Sorry for the delay in post everyone, but I'm back. Work has been getting crazy again and time to write/cook has been non-existent. :( I've rediscovered my love for eggplant. This was definitely one of those vegetables that I had a rocky start with. As a child, I was very atypical. I would eat anything… bitter melon, tripe, funky, herbal, Chinese soup that promised eternal life. Literally, I ate everything and loved it. Eggplant was the only exception. It was always presented to me as a greyish, flavorless, gloppy blob, that my dad always touted as being one of the world's healthiest foods. Eggplant to me was brussel sprouts for most kids my age. I would eat it, lacking any sort of epicurean enjoyment. The texture was slimey, the taste was insufferable and visually it couldn't be less appealing. It was not until the ripe old age of 20 that I finally realized eggplant was a good thing (what a shame). All those eggplant-eating years wasted. Eggplant parmesan was the first to enter my life. The first to help me on my road to eggplant-recovery. I ate it in a sandwich by accident and was completely shocked. A whole different flavor profile than I had remembered, in a good way. Then came miso eggplant, moussaka, baba ganoush, ratatouille, so on and so forth. I came to realize two things. One, I loved eggplant in all its different manifestations and two, my dad sucked at making eggplant. 
Sorry dad, you really do!
Here, I simply combined some roasted eggplant, roasted red peppers, onion and flat-leaf parsley to form mini croquettes. I dipped them in flour, then egg and finally panko. I pan fried them in olive oil and served them on pita bread with onion relish and a slice of heirloom tomato (I've been taking advantage of heirloom tomato season). Crispy, airy panko coating, surrounding a flavor explosion from the roasted vegetables. The concentrated flavors were brightened by the lemony parsley and the sweet and tangy onion relish.
Eggplant Croquettes
Roast eggplant at 400 degrees with salt, pepper and olive oil for about 40 minutes or until roasted thoroughly. Allow to cool and pulse in food processor until chunky. Add parsley, onions, red pepper, salt, pepper and enough flour to thicken the mixture a bit. Chill mixture. That's the key to the croquettes staying together. Form patties… these can be small hor d'oeuvre-sized or larger to make veggie burger patties. Dip each in flour, then egg and finally the panko. Pan fry the patties on medium high until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Makes about 8 mini croquettes or 4 large patties.
Easy Onion Relish
Saute onions and garic in olive oil until light brown. Add ketchup, mustard and water. Season with salt and pepper and simmer until thick. How much easier can this be?
14 Comments
Patricia Scarpin
02 Aug 2007 11:08 am
Julie, these are so wonderful! They look good (I’m sure it would impress the heck out of guests) and delicious, too!
Yeehaw Murghi
02 Aug 2007 04:08 pm
[this is good] Gorgeous picture… Just — wow. If I could choose a superpower — anything at all (even the ability to fly, or having a tail — sorry, Christopher Walken reference), I’d pick the ability to take pictures like this. Well that, and the ability to cook stuff that looks this good, heheh.
How about a recipe for that one? I just don’t cook with eggplants much, and this just looks so damned beautiful, and appetizing… What goes into the croquettes? And the onion relish — they look caramelized? I see something that looks like a bit of a pita bread at the bottom, and a dark tomato slice on top (fried?). I’d really like to try cooking this thing. Besides, it’d probably be pretty entertaining to see what my picture would look like, compared to this one, heheh.
anonymouse
02 Aug 2007 08:08 pm
oooh…looks de-licous! if i could eat that, i would go into foxy-mode for sure!
anonymouse
02 Aug 2007 08:08 pm
(gobble gobble gom gom gom…”)
Alisha
03 Aug 2007 09:08 am
[this is good]
That looks really good, Julie!
julie
06 Aug 2007 12:08 pm
These were simple yet surprisingly tasty. B totally flipped out over these.
julie
06 Aug 2007 12:08 pm
Hi Yeehaw! How did you get so sweet? It’s really just the camera, I promise. Can’t wait to see your eggplant croquette post.
Anonymous – As a veggie lover, you would love these!
Thanks, Alisha!
Yeehaw Murghi
07 Aug 2007 12:08 am
Thanks for the recipe, Julie — I look forward to trying it out. Hopefully this week, or at least the next. I’ll report back…
Elly
07 Aug 2007 06:08 pm
[this is good] As always, this looks amazing. I also have a turbulent past with eggplant and have been meaning to give them another go…so I think I will with your recipe
Thanks.
rocksnightly
08 Aug 2007 10:08 am
[this is good] This was literally the best thing I’ve ever eaten!
julie
09 Aug 2007 07:08 am
Thanks, Elly!
I hope you like it.
Anna Ball
09 Aug 2007 07:08 am
I have a huge crop of eggplant this year, I will try this recipe, it looks good, for a long time I couldnt figure out what to do with all these eggplants every august, gave most away, now I treasure them, especially the skinny asian kind, such tender skins and succulent innards
Yeehaw Murghi
10 Aug 2007 02:08 am
Hiya Julie — I’ve tried this recipe now. It tasted great, but didn’t look anywhere near as good as yours (Here’s my attempt). I hope you’re not annoyed by the mistakes I made — it was entirely my fault; your recipe is good. I used too much oil when roasting the eggplant and bell peppers, and also pulsed the onion in the food processor, so I ended up with a lot of oil and water, that I had a hard time getting rid of. Then, I cooked it at too high a temperature, so it ended up quite dark, and oily — as opposed to the dry, beautiful golden thing in your picture. I’ve just never made croquettes before. What can I say — Ferran Adrià I’m not, heheh…
Elly
10 Sep 2007 05:09 pm
[ciò è buono] Julie I made these tonight. Delicious! Thank you for renewing my faith in eggplant
I’ve posted them in my blog if you want to check them out.
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