eggplant

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Chocolate Eggplant Cake with Pear and Walnuts: The Clever Guts Diet Recipe Book – Dr Clare Bailey

clever-guts-diet-recipe-book-9781925640779_lg

Extracted from The Clever Guts Diet Recipe Book by Dr Clare Bailey with Joy Skipper, published by Simon & Schuster Australia, RRP AU$39.99  Photography © Joe Sarah

 

Chocolate Eggplant Cake with Pear and Walnuts

Serves 8

Chocolate eggplant cake with pear and walnuts

 

1 medium eggplant skin on, diced

150g dark chocolate (min. 70% cocoa solids), broken into pieces

60g coconut oil

60g pitted dates, chopped

½ tsp salt

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp baking powder

80g ground almonds (or 100g gluten-free brown flour)

80g walnuts, chopped

1 ½ pears, cubed

 

  • DAIRY-FREE
  • GLUTEN-FREE OPTION

370 Calories

 

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4. Grease and line a 20cm cake tin with baking paper.
  2. Steam the eggplant for 15 minutes or until it is soft. Then place it, still hot, in a bowl. Immediately add the chocolate and coconut oil and stir until they have more or less melted. Then mix in the chopped dates.
  3. Blitz with a hand blender to obtain a smooth paste. Add the salt, eggs, baking powder and ground almonds and whizz one more time, then stir the walnuts and pears into the mixture.
  4. Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin and bake it for 35-40 minutes, until a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Leave it to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a wire rack.

 

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Southern Indian Fish Curry – Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Fit Food

 

Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Fit Food ($39.99), published by Hachette Australia.

Photographer Jamie Orlando Smith

Ultimate Fit Food

Gordon Ramsay’s Ultimate Fit Food ($39.99), published by Hachette Australia.

Photographer Jamie Orlando Smith

 

SOUTHERN INDIAN FISH CURRY

SERVES 6

“This is a lightly spiced, creamy curry with a delicately sweet-and-sour flavour that is popular in the southern regions of India. Serve it with boiled basmati or brown rice for a perfectly balanced pre-exercise meal. Coconut is rich in a certain type of saturated fat which is metabolized more rapidly than that from animal sources – this means that coconut makes a useful energy source for endurance sport and competitions.” p. 230

Southern Indian Fish Curry

½ tbsp flavourless oil, e.g. groundnut, for frying

2 onions, peeled and finely sliced

2 tsp mustard seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 tsp ground cumin

3cm piece of fresh root ginger, peeled and grated

1–2 long red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped, to taste

1 x 400ml tin reduced fat coconut milk

1–2 tbsp tamarind paste or watered-down tamarind block

1 small aubergine, cut into bite-sized pieces

2 carrots, chopped into bite-sized rounds

200g green beans, topped and tailed and cut in half

600g meaty white fish (e.g. cod, pollock, haddock or coley), cut into bite-sized pieces

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

TO SERVE

Coconut and Ginger Brown Rice (see next post)

2 tbsp desiccated coconut, toasted (optional)

 

 

 1.Place a large, shallow saucepan or a high-sided frying pan over a medium heat and add the oil. Once hot, add the sliced onions with a pinch of salt and saute for 8–10 minutes, until completely soft.

2. Add the spices and continue to cook for a further minute or until you can really smell them, then add the ginger and chillies and stir over the heat for a further minute.

3. Pour in the coconut milk, tamarind paste and 400ml of water (use the empty coconut milk tin to measure the 400ml). Season with salt and pepper, stir well and bring to a simmer.

4. Once the sauce is simmering, add the aubergine and continue to cook for 5 minutes, then add the carrots and simmer for 10–15 minutes, until the carrots and aubergine are tender and the sauce has thickened a little.

5. Add the green beans and cook for a further 3 minutes, then add the fish. Stir well to coat, then cook for 3–4 minutes, until the fish is just cooked through. Taste and adjust the seasoning as necessary.

6. Serve the curry with rice in warmed serving bowls, sprinkled with toasted desiccated coconut, if using.

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Chocolate Eggplant Brownies: The Clever Guts Diet – Dr Michael Mosley

ANZ Clever Guts Diet cover

Extracted from The Clever Guts Diet by Dr Michael Mosley with Tanya Borowski, mBANT, IFMCP, and Dr Clare Bailey, GP. Available now, Simon & Schuster Australia, RRP $29.99.

http://www.simonandschuster.com.au/books/The-Clever-Guts-Diet/Michael-Mosley/9781925596038 

 

“Strange as it may sound, the eggplant works brilliantly with the dark, flavonoid-rich chocolate. Truly yummy.” p. 259

 

Chocolate Eggplant Brownies

(makes 12 small squares)

 

1 medium eggplant (200g), peeled and diced

150g dark chocolate (minimum 70 per cent cocoa solids), broken into pieces

60g coconut oil

60g soft pitted dates, diced

½ tsp salt

3 eggs, beaten

1 tsp baking powder

80g ground almonds

 

Preheat the oven to 170°C.

