I was introduced to baba ganoush while on one of my visits to the Dearborn area in Michigan many years ago. My hubby's brothers live there and they have a bunch of Middle-Eastern delis and resaurants at their fingertips. My sister-in-law took me to her favorite deli, and oh my word, my eyes became the size of mini pita breads. Spits of lamb roasting, dolma swimming in cucumber sauce, and the smell of spinach pies baking wafted through the air. Thank goodness I don't live close by, because if I did, I would need a burqa to hide all the fat rolls I've developed from mass consumption of this awesome Arabic fare.
So, everyone is familiar with hummus, right? Yeah, hummus is the belle of the ball when it comes to Middle-Eastern dips. You can find it almost in every supermarket right next to the salsa. So if hummus is Cinderella, than I guess you can call baba ganoush, undeservedly, the ugly stepsister. She wants to be in the limelight like her sister, but for some reason she is left behind.
The main ingredient in baba ganoush is eggplant. This deceptive vegetable is perhaps the reason we all aren't dipping into the baba at every social gathering. That shiny purple coat is peeled off only to reveal grayish-tan innards that aren't nearly as pretty as the golden beige color the hummus is sporting. But, baba ganoush is lower in calories and the texture is sublime. It does take a little bit longer to prepare than hummus, because you have to roast the eggplant. Once you taste this dip, you will understand why the extra time is absolutely worthwhile.
Baba Ganoush
1 large eggplant
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup tahini
Juice of 1 lemon
Parsley and sesame oil to garnish (optional)
salt/pepper to season
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Pierce an eggplant with a fork all over or use an ice pick if you are angry and want to re-enact Sharon Stone's performance in Basic Instinct. Place on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes or until squishy. Let cool, then peel and mash. Set aside. In a large bowl or food processor, combine garlic, tahini, lemon juice, and mix it all up. Fold in the mashed eggplant by hand. Top with parsley and garnish with a drizzle of sesame oil. The oil is not necessary but that's how I love it.
Serve with pita or crackers or whatever carb-esque crunchies you have in the pantry.
I can not just end this post here. I believe that the culinary gods were delivering a message to me yesterday. Remember my post in which I mocked the use of tweezers as a tool for the kitchen? If you didn't read it, then here you go. At any rate, I was poking around TJ Maxx and within the kitchen gadget section, there was a misplaced, clearanced out pair of pink tweezers. Nestled in between the cutting boards and some ramekins, there they were.
No, they are not the fancy-shmancy surgical tweezers that the chefs use, but at least they weren't full of random hairs and dermal matter bits like the ones sitting in my cosmetic bag. I took it as a sign. I had to buy them and use them to decorate something edible. Since I already made the baba ganoush, I decided to use it as real estate for this message:
Leave the hummus at home next time and let the baba ganoush take a ride in the pumpkin carriage.
No comments:
Post a Comment