Saturday, October 29, 2005

Fried Eggplant with Honey and Mint

Earlier this week, Tom at work got a case of food from an organic farmer in the Capay Valley. In it was a bunch of vegetables, some fruit, and recipes to cook the foods they sent. One was how to fry eggplants.

Then this morning at the Farmer's Market we picked up some striped eggplants from Fiddler's Green Farms. So the eggplants, the yellow and white chard bunches and the fresh baguette came home with Antonia and I.

Fried Eggplant with Honey and Mint

Cut 1 lb peeled eggplant into 1/8" rings. Place in a salt water solution (2 cups water to 1 tbs salt) for 30 minutes.

In the mean time, combine 2/3 c flour, 1 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt, 2 eggs and 1 c milk in a vessel suitable for dredging.

Once the eggplants have soaked for 30 minutes, drain them and pat dry with paper towels... we can't fry wet food!

Bring 1/2 inch olive oil to medium-high heat in a skillet. Dip the eggplant rounds into the batter and fry on each side for 30-45 seconds, until brown. Do in batches of 4-6, depending on the size of your skillet. I did it in a small skillet and I could do 4 at a time.

Drizzle the fried eggplants with honey and sprinkle with mint.

The original recipe also called for sesame seeds, but I found that the best way to eat them was savory - no honey, no mint; We ate these for dinner. For a brunch, the honey and mint would be super.

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