It feels strange to be writing about eggplant in February, but at the grocery store, there was a beautiful purple stack of them with a sticker from a local grower — Lady Moon Farms. Or so I thought. I bought them without giving it much thought, reasoning that they must have been grown in an enormous, magical Pennsylvania greenhouse. A few days later, though, reason and reality had set in, so a bit of sleuthing led me to the truth: Lady Moon has land in Florida, which is surely where my magical eggplants originated. Although I do try to buy food in season when possible, I can be susceptible to temptation…but at least this time, the weakness was directed towards a product from a family farm that started (and still produces food) in PA. How’s that for self-absolution?

So even though my eggplants didn’t have a supernatural provenance, they did star in this almost-supernaturally-good eggplant salad. It’s from Claudia Roden’s cookbook, Arabesque, which features recipes from Turkey, Morocco, and Lebanon — three cuisines that certainly know their way around an eggplant. In this salad, they are roasted in the oven until meltingly tender, then combined with some cooked tomatoes (canned ones work fine), lots of garlic, parsley, cilantro, olive oil, and a little bit of cumin. The result is a luscious vegetarian puree that would be terrific as part of a Middle Eastern-themed meal, if you can manage not to gobble it all down before your guests arrive. Summer might be far yet, but I’m already thinking of all the picnics to plan, just so this salad can join me.

Mashed Eggplant and Tomato Salad - Zaalouk
Adapted from Arabesque by Claudia Roden

2 pounds eggplants
juice of half a lemon
1 pound fresh tomatoes, coarsely chopped (or 6 canned plum tomatoes with their juice, chopped)
4 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
pinch of crushed Aleppo or cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
black olives, for garnish

Heat the oven to 475ºF.
Prick the eggplants with a fork several times to keep them from bursting, then place on a baking sheet covered with foil. Roast for 40-50 minutes, or until the skin is wrinkled and they are very soft. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. When cool enough to handle, peel the eggplants and drop them in a bowl of water with a few teaspoons of lemon juice added to keep the flesh pale.

While the eggplants are roasting, cook the tomatoes with the garlic and some salt over low heat for about 20 minutes, until reduced to a thick sauce. Set aside.

Drain the eggplants in a metal colander, pressing out as much water as possible. While still in the colander, chop the flesh and mash it with a fork, letting more juice escape.

Combine mashed eggplant with tomato sauce and the rest of the ingredients, and add salt to taste (I needed a lot, so don’t be too sparing).

Spread on a plate or shallow bowl and garnish with olives. Serve at room temperature. Serves 3-4 as a first course or mezze.

Salads & Sides, Savory Dips & Extras | 9 Comments »

Occasionally, there are foods that cause my self-control to go completely out the window, and I can’t help but eat embarrassing quantities of them in one sitting. One of these is romesco sauce, a Spanish salsa of garlic, nuts, olive oil, and peppers that sends me to the moon. There are probably as many recipes for romesco as there are cooks who make it, but this one is probably my favorite, and fortunately one of the simpler ones: it doesn’t require fresh tomatoes, so one needn’t be concerned if the season still seems so very far away. The sauce has a wonderfully pungent garlicky flavor that is mellowed by sweetly smoky roasted peppers, then picked up a bit by a sharp tang of vinegar and the subtle heat of ancho chile. In fact, I like it so much that last year I ate two batches in one week and made myself sick of it, but thankfully I’ve fully recovered and can now resume my feeding frenzy.

When I’m feeling piggy casual, I just scoop up the romesco sauce with hunks of bread or raw veggies, but I also love it as a spread in a sandwich stuffed with greens and veggies. It’s excellent over fish, grilled vegetables, or those charmingly tiny fingerling potatoes like the ones in the picture. No matter how you use the romesco, I really hope you’ll love it as much as I do!

Hazelnut Romesco Sauce

3 medium red bell peppers
1 dried ancho chile
2 garlic cloves, peeled
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 1/2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup lightly toasted skinned hazelnuts
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Place the ancho chile in a small saucepan with water just enough to cover. Bring water to a boil, then turn off heat. Let chile soak for at least 15 minutes. Meanwhile, roast the red peppers on a gas burner, on a grill, or in the oven. Set aside in a covered contained or paper bag for 15 minutes, peel off the skin, and rinse the peppers of seeds. Remove ancho chile from soaking liquid and remove seeds, then place chile, roasted peppers, garlic cloves, vinegar, salt, and hazelnuts in a food processor. Run processor, drizzling the oil in gradually, until the desired consistency is reached. You can thin it with chile soaking water if desired, or thicken it with a piece of bread with the crusts removed. Serve at room temperature.

