I ruined a perfectly good eggplant tonight...

Oven should have been over 400-more like 450.

(WhansaMi) said:

Three actually. The sad thing is, I neither know how I ruined it, nor how to avoid ruining it
next time.

Let me preface this by saying I've never cooked eggplant before without breading and frying. I had
some roasted eggplant slices on New Year's Eve. It was soft and squishy, and tasted wonderful. I
figured I'd give it a try.

So, I pick up a couple at the grocer this week. I slice 'em, salted them, and let 'em sit out for a
half an hour. (I remembered doing this when I used to bread them a long time ago --something about
it making them less bitter.) Afterward, I rinsed them off, mixed olive oil, garlic and a bit of
parmesan together, and brushed on the eggplant. Oven at 325. I kept waiting for them to get soft.
And waiting. And waiting. They turned golden brown, but they are not soft. They aren't *terrible*,
but they aren't good either.

So, what did I do wrong? What can I do in the future?

Sheila

In article <[email hidden]>,

WhansaMi said:

Three actually. The sad thing is, I neither know how I ruined it, nor how to avoid ruining it
next time.

Let me preface this by saying I've never cooked eggplant before without breading and frying. I had
some roasted eggplant slices on New Year's Eve. It was soft and squishy, and tasted wonderful. I
figured I'd give it a try.

So, I pick up a couple at the grocer this week. I slice 'em, salted them, and let 'em sit out for a
half an hour. (I remembered doing this when I used to bread them a long time ago --something about
it making them less bitter.) Afterward, I rinsed them off, mixed olive oil, garlic and a bit of
parmesan together, and brushed on the eggplant. Oven at 325. I kept waiting for them to get soft.
And waiting. And waiting. They turned golden brown, but they are not soft. They aren't *terrible*,
but they aren't good either.

So, what did I do wrong? What can I do in the future?

I usually do this under the broiler for 5-10 minutes each side.

~Deepak

Quoted message said:

Sheila

--
Deepak Saxena - [email hidden]

"WhansaMi" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

I had some roasted eggplant slices on New

Quoted message said:

Year's Eve. It was soft and squishy, and tasted wonderful. I figured I'd give it a try.

So, I pick up a couple at the grocer this week. I slice 'em, salted them, and let 'em sit out for
a half an hour. (I remembered doing this when I used to bread them a long time ago --something
about it making them less bitter.)

Salting eggplant (and cucumber, btw) pulls moisture from the flesh; it does nothing one way or the
other about bitterness. Salting also improves the texture and, when cooking eggplant in oil --
frying -- makes the flesh less likely to absorb an excess of oil.

Quoted message said:

Afterward, I rinsed them off, mixed olive oil, garlic and a bit of parmesan together, and brushed
on the eggplant.

Skip the garlic (unless you're using freshly infused oil) and parmesan until after the the roasting;
they're likely to burn.

Quoted message said:

Oven at 325.

Oh, the real culprit: oven temperature. Roasting is done at a high temperature: try 425-450.

Quoted message said:

I kept waiting for them to get soft. And waiting. And waiting. They turned golden brown, but they
are not soft. They aren't *terrible*, but they aren't good either.

Salt beforehand if you want (if I recall correctly -- it's been a while since I've cooked eggplant
-- salted eggplant also seems to cook more quickly, since much of the water's already been leached
away), brush or drizzle with good oil of your choice but drop the garlic (unless you make a fresh
infusion shortly before using it and discard the leftovers [garlic in oil is a great breeding ground
for botulism] and parmesan (both of which can contribute to early burning), and roast at a (much!)
higher temperature (or broil/grill, which is also nice, but not what you're describing you want).

-j

[email hidden] (WhansaMi) wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...

Quoted message said:

Three actually. The sad thing is, I neither know how I ruined it, nor how to avoid ruining it
next time.

Let me preface this by saying I've never cooked eggplant before without breading and frying. I had
some roasted eggplant slices on New Year's Eve. It was soft and squishy, and tasted wonderful. I
figured I'd give it a try.

So, I pick up a couple at the grocer this week. I slice 'em, salted them, and let 'em sit out for
a half an hour. (I remembered doing this when I used to bread them a long time ago --something
about it making them less bitter.) Afterward, I rinsed them off, mixed olive oil, garlic and a bit
of parmesan together, and brushed on the eggplant. Oven at 325. I kept waiting for them to get
soft. And waiting. And waiting. They turned golden brown, but they are not soft. They aren't
*terrible*, but they aren't good either.

So, what did I do wrong? What can I do in the future?

Sheila

Off the top of my head, I'd say use much higher heat...I would roast them at 400 degrees for maybe
20-25 minutes. The higher heat will cause faster caramelization, and deeper caramelization...and
will also soften the flesh.

Also, how thick were the slices? I would think you'd want a thick slice (say, 1/2 to 3/4 an inch),
so that it can withstand the heat, and there will be enough "middle" to stay soft. If you slice them
much thinner than that, you will wind up with all crust and no "inside". I'm thinking what you
enjoyed so much was the crispy crust contrasted to a custardy inside.

Those are my recommendations: thick slices and high heat.

Let us know how it turned out if you try it again.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Three actually. The sad thing is, I neither know how I ruined it, nor how

to

Quoted message said:

avoid ruining it next time.

Let me preface this by saying I've never cooked eggplant before without breading and frying. I
had some roasted eggplant slices on New Year's Eve.

It

Quoted message said:

was soft and squishy, and tasted wonderful. I figured I'd give it a try.

So, I pick up a couple at the grocer this week. I slice 'em, salted them,

and

Quoted message said:

let 'em sit out for a half an hour. (I remembered doing this when I used

to

Quoted message said:

bread them a long time ago --something about it making them less bitter.) Afterward, I rinsed
them off, mixed olive oil, garlic and a bit of parmesan together, and brushed on the eggplant.
Oven at 325. I kept waiting for

them

Quoted message said:

to get soft. And waiting. And waiting. They turned golden brown, but

they

Quoted message said:

are not soft. They aren't *terrible*, but they aren't good either.

So, what did I do wrong? What can I do in the future?

Sheila

Off the top of my head, I'd say use much higher heat...I would roast them at 400 degrees for maybe
20-25 minutes. The higher heat will cause faster caramelization, and deeper caramelization...and
will also soften the flesh.

Also, how thick were the slices? I would think you'd want a thick slice (say, 1/2 to 3/4 an inch),
so that it can withstand the heat, and there will be enough "middle" to stay soft. If you slice
them much thinner than that, you will wind up with all crust and no "inside". I'm thinking what you
enjoyed so much was the crispy crust contrasted to a custardy inside.

Those are my recommendations: thick slices and high heat.

Let us know how it turned out if you try it again.

Thanks, everyone. Will do!

Sheila