Sunday, August 21, 2005

Thank You Mary, re Eggplant

"I read your blog."

Music to my ears. Someone, anyone, reading my blog! Oh, joy!

Unless it's family member. Then, it's, like, "Uh, oh, what did I write? Whose butt did I make look too big?"

Tonight, though, not to worry, all is well. Turns out that the other cooking half of the family took note of a comment posted by Mary and decided to try it out.

Results are in: Score for Mary!

Grilled Eggplant a la Mary had been born. We made our own Italian dressing using this and that, something or another and a French fried bat. That's from my dim memory of a Rocky and Bullwinkle show, Fractured Fairy Tales. Anyway, the eggplant turned out great and, by Jove, we'll have it again.

Thanks, Mary!

And to replay Mary's comment:

If you want to try something tasty use italian dressing as a marinade for the eggplant and grill til a bit carmelized. I like the old school Good Seasonings mix-it-yo-own-damn-self dressing. Fabulous. : )


We mixed our own-damn-self dressing with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, basil, and black pepper.

4 comments:

Scott in Washington said...

I know what you mean about readership. "To my readers, and I mean both of you..."

That eggplant recipe sounds durned yummy. I'll try it.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Now I feel famous or something being all up on the internet and everything. ha ha!! Glad you like it!

eat stuff said...

That sounds great
I agree! MAKE YOUR OWN DRESSINGS *grin*
There is a whole world of flavours open to you know
EVOO, balsamic, mustard ginger and honey mmmmm
dding some natural yoghurt, different vinegars ie rasberry or tarragon you wont be going back for quite a while!

Anonymous said...

hey there, here is a tip i learned from turkish cookery (these guys know their food - you have no idea how much eggplant turks eat):

slice the eggplant into 3/4" pieces. layer the slices in a large bowl, liberally (use a lot, don't be shy) sprinkling each slice with salt (any kind is fine) as you go. then fill the bowl with cold water to cover the slices, and i usually lay a small plate on top to weigh them down (because they float, the sponges that they are!) and let them sit for minimum 30 minutes, which usually ends up being more because i just do this and forget about it until i start cooking. when you're ready to cook them, rinse off the slices and squeeze them out. pat them dry with paper towels if you feel like.

i know this kinda sounds like a pain, but honestly it's really easy, and it makes soo much difference when i fry them. they still absorb oil, but so much less when i do this. and since we eat eggplant so often (turkish husband), it's now something i always do when i prepare it, which is usually fried in olive oil with yogurt on the side. with this preparation, the eggplant fries up really beautifully!

p.s. the salting does not really affect the flavor, as long as you rinse well.

sorry for the long post - hope you give this a try sometime :)

m