Steam the eggplant for 15 min­utes until it’s soft (or microwave it in less time). Put it in a medium-sized mixing bowl and stir in the chocolate and coconut oil. The warm eggplant will melt the chocolate and oil.

Add the chopped dates and salt. Using a hand blender or a food processor, blitz the mixture until it’s smooth. By now it should be cool enough to add the eggs and baking powder.

Blitz again for another minute or so, then mix in the ground almonds.

Spread the mixture onto a medium-sized baking tray lined with greaseproof paper and bake in the oven for about 20 minutes. It is cooked when a knife comes out clean.

Serve the brownies with Raspberry Chia Jam and/or full-fat live organic Greek yoghurt.

 

Tip: Alternatively, to make cupcakes, divide the mix­ture into a 12-hole cupcake tray lined with paper cases, and bake for about 15-20 minutes.

clever guts brownie bake

 

 

 

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Stuffed Eggplant – Julie Goodwin’s Essential Cookbook – Julie Goodwin

 

Julie Goodwin’s Essential Cookbook ($39.99), published by Hachette Australia.

Stuffed Eggplant
Serves 4 Prep time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes

2 eggplants
2 teaspoons salt
¼ cup olive oil
500 g lamb mince
3 brown onions, diced
4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ teaspoon ground cumin seed

½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon pepper
4 slices bread, processed to
a coarse crumb
1⅓ cups grated tasty cheese

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C.
2 Cut the eggplants in half lengthways and scoop the flesh out of each half,
leaving a thin layer of flesh in the skins. Cut the removed flesh into 2 cm
cubes and sprinkle with half the salt.
3 Heat the olive oil in a large frypan over medium-high heat and fry the mince
until brown and cooked through. Rinse the eggplant cubes and squeeze dry
then add to the mince, along with the onion, garlic, spices, remaining salt and pepper. Stir until the onion and garlic are fragrant and translucent. Stir through the crumbed bread.
4 Pile the mixture into the eggplant halves and top each half with ⅓ cup
cheese. Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 20 minutes or until the
cheese is golden and bubbling.

Stuffed eggplant p.47

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Oven-baked Ratatouille: More Please – Manu Feildel with Clarissa Weerasena

more-please

Images and recipes from More Please! By Manu Feildel with Clarissa Weerasena (Murdoch Books) $39.99

Oven-baked Ratatouille

serves 4 as a main or 6 as a side

“If you’re not a big fan of vegetables, I have a feeling this recipe from the south
of France will change your mind. Ripe vegetables are baked together with garlic and fresh herbs, and the result smells like summer.” (p.150)

 

Oven Baked Ratatouille

60 ml (2 fl oz/¼ cup) olive oil

4 brown onions, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 tablespoons thyme leaves

3 large zucchini (courgettes)

3 Japanese eggplants (aubergines)

6 truss tomatoes

2 tablespoons coarsely chopped rosemary

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

 

Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F).

 

Place a frying pan over medium heat, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and sauté the onion for about 15 minutes, or until lightly golden, reducing the heat a little if the onion begins to catch. Add the garlic and 1 tablespoon of thyme and cook for 2 minutes. Spread the onion mixture over the base of a large roasting tin.

 

Wash the veggies and cut them widthways into 1 cm (½ inch) thick slices. Tightly arrange the vegetables in rows over the onion base, starting with the zucchini, followed by the eggplant then the tomato. Gently push the slices out so they sit in a diagonal pattern, exposing some of the flesh. Drizzle with the remaining olive oil and sprinkle over the rosemary and remaining thyme. Season with salt and pepper and bake for 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

 

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Fragrant Poached Chicken, Salted Daikon,Smoked Eggplant Cream, Sashimi Sea Scallops, Ginger Scented Milk Curd, Virgin Black Sesame : Organum – Peter Gilmore

organum_cover

Images and recipes from Organum by Peter Gilmore (Murdoch Books) $59.99

Fragrant poached chicken, salted daikon, smoked eggplant cream, sashimi sea scallops, ginger-scented milk curd, virgin black sesame.

