Aubergine!!!

[GingerBeverage]

I have never, never been able to cook aubergine (brinjal, eggplant) satisfactorily.
It always either turns to repulsive mush or inedible paper.
This time I've followed the recipe exactly
and still it's garbage.

Please, someone tell me what you do!

I love aubergines despite the fact it’s often quite a bit of work.

This is a bit faffy but totally worth it
www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25321/eggplant-parmesan-ii/

And I fancy making this next time
www.foodandwine.com/recipes/ma-po-eggplant-in-garlic-sauce

It must be me then!
I have tried it so many ways...
Nevertheless, she persisted.

I slice it then soak the slices in heavily salted water if frying or even grilling as that reduces the oil absorption.

Rinse the slices and let them dry. Dip in flour, then beaten egg, then breadcrumbs or fine polenta. My mum would have fried them but I grill them until they're nice and brown.

With that there's the option to eat them with a bit of tomato sauce or tzatziki - they're hard to resist when crisp and hot.

Usually I go on to make aubergine parmesan, with layers of a well seasoned tomato sauce, sliced mozzarella cheese, and parmesan (but I use a vegetarian alternative). I make about three layers of the aubergine in a 20 cm non metallic pan and bake that for about half an hour at 180. Let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting to avoid aubergine puddles.

If diced and roasted for about 10 mintues I'd add that to a curry towards the end of cooking so it wouldn't wither away.

There's always the possibility that you're cooking them fine, but you just don't like aubergines. They do seem to be a Marmite thing. I adore them but I've seen lots of people over the years shuddering at the texture/taste.

On a similar note, I've come to the conclusion that I don't like the classic French omelette much. I think I cook it OK and others seem to like the results, but I don't. I'd rather have eggs in almost any other form.

I love berenjenas con miel too. . As stated up thread sprinkle them with salt when sliced and put kitchen towel over them. Then place something heavy on top to draw out the liquid. I just fry them on a piping hot skillet.

Just accept that aubergine is an awful awful vegetable. That's what I've done 😂

We’re not aubergine lovers in this house but everyone does love this recipe.

www.recipetineats.com/moroccan-baked-eggplant-with-beef/

(My Oddbox veg delivery seems to think we want aubergines EVERY SINGLE WEEK).

One of my best friends is a chef and he recently wrote this article with five ways to cook aubergine!
I'm yet to try them but I trust his work 😂

www.chefsimonconyers.com/post/5-easy-ways-with-aubergines

I chop it up, roast in the oven with a bit of olive oil then in a garlicky tomato sauce with chopped up mozerella for pasta.

We are having aubergine tonight! Slice it in half and scoop out some of it... Chuck the halves in the oven with a bit of oil for half an hour turning halfway through. Meanwhile fry mince, onions and the rest of the aubergine (chuck in any other veg) add chopped tomatoes and reduce down. Stuff the aubergine halves with the meat mixture and top with cheese, whack back in the oven for 10 mins to melt the cheese serve with rice

@myrtleWilson Please post the recipe, I'm intrigued.

Another aubergine lover here.

My DW makes a great Persian lamb and aubergine stew called Khoresh Bademjan. It is so tasty and if you don't like lamb then you can use chicken thighs.

turmericsaffron.blogspot.com/2009/03/eggplant-stew-khoresh-bademjan.html

Melanzane Parmigiana, my Italian grandfather taught me. Slice aubergine lengthways, slices about 1/2cm thick, lay on baking sheet, drizzle with oil salt and pepper and bake for 20 mins. Meanwhile prepare a simple tomato sauce, fry garlic in oil, add tin tomatoes, tomato purée, grind of pepper, mixed Italian herbs, tsp sugar and simmer. When aubergine is done, take a slice and roll round a piece of mozzarella (the fresh kind in balls, not the cheap rubber kind) then wrap it in sliced pancetta or bacon. Lay the parcels in an oven dish and cover with tomato sauce, sprinkle loads of Parmesan cheese on top and bake for 20 mins. It’s delicious.

I do that but just layer the mozzarella (the cheap kind!) with layers of aubergine then cover with the tomato sauce and cheese. No meat

Slice into long pieces, and mix in a big bowl with tonnes of olive oil. It doesn't cook/char without oil. My Greek friend says to enhance the smokey flavour by adding a bit of smoked paprika. He also says that he's never eaten a good aubergine in the UK?!

This week (before the weather turned) I cooked them on the BBQ for a melanzane alla parmigiana. A labour of love but it works. Or searing hot griddle pan. The bar marks really do help the flavour.

I chop it into chunks and put in curry and tomatoey sauces for pasta

It's possible a lot of our supermaket fruit and veg is pretty flavourless in the UK compared to homegrown or lots of other countries I've been to.

Probably the same as tomatoes if you want really tasty ones you have to pay

The fruit and veg at our local big Turkish run supermaket has really good produce, it's similar price to the better stuff in supermarkets but their range is really broad. Maybe shop around?

When I discovered Jamie's scruffy lasagne I finally learnt how to cook aubergine. Basically, it needs a long cook (40 minutes) - often longer than the other ingredients. It is also a great contributor to curry texture - you could call it mush but it is much better than a starch thickener when used in a curry. I now buy an aubergine every week and look forward to feeding it to my family. No need to peel, or discard the skin and all that 1970s guff about salting it to extract water is a waste of time and salt. I also sometimes grill it in 1cm thick slices with garlic and olive oil and then put a pizza style topping on it for a final grilling - kids love this

As a couple of posters have mentioned berenjenas con miel from southern Spain are great, if you soak in cold milk or even better beer they will not soak up nearly as much oil, carbonated water can be used instead.
They can be peeled and cut into batons or unpeeled and sliced into rounds.
When removed from the liquid dust with a mixture of flour mixed with chick pea flour. Fry in not oil , drain on paper towel and drizzle with sugar cane honey.

Another Spanish use is Escalibada, fat red pepper, aubergine, onion purple or what you have, whole garlic cloves, pear tomato
Bake in oven turning occasionally and remove as they get done so as not to overcook.
When you can handle remove skin and tear or cut pepper and aubergine lengthwise into strips , slice onions also into strips, peel garlic cloves drain tomato and slice or chop.
Arrange vegetables side by side on a platter, pepper, aubergine, purple onion, white onion, tomato, scatter garlic cloves.
Sprinkle with salt flakes , add olive oil and serve at room temperature with toasted bread. Anchovies can be served on the side.
Goes great with meats or as an entree
Leftovers keep well

I planned on cooking an aubergine tonight but chickened out