Wednesday, August 11, 2010

EGGPLANT RECIPE ROUND-UP AND SANDWICH SMACKDOWN UPDATE

Here at the Intuitive Eggplant kitchen, we aim to please. This post will be neither as celebrity-studded nor as fashion-filled as Big Shamu's close encounters of the Michelle Bernstein kind in answer to a question from Moi. But I recently received a plea from Grumpy Granny for recipes to use the abundance of eggplant ripening in her garden - preferably without tomatoes.

So I went through my bulging files of saved recipe links and shared them in the comments to Grumpy Granny's own post.
Then I thought to myself, GG may not be the only reader looking for new and different recipes to use - or use up - eggplant this season. So I offer you here links to some eggplant recipes I've collected over the years - both with and without tomatoes - in case you find yourself in a rut and in need of new inspiration. We've got Thai, Indian, Lebanese, Moroccan, Greek, Turkish, not just Italian (a rut I tend to fall into). We've got wraps, roulades, salads, grain-based dishes, and pizza. We've even got a recipe for eggplant pickles (I'm all about the pickles)!

I share these with you with a few caveats. 1) Sadly, I have not actually ever made any of these recipes myself. 2) If you try any of them, please come back (via comment or email) and let me know what you thought of them or how you tweaked them. 3) I believe a few people have stumbled upon my humble blog thinking it is solely focused on eggplant recipes - not so. Someday I may post about how I came to have this screen name. Until then, on to the recipes!

Best Eggplants Ever – That's the title the Food Network gave this Madhur Jaffrey recipe with a tomato-chickpea sauce with yogurt and Indian spices.

Grilled Eggplant with Garlic Sauce and Mint – Bobby Flay goes a little Asian with this one.

Grilled Eggplant Wraps with Lemon Aioli, Feta, and Mint – The title of this Sara Moulton recipe pretty much says it all.

Herbed Broiled Eggplant with Capers and Olives – The eggplant in this Batali recipe gets an interesting stuffing treatment.

Shlada De-al Bedenjan – The lemons and spices in this Moroccan salad intrigue me.

Grilled Eggplant and Goat Cheese Salad – Personally, I’m a sucker for anything with goat cheese and pine nuts.

Pasta Shells with Roasted Vegetables – The artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers in this one, plus balsamic, Dijon, and fresh herbs, piqued my interest and could probably be adapted any number of ways.

Nonna's Pickled Eggplant – Need I say more?!!!!

Stuffed Eggplant with Sun-Dried Tomatoes – From Courtney at Epi-Ventures, a local blogger who cooks in, dines out, is going to culinary school, is (or soon will be) working in the kitchen at one of my favorite restaurants, and unfailingly delivers beautifully written and photographed posts that inspire me.

Spicy Grilled Eggplant with Red Pepper and Parsley – From blogger Kaylin of Kaylin’s Kitchen – her post also includes links to a bunch more eggplant recipes!

And this up just today from Joanne at Eats Well With Others, a witty and culinarily fascinating blog I’ve recently discovered: Sultan's Delight or Hunkar Begendi or Turkish Beef Stew with Eggplant Puree.

Then there's the wealth of inspiration you can find at Smitten Kitchen, one of my go-to sources for veggie-based recipes that appeal to my personal taste. Deb’s blog also features great writing, photos, and search capability, and she credits and links back to the original sources she adapts from. Here are a few of her eggplant offerings.


Lebanese Stuffed Eggplant – Another interesting middle eastern dish.

Or if you're an intuitive cook who gets your inspiration from great photos (but infrequent recipe posts - lol), you can check out this kicked-up Eggplant Parmesan from DoggyBloggy at Chez What?
As last month's winner, DoggyBloggy is also hosting the August Culinary Smackdown: Battle Sandwich. The Smackdown is a friendly little cooking/blogging contest where the victor usually takes only bragging rights and the opportunity to post this badge on their blog.
But DoggyBloggy has upped the incentive this month by offering a $100 CSN gift certificate to this month's Smackdown winner!

So get your sandwich ideas together and throw in for this throwdown. Or send me your favorite corn recipes, because I received a delightfully unexpected package today.

18 comments:

Dani said...

Thanks for the recipes Eggy! I'll have to give them a try.

Joanne said...

Excellent round up! Thanks so much for including me. I love eggplant and need to investigate some of these recipes.

I am posting a succotash recipe tomorrow - perfect for using up corn!

Heff said...

You've got REALLY nice eggplants !

100 bucks, huh ? COOL !!

