Two days ago (friday) I went to a dinner shindig at my friends' apartment in the upper west side. The theme was middle eastern. My contribution was an eggplant dip (more later about this). The meal was very yummy. We started out with some bread / cut pita and my eggplant dip, as well as a hummus dip which the hosts made (http://www.recipezaar.com/green-herb-hummus-359660). There was also a large chunk of cheese and some really yummy turkish bread a friend brought.
The meal was very well balance --- there was a super yummy Israeli cous cous boiled up with a cinnamon stick for flavor, and then tossed with roasted butternut squash, browned onions, chopped greens, and some nuts and dried fruits (cranberries and raisins). I'd need to say that the cous cous was my favorite dish at the dinner simply because it had really interesting flavors, plus the squash and onions made it a little more substantial than is usual for cous cous. See (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Israeli-Couscous-with-Roasted-Butternut-Squash-and-Preserved-Lemon-102250) for the recipe.
The other main dish at the dinner was homemade falafel. The host sent me a link to the recipe he used (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Falafel-231755), though he substituted canned for dried chickpeas. These falafel tasted really good --- I think that the red pepper gave them a nice kick, plus the herbs in them did a nice job cutting down on any oily taste. I think it would be worth trying it with the dried and then soaked chickpeas, and also aiming for a less pureed and more grainy consistency pre-frying. Still, the falafel were packed with flavor and went really well with all of the different sauces which were made to accompany them.
As far as the sauces are concerned, there was a traditional tahini, a tzadziki sauce, a hot pepper sauce and a mint chutney (slightly less traditional this was originally intended for some lamb which was eventually deleted from the menu --- thus leaving everything on the menu eatable for me).
To accompany all of this was a nice spinach, goat cheese, and pine nut salad.
Now, my one contribution was this eggplant dip. I had a lot of fun making it, since it was the first time I really ever successfully used an eggplant. That said, it was my second time trying. My first time was at a BBQ with some NYU friends about two months ago. Someone brought an eggplant, and everyone thought I would know what to do with it. I had no clue, but I pretended to know, so I chopped it into a some slices and threw it on the grill with some salt and pepper. This did not work so well and I eventually denied all connections with the alleged eggplant.
Well, this time I consulted the collective knowledge base of the peoples of this fair planet and the internet told me I should roast it over my stoves gas flame. I actually had two eggplants, so I lined two burners with foil and using some long tongs, I placed both of the eggplants on top of the flames. At first nothing seemed to be happening, but eventually the skin began to peel and the eggplant got softer. Every few minutes I turned them some so that eventually all of the skin was peeling and charred. I'd say I spent about 15 minutes roasting, though they could have even stood for a little more time (the inside of the bigger one was not entirely soft). It was good that I used some foil, though still there was plenty of clean up to do on my stove top from the liquid which had seeped out of the eggplant.
From the fire to a bowl for about 10 minutes went the eggplant. After they had cooled some I pulled off the skin, cut them in half and tossed them with ample kosher salt, and then let them drain off excess liquid in a metal colander. When all was said and done, I mushed them (seeds and all) together into a large bowl and then added a few cloves of garlic finely diced, a few large splashes of olive oil, some squeezes of a lemon, some more salt and some freshly ground pepper. The result was really yummy. The flame roasting of the eggplant really did give it a nice smokey flavor. The two eggplants made enough dip to fill a medium sized pickle jar (not the large one, but one maybe 6 inches high and 4 inches in diameter. Oh, and just to be safe and not give anyone botulism, I even blanched the garlic for 30 seconds in boiling water (and the iced it). I've seen that if you put raw garlic in an oily environment, it is possible to develop botulism (which can kill).
6 comments:
Not to nit-pick, but the host-ESS made the falafel, and everything else besides the cous-cous!
Right. Host is in this usage post-gendered --- denoting the entity of hosts be they male, female or some combination thereof.
yeah, smokey flavor is definitely key. i like the strategy of pre-roasting, will have to try that in the future... i made an eggplant dip about a year back for a middle-eastern themed dinner party, and i actually started by dicing the eggplant and searing it in a pan... after which, if i recall correctly i added (crushed? diced?) tomatoes, lemon juice, cumin, and chili. perhaps there was some pre-sauteed garlic and onions as well? i don't really remember. anyway, at the time i think burning the eggplant was more of a mistake than intent, but i distinctly remember that the slightly burnt taste worked out really well.
I find that the key to a great eggplant dip is actually not so much the quality of the egg plants, but much more that quality of the mayonnaise that is mixed in with it. For instance, this one time I was catering a small party (by small I mean less than 500 people), and made the mistake of using a off name brand (not helmann's, the definitive standard). Suffice it to say that the (rather important) people were somewhat less than happy... It took some high end caviar to smooth that one over (yes, in my business it does pay to have a caviar stash for those oh so special occasions). Anyways, be sure to use Helmann's brand mayonnaise (that's America's best for those of us west of the Mississippi). But I digress... Anyways, one other quick tip: when entertaining for VIP's, I find that believe it or not Heinz Ketchup mixed with a little pinch of celery salt goes really well with shrimp. It is not "your fathers" cocktail sauce, but at least in my circles, people seem to love it. Gotta jet.
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