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eggplant. i love eggplant. but i have never been able to master cooking it. would like mediterranean or asian or recipes that don't involve cheese or deep fryers.

in restaurants (esp Chinese and Japanese) eggplant retains its shape but has a moist velvety texture and is bursting with flavor of the sauces it is paired with. when it's done perfectly it is the foie-gras of vegetables.

i've tried a variety of recipes but with little success - and cooks illustrated has thus far not done much with eggplant other than one good recipe for eggplant parmigiana.

suggestions?

the falafel place near my apt makes a great eggplant dip. it's eggplant with tomatoes and chickpeas and olive oil and probably some onions and garlic.

ok, you guys. a friend just brought over some beautiful fresh pasta she made. what would be the ideal spring pasta dish for me to make?

i like sweet peas with a little mint and proscuitto in a light cream sauce - fairly classic treatment.

or maybe asparagus as a sub for sweet peas.

i can't provide a link to any recipes off hand, though.

JenPDX,

I'm no expert, but I think the secret behind Asian eggplant dishes is using the smaller, more slender and less deep-purple Asian eggplants. You cut it into rounds like a zucchini and because there's skin all around, the shape is retained.

lisa -- anything fresh young and green (i mean vegetables), lightly sauteed with garlic, or even better, ramps, or if you can find them, fiddle heads
i've been meaning to make this dish created by my blogging friend sher
http://whatdidyoueat.typepad.com/what_did_you_eat/2006/04/penne_with_more.html

you could sub any wild mushrooms for the morels

jenPDX -- my mom makes an awesome dish where she grills thin slices of eggplant (brushed w/garlic flavored olive oil)
she then smears them with homemade pesto and wraps the whole shebang around a slice of tomato and some fresh mozzarella
its so good, even my eggplant hating beau loves them

Well, I'm biased, but I am still feeling a little wistful for the braised leeks I made last week. I had them over pasta and they were just so yummy. If you click my name you can see the recipe.

I would love some good eggplant recipes too. I just have never taken to eggplant - I am not sure why - but I want to like it!

Here's another question. Has anyone made puff pastry from scratch? I did last weekend, and it was delicious. But the pastries I put in the oven first puffed up a lot more than the later pastries, and I was wondering why that was. If the dough has warmed from sitting out, does that affect the "puff" quality?

Faith, with regards to making home-made puff pastry, way to go!!!! I have done it once and it turned out okay, but have found the Pepperidge Farm brand to be a good one in a pinch.
With regards to your question, absolutely will the warmth negatively effect your pastry. If you can't get both batches in the oven at same time, put the second in the fridge to keep the butter chilled. So that when it does cook it will steam and puff up. Otherwise you end of with already melted butter before you get it in the oven and then it can get a bit soggy and not as good a puff. Trust me I know from experience as I did that the first couple of times I made croissants.

Lisa,

I second the young green angle: whatever you can find that's fresh and in-season, throw it in: ramps, peas, pea greens, baby green onions, chives, lamb's lettuce, asparagus tips. Sauté in a little butter or olive oil, toss in a splash of white wine or stock if needed. Maybe some shavings of pecorino cheese and cracked black pepper - yum! Send us photos!

http://www.aubergines.org/recipes.php

just found this online. a bonanza of eggplant recipes. crazy cool!

sorry to be a post-o-rama today, but i'm home sick and a little bored...
speaking of eggplants, has anyone ever seen the teeny tiny eggplants that i believe are native to india or thailand or somewhere for sale in nyc?
i saw them once on a travel/eating show hosted by padma lakshmi (aka mrs salman rushdie)
they cooked them in a curry i believe and they just looked SO good
i think they were maybe the size of large globe grapes
any help, as always, appreciated

oh, and lisa i thoguht of another great spring pasta dish, peas and lettuce (from a diane seed book)
cook onions in butter, add peas and baby lettuce, cook slow and low covered
toss with pasta and cheese
i usually add a little lemon or white wine and garlic, its lovely!

Ann, were they green and white? They might have been a type of brinjal, Thai eggplant. Here's a pic: http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2005/10/23/green-brinjals-poluru-vankaayalu/

I see these at my Asian grocery a lot. They vary from grape size to, more commonly, the size of a plum.

