Crispy Japanese Eggplant

Japanese eggplant has very tender white, buttery flash. Special cooking technique in this recipe makes it crispy on outside and melting-soft inside. Served with zesty ginger-garlic sauce, it is a winner!

Blog's Category: Appetizer, Healthy, International, Roasted Vegetables, Vegetarian

• 3 Japanese eggplants, sliced into large triangle pieces (see pictures below)
• 2 tbs salt
• 3 tbs rice flour (or corn starch, or potato starch)
• 3-5 tbs flavorless olive oil ( or other frying oil of your choice)
• 3 garlic cloves, finely minced
• 1 tbs fresh ginger, finely grated
• 3 tbs light soy sauce
• 2 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs corn or potato starch
• 2 cups of water 
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• fresh cilantro for garnishing, roughly chopped (optional)

- In a large bowl, mix eggplant pieces with a salt and let it stay for about 20 minutes. 

- After 20 minutes, transfer eggplant into colander and rinse eggplant under running water. Transfer eggplant onto towel to remove remaining moisture, then transfer into a large dry bowl, sprinkle with a rice flour and shake well to coat eggplant pieces with a rice flour.

- Preheat oven to 400F and line baking sheet with a parchment paper.

- Fry eggplant in a batches on a preheated skillet in oil, turning pieces, just until slightly golden and crispy. Transfer fried pieces to prepared baking sheet.

- Roast fried eggplant in a preheated to 400F oven for 7-10 minutes or until golden brown.

- To prepare sauce, in the same skillet you fried your eggplants, cook garlic and ginger for about 1 minute, stirring. Then add soy sauce and sugar. Cook for another minute. Add 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Stir 1 tablespoon of starch in a cup of cold water, then add this mix to a boiling sauce, continuously stirring until sauce thickens. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper, stir.

- Serve eggplants topped with a fresh cilantro and drizzled with a sauce.

- Enjoy!

- * Don't forget to check out pictures below and some useful comments there :)



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IN PICTURES

 Eggplant is sliced and shaken with rice flour. This is Oriental roll-cut into 1 inch pieces. To do this, cut a 1 inch slice off the end of eggplant holding knife at a 45-degree angle. Roll the eggplant half-way around, then cut off a second slice again at 45-degree angle. Continue to slice this way until eggplant is cut up.

 Interestingly enough, eggplant will not soak oil in too much as you, probably, would expect.

 I have a serious suspicion that next time I will omit roasting-in-oven stage all together. Eggplants look already awesome at this stage.

 Transferred to baking sheet for roasting. I like to use parchment paper for roasting - vegetables won't stick and I won't need to wash silicon mat if it would be them ;)

 Adding water to cooked garlic and ginger.

 To thicken sauce, mix starch with water thoroughly right before adding it to a sauce.

 As a finishing touch, you can use hand held blender to get rid of tiny pieces of garlic and ginger and make it completely smooth. Just transfer sauce into proper deep saucer before doing it, to avoid splashes with a hot liquid.

 Eggplant has come out of oven beautiful.

 It's your choice to serve with a sauce on a side or already drizzled with sauce. The sauce by itself is delicious and can be used with other dishes.

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

It is the best and by far the easiest recipe for roasted brussel sprouts. Not a fan? After trying this recipe, you, very likely, reconsider it.

Blog's Category: Effortless, Finger Food, Healthy, My Staple Food, Vegetarian

Intro

It is my favorite brussel sprouts recipe. Sure, I heard and tried other recipes for a roasting of brussel sprouts - with garlic, in combination with other vegetables, with different spices and herbs, citrus zest and all kinds of vinegars.. But I always come back to this recipe, because the most beautiful recipe are often the simplest ones.

To succeed with this recipe you have to stick to two rules - roast at high  temperature and be generous with olive oil. 

Taste Description

Right from an oven, brussel sprouts will be crispy on outside and tender, but not mushy, inside. You'll be delighted with a natural brussel sprouts flavor and nice spicy bite from a black pepper. Tip - look for those small leaves, crisped to a perfect golden-brown brussel sprout chips.

