Grilled Sweet Miso Aubergine

It should come as no surprise that I really love eating aubergine, in all kinds of ways judging from the various aubergine recipes I've posted such as Marinated aubergines, Panko crusted aubergine and Pasta Alla Norma. I really like its texture and it ability to take on flavours perfectly. Another one of my absolute favourite is the Grilled Sweet Miso aubergine. Initially, I thought that I could just buy sweet miso, plonk it on the sliced aubergine and throw it in the oven but no, it's easy but not that easy! This dish makes a great appetiser or a side dish. We had it with some grilled shio koji salmon recently and that went down really well!

Ingredients
1 Aubergine (sliced into rings of about 1 cm thickness)
1 Spring Onion (sliced)
1 tbsp Sweet Miso Paste
2 tbsp Mirin
1 tbsp Brown Sugar
Black Sesame Seeds
Light Olive Oil

Method
1) Preheat oven to 200 deg C.
2) Place sliced aubergine on a baking tray lined with baking paper and brush with olive oil.
3) Roast it for about 25 - 25 mins or until it's cooked.
4) In the meantime, mix the sweet miso paste, mirin and brown sugar until you get a smooth paste. Add a little water if it's too thick. (Please also note that measurements are only a guide as store bought miso has different degrees of saltiness so it's best to taste and adjust accordingly)
5) When aubergines are done, take it out of the oven, top each slice with some of the paste and spread it around evenly. 
6) Sprinkle some black sesame seeds on each slice and place it under the grill for 2-3 mins until the paste bubbles.
7) Once done, garnish with sliced spring onions and serve. 

Marinated Aubergine Inspired by Honey & Co

We've been on a middle eastern kinda kick recently, having first watched Ottolenghi's Mediterranean Feast. After catching it on TV, I immediately made a reservation at the highly recommended Honey & Co. Opened by the husband and wife team of Itamar Srulovich and Sarit Packer who have both been chefs in one of Ottelenghi's restaurant in London, they aim to bring childhood memories of home cooked food to the masses.This is what they've done with fresh, clean, well balanced, simple dishes that burst with flavours! The cakes are magnificent too! Even though we've only tried the very moist and moreish chestnut cake, i've heard rave reviews of some of the other items especially the Chocolate Krantz Cake.(search for it and I'm sure you'll be happy just looking at it!) We will definitely be going back soon to check out the rest of the menu.

Very Appetising Marinated aubergine that gets the tastebuds moving

Melt in the mouth Ox cheek sofrito with quince and bay leaves

Tender Pomegranate molasses chicken, served with a texture and flavour amazing cracked wheat salad with pistachios and barberries

Warm, moreish and moist Chestnut cake, salted caramel sauce, vanilla cream

My Lovely hubby then surprised me with Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi latest cookbook, Jerusalem but not before I tried making the marinated aubergines. Once I get some basic middle eastern ingredients such as Pomegranate molasses, barberries, sumac and zatar, I'll be so 'getting my hands dirty' cooking from this book!

Ingredients (From Delicious Days)

3 medium sized aubergine

olive oil for brushing

fine sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Marinade:

5 tbsp olive oil

5 tbsp lemon juice

1 small red chili

3-4 tbsp finely chopped coriander

1-2 garlic cloves

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

Method

1) Preheat the oven to 200°C (~390° Fahrenheit) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Trim both ends of the aubergine, then cut each in two equal sized halves width-ways. Now cut each piece into six to eight wedges, depending on the aubergine's  initial size. Key is to obtain (almost) equally sized wedges.

2) Generously brush the wedges with olive oil, place on the tray (skin side down) and season with sea salt and black pepper. Bake in the oven (middle level) for 20 to 25 minutes or until the tips have turned brown and the wedges feel soft to the touch.

3) Meanwhile prepare the marinade: In a large bowl mix together the olive oil, lemon juice, chopped red chili, chopped coriander, chopped garlic, sea salt and black pepper. Set aside.

4) As soon as the aubergines are done, dump them into the bowl of marinade while still hot and carefully stir (the wedges should not be mashed!) until everything is well covered. Serve after an hour at room temperature, or keep in the fridge (in a container) for some days. Enjoy with bread.

Panko crusted eggplant with Sesame Ponzu Sauce

In addition to the Negi Miso Chicken I mentioned in my last post, i also made some Panko crusted aubergine/eggplant with Sesame Ponzu sauce to go with it. I actually combined 2 recipes(Eggplant with Sesame Ponzu Sauce and the Eggplant Parmesan with Meat Sauce) I came across on Nami's Just One Cookbook Blog for this dish so I think I may have bastardise her recipes. Hope you don't mind, Nami! 

I just made a trip to the Japan centre supermarket in London(it's not often that I shop there) and bought myself a pack of Panko breadcrumbs as well as a bottle of Ponzu. As always, I was excited to use these new ingredients so I thought why not combine both to create a somewhat new dish. It actually worked quite well as the eggplants were a little oily from being deep fried so it was balanced off by the sourness of the Ponzu sauce which cuts through the oil nicely.

Adapted from Just One Cookbook
Ingredients
1 medium eggplant/aubergine
1 spring onion, chopped
Flour
2 eggs,beaten
Panko
Oil for frying


Dressing
2 tbsp Ponzu
1 Tbsp Sesame Oil
1 pinch of salt


Method
1) In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the dressing and set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.
2) Cut the eggplant into 1/3 inch thick rounds and soak in water for 10 mins. According to Nami, this will get rid of the tart taste and prevent the eggplant from changing colour.
3) Dry the eggplants with paper towels.
4) Dip eggplant in flour, shake off the excess, then dip it in egg, again, shaking off the excess. Finally dredge it in panko until evenly coated. Side this aside and continue with the rest of the slices.
5) In a large non stick frying pan, heat 1/4 inch of oil on high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, deep fry the eggplants until golden brown. When it's done, transfer them onto a plate with paper towels so that the excess oil can be soaked up.
6) Placed eggplants on the serving plate, sprinkle spring onions over it and either dip the eggplant into the sauce to eat or pour the dressing over the eggplants to serve.