Here's a recipe for stuffed brinjal curry that I have bookmarked to try: http://www.nandyala.org/mahanandi/archives/2005/10/24/stuffed-brinjal-curry-gutti-vankaaya-kura/ ...

Also, a Thai friend makes an excellent green curry with these, some chicken, and fish balls. I have the recipe - let me know if you want it. (Hmm. Maybe I do like eggplant after all - anything with these I like!)

Here is my ongoing dilema with cooking meat, poultry, and fish - the cooking time. I never know when it's cooked all the way through. I end up pulling the things apart in the process trying to figure it out or overcook so much that it is definetley done but tastes awful. How can I really know when my dishes are done to perfection?

Jony--

Perfect question. I also always find myself in the same predicament. I hate pulling out a fillet of salmon and eating it only to figure out the middle is not done and then having to put it back in the oven. So I have also grown accustomed to cutting it in half to check if it is done. Is there a better way?

Jony,

I hear your pain. Like Luke, I'm quite accustomed to cutting things open to check on the doneness of fish and things like sausages. With poultry and other meats, I use a poke-and-prod method (with a finger or the spatula). The more done, the firmer it is.

Obviously, you have to develop a 'feel' for the meat and how done you like it (esp. with things like steaks), but I find it works. And it's especially handy on the barbeque.

Right. And them to overcompensate I end up overcooking and killing a great cut of meat, filet of fish, even chicken. I did that with salmon one time when cooking for a friend which was horrible! It's frustrating so i've given up on the whole thing until I can figure it out. So, is there a better way?

Regarding doneness of meat...

This approach may not appeal to everyone, but, bring your meat up to room temperature before cooking. Maybe 20 minutes out of the fridge before you cook it.

It will ensure that the heat gets to the center of the cut of meat more quickly and cooks more evenly.

JenPDX, I'm with you on defridgerating meat/eggs, at least for a half hour or so before cooking.

Jony,
how about a meat thermometer until you get the hang of it?
Food writers usually give you an interior temperature for various done-ness.

On the tendancy to over do it,
keep in mind that meat/fish continue to cook after you take them away from the heat, so you want to take it all out just before it gets to where you want it to be...
It took us most of a summer to stop incinerating chicken on the grill, for fear of uncooked poultry. Some of it is psychological.

i learned my doneness meter method from a professional chef
it rules, b/c it works for meats as well as avocados
here goes: make a fist with your left hand, your thumb tucked under your other fingers

there should be a muscular bump btwn your thumb and your index finger
it should be kinda squishy, but also a little firm
this is the proper texture for both a perfectly ripe avocado and rare cooked meat
moving backward, the muscle turns a little harder, this is medium-rare to rare, and as it gets harder and harder, the texture resembles medium and well done temps for your meat

this might not appeal to everyone because it requires you to poke your meat (heh) but i've never cooked a cut wrong based on this method
hope this helps

oh, and faith! that's them! i still have no idea where to get them in nyc, but, now i have a quest and, of course, i'd love the recipes!

Does anyone have any advice about olive oils? I feel like I just can't win. Last night I bought a small $12 bottle to use in a dressing for a salad and was extremely disappointed - it was very harsh and a had a sharp spicey aftertaste. I can never seem to find olive oils that are mild and good for dipping, like at a good italian restuarant, and make tastey dressings. Any favorite olive oils that people have tried and can suggest?

Ann, there's a recipe in PDF form here: http://mekuno.net/Images/ThaiGreenCurry.pdf

I put it up in PDF because I wanted to leave it just as he wrote it - he put in pictures of all the different Asian ingredients! He's a fantastic cook. It's a pretty loose recipe - his Thai recipes are like, add some of this, then that, until it tastes good to you. Try a good, big Asian grocery - I always find unusual produce there. I bought a yellow melon there last week, and I have no idea what it is. I am going to open it soon and see.

Also, I have had all the same problems with overcooked and undercooked meat. So frustrating. Now I swear by the instant read thermometer. Thermometers used to intimidate me - I don't know why. But they are great for everything - even bread!

so awesome faith, thank you!
watch out you wascally wee aubuagines, ann's on the hunt!

I concur with ann--a thermometer is the way to go. If you buy when made for meat, it will likely have tiny labels at the major temperature increments, saying things like "whole poultry," "fresh pork," "rare beef." (Mine does, at least.) I use it every time I cook meat.