How to Serve

They can be served hot from an oven, warm or cooled down to room temperature. If you have leftovers, keep them in a fridge. Next day they will loose its crispiness, but will still be yummy - I like to use them as ingredient for vegetarian lunch sandwich in combination with mustard, mayo, cheese and lettuce.  

Tips

- Do not wash your brussel sprouts. They sold pretty clean at stores. Anyway, you are going to kill all bacteria by roasting at high temperatures. It's important for roasting that brussel sprouts will be dry before adding olive oil. If you absolutely need to wash them, make sure you dry them out thoroughly with a towel.

- It is the best to use silicon mats for roasting, but if you don't have it, use a foil to line your baking sheet .

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

• 2 lb brussel sprouts, halved
• about 1/3 tsp of salt (or to your taste)
• 1/3 tsp ground black peppercorn
• 2-3 tbs regular olive oil 

- Preheat oven to 420F and line your baking sheet with  a foil or a silicon mat.

- Prepare brussel sprouts by cutting off stems and slicing sprouts in half. Don't throw away separated leaves - those are going to be your tiny brussel sprout chips ;)

- In a large bowl shake well brussel sprouts with an olive oil, salt and pepper. 

- Pour brussel sprouts from a bowl to a baking sheet and spread it in a single layer. 

- Roast it for about 20-40 minutes (depends on a size of brussel sprouts) until golden-brown.

- Remove from an oven and enjoy!



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In Pictures

Do not throw away these small leaves, roast them too!

Slow Roasted Eggplant Sticks

This really simple eggplant recipe will become your favorite way to cook eggplant.  It is my favorite so far. 

Blog's Category: Healthy, Hors D'oeuvre, My Own Fast and Easy, Vegetarian, Finger Food

Intro

*** The idea was to cook an eggplant, in a very simple way, to have nice and neat pieces of eggplant as a finger food. For this purpose, to dehydrate otherwise mushy eggplant, I decided to slow roast it. The result is awesome recipe that, for sure, is a keeper.

Yes, do not bother yourself by soaking eggplant in salted water, or anything like that. This recipe is very straightforward and does not require any extra manipulations and that's what I love about it - simplicity with a great result.


What is it?

Eggplant pieces, salted and peppered, roasted at low temperature for 1.5-2 hours, served with an optional, but very delicious, sauce.

Taste Description

Beneath near-dry surface of these slow roasted eggplant wedges, uncover tender buttery flesh of eggplant, with its subtle unique flavor, reinforced with a few sprinkles of smoked paprika and a killer medium-hot sauce you may want to smudge on everything you eat from now on.


Variations

- Omit smoked paprika, or replace it with your favorite table seasoning.
- As a dipping sauce, you may use any of your favorite sauces. Although I would recommend this one, below :)

How to Serve

- Serve warm, or at room temperature, or cold as an appetizer or side dish for meat. It will keep in a fridge for several days and can be great addition, or even main ingredient, for sandwiches.

Slow Roasted Eggplant Wedges

• 2 large eggplants
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1.5 tsp black pepper
• 4 tbs olive oil
• smoked paprika (optional)

Dipping Sause

• 1 cup good mayonnaise
• 2+ tsp sriratcha sauce (depending how spicy you like it)
• 1 garlic clove, finely grated or finely minced
• spicy Indian pickled vegetables, finely chopped (very optional :))

- Turn oven to 250F.

-  Cut off stem from your eggplants. Then slice each eggplant in half across (see pictures below). Slice each piece in half and then into wedges. 

- In a large bowl, shake eggplant with salt, pepper and olive oil.

- Turn over eggplant pieces into baking sheet. Turn pieces over, if needed, to have each wedge sitting skin down.

- Bake in preheated to 250F oven for about 1.5-2 hours until cooked through, surface is dry and edges are golden brown. Test with fork or toothpick, it should be very soft.

- Remove eggplant from an oven and let it cool down.

- Make sauce, mixing ingredients together.

- Sprinkle eggplant wedges with smoked paprika and serve with dipping sauce.

- Enjoy!



