It always surprises Annalena that there is such a disparity of opinion on eggplant. There are people - Annalena knows several- who HATE it. Now, this is something that she truly doesn't understand. She respects it, but unlike other vegetables, or fruits, or anything else, where she can see (while disagreeing) HOW a dislike can develop, EGGPLANT???? She doesn't understand it. Not at all. So, if some eggplant haters read this, Annalena would be curious to know why.
In any event, eggplant has certainly become a part of our culinary culture. Who does not know eggplant parmagiana? or baba ghanouj? In fact, at the end of this post, Annalena shall lead you to a song about eggplant. She loves the song, and she loves what has been called "the Poor Man's meat."
Well, back to the dislike of eggplant. Since much of what we "taste" is based on what we see, Annalena posted the picture above yesterday, to see if anyone could tell that it was eggplant. Nope. So, maybe you'll give it a try if you don't like eggplant. If you DO like eggplant, you MUST try this while you can.
To begin, turn up your oven to the broil point, put a rack as close as you can, and then let it sit for five minutes. While it heats up, get three pounds or so of SMALLER eggplant, and poke a few holes in each one. Doesn't much matter what TYPE of eggplant you use, although the European ones would be more traditional. No oil here, ragazzi, as you put the eggplant on a cooking sheet, and then leave it for about 5 minutes. Then, when the skin has blackened, carefully (use tongues), turn it around so that the entire eggplant is blackened and crisp on the outside:
These are ridiculously hot, ragazzi, so leave them alone to cool. When they do cool, peel the skin. This will be easier to do with the globe eggplants. With the longer, Asian eggplants, slice them horizontally, and scoop out the flesh.
What this exercise will teach you is that eggplants, like peaches, or nectarines, etc, ripen. Some of these eggplant will be VERY soft, and others, will be quite firm. It's a question of ripeness.
So after you have the flesh separated, chop it roughly, and no need for surgical precision or cleanliness here. A little skin with the flesh, is a-ok:
You will have about a quart's worth of eggplant "meat" or flesh here, and you can store it until you're ready to finish up the soup.
When you're ready to make the soup, you need:
YOU GOT THIS! You probably have this stuff around. You can also do with a bit of hot red pepper (cayenne: just a sprinkle), and you need chicken stock.
Now, let's stop for a minute about that stock. Eggplant has a very delicate flavor, and chicken stock can overwhelm it. On the other hand, water is not sufficient, and since most vegetable stocks are tomato based, and again overwhelm your other nightshade, Annalena suggests starting with a quart of chicken stock, and cutting it with two cups of water. You WILL need six cups of the liquid anyway.
So you chop up the onions roughly, until you have a heaping two cups. Mince the garlic and keep it to the side. Then, three tablespoons of olive oil into your pot, with your onions. Just the onions, and some salt and pepper. No garlic.
You want to saute' the onions for about 5,6,7 minutes until you see them just beginning to go golden. Then, you sprinkle in your cayenne pepper, add your garlic, your eggplant and your stock
Bring this to a hard simmer, and then lower the heat.
In the original recipe, you are to simmer this for ten minutes. For the life of her, Annalena cannot figure out why. Your eggplant IS already soft, and ten minutes will not make much difference. Your onions are cooked. Your garlic will not cook too much in ten minutes of a soft simmer. Up to you.
When you decide you're finished, time to puree. BE CAREFUL. Hot soup, any hot liquid for that matter, when pureed, releases steam. Under pressure, as it is in the blender, it can hurt you - badly. So, use small amounts of the stuff - no more than two cups at a time, keep the top of the blender slightly opened, and cover it with a dish towel. As you puree the soup, move it to another bowl or pot, and keep going until you're done.
The original recipe now calls upon you to pass this soup through a food mill. Annalena cannot, for the life of her figure out why. What she CAN tell you is that if you put this through the mill, you will lose about half of the 10 cups you just made. Annalena likes texture in her soup. But if you want it VERY smooth and velvety, by all means.
Also, now take those lemons, and squeeze the juice of at least 11/2 of them into the soup. Taste. You want the lemon flavor, but you want the subtlety of the eggplant as well. It's all balance, and if you want the lemon to predominate, keep going with that leftover half.
Finalmente, you are supposed to finish this soup with a garnish of the Middle Eastern spice blend, za'atar. Now, this will certainly give our soup a certain flavor profile. Annalena thinks that some pesto trapanese, or some plain basil pesto, or some chopped sundried tomatoes will all work better; however, she is going to eat her soup just plain, because she loves eggplant. You have, however, a lovely beige canvas on which to work YOUR culinary magic. So, ragazzi, if you make this, and you do adorn it, tell us what you did. Sharing is part of what cooking is about.
And as promised, the wonderful Michael Franks singing about eggplant. Annalena does NOT suggest eating it cold with mayonnaise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=peuy_DcJhp8
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