish sprayed with Pam. After all tortillas have been used and dish is full pour Rotel or sauce of choice over enchiladas. Top with more
cheese if desired.
Bake 350°F for 30 minutes.
Hey, now. OCCASIONALLY I eat non-Thorne-authorized food. Like tonight, I made flounder steamed in black bean sauce, stir-fried broccoli and plain Basmati rice. Thorne never mentioned THAT.
[sub]Okay, so now I have an evil urge to sneak over to Chinatown on the Q train and look for one of those mysterious Vietnamese sandwiches John wrote so droolingly about in POT ON THE FIRE, so what?[/sub]
[sub]Or two or three. And a nice cold sixpack of Tsing-Tao.[/sub]
Somebody posted a recipe from my favorite recipe site: www.allrecipes.com. It’s great for when you have ingredients X, Y, and Z and want to make something out of them. Just plug them into the list and away you go.
My husband got this one at Weight Watchers, and it’s so good that we have taken it to potlucks.
Turkey-Eggplant Casserole
1-1/4 lbs. ground skinless turkey
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 large (about 1-1/2 lb.) eggplant, cubed
1 (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes (no salt added)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
3/4 cup seasoned dried bread crumbs
1 tsp. dried basil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray 13 x 9 inch baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.
Spray large nonstick saucepan or Dutch oven with nonstick cooking spray; heat. Add turkey, onion, and garlic. Cook, stirring as needed, until turkey is browned and onion is softened, 5 to 6 minutes.
Add eggplant, tomatoes, peppers, bread crumbs, and basil; bring to a boil, stirring as needed.
Transfer turkey mixture to baking dish. Bake, covered, until vegetables are tender, 45 to 50 minutes.
Uncover, sprinkle with cheese, and bake until cheese is lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.
8 servings, 3 points per serving.
Here’s one I made last night. You will need (for 4 servings)
4 pieces of veal scallopini
4 slices of eggplant
4 slices of tomato
4 slices of fontina cheese
some flour
1/4 cup of butter
some pepper and oregano
Coat the veal with flour, then quickly brown it in the butter.
Also brown the eggplant in the butter.
Then place each piece of veal on an individual sheet of foil. Stack a slice of eggplant on top, then a slice of tomato, then a slice of cheese.
Sprinkle oregano and pepper on top.
Wrap the foil around each stack, but “tent” the top so that it doesn’t touch the cheese.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for twenty minutes.
mmm… baba ghanoush! yummy!
and moussaka is best made with lamb mince and served with a green salad…and a glass of wine.
rataouille is good with stir-fried sesame beef strips.
also, aubergines (eggplant sounds wrong to me, sorry) are really good if you stuff and roast them with things (ground beef with an egg cracked on top; tomato and pepper salsa; mushrooms and chicken are my favourite combinations)
This thread is the most horrific thread I have ever seen. You people are managing to make eggplant sound good. :eek:
Unfortunately, since I can remember, eggplant has caused me to vomit instantly the moment I eat it.
So now I am in a serious quandary. Do I try some of these recipes, knowing full well I’m going to be sick? Or do I torture myself with the knowledge that it’s just not to be?
Seriously, folks, how the hell do you eat that stuff? It’s absolutely, totally, and in every way repugnant.
I’ve got a veggie chili recipe that uses eggplant and zucchini for bulk. Saute an onion and a few cloves of garlic, add a couple of bell peppers, a chopped eggplant (salted and drained if you have time, otherwise skip it) and a couple of chopped zucchinis and cook untill soft. Throw in a can of diced tomatoes, whatever chili spices you’ve got on hand (I forget the recommended quantities) and cook on low for a half hour. Add a can of corn and a can of kidney beans, and you’ve got yourself a hearty veggie chili that even die-hard carnivores love (I know from experience).
And Airman Doors, is it possible you’ve got an eggplant allergy? I never knew such a thing existed until my last roommate told me she had one. I had to make my chili with all zucchini so she wouldn’t get sick.