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

Oven should have been over 400-more like 450.





On 21 Jan 2004 00:29:39 GMT, (WhansaMi) wrote:

>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 >,
WhansaMi > wrote:
>
>
>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

>
>Sheila


--
Deepak Saxena -

"WhansaMi" > wrote in message
...

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.)

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.

> 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.

> Oven at 325.

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

> 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

>> 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.

Thanks, everyone. Will do!

Sheila