Hardly a glamorous name for a dish – actually it’s so unglamorous we sometimes forget how much we like this. A concoction we made up ourselves, it consists only of roasted eggplant, butter, and onions. There are all sorts of other things you could add, but somehow it never seems necessary. Its toasty sweetness goes perfectly alongside spicy Indian food or something simple like a pork chop, or with middle-eastern flavors like lamb kebabs and yogurt.
Baked eggplant is a real revelation if you’ve never tried it. Once the insides are soft, they can be scooped out and added to all sorts of things. Baba ganoush is made this way, or you can stirfry the cooked eggplant with curry spices. It completely gets rid of the eggplant’s bitterness and spongy texture, leaving you with a dish that is both silky and sweet. It’s especially a good thing to do with the big purple grocery store eggplants when you can’t get fresh local ones – we find that the two of us can eat two eggplants very quickly this way.
Eggplant Mush
- 2 large eggplants
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1 onion, diced
- kosher salt
Preheat the oven to 400°. Prick the eggplants all over with a fork, set them on a baking sheet (line it with foil to make cleanup easier) and bake until wrinkled and soft, 30-50 minutes depending on their size. Cut them open lengthwise and let cool slightly.
Melt the butter in a heavy skillet and add the onion. Cook slowly until soft and golden. Scrape the eggplant flesh out of its skin and add it to the onions. Turn the heat to low and cook, stirring frequently, until the eggplant has broken down and incorporated with the onion – perhaps 20 minutes or so. Salt to taste and serve.
by Mario Batali, and found an enticing picture of lamb rib chops dancing around a pile of something green. It was, apparently, a pesto made of broccoli rabe. What a good idea, I thought, I’ll get some at the farmer’s market and try it out! Naturally, not a single booth was offering it…but Blue Heron Farm did have lovely fresh bunches of mizuna, or Japanese mustard greens. Thinking one bitter green might well replace another, we bought a bunch and proceeded to wing the recipe.
Food on the Brain 