baby eggplant suggestions?

[Barbara76137]

I have ten advorable baby eggplants that were purely an impulse buy....They are about the size of a chicken egg but are the typical purple eggplants.

I'm thinking of a dry rub with olive oil and then throwing them on the grill. Any other suggestions? I would also like suggestions for sides that would go well with them.

[Barbara76137]

Wow, so many great suggestions that I'll have to buy more to try them all! Last night I put five of them on the grill, then when they were cooked halved them lengthwise and topped them with herbed goat cheese. I mixed fresh oregano, garlic chive, garlic, flat leaf parsley, lemon zest, s&p in the goat cheese and it melted on the warm eggplant. I topped it with some toasted pine nuts.

I can't believe I've never seen them before. chefj, are you sure they are a specific variety? Beackchic, where did you find them? They were at Sprouts here in TX.

[chefj]

Baby Eggplants would not be very tasty and they would be hard as rocks.
There are quite a few varieties that have that small egg shape if you would like to post a picture or give a description color shape size we could try to identify what variety they are. There are also good data and photos on the net if you want to look for yourself.

[Barbara76137]

Thanks! I'll post a picture tomorrow. They are purple and same shape as a typical large eggplant. I often buy various types at the Asian market, but I've never seen these before.

[Barbara76137]

I bought another ten at a different Sprouts today. I promise I'll post pictures, but at Sprouts here in TX they are called "baby eggplants". A few people looked at them as I was picking them up, and the person at the cash register had never seen them before.

I just enjoy them. I've been in a rut for the past month since my cat died, and this has been the first time I've been excited about food since she was euthanized.

[Beach Chick]

I bet cooking them on the grill with an herb goat cheese was fab..
Sprouts in Poway, CA is where I bought them for 15 for $1.

[Barbara76137]

I figured you found them at Sprouts or Henry's. Is Henry's still around or is everything under the Sprouts name now?

[Beach Chick]

Sprouts changed over from Henry's last year in San Diego area.

[chefj]

Just as a clarification they are not babies they are the Indian variety of eggplant.
Solanum melongena L. Probably either 'Aspara' 'Black Chu Chu' 'Ratnayake' or 'Raavayya'

[chefj]

Here is a Maharashtrian Stuffed Eggplant recipe with coconut and peanuts. Super delicious!
http://www.rumela.com/recipe/indian_d...

[pine time]

I once sliced 'em nearly paper thin (mandoline, minus it's thumb-slicing proclivities, is ideal), and roasted 'em until crunchy, akin to roasted kale. Haven't done it in years. May need to buy some and try again!

[Beach Chick]

I just bought the same thing but 15 of them..they were too cute to pass up and they made for great food pics.
I cut them in half with EVO, sea salt, fresh ground pepper and roasted them for about 20 minutes and then added goat cheese for the last 5 minutes...delicious.
Last night, fresh pasta...sauteed and quartered them with fresh garlic, tomt's, onions, EVO, lemon juice and it was very very good.

[luckyfatima]

I love going the Indian route with baby eggplants. I prepare a handful of dishes with this vegetable, but here are two favorites:

Baby eggplants are wonderful for stuffing with a dry masala. Slit to create four wedges which are still attached to the stem. You will stuff this with a dry masala and saute in oil until the eggplant is cooked through. Some masala will fall into the saute oil and that is fine. Be sure to cook the eggplant very thoroughly, taking care to be gentle so as not to allow any wedges to detach from the stem. When you eat, if the eggplants are perfectly cooked, you can suck out a piece of creamy eggplant flesh from the stem after devouring the rest of the eggplant. This dry dish goes well with a whole wheat flat bread (tortilla or Arabic type bread is fine). For the stuffing, you can google bharwan masala or tawa masala. A typical recipe:

In a dry pan roast 1 tbs whole fennel seed, pinch of fenugreek seed , 1 tsp cumin seed, tsp coriander seed, and 1 whole red chile until it is fragrant. Allow to cook and grind. (Alternatively you can just use pre-ground if that is what you have on hand, but since the stuffing of masala makes this dish, fresh is best.) Mix into your powder a pinch of garam masala, 1 tsp dried mango powder, and 1/4 tsp turmeric powder. Add about 1/2 tsp salt or to taste (this will season the eggplants so salt balance is important. Stuff this into the eggplants you have slit.

Alternatively, you can try a famous recipe from Hyderabad, India called Baghaare Baingan (literally means 'tempered eggplant.') I don't use my own recipe for this, but I quite like this one from a favorite Hyderabadi cooking blog, Zaiqa. This is served with basmati rice or whole wheat flat bread:

http://zaiqa.net/?p=586

[ipsedixit]

Cut each in half, steam, then dress with a marinade of soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, chopped garlic and sugar to taste.

[danna]

I do something similar, except I usually roast or grill my halves, and I add some miso and maybe orange juice/zest to the marinade ingredients you mentioned.

[JungMann]

The little eggplants are perfect for stuffing. You can either do a traditional rice and meat stuffing and braise them in tomato sauce or fill them with garlic, hot peppers and walnuts and pickle them to eat in sandwiches with thick yogurt and olive oil.

[hotoynoodle]

i like the flesh mixed with copious herbs, (MINT!, parsley, basil...) a bit of feta, tomato and lemon. stuffed back in and heated up.

cous cous as a side and lamb as the meat. what time is dinner? ;)

[Frizzle]

Makdous - the pickled one JM mentioned is delicious.

[cheesecake17]

I stuff them and fill with a vegetarian stuffing.
Have the eggplants lengthwise and scoop out the insides. Discard any very seedy pieces. Sauté insides, chopped onion, garlic, bell pepper. Stir in lots of parsley, mint, salt, pepper and a splash of balsamic or lemon juice. Brush the insides of the eggplant shells with olive oil. Stuff with eggplant mixture and bake until eggplant shells have collapsed a bit and filling is warmed.m

Goat or feta cheese can be added to the filling. Or top with shredded mozzarella Towards the end of cooking.

[wyogal]

Is the seasoning going on the skin, or are you cutting them in half, and then seasoning the flesh? What are you using for a dry rub?