Baba Ganoush, or 'what to do with aubergines/eggplant?'

I finally persuaded my son that aubergines are edible, and today he sacrificed one to make this rather awesome baba ganoush, made with lemon juice, loads of garlic, tahini, olive oil and a little parsley.

But, what to do with the others? Any suggestions? Or am I going to be living on baba ganoush for a week?

Love the baba ganoush. We have also done three other things with eggplant, all excellent (we thought):

1) Pickled eggplant. Basically slices of eggplant boiled very briefly in a vinegar/water mix then layered in a big jar with garlic, oregano, and olive oil and left to sit (many recipes online). This is awesome in a sandwich.
2) Dried eggplant. We salted slices to get to get the juices out, then hung (we used just cotton thread) in the shade to dry. They don't get hard like this, so we used them all within a month or two but man oh man is this good on homemade pizza, either thrown in the sauce to soak it up or in soaked red wine then tossed on top.
3) Sliced thin and layered into homemade lasagna or on top of homemade pizza.

Berenjenas fritas w. cane sugar syrup? I'm not good w. a deep frier, so I only eat it when we are out - but then, it is my favorite dessert tapa

I used to hate aubergine, but now I actually like it, even in moussaka (hated it as a kid - think my mom were too scared of fats).

Oh and I don't use tahini... Just backed aubergine, lemon juice, olive oil, load of garlic and parsley. A few weeks ago I made it and didn't have the patience to get them backed all the way through and it was more like tomato salsa in flavor and texture (not bad at all).

Indian-style brinjal pickle is awesome.
I love grilled aubergine slices, especially when it's nearly burnt.
It's great on its own, but gets exponentially awesome with other grilled veges and balsamic vinegar reduced to a syrup
I've had zero plants produce for me (this is the year...) but a friend grows masses, grills slices and freezes them.

We cut it in half and roast cut side down until soft and scoop it out of the skin. Mix with garlic, olive oil and herbs and use as pizza spread instead of tomato sauce. Mmm.

We do this with squash and pumpkin too.

For me, it's vital to make sure aubergine is always really well cooked;
if it's underdone I find it bitter and polystyrene-y
As long as it's cooked enough, it's pretty hard to go wrong!

Slice, grill, wrap around some kind of cheese and whatever takes your fancy and bake till melty
Or bake whole till softish, cut in half, hollow them out, saute the flesh with whatever takes your fancy, add cheese, refill, bake till melty

Japanese nasu dengaku is delicious-aubergine grilled with sweet miso paste.
It looks a bit like one of those "but I don't have any ingredients" recipes
But you can use cider vinegar instead of mirin, water for saki, honey works well,
and any miso will work, though mild white or yellow's best and if using the pungent hatcho, be stingy...

Trader Joe's makes a spectacular Eggplant-garlic sauce, supposedly from a traditional bulgarian recipe.

In Georgia, near the Black Sea, they make long slices of eggplant, then roll it up into a spiral with different sauces in between the spirals.

Both are quite good.
John S
PDX OR

Eggplant is most famous for using as a substitute for meat in any lasagne recipe.  Same goes with any casserole.  I have not tried it in many years and never cooked with it until the other day.  

I found a recipe where you take 1/2" slices of eggplant and slices of tomato; sprinkle with salt and pepper or other seasonings and Parmesan cheese.  Bake at 450' degrees for 45 minutes.  After 30 minutes the tomato was nicely roasted but the eggplant was obviously not cooked.  So I ate the tomatoes and then sliced the eggplant like french fries and fried them.  They tasted like I remembered them.

My next experiment will be: Tacos

Here is a recipe I found for Grilled Bread with Eggplant and Basil

Making the eggplant spread ahead of time has a double upside: The flavors of the mixture will deepen as it sits, and you get to cross something off the list.

   8 tablespoons olive oil, divided
   2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
   1 teaspoon fresh marjoram or oregano leaves
   ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
   1 large eggplant (about 1 lb.), cut into ¾” pieces
   Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
   1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
   8 slices ¾”-thick country-style bread
   ½ cup torn fresh basil leaves
   1 oz. Parmesan, shaved

Preparation:
Heat 4 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic, marjoram, and red pepper flakes and cook, stirring often, until garlic is softened but not browned, about 2 minutes.

Add eggplant to skillet and cook, tossing occasionally, until just starting to brown, 8–10 minutes. Add ½ cup water; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until eggplant is very soft, 10–15 minutes. Let cool slightly; mix in lemon juice. Season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired.

Meanwhile, prepare grill for medium-high heat. Brush both sides of bread with remaining 4 Tbsp. oil and grill until lightly charred, about 2 minutes per side.

