Spicy Eggplant "Jam"

Eggplant "jam" is a savory topping for toast, bagels, crackers, or for eating out of a jar with a spoon.  I put "jam" on quotes because a true jam is a fruit reduction mixed with pectin and sugar. However, foodies and such are now all about the savory "jams" like onion "jam," bacon "jam" and so on... So why not hop on the bandwagon?

This dish is actually a north African dish mostly found in Morocco and Algeria.  Some people roast the eggplant first and puree it. Some fry it first to get that rich olive oil flavor. I prefer to leave mine diced in chunky pieces to differentiate it from a baba ghanoush or eggplant dip.

To make a small jar, I start with one eggplant, peeled and diced small.  I put the eggplant in a colander and salt it, letting it sit and sweat for about 30 minutes.  With a paper towel, I squeeze the eggplant and try to get out the moisture, which is where the eggplant's bitterness is stored.

Over medium heat, I sauté the eggplant in enough olive oil to keep it from sticking to the pan. Make sure the heat is not too high, so the eggplant doesn't crisp up.  You want to cook it until the eggplant is translucent. About 20-30 minutes.

Add in a little water to make sure the eggplant isn't sticking, and your spices. I put in about 1/4 tsp of baharat spice (a mix of cumin, black pepper, paprika, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and red pepper).  If you don't have this mix ready to go, pick your favorite warm, earthy spices from this family. In addition, I added extra cumin because I love it, and a pinch of red pepper flakes. Eggplant really absorbs heat well, so a little hot pepper goes a long way.

Cook the eggplant on low heat an additional 20 minutes, letting the spices absorb. Add water if necessary.

Finally, squeeze 1/2 lemon into the pan and cook one more minute to get it nicely incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Let the "jam" cool and refrigerate it. Serve garnished with fresh parsley and lemon wedges. Enjoy!

Zhug (or Skhug)

Just pronouncing the name of this fabulous condiment brings you to the Middle East, with the harsh "kh" sound that sounds like you are clearing your throat. It originated in Yemen and is said to have great medicinal qualities.

Zhug comes in both red and green varieties and is the essential hot sauce for adding heat to falafel, meat dishes, fish dishes, well...pretty much anything. I am partial to the green variety, mostly because it's the one my mom made for us when I was growing up, so it tastes like home.  The cilantro and cumin add an earthiness that gives the heat an added dimension.

It keeps for a really long time in the fridge, which is great because a little bit of this stuff goes a very long way.  A fun gift idea is to put zhug into small glass spice jars as a fun holiday treat.  You can bring both red and green zhug together as a fun Christmas gift.

For today, we will focus on green zhug.  You will need:

2 whole heads of garlic, separated into individual cloves and peeled
1/2 cup of chopped hot pepper (I used red this time because I didn't have really hot green ones on hand, but you can use either, depending on how strikingly green  you want it and the level of heat you can handle)
2 cups of chopped, fresh cilantro leaves
1 TBS salt
1/2 lemon
Spice mix (grind together 10 cardamom seeds, 10 garlic cloves, 1 TB peppercorns, 1 TBS cumin seeds - for best results toast the spices first and then grind)






Using either a food processor or mortar and pestle, mix the pepper flakes, garlic and cilantro until well combined.  Add the spice mix to the cilantro mix and finish with salt.

Pour into a jar with a tight seal and top with lemon juice to seal in the flavor.

Matboucha

Matboucha literally means "cooked" in Arabic, and this dish is named so for being a "cooked salad." However, it really is less of a salad and more of a wonderful dip or spread for warm pita or toast. It's spicy without being too hot, and oily without feeling greasy. The shine it gets from the oil makes it a very impressive looking dish.

You will need*:

5 fresh, large tomatoes
4 red bell peppers
4 jalapeño peppers
10 cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 TBS hot Spanish or Hungarian paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
1 pinch of sugar
1 TBS canned tomato paste

With a paring knife, cut a small X at the bottom of each tomato and blanch them in boiling water for a couple minutes, remove, peel, take out seeds and chop.

Roast both green and red peppers on the grill or on your range. (For details on how to prep the peppers see my post on Smoky Charred Peppers). Peel, remove seeds and membranes and chop.