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IN PICTURES

No need for additional handling of eggplant, such as getting rid of bitterness by salting and such. Trust me - just slice, season and pop in an oven :)

Rather than meticulously transferring pieces by piece from a bowl, just dump eggplant into baking sheet and fix all those unruly  to upright position:)

My favorite pieces - those with a lot of seeds (in a middle). They have that bonus seedy texture I adore.

Roasted Eggplant and Parmesan Crostini

Nicely toasted rye bread topped with some really good stuff. Fantastically delicious, crunchy, beautiful, healthy... How many more definitions you need to convince you to try it? 

Blog's Category: Healthy, Hors D'oeuvre, My Own Fast and Easy, Vegetarian

Intro

I'm so happy when I create something really beautiful and delicious. Most what I cook every day is improvisation. Most of those improvisations are pretty delicious. Although it's not that often when I get something extraordinary delicious. That crostini recipe below is my real success indeed.

The recipe is easy. You just need to roast eggplant and pour a little of simple dressing on it. Then you can keep roasted eggplants in a fridge for up to a week and assemble your crostini as many and as often as you need. It is also very convenient make-ahead appetizer for your upcoming entertainment night - just roast your eggplants, slice or grate parmesan and assemble your crostini right before serving. Actually, you can even assemble your crostini in advance and keep them in a fridge, covered with a plastic wrap, up to the moment your guests step in. In this case crostini won't be crunchy, but rather chewy, nevertheless still delicious.


What is it?

It is toasted thin slice of rye bread, spread with a tiny amount of mayonnaise (optional!), topped with a nice piece of roasted eggplant and garnished with a generous amount of sliced parmesan and pink peppercorn.

Taste Description

Classic combination of roasted eggplant and parmesan is taken a whole yard up by pairing with a bold and crunchy toasted rye bread. A little whimp of mayonnaise makes roasted eggplant even better. Small amount of garlic in a dressing gives just a hint of flavor and combines beautifully with a slightly sweet dressing. This subtle sweetness dissipate under saltiness of parmesan, creating nice umami.  Pink peppercorn, as a cherry on top, is not necessary, but highly recommended. It rounds up whole experience with a cheery, fruity notes of total happiness :)

How to Serve

- Serve as appetizer or cut finished crostini into random triangles to serve as a hors d'oeuvres.
- I've got these crostini for a lunch today - with a cup of strong black tea on a side, I would not wish better lunch for myself.

Roasted Eggplant & Parmesan Crostini

• 5 japanese eggplants, sliced in half
• 10 thin slices of dense european rye bread, nicely toasted
• 3 oz parmesan cheese, sliced in a small matchsticks
• 1 tbs mayonnaise
• 1 tbs pink peppercorns (optional, but highly recommended)
• 2 tbs olive oil for roasting
• some salt and black pepper to taste

Dressing

• 1 garlic clove, grated or very finely minced
• 1 tbs soy sauce
• 1 tbs kesap sambal (or kesap manis, or hoisin sauce, or teriyaki sauce)

- In a large bowl, mix eggplant halves with olive oil, salt and pepper. Transfer to a baking sheet, cut side up, and roast in a preheated to 420F oven until golden-brown. 

- Meanwhile, make dressing, mixing all dressing ingredients together. 

- Cool cooked eggplant down. Spoon dressing onto warm eggplant halves. 

- Assemble crostini: spread about 1/3 tsp mayo onto each toast. Cut each eggplant half across and place both pieces on a top of crostini. Sprinkle with parmesan and a few pink peppercorns. Serve and enjoy!



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IN PICTURES

I'm saving some time and effort by just mixing eggplant halves with oil, salt and pepper in a large bowl versus meticulously sprinkling each half with oil, salt and pepper. 

Ready to go into oven..

I like my eggplant a bit "well done"... Are you?

I always buy parmesan as a whole piece. It often ends up that I slice it thinly and then it mysteriously disappears from a fridge... 'cause everyone in my family loves thinly sliced parm :) 

Don't even start on "mayonnaise is not good for you.." It's all depends on ingredients, right?

Aren't they smiling to you too?

By the way, it just happened that I used japanese eggplants. I'm sure, plain one can be used too - I'll check on it soon, because, yes, I'll be making these crostini again and again.