Savory Dips & Extras | 6 Comments »

I made these little cheese balls for a gaming night last week, and thought they were a terrific hors d’oeuvre. They have a nice tang without tasting too yogurty, and the texture is soft and creamy like chevre. The marinade is fragrant with garlic and dill, and there’s a rustic elegance to the look of white cheese swimming in herb-infused oil. Because of the delicate texture, I couldn’t quite get them to be perfectly spherical, but I think they are supposed to be a little rough - perfection is overrated, anyway, right? The recipe takes hardly any effort at all and is very inexpensive to make…although it does require at least 24 hours of planning ahead so the yogurt has time to drain.

The little guys are pretty versatile, too…I look forward to flavoring them with olives, za’atar, roasted cumin, red peppers…use your imagination! On Leite’s Culinaria, where I originally found the recipe, someone suggested just making a dip with the drained yogurt instead of forming balls, which is a good idea if you’re in a rush and is somewhat of a more traditional preparation of yogurt cheese. The balls do look quite nice for parties, though, and the flavorful leftover oil is a tasty bread dip in its own right.

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Just a Bite, Savory Dips & Extras | 4 Comments »

This simple and bold spread has an Indian-ish feel - almost like a yogurtless raita (talk about an oxymoron) - thanks to the presence of toasted whole mustard and cumin seeds. On pita chips or toasts, it’s excellent party or snack food, but I also like to use it for sandwiches. A thick smear between slices of dark bread and topped with some sprouts makes a great and healthy vegetarian lunch. The recipe is mostly unadulterated from the original in Gourmet magazine, since I think the spice balance is pretty good as is. Sometimes I do like to add a touch more cayenne for some heat, since the spread is not spicy-hot at all.

This has been my sustenance today, as I’ve planned to spend part of this weekend experimenting with a few candy recipes for gift-giving…the results of which, for good or ill, should be posted tomorrow. As one of those people who can be a bit leery about candy-making, I’m hoping that a combo of luck, diligence, and the motivating power of cheesy 80s music will get me through.

Spiced Carrot Spread
Adapted from Gourmet magazine

1 tablespoon sesame seeds
1/2 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds
1/4 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/4 cup water
1 lb carrots, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
2 tablespoons olive oil

Toast sesame, mustard, and cumin seeds together in a dry 2- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until fragrant and a shade or two darker, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in water, carrots, salt, cayenne, and 2 tablespoons oil and cook, covered, over low heat, stirring occasionally, until carrots are very tender, 20 to 30 minutes.

Purée mixture in a food processor or with an immersion blender until smooth. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Savory Dips & Extras | No Comments »

Some of my favorite things to eat fall under the category of “little dishes” - chutneys, dips, chili pastes, little salads, and condiments that don’t stand on their own so much as add interesting notes to the main meal. The negative side of this is that I can get carried away sometimes, especially when cooking for parties or new guests. My desire to have enough items of interest on the table can lead to unsavory experiences like rolling dolmas at 4:00am before a big party and eventually getting into a grape-leaf fight with one’s roommate, ending with rice and leaves stuck to every surface in the kitchen, including ourselves.

To avoid this sort of embarrassing scenario, it makes things easier when one’s auxiliary dishes are extremely easy to make and don’t take much time away from cooking the main meal. These two are a couple of my favorites, and take hardly any time at all, assuming you have the ingredients on hand. I’ve taken the recipes from Madhur Jaffrey, who is pretty much my personal cooking hero since I love just about everything in her books.

Both of these have a distinct sweet-and-sour quality; the nectarine one goes well with just about anything that needs a sweet but not too sweet side note, and can work great either as an accompaniment to barbecued food or with a rice and vegetable dish.

The peanut sambal is a longtime favorite: it’s tart, slightly sweet, and hot all at once, not to mention completely addictive. If you crush or purée it long enough, it will take on a smoother consistency and can be used as a dip for crudites (red bell peppers pair very well) or pita triangles. Otherwise, it can be served on the side.

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Savory Dips & Extras | No Comments »