Wednesday, June 09, 2010

Black Magic On A Cracker

My mother has been making this dish for over thirty years; she first got the recipe from a woman named Margarite who she met at a watercolor class she took in 1978.

Eggplant Caponata has always a big favorite in my family. Even my friends love it; my friend Greg, upon finding out she was making it, would always ask for a jar. Today, I made some for myself. Ed and I have been trying to eat better and I thought it would be a great vegetable concoction to spread on toasted baguettes or crackers. Today I used the new
Wheat Thins Flatbread. It was delish!



Eggplant Caponata

(This will make about 5 cups of finished product)


THE INGREDIENTS

First half:

1 large Eggplant, cubed (You can leave the skins on if you'd like. I peeled mine.)
1 bell pepper, chopped (any color pepper is fine.)
1 large onion, minced
1/2 lb. mushrooms, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used 5 cloves because I loooove garlic)
1/2 cup Olive Oil

Second half:
1 small can of tomato paste
1/4 cup of water (if needed)
2 Tbs. Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbs. Red Wine (I used 1/4 cup Cooking Cream Sherry and 1/4 cup Marsala Cooking Wine)
1/2 Tbs. Oregano
2 Tbs. Sugar

1/4 cup black or green olives, chopped (I didn't have any, so did without)

Dash of nutmeg (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Capers (I didn't use these either, but if you do, add them in the last ten minutes)

THE PROCESS
This is an easy one, as there are really only two steps.
You'll need a big frying pan for all of this, but you can fill it to the top because it's going to cook down a lot.

1. Put the first half of the ingredients in your pan and cook on low for about 10-15 minutes. It'll look nice and fresh when you mix everything together, like in this photo. By the end of the 15 minutes, you'll notice it getting mushier and the eggplant will start to change color a little.
2. Next, add the second half of the ingredients. Stir everything together. Cover and cook for another 30 minutes. You can keep it covered and add water if you need to, but at some point in the 30 minutes, you'll want to cook it uncovered so it'll get thick. It should look like this:

That's it! Be prepared to be amazed if you've never had this before. And if you like eggplant, you'll love this. It's even better the next day. You can eat it cold or at room temperature. I even put it on sandwiches with cold cuts or even alone. It makes a great sandwich all by itself.

There are many recipes out there for Caponata and any one will really do. There are even some that include both cocoa powder and cinnamon. Who knew? If you love eggplant as much as I do, you're bound to find something to your liking.

But you have this recipe in front of you right now, so why go elsewhere? Click HERE to print a copy.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO:
Hidden Fluff
2 YEARS AGO:
Post-Tornado Sky
3 YEARS AGO:
Eddie Ooh Rah Friday
4 YEARS AGO:
The Human Jeweler
5 YEARS AGO: Sorry, no post on this day.

6 comments:

Gil said...

Next stop, Slidell, LA????

all things bradbury said...

this looks yummie!!!....gonna have to try this next time we're home!

Ms. Crawford said...

Holy crap this looks good!! Kendall's mom thought so too. We are going to be making this real soon. THANKS :)

Anonymous said...

I can't believe you gave away Mommy's recipe. This is delicious.
I would put it on everything. It was even good on a hamburger.
Greggie

Anonymous said...

YUM!!!! Can't wait to try this recipe out!

Thanks!

Grace

Michelle | Bleeding Espresso said...

Mmm caponata. I'm an eggplant lover too :)