Wednesday, January 24, 2007

baba ganoush

بابا غنوج
[baba ganoush]



So it looks as if Blogger speaks Arabic.

Georgia's visit last week left me pondering the whole East Coast vs. West Coast thing...though less so from a Biggie/Tupac/gangsta rap perspective and more from a Alice Waters/Daniel Boulud/food philosophy perspective.

I am saving my complete thoughts for another space. But her visit did bring me to a deeper level of self-understanding with the realization that, if I could choose only three foods to eat for the rest of my life, they would be maki with white tuna and unagi, peshwari naan, and baba ganoush.

Which led me to a compelling desire to mash up some eggplant. I was pleased with my first attempt:

Baba Ganoush
1 medium-sized eggplant
Juice of 1 small lemon
1 tsp salt
2 cloves fresh garlic, finely minced
3 tbsp sesame tahini
2 tbsp olive oil

Prick eggplant all over with a fork and place whole in a baking pan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30-45 minutes (eggplant should be very soft). Remove from oven, halve, and scoop the flesh into a small bowl. Add lemon juice and mash mixture with a fork. Mix in salt and garlic, then tahini. Let the mixture cool. Before serving, drizzle with olive oil. Serve with pita bread.



Georgia just graduated from the French Culinary Institute and will be starting next month as garde manger at Blue Hill at Stone Barns. And I love her for that. Congratulations G!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You'll be proud to know that I made my own baba ganoush the other day. Well, "made" is a relative term. I realized that I wanted baba ganoush, so I got up, walked out my door, walked to Central and got a Combo Plate from Falafel Palace. Mmmmmmmmmmm, so good. I should "cook" more often.

Anonymous said...

Nothing like a little bit of babaganoush with a drizzle of olive oil, a sprinkle of cayenne and pita bread to taste...

I'm hungry now.