Glazed Eggplant: Two Ways

Last night at the grocery store, Howard and I saw a stack of beautiful eggplants (also called aubergines). You know that feeling when you see something shiny and you want it? We saw the deep purple jewel sitting on the table and couldn't resist. Yeah, we get that feeling a lot, it's hard to stop impulse purchases. In this case, I was justifying it to Howard saying I had two eggplant recipes bookmarked at home.

And I did, they were both for glazed Japanese/Asian eggplants. Oops. But you know what? These recipes work for your standard eggplant as well. The great thing about the two recipes was that they both called for a preheated oven at 400°F (205°C).

First up, the miso sesame-glazed eggplant (page 138) from My New Roots. I thought it would be the glaze that would be different, but so was the baking technique! After halving and scoring the eggplant, I brushed it with olive oil (Sarah calls for coconut oil or melted ghee, which I sadly do not have). Then, place the eggplant with the cut side up on the sheet and bake for 25 minutes.

Oh my gosh! Isn't that amazing? The cut lines expanded the eggplant a bit, telling us it's ready for the glaze.

This glaze is easy to whip up, but first, my disclaimer! The original recipe is for two eggplants, but I only needed it for one, so I halved the ingredients and then ran out of measuring spoons and didn't have brown rice vinegar, so I eventually winged it. If you want the original instructions, you'll have to check the book! So back to the glaze, I used: 1 tablespoon of white miso, 1/2 tablespoon of white rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon of maple syrup, 1/2 tablespoon of tahini, and a sprinkle of white and black sesame seeds. Mix that all up and brush it on the eggplant. Set under the broiler for 3 minutes.

The second glaze recipe is from Seven Spoons. Tara instructs us to score the eggplant, brush the entire thing with sesame oil, place it face down on the sheet, and also bake it for 25 minutes. As a result, the eggplant doesn't have the expanded ridges, but there's more browning on the flesh portion.

To make this one, you need 1 tablespoon of mirin, 1/2 tablespoon of fruit juice, 1 tablespoon of white miso, 1/2 tablespoon of honey, and 1/2 tablespoon of sesame oil. There's an extra step, you place this all in a small saucepan and bring it to a boil for 2 minutes. Again, I halved the original recipe and substituted ingredients I didn't have on hand, so check the cookbook.

Then you flip the eggplant over, brush it with the glaze, and top it with sesame seeds. Again, under the broiler for 3 minutes. I also roasted some shallots alongside this one, it's the glazed eggplant with roasted shallots and greens from page 81.

So here they were! Easy to share on a baking sheet since the cooking times and temperatures were the same. I garnished Sarah's version with scallions (see above), and topped Tara's version with the roasted shallots (see below). Thank you Sarah and Tara for letting me justify buying the shiny purple eggplants and for the great meal we had.

I described it as eating eggplant crème brûlée to my friend. You can break the crunchy "caramel" glaze and then scoop the soft and creamy eggplant out. But then you have to go back and eat the outer layer as well, so cut it into pieces so enjoy everything in a bite.

Basic, Great Chocolate Chip Cookies

There has been so many great new cookbook releases this spring, I can barely keep up! What's wonderful about these titles are the quality of material coming from Canadian authors: Sara Britton of My New Roots, Rosie Alyea of Sweetapolita, and Tara O'Brady of Seven Spoons. I meant to do a post for each book as they released, but the weekends just seem to fly by (why aren't weekends three days instead of two?).

But I had three beautiful bars of chocolate, the cookbook, and Tara's post to get me off my butt to make something. Plus, who can resist basic, great chocolate chip cookies?

Look how beautiful the tasting bars are! I've never used Valrhona chocolates before, but I've heard about their excellent reputation. Plus, they're always getting mentions in cookbooks where chefs repeat: use quality products. Really, I felt like Charlie from the Chocolate Factory when I ripped off the gold foil and saw the gorgeous design on these bars.

I felt like I was destroying art chopping up the chocolate bars. But at least they had a guideline of grids on it. You can chop them up a bit smaller, but I wanted to be able to taste each different chocolate piece in the cookie.

Do you like the sweet and salty combination? I found that the little sprinkle of sea salt on top was strong, so don't go overboard! Just put less than a pinch on top of the batter.

Basic, Great Chocolate Chip Cookies
Recipe adapted from Seven Spoons by Tara O'Brady
(Makes about 24 cookies)

1 cup of unsalted butter
3 1/4 cups of all-purpose flour
1 1/4 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
210 grams of chopped chocolate (Tara calls for 340 grams of semisweet or bittersweet chocolate)
Flaky sea salt (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 360°F (180°C) - don't forget to check with an oven thermometer. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper.
2. Place the butter in a saucepan and melt on the lowest setting. You want the butter to melt, but not sizzle and lose moisture.
3. Take a chef knife and chop up your chocolate. I used three 70 gram bars of 32% cacao, 46% cacao, and 72% cacao. I combined all three together so that the cookies would get a mix of blond, milk, and dark chocolate bits in it.
4. In a bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
5. Using a stand mixer, pour in both sugars and the melted butter. Whisk until combined. Add in the eggs one at a time. Pour in the vanilla extract. Once it's blended, switch the whisk attachment to the paddle or use a spatula.
6. Carefully add in the dry ingredients and mix a little bit (doesn't have to be well blended at this point).
7. Add in the chopped chocolate and fold into the batter until well combined. The less mixing you do when the dry ingredients are added, the better. You don't want the batter to become too doughy and smooth.
8. At this stage, you can refrigerate the batter. I did for 5 minutes because the batter was looking a bit shiny and it is mentioned in Tara's notes - thanks for troubleshooting!
9. Scoop out about 3 tablespoons of batter and form it into a ball. Place on parchment paper and space each one 3 inches apart. Optional, sprinkle the top with flaky sea salt. I did for 12 and left the other 12 as is.
10. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. When you take them out, let them rest for 2 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool.

I love how quickly the cookie batter came together, there's no need to chill the dough for hours or overnight. All about the immediate gratification here.

Unbelievable. Just because I'm standing on a chair taking cookie photos, it doesn't mean someone should swoop in and grab one. Luckily, I caught the thief red-handed in the photo and was able to confront them later.

Oh these cookies are good. They're soft and chewy on the inside. And yes, they're cookies worth dreaming about and craving for. They would make a great base for nutty cookies too (walnuts or pecans anyone?).

Happy publication day Tara!