Eggplant
I love eggplant. I love it so much, that we recently had 3 eggplants in the fridge and some frozen eggplant parm in the freezer. I was at the store and the eggplant looked soooo good. Nice and firm and purple. I thought I’d be cooking at home soon (it happens rarely this time of year), so I bought two beauties. I’d forgotten that a couple of days before I was at another store and the eggplants also looked great. So I bought one. I guess this is eggplant season somewhere. Besides in my fridge.
So I looked up eggplant recipes on line. There were some really cool ones. But I have a few rules about cooking and most of the recipes didn’t comply. Rule 1: I do not fry food. And rarely do I eat fried foods. Rule 2: I don’t bake. Putting the oven on for a meal for only two people seems like such a waste that I won’t do it. And the eggplant wouldn’t really be the whole meal, just part of it. Rule 3: It must take less than 30 minutes or forget it.
So I ended up steaming some of the eggplant and making baba ganoush for a party the other night. It came out great - you don’t have to bake the thing to death and scoop it out taking three days to make the dip. I used another one in a pasta dish, grilling it on the griddle. The third one was looking a little tired this morning, so I rescued it from the fridge and griddled it too. It’s in the fridge again in a different state waiting for me to do something fun with it. I will feel much better once there are no more eggplants waiting for me to figure out what to do with them. But I don’t mind the ones in the freezer. They’re not really still living. They’ve been cooked and are just waiting to be reheated. There doesn’t need to be any creativity involved. I guess I’m always concerned that my culinary creativity has diminished and I won’t be able to do a food justice. Yeah, that’s it…..
Tags: St. Croix
December 30th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
I love eggplant but never eat it. Gigi made a very good eggplant parmesan once and told me to savor it because it was the last one she would ever make. She stuck to her word.
I witness you eating fried calamari at least once a year.
December 30th, 2007 at 6:23 pm
Yeah, eggplant parm is great, but a pain to make. That’s why we get Michelangelo’s frozen stuff. It’s yummy and easy - just nuke it for 10-15 min and serve with pasta. Once in a great while, I’ll decide to make it from scratch, but it’s been years since I’ve been inspired to do that.
Yes, it’s rare when I eat fried stuff. I never order french fries as a side. If that’s the only option given, I’ll ask for a salad or coleslaw or anything else. Picking on someone else’s fries is okay, though.
December 31st, 2007 at 9:45 am
You know it is busy season when you are blogging about things like eggplant.
Here is an awesome looking eggplant recipe I have been dying to try. I just need to find or make garam masala.
Moroccan Eggplant with Garbanzo Beans
January 4th, 2008 at 9:40 am
Love eggplant! I know what you mean about not using the oven for 2 people. I just have Monkey Boy and myself at home so I bought a nice toaster oven, which I love. Think I’ll check to see how the eggplants look at the store!
January 5th, 2008 at 12:19 am
Peachpod! Great to hear from you! Hope things are going well and we wish you and Monkey Boy all the best in 2008.
January 5th, 2008 at 1:31 pm
I haven’t told Reggie yet, but I think my significant other and I are coming down for spring break! I’ll keep you updated because I can’t wait to meet ya’ll. Reggie has adopted you as family, and since he’s family, I’m planning to adopt you, too! Hope you don’t mind.
January 5th, 2008 at 5:38 pm
That would be soooo cool!!
We could learn lots more fun southern expressions!!
January 5th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
Are you saying Southerners talk funny?!
January 6th, 2008 at 12:45 pm
She’s good people Terry.
January 6th, 2008 at 2:39 pm
I know she is, Wreg, and Peach, y’all don’t talk funnier than Cruzans.
We have people from so many different places here, the colloquialisms are all great.
But I haven’t heard of the Ned’s ass and Cooter Brown ones, so if you have some other stuff, well, shit fire and mango butter, bring it on down!! We’ll adopt some of your language, too!
January 6th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
As long as it’s not hotter than or biscuit and I don’t have to deal with anyone whose dumber than a fishing worm, we’ll be good to go! To add to the whole mix, my man friend is from West Virginia, bless his heart, and has a whole set of colloquialisms of his own that I find endlessly amusing!
BTW, Wreg called me up earlier this afternoon and fussed at me for ‘talking’ behind his back!