SERVES / 8

 

“This is one of my most sensual and pure plays on texture. The yielding, fragrant masterstock chicken against the smoky, silky eggplant cream, contrasted with salted daikon and slippery sashimi sea scallops, has great interplay. For me, the perfume of this dish is what makes it so elegant: the ginger-infused milk curd and the intoxicating aroma of the Korean cold-pressed virgin black sesame oil.” (p.248)

 

01

Fragrant poached chicken 

3 litres (105 fl oz) chicken stock
(see Basic Recipes)

300 ml (10½ fl oz) dark soy sauce

300 ml (10½ fl oz) shaoxing rice wine (Chinese rice wine)

300 g (10½ oz) yellow rock sugar

7 star anise

4 pieces cassia bark, 10 cm (4 inches) long

1 bunch Asian spring onions
(white part only)

50 g (1¾ oz) ginger, thinly sliced

30 g (1 oz) garlic, sliced

1 orange, peel zested

1.6 kg (3 lb 8 oz) free-range chicken

 

Put all of the ingredients except the chicken into a 7 litre (245 fl oz) stockpot with a tight-fitting lid, bring to the boil and simmer on high for 10 minutes without the lid. Strain the liquid into another stockpot, discarding the solids. Bring the liquid back to a full boil then put the whole chicken—breast side down—into the pot. Immediately put the lid on the pot and turn off the heat. Remove from the heat and allow to stand for exactly 1 hour. Remove the chicken from the liquid and place on a draining tray. Refrigerate for at least 45 minutes or until required.

Note: with this cooking method the chicken flesh will appear slightly pink, but it will be cooked through. The flesh should give between your fingers: if it doesn’t, you will need to cook it a little longer.

 

02

Smoked oil  

500 ml (17 fl oz) extra virgin olive oil

1 small garlic clove

100 g (3½ oz) whole smoked eel, cut into 1 cm (3/8 inch) thick pieces

25 g (1 oz) flaked bonito

 

Put all ingredients into a cryovac bag and seal. Cook in a water circulator at 50°C (120°F) for 30 minutes. Allow the oil to cool for 10 minutes. Open the bag and strain the ingredients through an oil filter bag or layered muslin (cheesecloth). Discard the solids and reserve the oil.

 

03

Smoked eggplant cream

500 ml (17 fl oz) smoked oil

1/4 lemon, juice

1 garlic clove, finely sliced

2 small, firm, super-fresh eggplants (aubergines)

sea salt

 

Put the smoked oil, lemon juice and garlic into a large cryovac bag. Sit the bag inside a container with the ends folded over to allow easy access to the oil. Peel the eggplants one at a time and immediately dice into 2 cm (3/4 inch) square cubes. Put the eggplant cubes straight into the oil before they have a chance to oxidise. Repeat until all the eggplant has been used. When choosing the eggplant, freshness is imperative so that the seeds are very small and have not turned black inside the eggplant. If you cannot find super-fresh eggplants avoid using the more seeded parts of the eggplants. In this case you may need three or more eggplants. All these steps are important to keep the eggplant white.

When the eggplant is submerged in the oil, seal the bag then steam in a water circulator at 95°C (195°F) for 40 minutes until the eggplant is soft. Strain the eggplant away from the oil and process the eggplant in a blender. You may need to add a little of the cooking oil to obtain a smooth consistency. Pass through a fine drum sieve. Season and allow to cool.

 

04

Egg white pearls

4 egg whites

1 litre (35 fl oz) grapeseed oil

 

Strain the egg whites through a medium sieve and discard any material that does not come through the sieve with gentle pressure. Heat the grapeseed oil in a large heavy-based saucepan to 50°C (120°F). Put the strained egg white into a medium-size hypodermic syringe with a 0.5 mm (25 gauge) needle. In one slow but direct motion squeeze the egg white through the syringe into the hot oil. The eggwhite will form very small pearls. Allow to set for 1 minute then, using a rubber spatula, release the pearls from the bottom of the pan in a smooth motion. Allow another 30 seconds of setting, then strain the oil and the egg whites through a fine sieve. Place the egg white pearls on a tray lined with silicone paper. Reserve the oil and repeat the process until you have about 1 tablespoon of pearls (enough for 8 flowers).

 

05

Scallop pearl flowers 

1 sea scallop

1 tablespoon white soy sauce

1 tablespoon crème fraîche

1/2 daikon

 

Finely dice the sea scallops to 3 mm (1/8 inch). Dress the scallops in the white soy sauce and place on paper towel to dry.

