How do you cook eggplant?

[aroobagirl]

I had eggplant once in Seville, Spain and all I remember was I liked it and it was lightly coated and fried. I have always wanted to try making eggplant but it intimidates me. Do you cook the skin, peel it? Easy recipes appreciated!

[sherban]

I make an easy eggplant parm recipe...something like this-

-Mix 2 eggs and a splash of milk in a bowl
-Pour out ~ a cup of progresso itialian breadcrumbs on a large plate
-Heat ~ 1/2 inch vegetable oil in a large frying pan
- Cut the eggplant into ~1/2 inch slices (skin on)
-Dip the eggplant slices in the egg (coat both sides), then coat the eggplant with the breadcrums in the plate, then fry to golden brown on both sides
-Coat the bottom of a casserole pan with spagetti sauce and start layering the eggplant in, I layer the eggplant in with a layer of mozzarella and a bit of parmesean cheese (and a splash of spagett sauce) in-between the layers of the fried eggplant
- Cover the top of the casserole dish with mozzarella cheese
- Bake the casserole for about 45 mins (~350 F), and enjoy!
-This is really a pretty easy recipe...not much to it.
Cheers

[nothintolose]

I like to cut it in about 3/4 inch slices, put a little olive oil on them and put them on the BBQ pit.

This is my grandmother's recipe:

4 eggplants, peeled
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
1 bunch green onions, chopped
2 yellow onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
½ bunch parsley, chopped
4 pieces bacon
¼ stick butter
½ cup breadcrumbs
2 lbs. shrimp

Remove seeds from eggplants and cut into pieces. Boil eggplants in water until they are tender and set aside. Cook bacon and drain on paper towel. Sauté yellow onions in bacon grease and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp are light pink in color. Add green onions and crumble bacon into shrimp mixture. Add garlic and eggplant pieces to mixture. Put mixture into a casserole dish and cover with breadcrumbs. Place a few pats of butter on top of breadcrumbs. Cook at 350° for 40 minutes

And this is the Fried Eggplant recipe from Galatoire's Restaurant (a famous local restaurant):

Ingredients
a 1-pound eggplant, trimmed and cut into strips, each about 3 by 3/4 by 3/4 inches
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup all-purpose flour for dredging
vegetable oil for deep-frying
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar for dipping

Preparation
In a bowl toss eggplant with salt. Cover eggplant directly with a plate and weight with a 1-pound can. Let eggplant stand 1 hour, or until it gives off most of its liquid. Rinse eggplant and drain well. Pat eggplant very dry with paper towels and in a bowl dredge in flour, shaking off excess.
In a 4- to 5-quart heavy saucepan heat 1 inch oil to 375°F. on a deep-fat thermometer and fry eggplant in 3 or 4 batches, stirring gently, until golden brown. Transfer eggplant with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain.

Serve eggplant hot with sugar for dipping

[Anthony]

Sherban - you don't dredge the eggplant in flour first?!!?!?

[sherban]

Sherban - you don't dredge the eggplant in flour first?!!?!?

Hi Anthony- No I don't...might be better if I did....I just coat with egg batter and breadcrumbs then fry...

Maybe I'll try it, what sequence would I use?

Egg, flour, breadcrumbs then fry??

[lisak428]

The sequence is flour, egg, breadcrumbs. The flour helps the egg to adhere. Also, when I use eggplant, I prefer to remove the skin. It can become quite chewy.
Lisa

[Anthony]

Lisa got it - flour, egg, breadcrumb - theory is the flour makes the egg stick better. I make fried eggplant several ways - sometimes only flour and egg. Sometimes like you mentioned, parmigiana with mozzarella and tomato sauce - sometimes just fried as a side dish, plain - quartered long ways and cooked in a pan with olive oil, etc. Also love it on the grill of course!

We actually had pasta with eggplant and cherry tomatoes for lunch yesterday. I just cut the eggplant in big pieces, sauteed in the pan with olive oil (on very high heat) - when it was nice and brown, added a bunch of halved cherry tomatoes, white wine and a bit of tomato paste - and then tossed the pasta in with all of that and some reggiano at the end.

