Brazilian Eggplant Cuscus

Cuscus (or cuscuz) is a typical Brazilian dish made with corn flour. It is different from the African/Moroccan couscous. The typical cuscus is from Sao Paulo, my state, and it’s called cuscus paulista (cuscus from Sao Paulo), made with shrimp and/or sardines. My mom makes the best shrimp cuscus ever. I always ask her to make it when she comes to visit.The eggplant version is original even in Brazil.

You need to use the Brazilian corn flour which come in form of flakes. Once we tried to make this dish with cornmeal and it was a disaster.

Brazilian Eggplant Cuscus

Ingredients:


3 cups of corn flour (farinha de milho)


3 tbsp yucca flour (farinha de mandioca)

1/2 cup water with 1 tbsp salt


1/4 cup olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

kosher salt

3 large eggplants, peeled, cut into ½” cubes



4 tomatoes, seeded and chopped (save 3 nice slices for decorating)


1/2 cup pitted green olives

4 eggs, hard-boiled, 3 chopped (save 3 nice slices for decorating)


1/2 cup hearts of palm, chopped (optional, save a couple of slices for decorating)

1 cup parmesan cheese, shredded

¼ cup fresh parsley, chopped

¼ cup scallions, chopped

Directions:

Mix the corn and yucca flour in a large bowl, add salted water and combine well. Reserve. Grease a bunt cake pan. Cover bottom and sides of pan with tomato, egg, heart of palm slices and olives.

Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Saute the onion for about 5 minutes, add garlic and eggplant. Cook until eggplant starts to wilt. Add tomatoes and olives and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes. 

Remove from heat and add the Parmesan, parsley, scallions, eggs and heart of palm, if using. Add the corn flour mix to the tomato/eggplant sauce. Mix well until all the flour is moist. Add a little water if needed. Pour mix into the cake pan and press firmly. Invert the pan into a large serving dish.

Mint Eggplant Salad

I served this dish with the kibbeh. It was a perfect combination!

Mint Eggplant Salad

(6 servings)

Ingredients:

3 Japanese eggplants

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and diced

1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped

1/2 cups fresh parsley, chopped

1 can white beans, drained

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/3 cup fresh lime juice

Kosher salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prick eggplant(s) with a fork.

Bake whole until tender (about 20 minutes). In the last 5 minutes, add garlic wrapped in a piece of foil. Remove eggplant from oven, put in a bowl and cover with a towel for 5 to 10 minutes. Peel and cut in coarse pieces.

Toss with white beans, diced cucumber, mint, parsley. Dress with kosher salt, olive oil, lemon juice.

Eggplant Baba Ganoush

So there are days (very few) I am not in the mood to cook. Yesterday was one of these days. Then my husband is the one who goes to the store or take out. But I make a little thing as an appetizer: eggplant baba ganoush. That’s a Middle Eastern recipe that I love.

Baba Ganoush

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant or 3 small

2-3 tablespoons lime juice

Kosher salt

2 small clove garlic

4 tablespoon tahini

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Prick eggplant(s) with a fork.

Bake whole until tender (about 20 minutes). In the last 5 minutes, add garlic wrapped in a piece of foil. Remove eggplant from oven, put in a bowl and cover with a towel for 5 to 10 minutes. Peel and cut in coarse pieces. Blend in a food processor with the garlic, lime juice, kosher salt, tahini and olive oil until smooth.

Serve chilled with toasted pita bread.

Eggplant Pizza

Today is cleaning fridge day and I have some eggplants to use up. The Fairy Tale eggplant is delicious, creamy and delicate in taste. Tossing the pizza with garlic and pepper flakes before baking is a must. I will definitely make this recipe again.

Eggplant Pizza

4 servings

(Adapted from Gourmet, Sep 1999)

Ingredients

1 large eggplant (1 1/4 pound)

1 large tomato

Store bought whole wheat pizza dough

3 ounces grated mozzarella (3/4 cup)

3/4 ounces grated Parmesan (1/4 cup)

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes

Fresh basil leaves

Directions

Cut eggplant into 1/3-inch-thick rounds and arrange in 1 layer on a foil-lined large baking sheet. Spray both sides with olive oil spray and season with kosher salt. Broil 2 to 3 inches from heat until golden brown and tender, 5 to 8 minutes on each side. Cut tomatoes into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Toss together cheeses and sprinkle 1/4 over dough. Spread basil leaves over cheese. Cover with eggplant and tomato slices, overlapping them, and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Heat olive oil in a small skillet over moderate heat until hot but not smoking, then cook garlic and red pepper, stirring, until just fragrant, 30 to 40 seconds. Spoon evenly over eggplant and tomato. Bake pizza according to package instructions.

Eggplant, Shiitake, Cepollini Vinaigrette with Quinoa

Monday is usually the most challenging (and fun) day for planning a dish as cleaning the fridge for Tuesday’s CSA box is my highest priority. Today I have 2 eggplants, ½ lb of shiitake mushrooms (you need to sign up for these separately), cepollini onions and romaine lettuce left. And some parsley. Ok, let’s have a vegetarian dish for lunch.

