Eggplant Tests

Eggplant isn't something I've commonly used in cooking. It's a pretty plant but, eh, just not my favorite. I tried two different recipes with the ones from the share this week with mixed success - one excellent, one mediocre.

First the excellent one...we had it as a side but it would make an excellent pasta sauce. I had 4 yellow squashes and two patty pan squashes in the share so I used all of it in this. I put the patty pan squash in the microwave for a couple of minutes to make them easier to cut


Summery Eggplant and Summer Squash with Basil

1 large onion, diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
Olive oil for sauteing
1 Japanese eggplant, diced about 1/2"
6 small summer squashes, diced about 1/2"
3 medium tomatoes, diced
1/2 c basil chiffonade
salt and pepper to taste

Saute the onion and garlic in the olive oil. Add the remaining ingredients with the exception of the basil and cook until the vegetables are soft. Add the basil.

Verdict: Excellent! Put some freshly grated Parmesan cheese on the top and enjoy. Ben discovered that reheating the leftovers in butter added a nice touch too.


Eggplant Gratin

Olive Oil
1 Japanese eggplant, peeled, sliced into pieced 1/2" thick
1 small onion cut into quarters
1/3 c milk
1 egg
4 oz grated misc cheese (we had cheddar, goat cheese and something I can't remember)
1/2 t minced fresh rosemary
salt and pepper to taste
breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 450. Break apart the onion pieces and coat that and the eggplant with a thin layer of olive oil. Roast in the oven until the pieces brown a bit, about 20 minutes. Meanwhile mix remaining ingredients except the bread crumbs. Grease a very small casserole dish. Reduce oven to 400. Put eggplant and onion (chop this smaller first if you wish) into the dish, pour egg mixture in and mix it around a bit. Top with breadcrumbs. Bake 30 minutes until top is browned.

Verdict: I just didn't like this very much, the flavors just didn't seem right and I didn't care for the texture. Sam liked it a lot. Ben liked it too.

Oh, I was fairly accurate in my prediction that most everything would still be uneaten when we got home. The only vegetables Ben had eaten were the beets.

I'm gone all next week

Sam too. That means that Ben will be on his own for meals and that generally means a steak with few or no sides or Chinese food so I'm trying to do something with almost everything we got in the share before I leave. Ben will pick up our share next Wed. and I expect that he will have eaten very little of it by the time we get back.

I took the pickling cucumbers and just cut them up and soaked them in a mix of water, salt, vinegar and fresh dill. Those are always tasty and he might eat them while I'm gone because there is absolutely no prep work necessary.

I also made bread with some of the squash.

Yellow Squash Bread
Based on KAF's Whole Grain Baking - Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread

350F
1 hr 10 minutes
1 large loaf

2 c whole wheat flour (1 used 1 c ww pastry flour, 1 c ww bread flour)
1 c bread flour
3/4 c sugar
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg
2 large eggs
3/4 c milk
1/4 c vegetable oil
1 1/2 c (12 3/8 oz ) shredded yellow squash (or zucchini)
1/2 c raisins
1/2 c chopped walnuts (I omitted)
1 T grated lemon zest (I didn't have it, subbed 1/8 t lemon extract)

Grease the pan. Mix the dry ingredients. Mix the wet ingredients. Mix them all together. bake for about 1 hour 10 minutes until tester comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes, remove from pan.


I simplified the instructions, check the book if you're looking for more detailed information.

Verdict: Very good, Sam and I both enjoyed it. Ben hasn't tried it yet.