Baba Ganoush

[smithing_chick]

So does anyone on my f-list have a good recipe for baba ganoush? Mom brought home a big eggplant & isn't sure what to do with it. I wasn't much impressed the only time I've haad eggplant parmisan ('though I'm willing to give it another try), but I really like the baba ganoush at the middle eastern resturant here in town.

Thanks all! :)

Comments

"Anyone on my f-list" ain't she cute?

[jrtheotter]

Your basic baba is a puree of grilled/roasted eggplant, tahini, lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, salt & pepper, and usually some parsely. I like to include some chopped & sauteed onion (in baba and almost everything else) as I think it brings up the flavor base. Some recipes will include things like mayo or yogurt,which will lend something of a creamier note.

Typically, I would recommend that you grill eggplant for good baba, but since it's pretty chilly out, here's an oven method that should work well (I tend to do it this way, since as much as I love the grill, I find lighting charcoal a pain in the ass)

Preheat your oven to 500 degrees F, poke the eggplant in several places with a fork (otherwise it will explode all over the oven) line a baking sheet with foil (or not, if using stonewear--don't use the small bar pan, though, a big eggplant will shed a lot of liquid) and roast until soft and about to the point of collapsing. This could be anywhere from half an hour to an hour, depending on the eggplant. It's a good thing if it develops some charring in places, as this lends smokiness, and you want smokiness in good baba.

Let the eggplant cool a bit, then trim the top and bottom and split lengthwise. Be careful, those innards will be hot and steamy. Scoop the flesh away from the skin and place in a large colander to drain. Discard the skin and juices accumulated in the pan. Much of the juice in an eggplant is bitter stuff you're better off without, and about three minutes draining time in the colander will unload that. This is also why you want to slice and drain without letting it cool completely, as that would allow the juices to reabsorb.

Now, I would proceed from this point with a food processor. I don't know if you have one there or not. If not, mound the flesh on a cutting board and attack each mound with the PC food chopper. You'll wind up with a chuncky baba, but it should still be good.

Combine the flesh with 1 Tbsp lemon juice, 1-2 minced or pressed garlic cloves, 2 tbsp tahini paste*, and a little salt and pepper in the workbowl of a food processor. Process to desired consistency (you don't want it too smooth, unless you do, so just a few quick pulses usually does it). Scoop the puree into a bowl and chill for about an hour. Drizzle with olive oil, stir in some chopped fresh parsley (flat leaf, not the curly garnish stuff) and you're in business. If you're adding some sauteed onions, stir them in before chilling. Baba is best cool, but not frigid cold.

Traditionally, if memory serves, you would mound up the baba in the bowl, make a dent in the middle like a little volcano, and fill this dent with a tbsp or two of good olive oil and serve it that way.

*Tahini, if you don't know, is sesame paste. Wegmans has it, as does the whole food co-op, not sure about other places. If you don't have, can't find, or don't want to bother with that, try it with mayo. That's sometimes called "Israeli style" and since Petra is a Jordanian restaurant, it's not outside the realm of possibilities that this is how they do it.

Re: "Anyone on my f-list" ain't she cute?

[smithing_chick]

You know, why I didn't think to just ask you in the first place..... brain fart! :-P

Re: "Anyone on my f-list" ain't she cute?

[jrtheotter]

Well, it's possible that you wanted a simple answer, rather than an entire baba thesis. It could have been worse, I almost gave you an entire dissertation on roasted eggplant spreads in general.