A Work in Progress

I wasn’t going to make this post. As I was making this dish, I was sure that I had made dog food, which is especially useless since I don’t have a dog. I tasted my mess, however, and judged it to have potential and soldiered on.

Here was the problem: When I sautéed eggplant in preparation for a vegetable stew, the caramelized bits that are glorified by chefs as the essential foundation to a great dish became a big, ugly, black crust. You see, I had some lovely late summer vegetables that I wanted to make into a nice stew. Since I had the most eggplant, the eggplant would be the largest portion of the dish. I searched recipes in my stash and came up with a few from which I could pick and choose to make my own creation.

I should have known. None of these recipes called for sautéing the eggplant in the stewing pot. They either cooked it in the microwave or roasted it, but never sautéed. Now I know why.

I attempted to deglaze this carbon coating with red wine, and some of it did come up from its tomb, but only to form black bits in the sauce. Ugh! I was convinced it was a dead recipe and that I was going to have to come up with another way to make an eggplant stew that was palatable. All was not lost, however, and when we sat down to eat this stew with a nice chunk of rustic bread, we found it quite delicious. I liked it a lot and Harry gave it the thumbs up for a Messy Apron post. Perhaps the all that red wine in the stew mellowed us out enough to enjoy it in spite of the (actually almost imperceptible) black bits.

This recipe is definitely a work in progress, but I think the basic principle is good, and the flavors are great. I wish I could more confidently state, “This is exactly how you make this dish,” but, hey, this is a blog, not a book of tried and true recipes…and definitely not a work of art!

Eggplant Stew with Peppers, Tomatoes, and Red Wine

1 medium globe eggplant (about 1 ½ pounds) or equivalent amount of Japanese Eggplant, cut into 2-inch chunks (peel if the skin seems tough)
1 ¼ teaspoon coarse salt (plus more to taste), divided
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
8 ounces (about 1 medium) yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 large bell pepper, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup dry red wine, divided
1 ½ pounds tomato, coarsely chopped
1 cup water
1 (16 ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
¾ cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of the olive oil in a Dutch oven (or large pot) over medium heat. Add the eggplant and ¼ teaspoon salt, and sauté about 8 minutes or until the pieces have softened on the outside and are just beginning to brown. (If you have a better way of partially cooking eggplant, you could use it here, since the pan bottom tends to blacken quite a bit with this method.) Transfer the partially-cooked eggplant to a bowl and set aside.

2. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan. Add the onion, bell pepper and ½ teaspoon salt. Saute 5-7 minutes or until the onion and pepper are just beginning to brown.

3. Add the garlic and crushed red pepper flakes and cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute. Stir in the tomato paste and cook, stirring frequently, about 1 minute more.

4. Add ½ cup of the red wine. Stir into the vegetables and scrape up the brown (or, in my case, black) bits sticking to the bottom of the pan. The wine should boil vigorously and thicken significantly.

5. Add the remaining red wine, tomato, water and remaining ¼ teaspoon salt. Stir well and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover and boil gently for about 30 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

6. Add the chickpeas and cook, uncovered, 5 minutes. Stir in the basil and lemon juice and cook until the basil is wilted. Taste the stew for salt and add more if desired.

Makes 4-6 main dish servings.

Other recipes like this one: Mediterranean Vegetable Salad with White Beans, Tomato and Roasted Pepper Soup

One year ago: Triple Ginger Peach Shortcakes

Mediterranean Salad: Too Hot for Ratatouille

This time of year, the plump and colorful and substantial vegetables start coming in to the good stores, farmers’ markets and CSA boxes, even up here in the great, cold north. There are onions and peppers and summer squash and eggplant. The cherry tomatoes are going crazy next to my back door and the herbs in my containers are beginning to look like weeds. Aahh…good times.

The only problem is that while I still may be in the great north, it’s not so cold. In fact, it’s downright hot, which is not my favorite sensation to say the least. I’d even say it’s too hot for things like warm pasta sauces and the Mediterranean-style stews that use these longer-growing sunny-day vegetables. And eggplant and zucchini are not on my list of vegetables that are ruined by cooking. Really, they’re quite the opposite.

Fortunately, I was guided by the infinite wisdom of the professionals, specifically by Mark Bittman in his How to Cook Everything Vegetarian. I decided to suck it up for a while, endure the heat while cooking the vegetables, then serve them as a salad rather than a hot dish. The vegetables are sautéed until just tender and then, while they’re still warm, they’re doused with fresh lemon juice and extra-virgin olive oil. The vegetables soak up this simple dressing and get perked up by its fresh flavor along with that of a good handful of just-picked herbs. I also added white beans to the salad, which makes it heartier and bumps up the protein content. The creaminess of the beans is also a great compliment to the somewhat spongy texture of the sautéed vegetables.

This salad is best served at room temperature, where the mellow flavors of the vegetables can still come through the aromas of the herbs and lemon, but it is also quite good cold. It would probably ride well alongside a more substantial main dish, such as grilled chicken, or pork, but I served it on its own as a light meal. All it needed was a chunk of crusty bread to sop up the drippy lemon-olive oil dressing. Of course, a nicely-chilled glass of wine wouldn’t hurt, either.

