rebecca LANDO

wcfoodies:

Eggplant is kind of the middle child of the summer farmer’s market.

Inedible raw, unlike tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers, and more complex to prepare than grilled or boiled corn, eggplant seems to stand out for all the wrong reasons: its dense flesh and generally heavy preparation can make it a bit of an overlooked anomaly. The time and degree of cooking generally necessary for eggplant makes it an awkward summer crop, seemingly out of place when you’re craving a light, refreshing dinner. My mother used to halve and hollow large eggplants, stuff them with a sauteed mix of ground lamb, cubed eggplant flesh, onion, olives, and spices, top them with cheese, and broil them until the cheese was bubbly and the eggplant skin was crispy. Delicious and filling, but it would be torturous to eat in summer. Likewise, eggplant parmesan is too heavy for the hot months, and even a cooling baba ghanouj means turning on the oven.

But eggplant is far more versatile than you might think. Sliced thick and rubbed with a paste of olive oil, sea salt, crushed hot pepper, oregano, and lemon juice, then thrown on the grill, it’s a hearty and healthy alternative to steak. Cooked the same way and then cut down into cubes, it’s a fantastic base for a rustic Provencal ratatouille. 

Even so, it isn’t easy to win people over to eggplant in summer. And that’s where fairytale eggplants come in. These pinky-sized, zebra-striped jewels are charming to look at and ridiculously simple to prepare. Their tiny seeds mean you don’t have to salt them first to remove the bitterness, and they cook quickly. Simply give them a rinse, lop off the stems, and slice them in half lengthwise, then toss them in a hot pan with a clove or two of garlic, some olive oil, and plenty of salt. In 10 minutes, they’ll be perfectly blistered and al dente, ready to top a salad or a pasta, with some cherry tomatoes and capers.

Eggplant, tomatoes, capers - sound familiar? It’s not far off from the classic Italian caponata, one of the most delicious ways to eat eggplant. On August 28th, Brendan McDermott and I will be preparing caponata for the Edible Garden at the New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx. By using locally grown fairytale eggplants and cherry tomatoes, our caponata will be the perfect dish to symbolize the transition from summer to fall and to honor the wonderful growing season in New York. We hope you’ll come by and try our dish, say hi, and help celebrate the end of summer and the beginning of fall with us and the New York Botanical Garden. Details below.

WHAT: Working Class Foodies cooking demo at The Edible Garden at the NYBG
WHERE: The New York Botanical Gardens
              Bronx River Parkway @ Fordham Road
              Bronx, NY 10458
WHEN: Saturday, August 28th at 1pm and 3pm
HOW TO GET THERE: http://www.nybg.org/visit/directions.php
MORE INFO: http://www.nybg.org/eg/ 

Please come check out my demo on Saturday at the NYBG! It’s free and we’ll have lots of tasty samples to give out.