I love cooking shows. I enjoy finding new recipes and trying new dishes. Only when it's something new or I'm when trying to replicate an authentic dish do I follow the recipe exactly (or when I'm baking, but we all know you can't improvise when you bake or you end up either with mush or teeth-shattering accidental hard tack.) If I look at a recipe, I look for method, temperature and complimentary flavours. I think most people do this unless they go shopping with a recipe in hand. And of course, we all adjust for taste. A little less salt, a little more spice, a little bit more cheese.Once every other week (once a week during growing season) I get a box of fresh produce from a local company. It's all organic and they source locally when they can. I don't get a choice what's in the box, aside from allergies and total dislikes. That means I have to find recipes that work with my produce and sometimes I get things I wouldn't ordinarily buy. It's a good way to stay out of a food rut.
This week I received a bag of white mushrooms, broccoli, mini assorted bell peppers, cherry tomatoes, celery, green onions, lemon, oranges, apples, lettuce and a beautiful eggplant. This produce has been handled very gently and whenever possible, shipped from close by (though obviously you can tell there aren't any real local items on that list. But it's literally impossible to eat local in Eastern Canada in the middle of February. Unless you really like potatoes and apples from cold storage.) The quality is great, though I am really, really sick of apples. I struggle to use up the half dozen or so I get every delivery.
So, for dinner tonight, I used the eggplant. I looked up a basic recipe for stuffed eggplant to get the oven setting (350) and the basic process (hollow out eggplant, sautee ingredients, mix with rice, cover and bake) and then just went at it.
My recipes aren't really recipes. They're more guidelines, or a process. Modify as you wish, switch things out and add in new things as you like.
- One large eggplant
- A handful of white mushrooms.
- Half an onion.
- One small orange pepper.
- Two cloves of garlic.
- Four cherry tomatoes.
- Half a cube of tomato stock.
- A splash of red wine.
- Two servings of rice.
The Process
- Pre-cook about two servings of the rice of your choice according to package directions.
- Hollow out the eggplant. I did this by slicing around the outside, leaving about 1/4 inch attached to the skin. Then I slid a knife under the bottom and down the middle and hollowed it out in chunks.
- Salt the eggplant halves and the cubes and let sit.
- Rough chop the white mushrooms til they're fairly chunky but not so small that they'll dissolve. Chop the onion into pieces and the bell pepper into strips.
- Sautee the veg over medium-low heat in a wok until they soften.
- Once the onions, peppers and mushrooms have softened, rinse the eggplant cubes and add to the pan with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Chop two cloves of garlic and toss in.
- Quarter the four cherry tomatoes and add.
- Add in about one cup of tomato stock (or beef, chicken or veggie. I just happened to have these neat tomato stock cubes.) Add in the splash of red wine and about a cup of rice. Simmer until most of the liquid has absorbed or dissolved. Season to taste.
- Rinse salt off hollowed out eggplant halves and place in a skillet or casserole dish.
- Once the mixture has finished, spoon it into the eggplant halves.
- Bake, covered in the oven for about twenty minutes, or until eggplant shell has cooked. I removed the foil for the last five minutes.
- Serve garnished with spring onion.
The Verdict
I think this dish turned out quite well. It was tasty and satisfying. It made two halves and I ate one with bread. I also have a little leftover rice to serve with it. I think next time, I'd try it with some kind of cheese (I didn't have any save the tiny bit of Gruyere.) It would have also been nice with a side salad.
