Dinner Party: Eggplant Steaks with Ragoût
On October 23, I invited Tara, Elaine, and Nick over for dinner. Because I needed to make a vegetarian meal, I decided to try making some eggplant steaks. I think the meal turned out well, and was pretty satisfying; Elaine even said it was "restaurant quality," which is maybe overly-kind, but I'll happily take the compliment.
Eggplant Steaks with Pumpkin, Tomato, and Mushroom Ragoût
Ingredients:
- 1/2 lb shallots, quartered lengthwise
- 1 lb plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise and seeded
- 11 tablespoons olive oil (about 3/4 cup)
- 1 1/2 (3/4-lb) sugar pumpkins or butternut squash, cut into 3/4-inch wedges and seeded
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1/2 lb fresh or frozen edamame (soybeans in the pod; 1 1/2 cups) or 2/3 cup fresh or frozen shelled lima beans
- 3 large eggplants
- 3/4 lb fresh chanterelle or shiitake mushrooms, trimmed (discard stems from shiitakes)
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
Instructions:
Roast shallots, tomatoes, and pumpkin:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Toss shallots and tomatoes with 3 tablespoons oil in a large roasting pan and season with salt. Roast until tomatoes are tender but not falling apart, about 25 minutes. Transfer tomatoes only to a large bowl.
Add pumpkins with salt to taste to shallots, tossing to coat with oil in pan. Roast until pumpkins are just tender, about 30 minutes, then add vegetables to tomatoes.
Reduce oven temperature to 200°F.
Straddle roasting pan across 2 burners. Add water and 1/2 cup wine and deglaze by boiling over moderately high heat, stirring and scraping up any brown bits. Reserve liquid.
Cook soybeans while vegetables roast:
Cook soybeans in boiling salted water until just tender, about 1 minute (3 minutes for lima beans), then drain. When cool enough to handle, shell soybeans, discarding pods.
Prepare eggplant:
Cut 2 (2-inch-thick) crosswise slices, or "steaks," from thickest part of each eggplant and season generously with salt and pepper. (Reserve remaining eggplant for another use.) Brown 3 eggplant steaks in 3 tablespoons oil in a 12-inch nonstick skillet over moderate heat, about 5 minutes on each side.
Add 1/4 cup wine to skillet and simmer, covered, turning once, until eggplant is very tender and wine is absorbed, about 5 minutes total. Transfer to a small roasting pan. (If wine is absorbed before eggplant is tender, add water, a few tablespoons at a time, and continue cooking until tender.) Repeat with remaining 3 eggplant steaks. Keep eggplant warm, uncovered, in oven.
Make ragout:
Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking, then sauté mushrooms with garlic, rosemary, and salt to taste, stirring, until golden and any liquid mushrooms give off is evaporated. Stir in reserved deglazing liquid and simmer until mushrooms are tender, about 10 minutes. Add roasted vegetables and soybeans and cook, stirring, until heated through. Stir in vinegar.
Serve eggplant steaks topped with vegetable ragout.
Notes:
I used butternut squash rather than pumpkin, edamame rather than lima beans, and shiitake mushrooms rather than chanterelle mushrooms. I also substituted extra garlic for the shallots.
This recipe was rather labor intensive, as it required a lot of vegetable chopping, and a multi-step preparation process. Still, I think it turned out well.
I think, if I made the recipe again, I would cut the eggplant steaks in half; they were so thick that it made it harder to thoroughly cook them. I also used more oil and wine than the recipe called for, because it kept getting absorbed and/or evaporating before the eggplant was cooked through.
Chickpea Salad with Lemon, Parmesan, and Fresh Herbs
Ingredients:
- 1 15-to 15 1/2-ounce can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed, drained
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small garlic clove, pressed
- 1/3 cup (packed) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- Coarse kosher salt
Combine rinsed and drained chickpeas, chopped fresh basil, chopped Italian parsley, fresh lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and pressed garlic clove in medium bowl. Add grated Parmesan cheese and toss gently to blend all ingredients thoroughly. Season chickpea salad to taste with coarse kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Notes:
When I made this recipe, I hadn't realized that it was intended to serve two people rather than four, so the servings were a little on the small side. Still, the eggplant steaks were pretty filling, so that wasn't a problem. The recipe was simple, but it was easy to prepare, which was especially important because the eggplant steaks took a lot of preparation time.Star Anise Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- 2 cups milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup (about 1 1/2 ounces) whole star anise (available at specialty foods shops and Asian markets)
- 8 large egg yolks
- 2 tablespoons Pernod
In a heavy saucepan combine the milk, the cream, the sugar, and the star anise, bring the mixture just to a boil, and remove the pan from the heat. In a bowl whisk together the egg yolks, add the cream mixture in a stream, whisking, and pour the mixture back into the pan. Cook the custard over moderately low heat, stirring, until it registers 170°F. on a candy thermometer, strain it through a fine sieve set over another bowl, and let it cool completely. Stir in the Pernod and freeze the custard in an ice-cream freezer according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Notes:
Because the star anise at my supermarket was prohibitively expensive, I combined some star anise with anise extract. If I gave myself more time to search, I could probably find cheaper star anise, and use 1/2 cup of the star anise as instructed by the recipe, but this ice cream turned out well regardless.