Spoon eggplant mixture on toast and top with basil and Parmesan; cut toast in half.

DO AHEAD: Eggplant can be cooked 2 days ahead. Let cool; cover and chill.

Some info that I found:

It shines with a sprinkling of garam masala or a hint of oregano, but you can use it in just about any stir-fry, dip, salad, or pasta your heart desires - in just about any cuisine, too. Grilling eggplant really intensifies the flavor, and in the summertime when kitchens are hot and charcoal's smoldering, it's one of our favorite ways to prepare it.

"Eggplant is like a sponge,"  If you don't treat it right, you'll wind up with a soggy mess that tastes exclusively of oil, and is definitely not crispy. Left to its own devices, this veggie will absorb an enormous amount of fat, so take preventative measures: Coat the cubes or slices with egg and breadcrumbs to form a barrier between the oil and eggplant, or lightly coat them with oil and broil until browned and crispy.

How do you know if an eggplant is ripe? It's all about visual cues. Discerning farmers' market shoppers may be used to sniffing and gently squeezing produce to suss out what's ready for the taking, but if an eggplant is squishy or its skin dimples with a little pressure, it's past its prime. Ripe eggplants at the peak of perfection are firm, with shiny and taut skin. To keep yours fresh and perky, definitely store it in the fridge, but there's no need to fuss over it with damp paper towels or a prime spot in the crisper.

My favorite thing to do with eggplants is Caponata

Basically cube eggplant, fry in olive oil with diced celery, onions, peppers, olives, pretty much whatever. Toss with tomato paste, vinegar, little bit of sugar, diced tomato, pine nuts (or chopped almonds), pepper, garlic, whatever else tastes good to you. Let marinate for a while, and eat on toast points, with a spoon, on pasta, whatever...

So good...

I have been eating my eggplant like fajitas; fried like french fries then placed in a warm tortilla with lettuce and tomato.

Here is another recipe I want to try:

Chicken Stuffed Eggplant

2 medium size eggplants, washed, stems trimmed
2 boneless chicken breasts (about 12 oz), cubed
1 1/2 cups PictSweet Seasoning (about half a bag); or 1 cup diced onion, 1/4 cup diced celery, 1/4 cup
diced bell pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp salt (more or less, to taste)
1/2 tsp black pepper (more or less, to taste)
1/4 tsp ground sage
1/4 tsp cajun seasoning (like Zatarins)
1 tsp worstershire sauce
Fat-free butter spray (or Pam Butter flavor spray)
3 oz Italian Five Cheese, Shredded (approx 1 scant cup)

   Optional: parsley for garnish; 4 slices bread for stuffing.

Directions
Assuming the eggplant is washed, and stemmed, and the chicken meat is cubed, cut eggplant in half longwise. Use a paring knife to cut along edges of halved eggplant shells to help scoop out the inside. Use a spoon to scoop out the fresh eggplant, and cut into cubes (this will be about 2 cups). Don't worry if it turns a little brown; it's not going bad, that's just what happens to eggplant when exposed to air, and cooking.

Put the scooped out eggplant halves into a glass casserole dish sprayed with Pam. Spray scooped halves with cooking spray or fat-free butter spray. If desired you can sprinkled a little pepper and salt on halves. Cover dish with wax paper, and cook in microwave on HIGH for 6 minutes.

Meanwhile spray skillet with Pam, and heat olive oil on med-low for a minute; add garlic and onion/celery/pepper mix, stir. Cook on med to med-low for a couple of minutes until onions are sizzling a bit.

Add chicken and worstershire. Cook until chicken is nearly done, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add cut eggplant, salt, pepper, sage, cajun seasoning, and stir. Cover and cook over medium heat for about 4 or 5 minutes, stirring a couple of times, until eggplant is just tender. Remove skillet from heat, stir in most of shredded italian cheese, reserving about 1/2 oz (about 2 TBLS) for topping.

Divide eggplant/chicken mixture into eggplant halves. Add a bit of water (about 2 TBLS) into the bottom of the pan.

Now you can either cook in microwave on HIGH for about 6 minutes, covering dish with waxed paper. Removed from microwave, sprinkle remaining shredded cheese over top. Optionally, you can sprinkle some fresh or dried parsley flakes as a garnish. Let dish sit for a couple of minutes to soften cheese.

Or you may use the oven to finish this dish. Put casserole into a 350 oven for about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, sprinkle with cheese (and optionally the parsley garnish), return to oven for 5 minutes or so to melt cheese.

As noted in the introduction, cubed bread may be added to this dish, if desired. Use one regular size slice of desired bread per eggplant half. Toast lightly and cut into cubes. Toss into eggplant/chicken mixture before spooning into eggplant shells, or into a casserole dish for baking.