Eggplant, Shiitake, Cepollini Vinaigrette with Quinoa

Forgive me if I don’t give you a detailed recipe for this dish but it is pretty simple. Cut the eggplants in ¼” slices, the cipollini in ½” wedges, clean the shiitake (this week they were bite size so no cutting). 

Broil each side of the eggplant for about 5 minutes or until golden brown and the shiitake and onions for about 5 to 8 minutes, stirring once. Put the cooked vegetables in a glass bowl. Chop some herbs. Parsley from the farm and fresh oregano and thyme from my garden. Just a bit, as oregano and thyme have strong flavors. I always plant basil, thyme, rosemary, green onions and oregano in springtime so I have fresh herbs all summer and fall. 

Oh, back to the recipe. In a small bowl, mix kosher salt, freshly ground black pepper, vinegar and olive oil. One thing that I absolutely won’t give up is the organic extra virgin olive oil. Back to the recipe. The proportion of vinegar and olive oil is 1 to 2. Mix well and pour over the vegetable mix. Toss and at this point you have a dish that you can enjoy with salads, as a side dish to meats or in a sandwich, yummy. Keep in the fridge but bring it to room temperature before eating.

Cook some quinoa according to the package instructions. Arrange lettuce leaves and tomatoes in a dish, top with quinoa and vegetable vinaigrette. 

Enjoy! 

Miso Glazed Salmon and Eggplant, Spinach Ohitashi

Today I am not posting recipes, just the food that I cooked, sorry! I haven’t mentioned before, but my family is of Japanese origin. At my parents house back in Brazil, we used to have Western food for lunch and Japanese food for dinner. We all have Japanese ingredients handy anytime, that’s why I decided to make this dinner tonight: we got so much spinach this week that I didn’t know what to do with it. Ohitashi is a great way to use a lot of spinach: it’s basically steamed spinach served with dry fish flakes and dashi sauce. To go with it, I used the Japanese eggplant. This is one of my dad’s favorite. Broil the eggplant, peel and serve with English dry mustard and soy sauce. I decided to use the fish miso marinade: I boiled it for a couple of minutes and brushed over the eggplant. Ah, the fish. I baked a miso glazed wild salmon!

Fresh Tomato and Japanese Eggplant Pasta, Baked Beets with Goat Cheese

August 25th, 2009

Today is the day of the week I get my CSA box. Although they send us an email the day before telling what they might send in the boxes, getting to them is like Christmas, as there is always something different than what they told you. So yesterday I have planned to make farro with kale for dinner. But oh, there was not kale in the box! but lots of tomatoes and eggplants instead! There you go, deal with the unexpected and surprise yourself with delicious food!

Fresh Tomato and Eggplant Pasta
Ingredients

2 Japanese eggplant, cut lengthwise into 1/4-inch slices

Coarse grained salt

Olive oil spray

3 cloves garlic, minced

10 medium tomatoes

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Salt and coarsely ground fresh black pepper

1/2 cup basil torn

8 ounces whole wheat farfalle, cooked al dente

Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions

Set oven to broil. Spray cookie sheet with olive oil spray. Place eggplant slices on cookie sheet. Sprinkle with coarse grained salt and spray with olive oil. Place in oven. When lightly brown on one side, about 5 to 6 min, flip. Broil on other side until lightly brown, about 5 to 6 additional minutes.

Place a saucepan 3/4 full of water over high heat and bring to a boil. Dip tomatoes that need to be peeled in the boiling water for 1 minute. Remove tomatoes and set aside to cool enough so that you can handle them. Gently pierce, just barely, the skin of the tomatoes with the tip of a sharp knife. Loosen the skin with the knife and peel away. Repeat with all the tomatoes. Cut peeled tomatoes in half lengthwise. Hold tomato half in your hand over a small bowl. Gently squeeze tomato half so that seeds drip into the bowl. Put the seeds and their juice through a strainer. Discard seeds, add the strained juice to the bowl of tomatoes. Crush the tomatoes with your hands leaving big pieces. Add the balsamic vinegar and a couple of basil leaves. Stir.

Place the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, cook until it starts to brown, but do be careful not burn it. Add tomatoes and their juice to the pan. Simmer about 5 minutes to reduce sauce a bit. Add broiled eggplant. Taste and adjust seasonings. Add the basil and cook 1 minute more. Add the pasta and heat through. Serve with parmesan and more basil if desired.

Baked beets taste much better than boiled!

Baked Beets with Goat Cheese

Ingredients

3 medium beets, washed and cleaned

1 – 2 oz goat cheese, at room temperature

Extra virgin olive oil

Herbs

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place beets in a roasting pan, cover with foil, and bake 1 hour until al dente. Cool until easy to handle, then peel. Slice, dice into 1” cubes. Place in a bowl. Top with crumbled goat cheese and parsley, or dill. Drizzle with a little bit of olive oil.