Eggplant 2012

Sadly, summer is winding down.  Soon it will be time to get back into the classroom so I had better make good use of the vacation time I have left.

I'm still reading a lot, which makes me happy.  It might be better if I read one thing at a time, but I currently have three things open.  As of today I am reading Foxes of the Desert which is the story of the Afrika Korps battles versus Britain told from the German perspective.  There are worse things to be consumed by but I just love reading Edgar Allan Poe.  Every so often I dig out a collection and read and read and.... I tend to like his mystery/horror stories best.  The third item I have opened is the September issue of Asimov's science fiction magazine.  Anyway that is the reading list, until the next new comic day.

Last week I decided I wanted to make another batch of eggplant.  The process was held up because I wanted to get a larger contained to use for the salting and soaking.  Honestly I am glad I did this.  The container I bought last week has a locking lid (so hopefully no spills when moving it around) and it has a grate.  The grate, a piece of plastic, was the best thing ever.  Putting this in the container while the eggplant was in the water/vinegar mixture with a small bowl on top kept everything submerged. The whole time!  Success!!

I packed up three jars this time.  Next weekend I will sample and see how it is.  After salting the eggplant over night I baked some of the slices (picture above) and marinated them with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and some herbs.  This made a pretty tasty sandwich filling.

Not wanting the weekend to be dominated by the eggplant festival I made these scones but substituting chocolate chips for the dried fruit and because I had leftover heavy cream I made this stew. Good stuff.

The Eggplant Preserve

Long time no post.

It isn't really summer vacation for me anymore, but I was inspired to take a shot at recreating something I remember from my younger days. Maybe my memory is clouded but I can easily picture jars covered with waxed paper containing preserved eggplant on the counter and on the basement shelves at my parent's house. Not sure if calling the jars ubiquitous would be accurate but they always did seem to be close at hand.

When looking for the recipe in my notebook I tried to remember the last time I ate preserved eggplant but I couldn't place the date. Maybe 10 years or maybe longer. Like many things I remember growing up preserved eggplant is just another thing that disappeared as I got older.

The recipe I got from my mother is not really recipe but a process. It takes three days to make this stuff, but not much work time is actually involved. (That will depend on how much eggplant you have.) The process is illustrated below.

Day 1: The Salting

I bought two eggplant totaling about 1.5 pounds for my first try at this. After peeling and slicing them relatively thin, I salted the slices and placed them in layers separated by waxed paper.



The salting was done on Friday night. By Saturday morning the eggplant had bled a fair amount of liquid.





You know you want some! Mm.

Day 2: The Soaking

On Saturday morning I wiped off the eggplant slices and put them into a mixture of three parts vinegar to one part water to cover. Eggplant floats so I put waxed paper over the top of the container and placed weight on top to keep the slices submerged.



Day 3: The Packing

On Sunday afternoon I drained the eggplant. You do have to squeeze the slices to get much, but not all the liquid out. I packed the eggplant slices in jars, layering with celery, garlic, and oregano. The jars then need to be filled with oil to cover its contents. This is important, no air bubbles can remain. Use a knife and or your hand to make sure the oil gets all around the slices. I covered the mouths of the jars with waxed paper, then put on the lids. I was able to loosely pack two pint jars.



I resisted until the following Saturday before cracking open a jar. For lunch I made a sandwich using a loaf of bread that I got from the Whole Foods across the street. The verdict: my sandwich was almost as good as I remember. When I make this again I will be sure to add a few more cloves of garlic to each jar and have a heavier hand with the oregano. I might even add some kind of hot pepper slices.



While I enjoy the remainder of my eggplant I'll have plenty of time to think about what kitchen project will be next.