Text 20674, 109 rader
Skriven 2009-02-10 07:56:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av JIM WELLER
Ärende: truckin' 203
====================
 ML> what's cromulent mean?
 JW> Check out the Urban Dictionary for illumination.

That was even less illuminative than most wiki-type articles.
For one thing, there's apparently no consensus on what the word
actually means, and the two main candidates are opposites to
each other, pretty much.

 JW> This next is an interesting blend of American Southern with Chinese
 JW> cooking:

Well, more "pan-Asian" than Chinese.

==

 ML> Any meatball can fry things given enough
 ML> oil and enough patience and enough attention so the house
 ML> doesn't burn down.
 JW> And I am living testimony to that.

I take it you're unnecessarily self-deprecating here?

 JW> More deep fried stuff:
 JW> Title: Falafel (Lebanese)

Ah, one of the few great vegan recipes. Here's another,
though it's much better when non-veganized.

Baingan Bartha
cat: Swiss, Indian, vegan, main, spread
yield: 4 to 8 servings

4 eggplants
2 to 4 garlic cloves
2 to 3 scallions
4 cm ginger root
oil (or ghee)
1 Tb whole coriander seeds
1 Tb whole cumin seeds
1 dried chili
5 to 8 black peppercorns
Mustard seeds oil

Indian Eggplant Spread Cooked Over Hot Embers

Start a large fire with hardwood or quality charcoal. No
briquettes and no softwood as they would impart a bad taste
to the food. When the wood has turned to glowing embers,
after about 30 min or so, carefully lay the eggplants to
rest, one by one, on this bed of embers. Leave them until
they are soft all over and the skin is shrivelled.

Remove the eggplants from the fire, brush off any ashes and
return to the kitchen.

Carve the eggplants open carefully so as not to introduce
any ashes. Miraculous! The vegetable has slept for 30
min on hot embers and yet it is still juicy inside.

Carefully scrape off the flesh from the eggplant with a
spoon, avoiding any black area. Burnt flesh is not the
problem but ashes are. They are quite caustic.

Seasoning is what makes this aubergine spread an Indian
baingan bartha. Use whole spices and dry roast them in a hot
frying pan. Do not add any fat and remove only when the
cumin seeds start to smoke.

Grind to a powder in a mortar or with an electric spice
grinder or manual pepper mill.

Mash ginger and garlic to a paste and finely chop the
scallions.

Fry in a tablespoon ghee or oil until soft.

Add the eggplant pulp and combine.

Add the spices. Now for our most dreadful ingredient -
mustard seeds oil. A very pungent taste indeed, more akin to
vinegar than oil. Use only the finest oil and make sure it
is not rancid or you'll ruin your fine efforts.

Add drop by drop and taste regularly until the flavor
balance satisfies you.

Serve with naan as a starter, a side dish or even a light meal.

I was inspired to cook directly over hot embers by The Magic
of Fire by William Rubel, an amazing book about cooking on
open fires. This is one of my 20 favorite cookbooks and I
have several hundreds cookbooks in 6 languages. You need to
get this book - the recipes are all traditional and yet
immensely original. Mr Rubel (www.williamrubel.com) is a
Californian home chef versed into literature and gastronomy.
He cooked some of his dishes at Chez Panisse, one of
America's top restaurants, and yet most recipes use only a
handful of ingredients. A masterpiece. Warmly recommended! I
wonder if Mr Rubel was in some accident or something
happened to him, I posted some pictures on his forum at
www.williamrubel.com but in 3 months he's never visited it.
Let me know if you have any information about his
whereabouts!

Published 15/11/2007
fxcuisine.com
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