Baba Ghanoush

I can't say I'm impressed. However, I also can't say that I've had baba ghanoush before, so I have nothing to compare this to. I'm still not impressed.

I really wish I put in the effort to use the barbecue to cook the eggplant.
I wish I roasted the garlic.
I wish I had some spices, or at least the knowledge of which spices, to add to this dish.
I wish I added some salt.
I wish I had some salty pita bread in the house.
I wish baba ghanoush could be made with the eggplant still piping hot from the oven/barbecue to keep all the delicious smell in.

So obviously my baba ghanoush lacked a bit of flavour. But I can always add a bit of flavour later, right? Next time I have it (I'm thinking with eggs in the morning), I'll add a ton of flavour to it - I'm thinking salt, olive oil, cayenne - but if I make it again, I'll definitely smokey up the eggplant. Some smoke would make a difference I reckon!


But on to the recipe. This is what I actually did, and I'll add some ways to make it not taste like bland mush in bold.

(please excuse the extremely unattractive photo, I really didn't know how to make this look good.)

Basic Baba Ghanoush

Adapted from The Endless Meal

Makes 2 cups

1 large eggplant

3 tbsp tahini (or less to taste)

juice of 1/2 - 3/4 lemon

1 clove garlic

pinch of salt

Prick the eggplant with a fork all over.

Place the eggplant under the griller or on a barbecue and let it cook for 30 minutes, turning once. Take him out when he's all wrinkly. (lesson: if the eggplant gets wrinkly with heat, imagine how wrinkly you could get from getting too much sun!)

Pop him in a foil-lined bowl until he cools down. If you want a smoother dip, peel his wrinkly skin off once he's down to room temp.

Roast the garlic (cut the unpeeled clove of garlic in half and put it in the oven until it's squishy) or else you'll have the taste of raw garlic in your mouth for the next several hours.

Cut up the eggplant so he fits in the blender, and blend him up with the squished out guts of the roasted garlic clove, the tahini, the lemon juice and the salt.

Serve with toasted pita or something that likes dipping, like carrot sticks perhaps? I'm yet to play around with the options I've got with this stuff :)