Aubergine and Green Bean Curry

Yup, no school run means more cookin'. Time to grill some auberine.

This time in wedges for a curry. I then made some curry paste with onion, coriander, cumin, garlic, lemongrass, turmeric, ginger, and a couple of mild chillis.

Have I mentioned I love my food processor? It's the kind of love that really lasts.

The paste and grilled aubergine went in the fridge overnight, because I was fed up with cooking at that point and my husband offered to cook something else instead.

So the next day, when we got back from our outing, I cooked the paste for a while, then put in the aubergines (5 in total).

In went a can of tomatoes and a can of coconut milk.

That went in to simmer for a half hour and looked like a gloupy mess.

I toasted some cashews. If you pronounce it Ca-SHOOOOO! you can pretend you are sneezing.

Once the curry had simmered long enough I put in green beans just long enough really to heat them through, a few minutes.

And I artfully chopped some cilantro/fresh coriander on a chopping board that was given to us as a wedding gift. It took us some 7 years to gather the courage to actually use it (it's real purdy), but we're over that now.

And finally, it all went together on some rice. All was well with the world, especially since there was enough left over to make another family meal for the freezer. Of course, when I say "family meal", I mean my husband and I will eat it, my eldest will force half of his down, and the other two will try to dig out the rice not touching the curry.

For the recipe, you can go here, or find it copied and pasted below:

For the curry paste
5-6 shallots (or 1 onion), peeled and finely chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and roughly chopped
2 thumb-sized pieces ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
2 lemongrass stalks, tough outer layers removed, finely sliced
5-6 green chillies (medium-hot), deseeded and roughly chopped
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric

For the curry
5 large aubergines
About 6 tbsp sunflower oil
300ml passata, or sieved roasted tomatoes
400ml tin coconut milk
300g french beans
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 handful chopped coriander leaves
75g cashews or almonds, toasted and coarsely chopped (optional)
Lime wedges, to serve

Put all the curry paste ingredients in a blender with a tablespoon of water; whizz to a coarse paste. If necessary, stop the motor a few times so you can scrape down the sides.

Cut each aubergine in half lengthways, cut each half into three lengthways, then halve each piece, so you end up with 12 wedges from each aubergine.

Heat two or three tablespoons of oil over a medium-high heat in a large, nonstick frying pan. Sauté the aubergine wedges in batches, until lightly browned, adding more oil as needed. As you remove each cooked batch from the pan, lay the wedges on kitchen paper to drain.

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large, deep saucepan and add half the curry paste (refrigerate the rest for another use). Fry over medium heat, stirring constantly, for three to four minutes, then add the aubergines and stir for a minute or two until coated with the spice mixture. Add the passata and coconut milk, and simmer, partially covered, for 10 minutes. Add the french beans and simmer until tender – about five minutes.

Season generously, then stir in the chopped coriander. If using the nuts, scatter them over the top. Serve with lime wedges and rice.

Aubergine Parmigiana

The summer holidays are upon us once more. Once I got rid of the idea that I could be at all productive in my own studies during this period, I started to thoroughly enjoy myself. I do not have to currently rush my children out the door every morning, nor do I have to spend at least 3 hours of the day getting them to and from school and playgroup.

No, instead we have been on day trips to 3 different local beaches, to the zoo, to the Kelpies and the Helix, and, somewhat less excitingly, we have had a leisurely trip to Costco and Ikea where we were fairly self restrained in our purchases, investing instead in parenting smugness.

My husband works from home in our small flat, so the pressure is always on to get everyone outside, but today things outside did not look good. The forecast was rain, rain, and more rain. Not wanting to visit the museum AGAIN, and dealing with three kids who were still tired from outings earlier this week, we decided to have a day mostly at home, leaving the flat only to go to the shops for rations.

After spending three hours playing monopoly (where I was not, I confess, able to hold myself back, even with a five year old pouting) I set to work on this baby, a rainy day meal to be sure:



The vegetarian meal that doesn't feel vegetarian, and is available in every respectable good Italian restaurant: Aubergine/eggplant Parmigiana. A meal, as Mr River Cottage dude says, is somehow greater than the sum of all its parts. And it is simple, if it does take ages. Don't kid yourself, grilling those aubergines/eggplants always takes a while, and is a big pain the the backside, but it is worth it if you have the time.

I sliced 5 small ones and gave them a dose of olive oil with my pastry brush then put them on to grill.

They came out in various shades of doneness; this was part of the first batch to come out:

It took 3 batches to finish them, taking quite a while to cook through.

The sauce was put on while they cooked - just a simple affair of tinned tomatoes, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and some fresh basil thrown in once it had sufficiently thickened.

Then three layers went into a baking dish: aubergines, then sauce, then fresh mozzarella and parmesan, and this was repeated three times over.

After forty minutes in the oven, it came out looking like this:

And smelled amazing. I served it with garlic bread. Look at that precision, how carefully the lines were cut, how beautifully the bread was shaped.

