23I’ve been
reaching for
new ideas,
new paths, new
routes to
new pleasures.- Strain, and save all the viscous smoky
liquid that accumulates. I usually ‘‘rinse’’
the peeled eggplants in this strained liquid
to remove any lingering flakes or chips
of charred skin from the eggplant flesh.
(Sometimes people are tempted to run
the eggplant under the faucet for a second
to remove the flecks, but using the liquid
in the bowl is much better at retaining all
the great flavor.) - Chop the flesh to a fine dice, and
place in a bowl. (I generally never remove
the seeds unless I have bought an
intensely loaded eggplant, in which case
I’ll remove them if the seed sacs are
pronounced and distracting.) - Stir in 3 tablespoons of the reserved smoky
liquid, and the olive oil, then microplane
the garlic into the mixture. Season with salt,
and stir well until the mixture is a bit creamy.
Taste, and season to your palate by adding
a few more drops of the smoky liquid or a
few more of olive oil. I like mine rather smoky,
rather salty, rather unctuous. - Spread the eggplant mixture into an 8-inch
square, about ½-inch thick, on a quarter
sheet pan lined with a quarter-cut Silpat mat.
Most people will not have these two things,
so alternatively you can form a neat square
or rectangle on a cookie sheet, or spoon the
mixture into generally quenelled shapes onto
a cookie sheet. Freeze overnight. - Prepare the croquettes. Set up a standard
breading procedure of three containers:
flour, beaten egg/water mixture and the
ground panko. - Cut the frozen block of smoky eggplant
into 2-inch squares, or batons or planks if
you prefer. Refreeze for a bit if needed after
cutting; they tend to defrost rather quickly.
Bread each piece with care, dipping in flour,
egg mixture then panko, leaving no bald spots,
and refreeze the finished, breaded croquettes.
(These can live in your freezer for months.) - Add enough neutral oil to a deep-sided
sauté pan to reach a depth of 1½-2 inches,
and heat over medium until shimmering,
or when a thermometer reads 350. Working
in batches, fry the frozen croquettes
until golden on all sides and piping hot in
the center, raising and lowering the heat
under the oil accordingly. Adding frozen
products to hot oil brings the temperature
down, as does crowding, so it is up to the
cook to control the temperature of the fry oil
accordingly. Remove cooked croquettes
with a slotted spoon, and drain on a baker’s
rack to maintain crispness (rather than a
paper towel or plate, which will encourage
steaming and sogginess). - Sprinkle with a little salt while still very hot,
and serve with a squeeze of lemon.
Yield: About 16 croquettes.Smoky Eggplant Croquettes
Time: 1½ hours, plus freezingFor the smoky eggplant:
2 large globe eggplants
(about 2½ pounds total)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, peeled
Kosher salt, to tasteFor the croquettes:
1 cup all-purpose fl our
3 whole eggs, beaten with ¼ cup water
2 cups panko bread crumbs, ground
as fi ne as freeze-dried instant milk,
or plain fi ne bread crumbs
Canola, grapeseed or other neutral oil,
for stovetop shallow frying
Lemon wedges, for serving- Place the whole eggplants directly on the
burner grids of the stovetop, and turn
the flames to high. Let each eggplant start
to blister, and steam, and char, turning
each one a quarter turn every 3 or 4 minutes,
until softened and hissing inside, the skins
utterly blackened and cracked, and the flesh
inside collapsing, 12-15 minutes. (You could
also blister them under the broiler, set on an
aluminum-foil-lined baking sheet a couple
of inches from the heat and cook until charred
all over.) - Remove the eggplants to a bowl; cover with
a lid or overturned bowl, and let them rest
until cool enough to handle, about 30 minutes.
Give this the time it takes; it will help with
peeling them later and also lets them steep in
their own smoky juices. You can do this step
ahead and let them cool in the refrigerator
overnight as well, to be peeled the next day,
which works beautifully. - Remove the scorched carbonized skin from
the soft, cooked-through eggplant. Discard all
the black, bitter charred bits.
aren’t entirely convenient in the home
kitchen, but somehow it hasn’t been
wearying; it’s been animating.
For the decades that I’ve cooked egg-
plant, I’ve cooked it pretty much only
this one way, and it’s undeniably fun
and still delivers: You take the whole fat
globe eggplant, and you set it directly on
the burner grate on the stovetop. Set the
gas fl ame to high and scorch it. The skin
forms a carbonized black bark — the kind
that would usually signal ruin — while
the fl esh inside steams and softens until
it collapses to silken and rather smoky
perfection. While the eggplant cools after
its scorching, a viscous liquid as dark as
brewed coff ee collects in the bowl, which
steeps the interior fruit in its smokiness.
Once strained, this liquid can be kept in
your fridge for other uses — it’s a bril-
liant byproduct. The cooked eggplant is
removed from its charred casing with a
spoon, just as you might scoop ripe avo-
cado out of its leathery shell.
Usually I fi nish that bowlful of smoky
eggplant pulp by adding a long pour of
fruity olive oil and seasoning it one of
three ways: salt, microplaned raw garlic
and lemon juice; tom yum paste and scal-
lions and sesame seeds stirred in; or a
heavy shower of freshly chopped parsley,
some crumbled feta cheese and a little
red onion.
That smoky pulp responds in the same
way that a satin-fi nish white wall does —
uncannily well — to a boldly painted trim.
It has been a staple of my cooking for
decades, to spread on warm toast, to dip
into with bitter Belgian endive spears, to
spoon next to a grilled lamb chop.
But my reliable three fi nishing sets
for smoked eggplant have become, to
me, almost claustrophobically reliable.
So I have begun doing something new:
forming, freezing, breading, refreezing
and fi nally frying the mixture into cro-
quettes. These knockouts refl ect that
elusive next-level quality of cooking that
comes from the extra steps and inconve-
niences restaurant chefs embrace, which
I think we have all so sorely been missing
these past many months.
You could stop after Phase 1 and enjoy
well-seasoned smoky eggplant the way I
have for decades. It’s truly delicious, and
for you probably not deadly familiar. You
could stop as well with these crispy, silken-
centered croquettes, which will turn
heads at cocktail hour.
But if you want to keep going, there are
even further steps to take. After you have
your golden fried croquettes, you could
also top them with a little tomato sauce
and slivers of mozzarella and a grating
of Parmesan cheese, run them under the
broiler and enjoy a family meal of eggplant
parmigiana that dissolves on the tongue
and stuns your children into loving awe.
However you choose to do it, I hope
the product will bring you the same
spark in your home kitchen as it did me
in mine — delicious, exciting, complex
and entirely new bites from the same old
girl who just yesterday was starting to
bore herself to tears.