Eggplant recipe

The purpose of this post is to describe my thoughts on Spanish cooking and tell you my favorite Spanish recipe, that is a Spanish eggplant recipe. Now if you get a recipe from me it will be modified to be healthy. I am a pretty fit guy and want to keep it that way. I do not give you any whatever recipes. By the way the Spanish word for eggplant is berenjena, and Spanish eggplant recipe is Español recetas de berenjena.

I would say the broad classifications of the typical dishes you might find in Spanish cooking are as follows:

• Spanish rice based recipes, usually with beans
• Spanish wheat based dished, in the form of a flat bread
• Spanish corn based meals
• Pure vegetable based dishes, like eggplant

What is my favorite Spanish food? I think that most people think of Spanish fast food as tacos and nachos. However, if you have any exposure to Spanish culture been known that Spanish cuisine is not restricted to a few dishes you might find on an American menu.

Let’s think about how Hispanic cuisine has fused with indigenous cultures. The realm of the Spanish world, includes South America, North America, the Caribbean islands, the Philippines, Europe, and I am sure a few other places.

Each place Spanish culture fuses with a local culture something totally different occurs in the kitchen. Think of it this way one plus one does not equal two but equal three. That means a combination of Spanish and Caribbean cooking results in something that is something completely different.

I tend to like less spicy vegetable based Spanish cooking. I particularly like eggplant dishes. And when was the last time you saw a Hispanic eggplant dish on a menu at taco bell. This is why I decided to write this post. I wanted to give you a Spanish eggplant recipe that is not common.

Spanish eggplant recipe

Ingredients for my eggplant recipe

• 1 large purple eggplant
• 5 cloves of garlic (I use pink garlic not Chinese white garlic). Garlic is my staple for health so use as much as you like, I chop very fine, or crush.
• 1/4 large yellow of onions
• 2  small red chilli peppers cut very small
• oregano (one of the worlds best anti-oxidants so use as much as you like it gives it a mediterranean taste)
• fresh basil
• fresh parsley
• Olive oil (it does not have to be Spanish) and a pinch of butter, I am not giving an exact quantity because it depends how you cook, heavy or light.
• a pinch or two or pepper
• sea salt for preparing the Spanish eggplant but not for seasoning as it will have enough residual salt.
• Cheese for the top of the eggplant from Spain dish – type and quantity will be up to you.

Eggplant from Spain – how to prepare

1. Peel and cut the eggplant, place it on a dish or on a cutting board and cover it in salt on both sides.  Wait ten minutes to 1/2 hour. Basically what you want to do is soak the eggplant in salt and then rinse it well in water so it is not too salty.  This takes the bitterness out of the eggplant. I slice the eggplant into thin slices. The I cut it in small pieces before I add it to the pan.
2. Into the pan – I do not like the idea of a soupy mix, rather, when all the ingredients are added to a pan for saute I like to keep some order. I add the stronger vegetables first like onions and garlic and soften these, then tomato base second, then the vegetables (in this case eggplant) and seasoning.  If you do not understand how to cook this write me, it is basically.
3. Next I take the take the handle off my black iron skillet and with cheese on top I put it in the over to bake.

The result is something like eggplant Parmesan but without the flouring and frying part and a little more spice The other key part of this is your choice in cheese.  Parmesan cheese is very Italian. Choose some Spanish cheese, or stinky hard round cheese. The idea is this will gently melt of the dish. Another thing is you do not want too much tomato, it should be thick not a watery mess.

Serve this with warmed garlic bread and red wine.  Spanish eggplant is very healthy as my recipes is loaded with anti-oxidants. It’s a warming food, best eaten with someone who will eat it with you as you might have garlic breath. Let me know what you think of my own version of a Madrid style eggplant recipe.