Eggplant

[tybo6]

Well Bo(Bonnie) and I decided to try our hand at some eggplant in the garden this yr....Now we have this big beautiful purple egg plants and have no idea how to cook em....We cook zuchs and squash all the time but r clueless on these dudes....Any help is preciated?...Thanx guy's

 

[jdfire40]

Never tried smoking eggplant, but grilled eggplant is awesome! I just cut it in slices about 1/2" thick & coved both sides with seasalt & let it sit on a wire rack for about 35 minutes. Then rinse it off & season with olive oil, salt, pepper, & red pepper flakes & grill for a couple minutes each side. It is awesome. I also like grilling zucchini & squash...mmmmmMMMMmmmm

Making me hungry!

 

[jdfire40]

I forgot...fried eggplant is also good!

 

[richtee]

Yepp! Fried is great... do the same salt trick...you can use Kosher as well. Coat 'em up. It draws the excess water out. Make up a batter...I like a beer batter kind of like I use for fish fillets. Fry 'em up till golden then add some parmeasan cheese on top!

OR

take said browned up EP, and lay on a bed of maranara sauce in a shallow baking dish, and a layer of mozzerella/parm and bake till cheese browns and bubbles.. EP parmesean!

 

[richtee]

Also, you can make a "boat" out of them- insert a nice veggie mix <tomato, celery, onion, etc.> and some stock... or about anything ya like... and bake until done!

 

[jdfire40]

Both of those are good too!

Have you ever tried whole grilled eggplant? We just cut small slits in it & put whole cloves of garlic in each hole, grill it for 30 to 45 minutes & then cut open & eat. Makes an awesome dip also!

I'm seriously going to have to cook some eggplant tomorrow!

 

[nick]

I love 'em fried with Italian bread crumbs and parm cheese. You can cut em like fries or chunks or sliced like discs. My Grandma used to make lasagna like ken said . She would fry those naked with just salt & pepper for a couple minutes then layer them in between the meat and cheese layers of the lasagna. Talk about some good grub.
You can also make a stuffing out of them bt halving them, parboiling them, scoop out the meat and make a stuffing. (My mama made a shrimp stuffing) Them load it back in the halves, top with Italian cheese and bake. (Gulp) !

 

[tybo6]

Wow .......lots of great ideas
Next question is this.....Do u need to take the skin off em or leave skin on.......Bo just tried cuttin em into discs,buttermilk,and flour,deep fried em.....pretty good but,skin seemed a lil tough

 

[nick]

Skin them.. at least I do when frying. Try some dipped in egg and italian bread crumbs. They are yummy !

 

[jdfire40]

If we fry them it's skin off, if grilled, lasagna, or doing parmesan we cook skin on! Earlier when I was talking about grilling it whole, we only put a few small cuts into it & stuff with garlic cloves. We usually use 4 or 5 cloves.

 

[venture]

I usually do the large ones with skin off. Peel off the green and down to the "white".

This year my Japanese ones did much better. I just slice them on a bias.

In either case, kosher salt, or a half hour in salt water helps.

We eat them fried or oiled and seasoned off the grill. They also make great casseroles. A forgotten fruit here, but they are the most popular fruit in the Med!