Whip the crème fraîche to firm peaks.
Lay some plastic wrap on the bench and cut it into 10 cm (4 inch) squares. Place a plastic wrap square over a shot glass then put a small dot (1/8 teaspoon) of crème fraîche in the centre. Next put 1/8 teaspoon of diced scallop on top. Gathering the plastic wrap corners together, squeeze the scallops and crème fraîche to form a tight ball. Twist the plastic tightly and place each ball in the refrigerator to set for 30 minutes (or 5 minutes in a blast freezer). Repeat the process until you have 8 balls. Using the same method with plastic wrap and shot glasses, place 1/2 teaspoon of egg white pearls in the centre of each piece
of plastic. Spread out the egg white pearls to form a single layer roughly the size of an Australian 50-cent piece (about 3 cm or 1¼ inch diameter). Carefully unwrap the scallop and crème fraîche balls and place a ball in the middle of the egg white pearls. Gather up the corners of the plastic to form a pearl. Allow these pearls to set in the refrigerator until required.

Fold some sturdy aluminium foil into a long, V-shaped rest and sit it fold down in some rice to keep it steady, with the wider
part of the V upright. This will act as a rack
to hold your scallop pearl flowers in shape. Use a 2 cm (3/4 inch) diameter round cutter to stamp out a cylinder from the daikon. Use a Japanese mandolin to slice the cylinders into 1 mm (1/32 inch) thin discs. You need 56 discs
(7 discs for each of 8 flowers). Blanch these discs in boiling water for 10 seconds and refresh in iced water. Drain and pat the discs dry. Overlap 7 discs in a circular pattern—they will gradually form a point—making a small cone shape. Place these cones in the foil rest and set aside in the refrigerator until required.

 

06

Fragrant oil

100 ml (3½ fl oz) extra virgin Korean black sesame oil

50 ml (1¾ fl oz) extra virgin Korean white sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon jasmine tea

15 g (1/2 oz) ginger, thinly sliced

15 g (1/2 oz) long green spring onions,
white part only, thinly sliced

 

Put all of the ingredients into a cryovac bag. Heat in a water circulator to 40°C (105°F) for 30 minutes. Allow to cool. Strain and discard the solids.

 

07

Ginger milk curds 

45 g (1½ oz) ginger, thinly sliced

500 ml (17 fl oz) milk

sea salt

25 ml (1 fl oz) vegetable rennet

25 ml (1 fl oz) still mineral water

 

Put the ginger and milk in a saucepan and bring to 70°C (160°F) then remove from the heat. Allow to infuse for 30 minutes then strain and discard the solids. Season with salt.

Just before serving, make the ginger curds two at a time in eight ramekins with a capacity of 50 ml (1¾ fl oz) each. Warm 100 ml (3½ fl oz) of the ginger-infused milk to 35°C (95°F). Mix the vegetable rennet and mineral water together. Put 2 ml (1/16 fl oz) of the rennet mixture into a syringe, swirl the milk around in the saucepan and shoot the rennet into the warm milk. Working very quickly, fill two ramekins. Repeat this process three more times until all eight ramekins are filled.
Allow to set, which will take about 2 minutes.

 

08

TO FINISH

sea salt

10 large sea scallops, finely sliced into 1 mm (1/32 inch) thin discs

50 ml (1¾ fl oz) white soy sauce

12 salted daikon twists
(see basic recipes)

 

Remove the chicken breast meat from the frame and shred the meat with your fingers. In a bowl, dress the chicken liberally with the fragrant oil and season with salt.

Dress the sliced scallops with the white soy sauce and a little of the fragrant oil.
Dress the daikon twists with the fragrant oil.

 

09

TO PLATE

30 pea flowers

48 wasabi flowers

 

Place a generous spoonful of smoked eggplant cream in the centre of each plate. Spread out with the back of the spoon. Start layering the chicken breast, sea scallops and daikon twists. Make a space for the scallop pearl flower. Place the flower petal cone in first, then unwrap the scallop pearl and place the pearl in the centre of the cone the right way up. Using a dessertspoon, scoop half of the ginger milk curd carefully onto the salad. Dress with a little more fragrant oil then scatter the pea flower petals and wasabi flowers over the top. Serve.Poached Chicken

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Baba Ghanouj – Homemade Takeaway – Julie Goodwin

Julie Goodwin's Homemade Takeaway

Homemade Takeaway by Julie Goodwin ($39.99), published by Hachette Australia.

Photography – Steve Brown

“BABA GHANOUJ

“The best dining experiences always inspire me to try to recreate the dishes at home. A recent meal in a Lebanese restaurant had me desperate for more of this delicious smoky eggplant dip. I didn’t have any tahini on hand, but it’s simple to make and I have included a recipe for it in this chapter, too.