Yeah, that's because I bought it ready-made from Lidl. 

I can't give you their recipe for it, but I can give you the Aubergine one:

INGREDIENTS5 small eggplants (about 2 pounds)
4-5 tablespoons olive oil
2 balls buffalo mozzarella (about 4ounces each), torn into pieces
About 1.25 ounces parmesan, hard goat cheese, or other well-flavored hard cheese, grated
For the tomato sauce:2 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 (14-ounce) cans plum toamtoes, coarsely chopped, any stalky ends and skin removed
Good handfull of fresh basil
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a little sugar

METHOD

Trim aubergines and cut into thin slices lengthwise. Heat your grill/broiler to high heat, then brush each slice with olive oil and grill on each side until browned. Remove to paper towels and continue until all are cooked.

Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a very large, wide pan over medium heat.
Add the onions and garlic and saute gently for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until soft. Add the tomatoes with their juice. Bring to a simmer, then simmer briskly, stirring often, for about half an hour, or until the sauce is thick and rich. Season well with salt and pepper and a little sugar to taste, then add basil and leave to infuse.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Lay a third of the eggplant slices in the bottom of an ovenproof dish, 8 by 10 inches and at least 2 inches deep. Cover with a third of the tomato sauce. Dot a third of the mozzarella over the sauce, then scatter a thin layer of grated cheese over that. Repeat with the remaining ingredients so you have three layers in the dish.

Bake for about 30-40 minutes, until bubbling and golden on top. Serve with lots of fresh green salad – and bread, if you like.

Slow Cooker Baked Aubergine, Courgette, and Tomato

I am a latecomer to the aubergine (eggplant) party. It was rarely served at my house growing up, and my first few attempts to cook it went unfavourably. Unaware of just how much oil was needed, I dabbed sparingly at the vegetable in the hopes of creating a low fat dish, meaning I ended up with dry, spongelike pieces every time. Ugh.

Thankfully, I have since discovered its glory when cooked well. Whenever I go to one of the large gatherings of my in-laws, there is always one dish that I can count on to be served: aubergine slices in tomato sauce, a family favourite. So when I was leafing through our new slow cooker cookbook, this recipe caught my eye due to its similar list of ingredients. I liked the idea of adding the courgette (zucchini) as a way of making the dish slightly less heavy, and knew that anything with a parmesan breadcrumb topping had to be good.

The list of ingredients was relatively simple, though very out of season in January:

First I sliced up the aubergines for their first cooking. The recipe suggested doing this in a pan, but I find it easier to grill them (that's "broil" if you speak American). So after a good spread of oil I put them in the oven and went off to check facebook.

Unfortunately, I didn't set the timer loud enough, and one of my friends had posted this link: http://jezebel.com/here-is-tina-fey-and-amy-poehlers-golden-globes-openin-1499934914

So, HILARIOUS as that was, it was also too long of a clip to watch when cooking aubergines. So my first batch was a bit, er, caramelized and crispy.

But it was worth it...so many good lines...I think the George Clooney one is my favourite.

I threw out the worst ones, but hoped the others would be ok if I just stuck them at the bottom of the slow cooker dish.  *Spoiler alert* They were.

Then on went a layer of courgettes.

Then I remembered I was supposed to be seasoning each layer.

Then some garlic went in.

Then some chopped tomatoes. I like baby plum tomatoes for pretty much everything tomato related.

Then another layer...

And so on...

And I finished with a layer of even quantities of breadcrumbs and parmesan grated in the handy, dandy food processor. I confess I also threw in a bit of oregano around the sides because it just felt like the right thing to do. The photo is a little blurry because a certain little toddler was taking regular swipes at the screen of my photo-taking device.

On went the lid.

After 4 hours on low, I lifted the lid. Every time I use the slow cooker I feel like I'm checking lab results in science class.

It smelled good and a quick poke looked positive as well, so I wrote up the results in my lab book. Then I scattered basil over the top and then served it alongside some left over roast chicken and a green salad.

There were no survivors.

Well, the kids weren't crazy about it BUT it did mean that they ate their chicken and had two servings of salad each, so I figure that was a parental win. And they did try it.

Now where are some more clips of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler...

BAKED AUBERGINE WITH COURGETTE

(adapted from The Slow Cooker:A Celebration of the Slow Cooker)

2 large aubergines

olive oil for brushing

2 large courgettes, sliced

nearly a whole pack of mini plum tomatoes

1 large garlic clove, finely chopped

15g dry breadcrumbs

15g grated Parmesan

1 tsp or so of oregano

Fresh basil leaves for garnish

Cut the aubergines into thin slices, brush with copious quantities of oil and grill/broil until soft and brown, then drain on paper towels.

Layer aubergines in the slow cooker with courgettes, tomatoes, garlic and a touch of oregano, seasoning with salt and pepper between layers

Mix breadcrumbs with cheese and sprinkle over the top. Cover and cook on low for 4 hours

Garnish top with fresh basil and serve