When I cook fish, especially skinny filets, I go by time because they cook so fast.

And, BTW, I bought some fiddleheads from the PSFC yesterday. They look lovely, but they are also about $10/lb.!

sorry. I concur with FAITH.

ok, i made my spring pasta. pecorino cheese, asparagus tips, leeks, lemon, a little butter, a little wine, lavender salt (it made sense at the time!), mint, parsley and a little boston lettuce thrown in at the end. strangely, it was great--especially with more white wine to drink. thanks for the advice, y'all!

Help!

I'm having a small (2 hours, 10 or so people) early cocktail hour at my house on saturday as the start to a progressive birthday party. I would like to serve something spring-like, and fresh tasting. I have complete cook's block though!

I plan on serving Voigner and Vodka Gimlets as the alcoholic beverages, and a sparkling Pear refresher and vanilla italian sodas as the non-alcoholic beverages. Can anyone suggest food to go along with this?

It needs to be:
-easy to prepare (it's my b-day, I don't want to spend all day cooking)
-look impressive
-taste fresh and spring-like
-be light enough for this early hour, but substantial enough that we aren't drunk so early!

Also, easy to eat standing up without dropping your plate or drink would be GREAT.

THanks so much. Normally, this wouldn't be a problem, but I have been thinking about it for 2 weeks now, and I've got nothing.

Rachel - maybe a smoked salmon mousse with dill? The mousse could be shaped in an impressive mold. With crudites and crisp flat bread.

Jen, that sounds like an idea. I've linked a recipe in my name - does this sound like a good one? And do I need the fish mold?

Maybe that and some deviled eggs, and green veggies and edamame?

rachel
I would highly recommend bopping over to 101 cookbooks and taking a gander at heidi's "alt" hummus' (hummi?)
http://www.101cookbooks.com/
they all look wonderful, could be served on little croutons, and you could totally play with the ingredients
spring pea with mint "hummus"?
chickpea and grilled ramps?

oooh, that's an idea too....

thanks you guys!!

One really easy trick I like to use for stand-up parties is phyllo dough cups, which can be filled with almost anything, and are an easy way to create finger food out of things that normally wouldn't be.

You buy a package of frozen phyllo dough, defrost it, then layer the sheets - 6 at a time - in a little pile. If you are going to be filling them with something savory, brush olive oil lightly between the layers. If you're going to be filling with something sweet, brush butter and a little sugar.

Then cut each stack of sheets into six squares, and tuck each square into a lightly oiled muffin cup so its edges stand up all nice and frilly. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes, until golden.
They should easily twist right out of the cups while they're warm. You can make these a day or two before and store, wrapped well so they don't get soft.

Then the day of the party, it just takes just five minutes to fill them with (premade) fruit salad, or egg salad, or something more sophisticated - like a (again, premade) dollop of chocolate mousse or goat cheese and endive salad. Tomato, basil, and fresh mozzarella is nice and light, too. I especially like filling these with a light cooked custard, chilled, with a bit of bright fruit on top.

Rachel - that's *quite* a recipe. The couple of times I've made salmon mousse in the past - there were much fewer ingredients (but then I didn't mold it so maybe you need some of the gelatin/butter to make the mold part work).

From my standby - Cooks Illustated *The Quick Recipe*
4 oz sliced smoked salmon
1 large shallot minced
2 oz cream cheese softened
2 teas lemon juice (fresh preferable of course)
1/4 cup creme fraiche or sour cream

Salmon and shallot in food processor until finely chopped (10-seconds).
Add cream cheese and lemon juice. Process until mixture forms a ball.
Add creme fraiche and pulse just to incorporate (5 sec)(my note, I'd probably add a pinch of fresh dill at this point)

Their serving suggestions include piping mousse onto endive leaves or on thin squares of black bread (pumpernickel?) That might eliminate the need for a mold. Or you could do both, some piping and some mousse just in a bowl for dipping.

Oooh, that sounds a LOT easier. :) I also like the phyllo cups idea. I'm going to try to do a pink and green theme, so pink mousse, green things in cups, endive, that should be good.

:)

y'all are wonderful. I'd invite you to the party if it wasn't weird. :)

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