Eggplant

[brianj517]

I planted two black beauty eggplant plants in my garden this year. I've never grown them before, but they seem to be coming along quite well and some of the flowers have already begun to produce fruit.

If anyone has any tasty ideas for the grill and/or smoker, I'm all ears... I've tried it a few times in restaurants but I have never really cooked with it before.

Cheers,
Brian

 

[sickpuppy]

Brian

I read your post about the squash kabobs. I also do vegetable kabobs from my garden. Just cut the eggplant up into squares and add to your kabobs with your favorite spices in a mop.

But my favorite way to grill veggies is in a pouch. Use heavy-duty aluminum foil to make the pouches. I slice the eggplant about ½ inch thick (you can leave the peel on or peel it). I put sliced onion (Vidalia when in season), sliced tomato, squash sliced long ways, bell pepper sliced in rings, and sliced carrots. (you can leave out or add your favorite veggies).

Put the aluminum foil flat (big enough to hold the veggies and room to fold to make a good seal). If you have a lot of veggies you would want to use more than one pouch. I poor olive oil over the veggies, add a few large spoons of margarine, salt and pepper to taste, and sweet basil. (As always, spicing is a personal thing, use what you like, but the olive oil and margarine is a key). Fold up to make a well sealed pouch and place on grill on a low direct heat. Turn with tongs about every 10 minutes and total cooking time about 45 to 50 minutes. The veggies come out tender and juicy. If you like crisper and firm veggies cook for about 30 to 40 minutes.

My wife and I love eggplant and fix it a lot of different ways from “eggplant parmesan†to “fried eggplantâ€.

Dan

 

[ranger72]

Hi there brianj517

Here is something tasty to try with Eggplant

Ratatouille pronounced rata tooey

1 whole eggplant sliced thick..do not peel, cut into chunks

2 Leeks halved discarding the upper dark green leaves and using only the lower white and lighter green portion.

1green bell pepper

1red bell pepper

1 large onion sliced thick

1 zucchini chunked

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

bunch of garlic cloves minced

3/4 cup of crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup of chicken stock

black olives

Preheat your smoker to 200-220 degrees

Rub the eggplant, leeks, bell peppers, onion and zucchini with the oil

place the veggies in your smoker away from the heat source and cook for 35-45 minutes until the veggies are crisp-tender

remove the veggies from the smoker and heat a large skillet add more olive oil and saute the garlic a bit and then add the veggies and accumulated juices and saute' for a couple minutes then add the chicken stock and the crushed tomatoes and simmer the mixture until it thickens and the veggies are tender.

Add the black olives and heat through and serve hot.

Delicioso!

Hope you enjoy!

ranger72

 

[brianj517]

Thanks for the advice, Dan and Ranger. I will give it a try sometime very soon. My zucchini and squash are producing like crazy, but my eggplants are not quite ready. I have a couple fruits that are about the size of a baseball, so it won't be long now!

Cheers,
Brian

 

[brianj517]

Ranger72

I tried your ratatouille recipe for the first time on tuesday. I served it as a side to the beef roast that I smoked all nite. The only mod that I made was to omit the black olives cause I just don't care for 'em. I've never tried this before, but I really enjoyed it. My kids were a little skeptical at first, but eventually they warmed up to the idea and seemed to enjoy it as well. Thanks for the tip, I'm gonna keep this one in the recipe file for future use!

Cheers,
Brian

 

[monty]

Brian, I have sliced eggplant the long way, about a half inch thick, and grilled it over a fairly hot grill with olive oil and a trace of garlic powder, or use a mild garlic butter. Serve as a veggie side. Have also sliced it a bit thicker and across the middle and grilled it the same way and served it as a substitute for a burger on a toasted bun. Great with a bit of mayo, tomato slice and lettuce. Cheese and or bacon really dress it up. And if you can find whole wheat buns to toast up! Wow! Lastly, the smaller end can be cut into rounds and grilled or pan fried and used in a breakfast sandwich on an english muffin. Again whole wheat is king in my book for taste. Lookout McMuffin! Egplant is very versatile and can be seasoned with whatever you like. My kids also enjoyed all of the above! Experiment! Enjoy! Monty

 

[brianj517]

Thanks SrMonty,

I've never thought to use eggplant in a breakfast sandwich or as a burger substitute. Sounds like a neat idea. I just might try this one for a late night snack while I'm tending the fire this weekend! 8)

Cheers,
Brian

 

[monty]

Happy to oblige! Lemme know how it works for you! And don't forget...experiment!
Monty

 

[Dutch]

You might want to try some of that eggplant in some veggie kabobs, too!