 

MAKES 2 CUPS

PREP TIME: 10 MINUTES + COOLING TIME

COOKING TIME: 5 MINUTES

 

3 small or 2 medium eggplants

¼ cup tahini

3 garlic cloves, peeled

Juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon salt

Olive oil, to drizzle

1 teaspoon chopped parsley

1 teaspoon finely chopped tomato

 

1 To get the smoky flavour you want, sit the eggplant directly on the gas burner on your cooktop. If you don’t have a gas cooktop, place the eggplant under a hot grill. Turn the eggplant regularly, until all the skin is charred and the eggplant is soft through. Place in a sink of water to cool. The skin will peel away easily from the flesh. Sit the flesh in a colander for a few minutes to drain.

 

2 Place the eggplant in the bowl of a food processor with the tahini, garlic, lemon juice and salt. Blend thoroughly, scraping down the sides of the bowl occasionally. The end result will be smooth, creamy and incredibly flavourful. Spoon into the serving dish and drizzle with olive oil, then scatter chopped flat-leaf parsley and chopped tomatoes over the top.

 

 

Baba Ghanouj

Baba Ghanouj

Yoghurt flatbread

A must for any Lebanese meal.

 

Makes 12 pieces

Prep time: 15 minutes + 30 minutes resting

Cooking time: 15–20 minutes

 

4 cups self-raising flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups plain Greek yoghurt

1/4 cup olive oil 1 Combine the flour and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer with a dough hook attachment. Start the mixer on the slowest speed and add the yoghurt. Mix slowly until the flour is all incorporated and you have a soft dough. Knead the dough for at least another 5 minutes, until it is stretchy. If the dough is too sticky, add a little more flour.

 

2 Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and allow to rest at room temperature for half an hour or so. Divide the dough into 12 pieces and roll out on a floured surface to about 2 mm thick.

 

3 Heat a generous splash of olive oil in a frypan over a medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, place

one piece of flatbread in the base. It will immediately start to bubble up. Cook for about 40 seconds to a minute. When the edges are starting to look golden and the bread is becoming less floury looking

around the edges, flip it carefully with a spatula. Cook for a further 40 seconds to a minute and remove to a bread board, then cover with a tea towel to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining pieces of flatbread. ”

 

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Grilled Eggplant, Yoghurt And Rocket – Falafel For Breakfast – Michael Rantissi & Kristy Frawley

Falafel for Breakfast cover

Recipe and images from Falafel for Breakfast by Michael Rantissi and Kristy Frawley from Murdoch Books

“Grilled Eggplant, Yoghurt and Rocket 

Serves 4 as a side dish

 

Eggplant is a staple in the Middle East and is used in many ways there. This is a lovely side dish to have at a barbecue or to serve
with grilled fish. You can also prepare it as a delicious salad (see note below).

 

2 large eggplants (aubergines)

100 g (3½ oz) rocket (arugula)leaves, torn

200 g (7 oz/¾ cup) Greek-style yoghurt

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 tablespoons olive oil

 

Halve the eggplants lengthways and put them, skin side down, on a hot barbecue until their skins blacken, then turn and cook the cut sides for 3–4 minutes. This will give the eggplant a lovely smoky flavour. (You could roast the eggplant at 200°C/400°F for 30 minutes, though you won’t get the same smoky flavour.)

 

Place the eggplant halves, cut side up, on serving plates. Scatter the rocket leaves over.

 

Combine the yoghurt, garlic and olive oil in a bowl and spoon the mixture over the eggplant and rocket leaves. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

 

NOTE

To make this as a salad in a bowl, leave the eggplants whole and roast on a hot barbecue until their skins blacken. Once the eggplants are cool enough to handle, peel the skins off and discard. Tear the flesh into chunks and put in a bowl with the rocket leaves. Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Combine the yoghurt, garlic and olive oil in a small bowl. Add to the salad, toss gently and serve.”p. 103

 

 

 

Grilled eggplant, yoghurt & rocket

Grilled eggplant, yoghurt & rocket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Mediterranean Piccalilli – Preserving – Emma Macdonald

It has been a very bust time in the kitchen this week. We have had an abundance of zucchini (courgette), eggplant (aubergine/brinjal) , capsicum (bell peppers) , onions and tomatoes- the problem being they all ripen at once so what do you do with the excess after you have given away and made pasta sauce and passata? You make pickle! And this turned out perfect – just like the pictures in the book Preserving and tasted so good ( it is meant to be left in the cupboard for a month before use but the little bit I had leftover was great on my ham sandwich today)

The before:

IMG_2769

Mediterranean Piccalilli – Preserving: Emma Macdonald- the raw ingredients

And the after:

IMG_2772

Mediterranean Piccalilli