Jill needs more recipes! This woman is cooking up a storm! Today we’re doing baked eggplant and baked cauliflower dishes. These make great sides. Khadija is a miracle woman who has gotten my husband to not only eat eggplant without complaining, but to actually order it in a restaurant. He likes olives now too!
Baked Cauliflower:
Start by steaming your cauliflower.
Meanwhile, make a roue out of butter, grated fresh garlic, a crumbled boullion cube, salt and pepper.
Add 3 large tablespoonfuls of flour, then stir in milk to make a basic white sauce. Meanwhile, arrange the steamed cauliflower artistically in a glass Pyrex dish. Does it have to be glass Pyrex, you ask? Yes, it does, if you want to be just like me and my stellar Marjane purchases, it does.
Pour white sauce over top. Sprinkle grated cheese (we use Edam–cheapest, most widely available, and delish!) over the top.
I believe real food bloggers have more attractive tea towels in their pictures, but oh well.
Bake in oven till heated through. Turn on broiler for a bit so that the cheese is browned and bubbly. Forget to take picture of finished product. Enjoy the fact that husband and kids are still so traumatized by the thought of cauliflower (perhaps because the kids at Elliot’s school sometimes call him “chouflour” because of all his curls?) that they somehow end up leaving this whole entire pan for you! Yum! No wonder all that jogging isn’t showing tons of results!
Baked Eggplant:
Eggplant is super common and popular here in Morocco. There are two ways to make it. The other way is actually my favorite but I don’t have the recipe yet. This way is pretty darn good though!
Slice eggplant lengthwise. Steam in steamer (do you have one of those colander-like thingys?) with 3 cloves of garlic until all flaccid and nasty-looking.
Meanwhile, chop 2 -3 fresh tomatoes and a bunch of fresh parsley and cilantro.
Add 1 t of pepper, 1 t harissa, 1 t cumin, salt, and the 3 cloves of steamed garlic, sort of mushed with your fingers.
Add some oil. Do not be shy about the oil! None of this modern fat-conscious American namby-pamby worrying about the oil. Add some oil! Relax that wrist as you pour! It will feel good. Live dangerously for once. You can do crunches afterwards to appease your conscience if you must.
Let the tomato mixture cook down.
Meanwhile, arrange the eggplant, artistically of course, in, yes, a Pyrex glass baking dish. Work with me here!
Pour tomato mixture over top. Grate two slices of burned toast over the top. Bake until it is all crispy and spicy and yummy.
It goes well with lamb/prune tagine, as you can see.
Enjoy!
11 comments
December 7, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Nan
Now I’m hungry.
December 7, 2009 at 3:05 pm
AuthorMomWithDogs
Yum. Yum. And yum! I love cauliflower and am always looking for good eggplant recipes. These are going into my monthly rotation!
December 7, 2009 at 3:52 pm
LIB
Given slight modifications, these are dishes with which I’m familiar:
1. In the cauliflower dish, add cheese to the white sauce (making cheese sauce). Now you have an English standard–Cauliflower Cheese.
2. In the eggplant dish, instead of grated toast add parmesan cheese. Now you have Eggplant Parmesan.
December 7, 2009 at 4:11 pm
planetnomad
LIB, it does taste like cauliflower-cheese, but the garlic and bouillon and baking it make a difference.
And the eggplant isn’t really like eggplant parmesan, because it’s so spicy! Harissa is basically a red chili paste.
You’re right though; there aren’t a TON of differences.
December 7, 2009 at 4:35 pm
Sue
Oooh, I’m totally making the cauliflower.
December 7, 2009 at 5:13 pm
gretchen from lifenut
Edible cauliflower? If this is true, you should win some sort of peace prize.
I might give it a shot.
December 8, 2009 at 6:57 am
Linda
They both sound great. Burnt toast for the crumbs? Why is this? I’m always making cauliflower with white sauce but I’m going to try it with the garlic and bouillon-a wonderful flavor combo.
December 9, 2009 at 5:29 am
Kathi D
Mmmmmm, love cauliflower–that looks GREAT!
December 11, 2009 at 7:04 pm
Beck
Yum.
I love that cauliflower recipe – but cooking with gluten-free flours makes white sauces SUCH a gamble. Sometimes they turn out and sometimes they’re like a weird polymer.
December 22, 2009 at 8:04 pm
jackwills
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing.
December 29, 2009 at 10:07 pm
Mr.Volt
hmm, cauliflower, i don’t know, perhaps i should try it first 🙂