Aubergine in a brownie??!!!!

I've been intrigued with using various kinds of vegetables in baking to make my diet that bit healthier. Can using vegetables really give a cake its moistness? Will the cake still taste of vegetables? Can it really taste like the real thing? These were some of the questions I had so to answer them, i had to try it myself. I've tried baking muffins using peas, banana bread using courgettes but nope, i didn't really like them. The muffin really tasted of peas which was rather odd and the banana bread had an spongy, not to great texture to it. 


Not being happy with the recipes I tried so far, I decided to get the Harry Eastwood Red Velvet Chocolate Heartache book after reading some good reviews. All recipes in there contain vegetable of some sorts so it was just what I was searching for...i hope.....


Flipping through it, the 1st recipe that caught my eye was one called Heartache Chocolate cake as it uses aubergines!!!! I really adore aubergine, making Pasta Alla Norma and Caponata quite often but using it in a cake? I've never heard of it before so it would be a pretty interesting one to try. What even more unusual about it was that the recipe didn't contain flour nor butter nor oil?? I was like...how in the world is this possible!!!!???????? So now, this has really caught my attention and I couldn't wait to get into it!! I was definitely skeptical as to how it would turn out so I was keeping my fingers crossed!


And the outcome of it all was................AMAZING!!! I was pleasantly surprised as was my hubby. It was rich, moist,dense and oh so moreish,  just like how a brownie should be so I shall call it that instead of a cake. ;P 

Ingredients:
2 small whole aubergines/1 large weighing 400g
300g best dark chocolate you can find (minimum 70% cocoa solids) broken into pieces
50g good quality cocoa powder, plus extra for dusting
60g ground almonds
3 medium eggs
200g clear honey
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 x 23cm diameter x 7cm cake tin
A skewer
A microwave
A blender 


Method:
1) Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4.
2) Line the tin with baking parchment and lightly brush the base and sides with a little oil.
3) Cook the aubergine: prick all over with a skewer, place in a microwaveable bowl, cover with cling film and cook on a high heat in the microwave for 8 minutes until limp.
4) Leave until cool enough to handle then skin, discarding any water.
5) Purée in the blender and then add in the chocolate. Heat a little more in the microwave if the chocolate needs help melting.
6) Whisk all the other ingredients together in a large bowl.
7)  Fold the melted chocolate and aubergine mixture into the bowl with the other ingredients.
8)Pour it into the tin, place in the bottom of the oven and cook for 30 minutes.(I had to bake it for 50 mins)
9) Remove from the oven. let it cool in the tin and then invert it onto a rack to finish cooling
10) Sieve a little cocoa power on top and serve.

Pasta Alla Norma

We tend to have pasta at least twice a week as it's quick and easy to make. Pasta Alla Norma, a classic Sicilian dish has a place in our pasta recipes collection as firstly, we love eating aubergines and even though it contains only a few ingredients, it still tastes good! That's what Italian food is all about isn't it? simple, fresh ingredients that packs a punch! I didn't have basil or ricotta at home so i just left them out. 

Ingredients

• 2 large firm aubergines
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon dried oregano
• optional: 1 dried red chilli, crumbled
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced
• a large bunch of fresh basil, stalks finely chopped, leaves reserved
• 1 teaspoon good herb or white wine vinegar
• 2 x 400g tins of good-quality chopped plum tomatoes, or 565ml/1 pint passata
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 455g/1lb dried spaghetti
• 150g salted ricotta, pecorino or Parmesan cheese, grated

METHOD

1. First of all, get your nice firm aubergines and cut them into quarters lengthways. If they've got seedy fluffy centres, remove them and chuck them away. Then cut the aubergines across the length, into finger-sized pieces. Get a large non-stick pan nice and hot and add a little oil. Fry the aubergines in two batches, adding a little extra oil if you need to (but you don't want to make it too greasy). Give the aubergines a toss so the oil coats every single piece and then sprinkle with some of the dried oregano - this will make them taste fantastic. Using a pair of tongs, turn the pieces of aubergine until golden on all sides. Once you've done the first batch, remove to a plate and do the same with the second batch.

2. When the aubergines are all cooked, add the first batch back to the pan - at this point I sometimes add a sneaky dried red chilli, but that's my addiction coming through so feel free to ignore this! Turn the heat down to medium and add a little oil, the garlic and the basil stalks. Stir so everything gets evenly cooked, then add a swig of herb vinegar and the tins of tomatoes, which you can chop or whiz up so they're not too chunky. Simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, then taste and correct the seasoning with salt and pepper. Tear up half the basil leaves, add to the sauce and toss around.

3. Get your spaghetti into a pan of salted boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions. When it's al dente, drain it in a colander, reserving a little of the cooking water, and put it back into the pan. Add the Norma sauce and a little of the reserved cooking water and toss together back on the heat. Taste the pasta and adjust the seasoning, then divide between your plates by twizzling the pasta into a ladle for each portion. Any sauce left in the pan can be spooned over the top. Sprinkle with the remaining basil leaves and the grated cheese and drizzle with olive oil.

Recipe taken from Jamie's Italy