Cook the chopped tomatoes in a saucepan for about 10 minutes, stirring continuously, until the consistency is thick and there is no more water.  Add everything else, except the tomato paste. Lower the heat and cook for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Add the tomato paste and cook an additional 30 minutes. The sauce will begin to have a very shiny gloss to it and will be very thick.

Serve it in a small bowl with pita or as a topping for falafel.

*I use the recipe from "The Book of New Israeli Food" by Janna Gur

Smoky Charred Peppers

Many cuisines use roasted, charred, or grilled peppers as a great flavor booster for dishes. In middle Eastern cuisine, it is usually the red bell pepper that gets this treatment, though other peppers make their way in as well.

The best thing about these peppers is the smoky flavor that awakens up the palate and instantly evokes memories of lively family dinners and simple pleasures. To get the smoky flavor, I think that fire is essential. People do roast peppers in the oven and they are tasty, but what you miss is that charred, campfire flavor that takes this dish to the next level.

I usually prefer to char my peppers on my outdoor grill. However, when I made these, it was pouring rain and very cold outside, so I went to the next best thing: my range top.

I have an electric flat top range, which makes this much easier to clean up than a gas range, but either work if you're not afraid of mess. It's worth it.

Wash the peppers and dry them well. Place them directly on the range, set to a high temperature. You will need to stand over the peppers and watch them throughout the process because they will catch fire. As the peppers begin to cook and char and you see black spots and sparks start to appear, slowly keep turning them with metal tongs, careful not to have any pepper juice squirt out at you. The process will take a while because you really want the peppers to become completely black on the outside, lose the moisture and wilt into a flimsy version of their former crisp selves.

Once the peppers are completely blackened, make sure you to brush any remaining sparks off of them and put them, still hot into a paper or plastic bag and keep shut. This process is known as "sweating' and aids in the separation of the pepper skin from the flesh.  Once the peppers have "sweated" in the bag for about 20 minutes, put each pepper in running water and easily pull off the blackened skin.

The inside of the peppers should be slimy and soft. At this point, you can use them as a base for soup or sauces.  I prefer to marinate them a bit and serve in strips with a nice antipasti or pickle platter.

To do this, I cut the pepper flesh in thick strips (discard all seeds and membranes) and toss with a little white vinegar and crushed garlic. I place everything  in a low, flat tupperware dish and let it sit in the fridge for at least 1 hour. The result is a pungent, smoky snack that can last up to 2 weeks in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Fried Eggplant Slices in Lemon Brine

Eggplant is probably my absolute favorite ingredient. It's so incredibly versatile. It can be light and refreshing as a summer vegetable dip, or slow cooked in a stew to almost mimic the heartiness of meat.

This dish is a childhood favorite from my mom. I love how the eggplant serves as a sponge for the tart lemon and sharp garlic. Definitely brush your teeth after eating this if you plan to be around other people!

You will need:
1 large eggplant
2 lemons, juiced
1 garlic clove, chopped fine
Kosher salt
Vegetable oil, for frying


Wash the eggplant and remove the stem and the very bottom.  Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick rounds. Lay the eggplant rounds on a flat surface and sprinkle generously with Kosher salt. This helps eliminate the bitterness that is trapped in the eggplant's liquid. In addition, the eggplant fries much better when it's dry and not filled with water. After about 30 minutes, use a paper towel to blot the eggplant and remove all the liquid that has seeped out. I then turn the rounds over and salt again for 30 minutes. Blot the liquid again and really try to get the extra salt and liquid off so they will not be too salty.

In a large frying pan, fry the rounds in a little vegetable oil (you can also use a generous spray of Pam). Fry until both sides are golden and let cool on a paper towel.

Using a shallow dish with a cover (I just use tupperware) begin to layer the rounds of eggplant with a sprinkling of garlic and the lemon juice. There is no need to add any salt, as the eggplant will already be salty from earlier. Once you have put in all the eggplant, garlic and lemon, close the dish/tupperware and give it a good shake to make sure all the dressing has covered the eggplant.

Keep it in the refrigerator for 2 days before eating for the best flavor. It will keep for up to 2 weeks.  You may wish to shake it up a few more times before serving.

The eggplant gets pretty wilted, but the skin holds nicely, so you can easily serve it with a little fork and grab each round by the skin.  They are delicious in a falafel sandwich, served as a salad layered with fresh tomato rounds and feta, or served simply on a small plate, with some chopped fresh parsley on top.

