Yangshuo Eggplant with Pork

Recipe Source: Gourmet's Adventures With Ruth on Create

Recipe Result: Pretty good, you can really taste the eggplant itself... but needs more sauce

Growing up, my mom would often make Haitian braised beef with eggplant. The beef would be cooked in a way very similar to my Haitian chicken recipe, but the eggplant was essentially mush, and that made me dislike eggplant as a kid.

Fast forward to my undergrad years. We had some food trucks on campus, a couple of them serving Thai food, and that's where I rediscovered eggplant. Granted that the chopped chicken and eggplant from the Thai trucks was probably loaded with fish sauce and MSG, I realized that eggplant doesn't have to be a beige, flavorless mush.

For a while, I tried to recreate that flavor and texture, but I just didn't understand how to work with eggplant. I'd try to saute and braise it, but it just seemed to absorb all the oil I'd put into the pan, or never really cook all the way through unless I let it over cook and become mush. But lately I've been having some good luck getting that nice texture with stir-frying really quickly over high heat. And there's something about Asian flavors that really makes the eggplant stand out.

So I stumbled upon this recipe while watching a food/travel show on PBS. I've tried it a few times, and I think I've almost nailed it. You can find my recipe after the jump. Give it a try, let me know how you like it, or let me know how you made it even better.

Moussaka (Sort of)

Recipe Source: Just experimenting

Recipe Result: Not bad. Has good flavor, but doesn't really hold up on its own. Worked well as a sandwich, in a pita pocket with some salad.

I miss New York diners. Just like pizzerias, delis, and bagel shops, you're always likely to be within a stone's throw of a decent local diner. I also miss how practically every diner had not only the standard burgers and steaks, but also a Greek menu. One of my favorite Greek diner dishes is moussaka. Think Greek lasagna, with layers of tomato sauce with ground beef or lamb, eggplant, and potato (sometimes). The best I've had in Austin is at El Greco.

I've tried to recreate it a few times in a few different ways, but I find that it's a lot of extra effort to neatly prepare all those individual layers. So, you know what? This time I said "F-ck the layers." I just wanted some spicy, hearty beef and eggplant in an herby tomato sauce. Basically, this recipe totally strips Moussaka down to its elements.

What I ended up with tasted pretty good, but wasn't very stimulating. It felt a little boring to serve with rice and veggies like usual. So I bought some pita pockets and some salad, and made moussaka pita sandwiches out of it. Next time, I'll try to keep the eggplant chunkier and more noticeable to make the texture more interesting, and add some more fresh herbs and maybe some lemon juice to brighten it up.

Click on the "Read More" link below to find my recipe. Try it out, leave a comment to let me know how you like it, or if you found your own way to make it less lackluster.