Sharon Rudd said...

Dani, let me know what you think if you try any of them.

Joanne, can't wait to see your succotash recipe, and so glad to have found you in the blogosphere!

Heff, yeppers, $100 ain't half bad. It seems CSN is offering these gift certificates in varying denominations across the blogosphere. Eggy would love to get her hands on a little somethin'-somethin' from La Creuset . . .

Velva said...

First, your abundance of eggplants look beautiful. The recipe links are looking pretty good too. I really like eggplant and always enjoy them in the summer. I am not very creative with my eggplants-mostly, parmesan style baked eggplant and dips.

I have entered Doggy Bloggy's sandwich challenge. My first entry in a blog challenge.

Aunty Belle said...

Thar's no such a thang as too much eggplant--LOVE IT! So thanky much fer these winners...an that eggplant/goat cheese and pine nut salat will be mah first venture!

Aunty Belle said...

wait!....was them YORE eggplants in the photos? I'se impressed!! Beautiful!

Chef Dennis Littley said...

so many wonderful eggplants and so little time...sigh...I just love eggplant, and if I may be so bold you have gorgeous eggplants!!!

Sharon Rudd said...

Velva, I love your entry for the Sandwich Smackdown! So glad to have you join us for this blog challenge, especially if it's your first.

Aunty, glad you're interested in checking out some of the recipe links. Let me know what you think if you try any of them. To clarify, no, I don't have a garden this year. The photo at the top of this post is from my own aunty's garden, which she was kind enough to let me use. The second photo is from Grumpy Granny's garden, which was also kind enough to let me borrow. And the others (in the baskets) are photos I took of eggplants I bought at farmers markets.

Chef Dennis, yes, doesn't the availability of fresh produce in summer whip you into a frenzy it's almost impossible to keep up with? I must say, however, that you have been inspiring the heck out of me, especially with all your stuffed squash blossom recipes. The dessert you posted today - stuffing them with cannoli cream - has just about left me speechless! Keep the cooking - and the inspiration coming!

Shaheen said...

I live in the U.K, so forgive me in advance for referring to the eggplants as aubergines.

Your aubergines look FAN dabby TASTIC! I've only come to appreciate the taste of aubergines in the last five years or so. Really appreciate the recipe links. Thank you.

I'm off to have a good nosy around your space which I must say is rather welcoming - Thank you.

Sharon Rudd said...

Mangocheeks, thanks for stopping by. Glad you liked the aubergine recipes, and may I say it is fan dabby tastic to have my first international commenter too! Love the wealth of recipes on your blog for seasonal produce and will definitely be checking it out for more ideas!

Pam said...

Great roundup! I love eggplant and thanks so much for this!

Alessandra said...

Wow, a big post on eggplants! I love eggplants, I have just posted a eggplant recipe here http://alessandra-onlyrecipes.blogspot.com/2010/08/orecchiette-with-chili-white-eggplants.html

in case you have some white eggplants :-)

Alessandra said...

PS
I just put my name down as your follower :-)

LaDivaCucina said...

Hi Eggy! Jealous of the eggplants you get! YUM! I've included a link for my Sicilian caponata recipe: http://ladivacucina.blogspot.com/2009/01/csa-food-challenge-day-4.html

Keep it in a jar in the fridge for weeks, serve with crostini or crackers to guests but I served it over seared tuna steaks and rice.

Also, my next post will feature an Asian eggplant with only three ingredients! What a great resource you are!

LaDivaCucina said...

Oh, here's another one from an Asian cookbook by Charmain Solomon, it's Indian eggplant puree, great for eating with naan.

http://ladivacucina.blogspot.com/2009/01/barack-obollywood-feast-or-curried.html

Sharon Rudd said...

My, my, my!

Pam, thanks for stopping by, and glad you enjoyed the recipe links. Your horseradish butter sauce still has me obsessing about other ways I can put it to use!

Alessandra, your white eggplant orchiette dish sounds lovely! I just posted a little question on your comments. Thanks so much for stopping by here all the way from New Zealand! I can see there are worlds of inspiration to be had from my new international friends!

And Diva, you world traveler you, thanks so much for sharing your recipes as well! These definitely get added to "the list" of recipes I am happy to have in my arsenal! Also can't wait to see what you have up your culinary sleeve for your next post. So glad to have La Diva back in full force!

Marjie said...

Eggplants frighten me. I got 2 from my farmer. I don't know what to do. I may stuff one in my daughter's best friend's purse, since she loves them.