Gastronomy: Aubergine pancakes with red pepper purée

Here is another recipe from Rose Elliot's "Vegetarian Supercook".

We tried it out tonight and it's a keeper. It would make a great canapé idea for your next barbecue or dinner party (if you are such an entertainer). They may translate into larger pancakes, but I think they are best served as a starter or finger food. The sauce is ridiculously quick if you are prepared to use bottled roasted red peppers.

Mr O is not a fan of aubergine usually, but much to my surprise he enjoyed this. I'm not sure it wasn't the excess garlic that I tend to throw at my food that masked any possible aubergine tastes, of course. ;)

Puffy Aubergine Pancakes with Red Pepper Purée.

Vegetarian. Preparation time: 40 minutes. Cooking time: 1 hour. Serves 6.

Ingredients:

1 large aubergine
1 large red pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 egg
2 tablespoons fine wholemeal flour
2 teaspoons chopped oregano
olive oil for shallow frying
salt and pepper
oregano leaves or small sprigs and coarsely ground black pepper, to garnish

Method:

1. Remove the stem from the aubergine. Put the aubergine and pepper on a baking sheet and roast in a preheated oven, 200C (400F), Gas Mark 6, for about 30 minutes, or until both are very tender when pierced with a sharp knife. Allow to cool. This can be done in advance when the oven is on for something else if convenient. You won't need the oven any more unless you want to make the pancakes straight away and keep them warm for a short time before serving.


2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the onion, cover and cook gently for 10 minutes, or until the onion is tender. Add the garlic, cook for 1-2 minutes longer, then remove from the heat.


3. Make the red pepper purée. Pull the papery outer skin from the cooled pepper, scoop out the seeds and core from the inside and discard the stem if still attached. Put the pepper into a food processor or blender with half the onion and garlic mixture and whiz to a thick purée. Season with salt and pepper and put to one side.


4. Rinse out the food processor and put in the roasted aubergine, the remaining onion and garlic mixture, the egg, flour, oregano and some salt and pepper to taste. Whiz to a thick batter.


5. Just before you want to serve the pancakes, heat 2.5mm depth of olive oil in a frying pan. When it's hot enough for a tiny speck of the batter to sizzle as soon as it hits the oil, put in heaped teaspoons of the batter mixture. Fry on one side for about 2 minutes, then flip them over and fry the other side. Take them out and put on to a plate lined with kitchen paper. Repeat until you have 18 little pancakes and all the mixture has been used up.


6. Just before serving, gently reheat the red pepper purée. Put three pancakes on each serving plate and top each pancake with a spoonful of the red pepper purée. Garnish with oregano leaves or a sprig and some coarsely ground black pepper. Serve at once.

Notes:

This was a very tasty recipe. The times listed for preparation and cooking seem quite a bit excessive to me. I would suggest that it takes half that time in total, at most. Mind you, I only needed to bake the aubergine as I used the cheat of bottled red peppers. We didn't wait for the aubergine to be totally cool either.
These would make a good alternative to blinis or regular pancake based finger food. They would probably take a range of toppings and sauces as well.

Bon apetit.

Gastronomy: Bulgur and Bean Pilaf

This is a new recipe that we have recently tested out. It went well and has joined our list of "make agains".

Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter
½ cup chopped onion
2 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
¾ cup chopped green bell pepper
¾ cup bulgur (uncooked)
1 cup water
2 medium fresh tomatoes, chopped
15 ½ ounce can of kidney beans, rinsed
½ teaspoon salt
1 dash ground red pepper
4 ounces monterey jack cheese, shredded

Method

1. Melt butter in a frying pan until sizzling; add onion, garlic and green pepper. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are crisply tender (2 to 3 minutes). Add bulgur; continue cooking, stirring constantly, 2 minutes. Add water, tomatoes, beans, salt and red pepper.


2. Reduce heat to low. Cover; cook stirring occasionally, 5 minutes or until bulgur is soft and chewy. Immediately sprinkle with cheese. Cover; remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Variations:

Substitute 14 ½ ounce canned diced tomatoes, undrained for water and tomatoes.

Ingredient Tips:

* Most pilafs are made with rice. Bulgur is usually used like rice and makes an excellent pilaf or salad ingredient. If you've ever eaten tabbouleh or kibbeh, then you've had bulgur.

*Bulgur is a partially steamed, cracked wheat which cooks quickly. It is made by steaming, drying and crushing whole wheat kernels and is a Middle Eastern staple. The end result is a nutty flavoured, tender and chewy grain.

Serves: 6
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Source: Land O Lakes Magazine, July 2003.

Our variations to this original recipe were:

Cheddar cheese replacing the monterey jack.
Canned tomatoes replacing the fresh tomatoes and water.

Gastronomy: Stuffed Mushrooms

This is a staple recipe in our household, either as a meat-replacing centrepiece of a main meal or as an optional extra at barbeques.
It is also often our "bring along" for events outside of our home, since it is easy to construct in advance and cook on arrival.
Once again there are no real quantities to be given. Just go with what looks good.

Ingredients

Portobello Mushrooms (or similar large, open mushies of you choice)
A packet of Feta cheese (your preference for goat, sheep or cow milk)
Pine nuts
Coat and Cook (or breadcrumbs)

Method

1. Crumble the feta and mix in the pine nuts then "stuff" the mix on top of the mushrooms.


2. Sprinkle the top with "Coat and Cook" (Mr O calls this stuff breadcrumbs on speed) or simple breadcrumbs.


3. Bake or BBQ until cooked.

Honestly it is that simple.

Variations:

Try this with a bit of basil pesto smeared on the mushrooms first.