We also make homemade Babaganoush which is pretty simple - you poke holes in the eggplants, roast them in the oven, and then peel them and mash them with tahini and lemon juice and spices -

And of course there is Caponata -

[Xislandgirl]

We dice it up small and sautee it with peppers and onions and then layer it into lasagna instead of meat.


I use fat free cottage cheese and fresh parmesan instead of ricotta and mozzarella and it is super healthy.

[cat]

I like it if you cube it and boil the eggplant in salted water until it is tender and then add it to rough cut onions, sauteed with tomatoes and a little garlic in olive oil. Throw in some roughly cut up black olives to warm them up. Serve it over pasta and sprinkle to taste with shredded parmesan cheese. You can use a romano/parmesan cheese blend too.

It is one of my favorites!

[Lulu76]

I made it in to eggplant parm last week (and I didn't dredge mine in flour first either, just egg and then dipped it in cracker crumbs mixed with Italian seasoning and parmesan cheese).

I also make moussaka, which is my favorite Greek recipe. I can try to find it if anyone's interested.

[liamsaunt]

I love eggplant. I often make eggplant sticks similar to nothintolose's recipe--though not with sugar. I also make eggplant fritters, stuffed with mozzarella, and pan-seared cutlets with tomato sauce. Eggplant pasta ia a standby--I just dice the eggplant, salt it, squeeze out the juice and then fry it in olve oil until crispy. I toss it with marinara sauce and lots of basil and serve over pasta. In fact, I might make that for dinner tonight! Eggplant pizza and eggplant parmesean make regular appearances also.

I use flour-egg-crumb for coating my eggplant.

[aroobagirl]

Thanks all! Now, any clues on what to look for when buying one?
I think the dredging and frying may be what I had so I will try that one first.
Again, you are a wealth of information!

[toni]

Just cooked some up yesterday, sort of a ratatouille-veggie dish. Kind of a what to do with lots of garden veggies that need to be eaten . I'm not good on measuring, just throw things in by taste, it's very simple to make, just veggie prep time-

saute diced onions and peppers in olive oil until somewhat soft
peel the eggplant and cut into cubes and saute with softened peppers/onions
add crushed or stewed tomatoes (i use the kind with chilies or you can just add extra crushed chilies for kick)-if you have garden tomatoes just chop them up
add squash (yellow or green) if you have any-
add okra fresh or canned
add lemon juice and seasoning-usually like a cajun spice, also some celery salt
add herbs-basil, oregano, cilantro
cover and simmer until the veggies are the texture you like.

It's a really easy dish.

We also peel eggplant and cut into slices, brush with olive oil, season with cajun seasoning of whatever type, put on a broiler pan and stick under the broiler. Get the one side cooked and then flip and add asiago cheese or parm regg. cheese or whatever you like and cook until the cheese is melted-very easy and yummy!

Love to eat moussaka at restaurants which is eggplant/meat sauce/cheese and a custard top, but I've never made it-if anyone has, is it difficult to make?

[pipanale]

This time of year in NC, eggplants abound at the farmer's market. We eat a lot of it.

For the long Japanese eggplants: wash, cut off stem, toss on grill. When they look done, bring them in and split right down the middle. Add olive oil and some salt. Weep with joy.

For anything big enough to slice (the "regular-looking ones", the white ones, the medium purple ones), slice and toss on the grill. When you flip them, add some oil to the cooked side. When they're about done, remove them to a covered dish to steam a little bit. At this stage, I usually let my wife take over and she seasons them in one way or another.

We also use the mandolin to make thin slices. Then, the Mrs lightly fries the slices. She rolls them in ricotta cheese. Viola: Eggplant Rollatini (sp?)

Otherwise, we do a lot of the recipe above this. Search the fridge/garden for stuff. Toss in a pan with olive oil, garlic, appropriate seasonings (from St John Spice of course).

Although, last week, I just cut a whole bunch up into cubes. I roasted it all for a while after tossing in oil and salt. When they were about 3/4 done, I sprinkled the whole mess with a mixture of Italian breadcrumbs and melted butter. I let it cook and quickly finished under the broiler. It looked kinda ugly but was fantastic.

[liamsaunt]

I've made moussaka--it is not difficult but it is time consuming because you have to fry all of the eggplant in batches.