Season: late summer
Months: August to October in CA
Eggplant is a vegetable I've eaten out more than in. I lived with a French family for the month of August during summer 2011 and loved the eggplant Agnès prepared. She made ratatouille, a summer southern French vegetable stew, as well as wonderful sautéed eggplant. Then last year, I had Japanese eggplant for the first time in a green Thai curry and enjoyed its smoky-meaty quality. My most recent travels took me to Northern Spain for a month of studying abroad in Valladolid. My host mámá, Chón, made berenjenas fritas (fried eggplant, see Noche 5 post, July) and berenjena rellena de carne (eggplant stuffed with a tomato-beef filling, see Día 26 post, July).
Since discovering that eggplant is a late summer vegetable, I've been on a quest to cook more eggplant. This recipe for roasted eggplant with feta and honey from Marie Simmons' cookbook Taste of Honey sounded quite delicious. Her cookbook talks about bees, beekeeping, honey as medicine, and includes a plethora of creative honey recipes. Forty different varietals of honey are discussed in the book—who knew there were so many!
In Segovia, Spain, my friend and I stopped at a little boutique just to look around and were amazed by its selection of artisan honey. We got to sample a couple light honeys and a few dark ones. I really liked the dark honeys because they had a slight bitter edge and didn't taste like the standard clover honey I'm used to. I ended up buying heather honey (miel de brezo) because of its earthy qualities and Rebecca bought thyme honey (miel de tomillo).
Just like there are many varieties of honey, there are many varieties of eggplant. Before doing some eggplant research, I was only familiar with Globe, Chinese, and Japanese eggplant. Now I know of Italian, Graffiti, Filipino, Thai, Indian, and White eggplant. I think the Graffiti eggplant is quite striking!
Chinese eggplant (left) are often longer and more vividly purple than Japanese eggplant (right). They're also a little less bitter.
Cooking Tips!
Myth: Female eggplant (left, oblong dimple) &
male eggplant (right, circular dimple)
FYI: The Cook's Thesaurus website said that female eggplants have an oblong dimple and are more bitter than male eggplants. However, when looking up more information on eggplants, I discovered that eggplants are botanically a fruit, which means they are self-pollinators and have BOTH male and female organs.
1) Refrigerate and use within a few days because eggplants are delicate vegetables.
2) Err on the longer side, cooking-wise, because eggplant is not a vegetable to be served al dente.
Printable Recipe
I made a few changes to Marie Simmons' recipe. I decided to use block feta which is supposed to have more character than pre-crumbled feta since it isn't as processed. I didn't have any fresh thyme, but dried thyme was still lovely.
The combination of sweet honey with tangy feta and silky eggplant is simply magical.
- 1 large eggplant, about 1¼ pounds
- extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 oz block feta (has more character than pre-crumbled)
- cut feta into small squares
- freshly ground black pepper
- light colored honey
- 1/2 T dried thyme (or 1 T fresh thyme, chopped)
- fresh mint sprigs
Part 1
Preheat the oven to 400º (375º convect). Trim each end from the eggplant. Cut the eggplant into 3/4" thick rounds.
Preheat the oven to 400º (375º convect). Trim each end from the eggplant. Cut the eggplant into 3/4" thick rounds.
Place the eggplant slices in rows on a rimmed sheet pan lined with a silpat.
Drizzle some olive oil on one slice and rub with another slice. Continue until all the tops are lightly coated. I've found this is much easier than trying to brush on olive oil.
Part 2
Roast for 15 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned.
Remove the pan from the oven and turn the slices with a wide spatula.
Return the pan to the oven and roast for about 13 minutes longer, or until the eggplant is lightly browned and tender.
Remove the pan from the oven and place about 5 little feta squares on top of each eggplant slice. Add a grinding of black pepper to each. Return the pan to the oven for about 5 minutes to soften the cheese.
Drizzle some olive oil on one slice and rub with another slice. Continue until all the tops are lightly coated. I've found this is much easier than trying to brush on olive oil.
Part 2
Roast for 15 minutes, until the bottoms are lightly browned.
Remove the pan from the oven and turn the slices with a wide spatula.
Return the pan to the oven and roast for about 13 minutes longer, or until the eggplant is lightly browned and tender.
Remove the pan from the oven and place about 5 little feta squares on top of each eggplant slice. Add a grinding of black pepper to each. Return the pan to the oven for about 5 minutes to soften the cheese.
Transfer the slices to a serving platter. Drizzle each with some honey and sprinkle with thyme leaves. Place a small sprig of mint in the center. Serve hot.
This dish is a winner!
This dish is a winner!
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