Mediterranean Vegetable Salad with White Beans
Adapted from a recipe in How to Cook Everything Vegetarian by Mark Bittman

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 small eggplant (about 8 ounces) cut into about 1-inch chunks
1 teaspoon coarse (kosher) salt, divided
¼ teaspoon black pepper, divided
1 medium white or yellow onion, chopped
1 medium bell pepper, cut into about 1-inch chunks
1 hot yellow wax pepper (or other mildly spicy pepper), seeds removed and finely chopped
1 medium zucchini (about 8 ounces) cut into about 1-inch chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup cherry tomatoes (or chopped tomato)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano
1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Good Parmesan cheese (such as Parmigiano Reggiano) shaved for garnish

1. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the eggplant, ¼ teaspoon salt and a small pinch of the black pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally about 8 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft but still holding its shape. Transfer the eggplant from the pan to a large bowl and set aside.

2. Return the pan to medium heat with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the onion, bell pepper, hot wax pepper and ¼ teaspoon salt. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Add the zucchini, garlic, remaining ½ teaspoon salt and remaining black pepper. Cook about 5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

4. Stir in the tomatoes, thyme, oregano and basil. Cook 2-3 minutes more, or until the tomatoes begin to shrivel and slump. Transfer the cooked vegetable mixture to the large bowl with the eggplant. Cool at least 10 minutes.

5. While the vegetables are still warm, add the lemon juice and remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir to combine. Cool to room temperature or chill.

Makes 4-6 main-dish salad servings, more servings as a side salad. This salad tastes best at room temperature, but is also good chilled.

Other recipes like this one: Lemon Herb Potato Salad

Eggplant Enlightenment: Spicy Dip with Herbs

Mary, Mary quite contrary
How does your garden grow?
“With silver bells and cockle shells
And one big hairy eggplant!”

-traditional (adapted by my dad)



I don’t know how old I was before I knew for certain that eggplants aren’t hairy. The fruit is quite the opposite, in fact, with skin so smooth it squeaks when you run your fingers along it. Perhaps Mom, who knows more about plants than Dad and I combined, enlightened me early on, so I could avoid any future botanical faux pas. I did know they weren’t hairy long before I ever had a chance to eat one, and by the time I did eat one, I may have wished they were hairy because that would have made them more interesting.



To me, the taste of eggplant always needs a significant amount of doctoring up. That’s why I was thrilled to find a recipe for a spicy eggplant dip in Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison. There’s a lot of added flavor, including fresh herbs I grow on my patio, sesame oil (one of my favorite flavors in the world) and plenty of hot pepper. I put a bit of my own spin on this recipe, such as adding mint and using crushed red pepper flakes (because I was too lazy to seed and dice a fresh chile pepper.)
We recently got a couple nice Japanese eggplants in our CSA box. They are longer and narrower than the dark purple, bulbous Mediterranean variety, but as far as I can tell, they taste about the same. When eggplants are small and don’t have big seeds in them, they don’t need any extra preparation, such as salting and rinsing, to extract any especially bitter flavors. At least I didn’t do anything of the sort when I used these long, skinny babies with the lovely, pale purple skin.

If you can get Thai basil for this dip, so much the better. It has a bit more of an anise flavor that works well with the sweetness of the brown sugar and plays well with the sesame oil. I’m not sure what kind of basil I used, although it might have been a variety called Cinnamon Basil. I planted it, but failed to label it. It did, however have a hint of sweet spice to it, and I think it stood in well for Thai basil. The more common varieties of Italian basil would work just fine here as well.

The eggplant for this dish needs to be grilled or roasted (I used the grill to cut down on the indoor heat) and peeled before it is stir-fried with all its flavorful buddies. This can be done ahead of time, however, and you can whip up the dip in a wok or skillet just before you want to serve it. It seems to be best warm or at room temperature so that the aromatic elements of the herbs and sesame and even the vinegar can waft up as you bring it to your lips on your favorite dip vehicle (tortilla chips or pita chips are great here). Perhaps this is the true key to eggplant-eating enlightenment.



Spicy Eggplant Dip with Basil and Mint
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah Madison

1 (1 pound) eggplant
1 ½ tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce (I use reduced-sodium)
½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil (preferably Thai basil)
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint

1. Preheat a gas or charcoal grill (or preheat oven to 425 F). Slash the skin of the eggplant to keep it from splitting open while cooking. Place it on the grill rack and grill, covered, until the flesh of the eggplant is soft and the skin is well-browned and charred in places, turning occasionally. This should take about 20 minutes. Alternatively, place the eggplant on a baking sheet and bake at 425 F. Baking time may be longer.

2. Remove the eggplant from the grill or oven. Cool until easy to handle.

3. Peel off the eggplant skin and coarsely chop the roasted flesh.

4. In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, rice vinegar, soy sauce and red pepper flakes. Stir or whisk until the sugar is dissolved.

5. Place the sesame oil in a wok or large frying pan and heat over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir fry 30 seconds. Add the chopped eggplant and stir fry 2-3 minutes or until the eggplant is quite soft.

6. Add the sauce mixture (from step 4) and cook about 1 minute more. Stir in the basil and mint. Serve warm with tortilla or pita chips, or spread on crostini.

Makes about 2 cups dip.

Another recipe like this one: Roasted Red Pepper, Garlic and Onion Dip