Salt Preserved Lemons

A mix of black, green and red peppercorns
and some Turkish Bay Leaves

Pickled, or preserved lemons are a staple in North Africa and the Middle East.  The lemons are used as an ingredient in all kinds of dishes, or as a treat by themselves. They take about a month to peak in flavor, so you need to plan ahead if you want to use them for a specific dish. There are many variations of spices that can be used. Moroccans add cinnamon sticks, coriander or chili; Egyptians use Nigella seeds, and I've seen lemons preserved with star anise and fennel. Purists don't add any spice at all and just enjoy the natural flavor of the salt and lemon.

I am making a double batch of these lemons because I plan to use them for everything. I went with a simple bay leaf and peppercorn mix. (I find that when preserved in cinnamon or other strong flavors, it doesn't pair as well with fish.)  Feel free to halve the recipe for one quart-sized jar (6 lemons).

I used Meyer Lemons, which have a delicate lemon flavor and are used a lot in desserts. They are smaller lemons and their rinds absorb the flavor of the salt and spices really well. If you can't get your hands on Meyer lemons, any lemons will do. If you have lemons with particularly thick rinds, you may want to quickly blanch them first.

For my double batch I used:

A dozen Meyer Lemons

Extra lemon juice (8-10 lemons)*

1-2 cups Kosher salt

4 bay leaves

1 tsp peppercorns

To start off, wash and scrub your hands and the lemons and sterilize your jars. Because the lemons will spend the first week of their journey at room temperature, you want to avoid any bacteria contamination.

Cut the stems off the lemon tips and "almost" quarter the lemons the long way, meaning, start to quarter them and stop about 1/2 inch from the bottom, so they look like flowers.

Using your [clean] fingers, rub about 2 teaspoons of salt in each lemon, making sure to get all the openings.

Squish the lemons into your jars and add 2 bay leaves and 1/2 tsp peppercorns per jar (or whatever spice you plan to use.) Cover the lemons completely with lemon juice.

*This is where I cheat. Meyer lemons are NOT CHEAP. So for the extra lemon juice to cover the lemons, I buy about 10 cheaper lemons and use that for the extra juice. The real reason for the Meyers is the rind, so the juice is less important.




Don't forget to label and date your jars so you know when they are ready! The rule of thumb is to let them sit about a week at room temperature. During this time, shake them up a bit, even turn them upside down, just don't open them. After a week, put them in the fridge. They will be ready in a month and they will keep anywhere from 6 months to a year.

Once they are ready, you serve them cut up and add them to a nice mix of olives and pickled treats for cocktail hour.

Once you have this awesome ingredient, play with some recipes. Add them into your favorite dishes for a kicked-up lemon flavor. Here are some fun ones to try:

Fettuccine with Preserved Lemon and Roasted Garlic

Grilled Wild Salmon with Preserved Lemon Relish

Chicken Braised with Preserved Lemons and Cinnamon

Moroccan Lamb Stew with Preserved Lemons

A Spicy Treasure Right Here in DC

Today I checked out the new Union Market in DC to see what all the fuss is about. The New York Times just named the market one of the 46 Places to Go in 2013.

The market is filled with fun treats like local farm-fresh produce, cheese and meat, smoked fish... But the real jewel for anyone who loves cooking, baking, preserving, or pickling is Bazaar Spices.  I have been waiting for a place like this to come to the district!

Monica Grover-Fitzgerald and her husband Ivan own the small boutique spice shop and offer spices from all over the world. Hungarian Paprika, Fresh cardamom pods, turmeric root (I had never seen the actual root), and over a dozen salts in every color of the rainbow.  The spice shop had spice blends from India, Ethiopia, Turkey, and all across the Middle East.  All around were jars with "smell me" written on them.  Very Alice in Wonderland and very fun. For someone like me, who comes home from traveling with suitcases reeking of spice, this was a little slice of heaven.

Monica surrounded by her spices

Smelling the spices really gives you a sense of the quality. Their cinnamon almost knocked me over!

I am well aware of the fact that I have not blogged (or pickled) in quite some time... so I bought some of their pickling spice mix to inspire me, as well as a lovely pepper I had never heard of called Urfa, which promised me a raisin-like smoky flavor perfect for kebobs.

The boutique is offering fun events like a salt tasting and a Valentine's day introduction to aphrodisiac spices... Glad to have this addition to the District. Check it out!

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