Baba Ganoush

Eating only what you grow can sometimes get a little boring  because at some times of the year only a few things are growing – but not at this time of year. This time of year we have a medley of vegetables in the garden and an overflowing freezer – I will have to get the bungy cords out soon to keep the lid on.

Baba Ganoush is a great favourite of my daughter and I. And since my garden is heaving with eggplant  that we call aubergine I thought I would whip up a batch of baba ganoush.  The eggplant sells very well at the markets by the way.

There are only a few ingredients in Baba Ganoush but like all simple recipes it relies heavily on having the very best of ingredients. The eggplant needs to be newly picked and cooked until it is smoking, preferably under or over fire  – then left to catch on fire if you are lucky.

The garlic needs to be fresh and hot, the pomegranate molasses    – the  best you can find and the tahini smooth and silky. And  of course the oil – the olive oil local and divine. (My local is California but it is the best I can do so far).

Pomegranate molasses is critical to baba ganoush I think.  Some people use lemon  but I love the molasses.

Incidently pomegranate molasses is wonderful used in salad dressings and today I am making an Italian ricotta cheesecake and have every intention of adding a swirl of the pomegranate molasses to amiably argue the sweetness of the cake. I made the ricotta yesterday and it yielded so much I am forced to make a cheesecake. Poor me.

Anyway,  seriouseats is the site I found with some really great tips about making baba ganoush. The best being straining the water out of the fruit with a salad spinner and the reminder to add the olive oil in a drizzle.  Never dump oil into anything wet.  Add it slowly while whipping or stirring.  Oil and water do not like to be mixed – they must be vigorously coaxed. 

The recipe on seriouseats is perfectly good  though I replaced the lemon with pomegranate molasses and not so much tahini. The tahini I have at the moment is very strong. This dish is one of those that you taste as you go along to get it right.

You can serve it with crackers or bread and yesterday we ate it alongside  roast chicken.

Much to my delight  John does not like baba ganoush. More for me.  It does not surprise me. As he has gotton older he has regressed back to the foods of his childhood. I think that deep down he wishes we would all stop introducing these exotic tastes and just stick with fried rice or chicken pot pie and store-bought bread, both of which he buys for himself when he goes shopping.

Speaking of bread.  Jake gave me this flour yesterday. Locally grown and ground. 

He had bought it to bake with but never had time so two packets had been languishing in his freezer for a couple of months.  The other pack is sifted. Delighted, of course (what a gift!).  I said to him, how much do I owe you and he said, oh a couple of slices of bread will do, and I said: Done. Jake loves my food. So I set a couple of loaves to rise and will be baking today.

Let’s hope Baker Pete pops in today to tell us what Hard Flour means – sounds like an oxymoron to me! And maybe one or two tips on working with stone ground flour?

I am interested to see how it cooks up with my bi weekly  bread recipe. 

I hope you have a lovely day

celi

PS Before I forget, I know a number of you are having trouble getting to  zazzle through the button Samantha placed for me down by the Newsletter button. The zazzle button is working for some and not for others but just click here if you want to pop over to my shop for a look.

Don’t forget to sign up for the  Kitchens Garden Farm Newsletter – we are working on Edition Two right now. (Scroll right down past the comments and into the black to find the sign up button).  Every month will be a new theme with new artwork and new content and new additions to the shop all published on the same day as the newsletter. The September newsletter will be coming out after Labor Day.

On the full moon – September 6. (I hope – if all goes well).

WEATHER: Nice. Very nice.