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Eggplant Salad

1. The aubergines are best cooked over a flame, so if you’re doing a barbeque you can cook them on that. Alternatively, if you have a gas oven, you can cook them on the hob over a gas ring, or under a flame grill (less messy). If you have no access to a naked flame, then you’ll have to cook them in the oven, but you miss the smokiness unfortunately.
2. Turn them regularly over/under the flame until they start to ‘collapse’. At the beginning they are hard and resistant and sound solid when you tap them. As they cook, they made maintain their shape but start to sound hollow as the inside cooks down. At some point they’ll probably collapse, juice will start to run out, or they may even pop. Once they are like that all round, they are done. Take them off the fire.
3. Now you need to peel them. I usually find that if I pop them into a plastic container with the lid on for five minutes, the skins comes of a little easier (same trick can be used with roasted peppers). However you do it, chop off the tail, peel off the skin, and put the cooked flesh to one side and repeat with each of the aubergines.
4. Check you’ve removed any little bits of skin, put the aubergines on a chopping board and with a large heavy knife, chop them up until you get a puree. Then elevate one side of the chopping board and allow the juice to drain off (into the sink) for 30 minutes or more. If you’re in a hurry, you can dump the flesh into a sieve and squeeze the juice out.
5. Very finely chop the onion.
6. Put the drained aubergine into a bowl and start to slowly drizzle in the oil. Beat it in well with a fork until you get a nice smooth puree, probably between about 3-5 tablespoons, depending how well you drained the flesh.
7. Add the onion, vinegar, and a teaspoon of salt and mix it well. Taste for seasoning and adjust. Garnish with parsley leaves, slices of tomato or slices of green pepper.
8. It’s now ready to eat or can be put into a bowl and kept in the fridge for a few days.

 

Source: http://romanianfoodblog.blogspot.ro/

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Schmarren Chestnut

The Chestnut: sweet, healthy and low in calories. The Valle Isarco/Eisacktal Valley innkeepers show us the taste of the chestnut during the “Valle Isarco Chestnut Speciality Weeks” from the middle of October to the beginning of November when everything revolves around the fruit of the bread-fruit tree. Numerous inns all along the route of the Keschtnweg, in the traditional chestnut growing area of the Valle Isarco offer all sorts of tasty treats during this time, which are all prepared using the noble chestnut.

Recipe

Mussels and Fries

Mussels and ‘frites’ is a classic dish, famous throughout the world, and there’s nowhere better to experience it than in one of the many fishing villages and towns along the Flemish coast, where the Belgica mussels are brought to land. The clear waters of the North Sea give these mussels their unique flavour; they are fleshy and their shells are lighter than other mussels. An absolute classic available at every Flemish restaurant in the mussel season (from July until Autumn).

Ingredients

  • 3-4 medium-sized aubergines/eggplants
  • 1 large onion (normal or you can use red onion if you like)
  • Some olive oil 
  • A teaspoon of apple vinegar
  • Salt
  • Parsley, tomato, or green pepper for garnish

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