Buttercream Recovery

Eggplant caviar on SCRATCHbread MuTTT loaf.

All the leftover buttercream is discarded or frozen. A few pints of passion fruit curd still linger in the refrigerator, but this week our kitchen's main focus has been grilled meats and fishes, and vegetables. August is high CSA season, and I am trying to keep up. While some kale and lettuce has gone to a smelly, wilted grave, we've been doing our best to make sure that Windflower Farm's hard work doesn't go to waste.

Last year, two of my big pitfalls were beets and eggplant. I let more than a few eggplants wither away in the crisper, and I dealt with the beets by giving them away or by juicing them. This year, I'm back to the juicing for the little red roots, and I'm still trying to develop a taste for eggplant before little back dots of mold appear. It's not that I hate it, I just can't seem to cook it in any way that makes me want to really eat it.

This year's first attempt at eggplant reclaimation was Dorie Greenspan's eggplant 'caviar,' incidentally last week's French Fridays with Dorie pick. It's essentially a spread, made from roasted eggplant mushed up with garlic, oil, lemon, salt, pepper, chile, paprika, herbs, onion, and tomatoes. In that it doesn't taste like eggplant at all, it's pretty much a win. All I tasted was garlic, and Matt, who tried it later, was concerned that he had tried the wrong dish, as it tasted like 'salsa' and appeared to contain peppers.  The more I cook from Around My French Table, the happier I am with it. All of the things I initially disliked--cutesy dishes, very personal tweaks--don't seem to detract from the general solidity and usefulness of the recipes, and sometimes add a little extra that I wouldn't have anticipated. I'm still a little irritated that the book doesn't include weight as well as volume measurements, but maybe in the next edition...

Eggplant Parmesan

I may have mentioned that eggplant has been causing me problems. I love the idea of it, and the feel of those smooth dark oval beasts, but I don't really know how to cook and eat it, beyond a few basics. It doesn't usually enter into my cooking imagination. However, maybe with this one the simplest plan is the best. Grill it. Roast it. Or, go classic and fry it up, douse with cheese and tomatoes, and call it Eggplant Parmesan. With one eggplant already tragically wasted, and two more waiting in the fridge, we had no time to waste, and so we got to work breading (Matt's special blend of corn flour, garlic powder, salt, and I'm not sure what else), and frying, and dumping in the casserole. Marcella Hazan (pictured in book form above the toaster) gave us some guidance, but really, it's not hard to figure out how to do this one without a recipe.
And it is so delicious.