Eggplant Scallop – Southern U.S. Cuisine

In response to my friend, Daisy who loves eggplant/brinjal but has run out of ideas of how to cook them, I found this very easy recipe. Good luck, Daisy! Let me know how this turns out, sounds sooo easy!

This Southern eggplant scallop recipe is an eggplant casserole made with eggplant, cheese, eggs, milk, and other ingredients.

Ingredients

• 3 medium eggplant, peeled, sliced
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup grated onion
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup cracker crumbs
• 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese or Monterey Jack

Preparation

1. Cook eggplant in boiling salted water until tender. Drain and mash. Add butter, grated onion, and salt and pepper to taste; blend well.
2. Beat eggs with milk; stir into the eggplant mixture. Stir in cracker crumbs and half of the cheese.
3. Bake in a 2 1/2-quart casserole at 350° for 45 minutes, or until set in center.
4. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and continue to bake until cheese is melted and bubbly.

Serves 8 to 10.

Source

Easy Grilled Eggplant/Brinjal — Asian Style

This is not how I normally BBQ my eggplant/brinjal, cuz my marinade is usually leaning towards Italian, but I would like to try this someday in the oven, it should cook the same way, minus the grill marks.

I know most ppl only think of BBQ = chicken wings/meat, but you can get very creative with vegetables and tofu.

Anyway, here’s Easy Grilled Eggplant/Brinjal — Asian Style

Ingredients
SERVES 3-4 (as a Vegetable Side Dish)
1 Chinese eggplant (other types of eggplant will work too)
4 Tbsp. soy sauce
4 Tbsp. oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce, available at most Chinese/Asian food stores)
2 Tbsp. fish sauce, OR vegetarian fish sauce (available at Vietnamese food stores)
2 Tbsp. brown sugar + 1-2 more tsp.
7-8 cloves garlic, minced, OR 1 1/2 Tbsp. prepared pureed garlic
Optional: 1 fresh minced red chili, OR 1-2 tsp. chili sauce
2 Tbsp. white wine or cooking wine (or sherry)
Squeeze of lime juice

Preparation
1. In a bowl or cup, mix together the soy sauce, oyster sauce, fish sauce, 2 Tbsp. brown sugar, garlic, and chili (if using). Stir until the sugar dissolves.
2. Wash and dry the eggplant. Slicing lengthwise, thinly cut the eggplant (about 1/4 inch thick is good).
You can then cut these slices into smaller sections, if you wish, but I like to keep mine whole, so that they look like eggplant “cellos”. Also, they will stay on the grill easier if they remain wide and flat (see photo).
3. Place the eggplant slices in a long, flat dish (like a glass lasagna casserole dish). Pour the garlic sauce you made earlier over the slices, turning them to cover with sauce (You will have to pile the slices on top of each other).
4. Allow eggplant to marinate at least 10 minutes, or up to 24 hours ahead of grilling time (cover and refrigerate for longer periods).
5. Barbecuing eggplant is very easy. Simply place the eggplant slices on a hot grill, allowing 5-10 minutes each side (this depends on how thick the slices are), or until the eggplant has turned golden-brown and is soft when tested with a fork.
6. While the eggplant is cooking, pour the remaining sauce from the bottom of the casserole dish into a sauce pan. Place over medium heat, adding a few Tbsp. wine plus a squeeze of lime juice and 1 tsp. brown sugar.
7. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to minimum. Taste-test the sauce – it should be garlicky and slightly sweet. Adjust the sweetness according to your taste, adding up to 1 more tsp. sugar. If you’d like it more garlicky, add a little more fresh or pureed garlic. If it’s too salty for your taste, add another squeeze of lime juice. Note that the sauce should be quite strong – this will complement the mild taste of the eggplant.
8. To serve, place eggplant on a platter, and either pour the sauce over, or serve it on the side. This eggplant goes well with rice, or any other dishes you might be cooking up. ENJOY!

Source

Authentic Peanut Sauce (Thai) / Low Fat Satay Sauce (Malaysian)

I’ve always bought my peanut Sauce from the store, so I thought I’d try this one eventually. Most Western versions of peanut sauce are made with peanut butter, this Thai peanut sauce recipe starts with real peanuts.

This peanut sauce can be used for a variety of purposes, from a dip for veggies to a sauce for chicken, beef or tofu satay or kebabs. I’m saving this sauce for my Thai Summer Noodle Roll that I am planning on making when I have the time

Source: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/r/thaipeanutsauce.htm

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry roasted peanuts
• 1/3 cup water
• 1 clove garlic, minced — I might ommit this
• 1/2 tsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 tsp. sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 Tbsp. fish sauce (If vegetarian, use vegetarian fish sauce or regular soy sauce)
• 1/2 tsp. tamarind paste
• 1 tsp. red chilli sauce (more or less to taste)
• squeeze of fresh lime juice (about 1 tsp.)

Preparation

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until sauce is smooth. If you prefer a runnier peanut sauce, add a little more water.

Do a taste test for salt and spice, adding more fish sauce if not salty enough, and more chilli sauce if not spicy enough.

If too salty, add another squeeze of fresh lime juice.

Serve as a dip with fresh veggies, chicken or beef sate, fresh spring rolls, or mix with noodles to create a Thai-style noodle dish or cold noodle salad. Enjoy!!!

If anyone gets to try this before me, do leave me comments about it

Vegetarian Broccoli KungPow with Konyakku Squid

Simple stirfry made with dried chillis, broccoli, konyakku squid and ginger slices. The sauce is simply made from vegetarian oyster sauce, soy sauce, sprinkle of sugar, salt  and ground black pepper.

Food made by my Love…

Andy made me these yummy in the belly food over the weekend when I was busy studying…

Mushroom Cherry Tomato Omellete with Gouda and Romano Cheeses

Organic Linguine with Artichokes and Mushroom Marinara Sauce

Snow Pea Mushroom Stirfry

Very easy dish to make as well, seasoned with vegetarian oyster sauce, salt, white pepper and maybe a sprinkle of sugar, but generally not needed since the snow peas should be quite sweet already, especially organic ones.  I only use sugar to balance out the saltiness from certain brands of oyster sauce.

I did use celery as well, just had some leftover stalks in the fridge