Traditional Baba Ganoush
This is a Baba Ganoush recipe made from eggplant that will make a great side dish to any meal.
Directions
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
Slice eggplant in half lengthwise.
Oil a tray and place the eggplant cut side down on the tray.
Pierce the top skins of the eggplant several times with a fork.
Put the tray in the oven and cook eggplants for approximately 1/2 an hour.
When done, the eggplants should be very soft and easy to peel.
Remove from the oven and let them to cool to lukewarm or to handling temperature.
Scrape the fleshy part of 1 eggplant into a fine mesh sieve. Be sure to scrape the skins of all the flesh as well.
Using the back of a spoon or a hand lemon juicer and holding the sieve over a medium sized bowl, push the eggplant thru the holes in the sieve making sure the seeds remain in the sieve. This will turn any fleshy parts of the eggplant into a mash, the consistency of baby food. Keeping the seeds out of the baba ghanoush will keep it from tasting bitter.
Continue pushing eggplant thru the sieve until all fleshy parts of the eggplant are gone and only seeds remain in the sieve.
Using a kitchen knife, scrape the outside of the sieve to collect all of the mashed eggplant.
Clean the sieve of seeds.
Repeat this process with the other eggplant.
Add tahini, garlic, salt and lemon juice to the bowl and mix well. Tahini is made from sesame seeds and is a natural thickener. So as you initially begin to stir, you will notice the mixture becoming very thick. Continue to stir until the mixture is creamy and there are no lumps. If you have added too much tahini, add additional lemon juice to thin. If the mixture is too runny, add additional tahini.
Chill for 1/2 an hour.
Serve with pita bread as a side dish or appetizer.
Additional Notes
Baba Ganoush (pronounced: baa baa gaa noooosh). Just the name conjures the exotic and something different. Being exotic, does that mean it's hard to do? No, not really. The hardest part would be having the patience to do this recipe right. Give it the time it deserves and you will have a dish that appeases the exotic in your taste buds. Do it wrong and the exotic will bite you on the tongue. Not really, but if you aren't patient and careful, getting the eggplant seeds in your baba ghanoush will cause it to be bitter. Not the best taste. As with most things, taking the time will give you the best rewards.
I say this is for intermediate cooks because patience is needed to mash the eggplant completely. If you are a beginner and want to try this recipe, please be sure to dedicate enough time and patience to the mashing to get all the eggplant thru the sieve. Otherwise, your baba ghanoush will not taste good. Good eating.
