The Awaited Baba Ghanouj Recipe

I already posted authentic Lebanese recipes for Fatoush, Tabouleh and Humus. But you kept on asking for Baba Ghanouj recipe. Here it is! What other recipes do you want now? 

You start with two big thick round sexy eggplants. You cut the top green leaves coming down on the vegetable but you keep the stem. My mom's advice is to grill them on top of a gas stove. I used to broil them in an oven, but one should always listen to one's mom. It takes longer to grill, but you end up with tastier eggplants.

Using the stem, you keep on turning them around until they are completely grilled and charred on four sides. If the skin explodes, that is a sign that they are nicely cooked. Now you hang around and play with cats until they are cool enough for you to take the charred peel off and get ready to make Baba Ghanouj. 

Now the tricky part begins. Cut the eggplant open. Using a fork, take out the eggplant seeds (well as many as you can). Mash all with a hand held masher (Mom says never to use a food processor for this). 

Add 2 Tbs Tahini Sauce and 2 Tbs lemon juice for each eggplant you cook along with a bit of salt. Mash and mix all together. If too thick, add a bit of water, but don't be tempted to add garlic, it steals the taste of the eggplant.

One thing that goes well with Baba Ghanouj, and all of you who have been to Nuba rave about, are deep fried cauliflowers. Simply cut the cauliflower into florets. Heat up 1 inch of oil in a frying pan or pot. Once the oil is really hot, fry the cauliflower until they turn light brown on all sides. And since you are at it, chop some potatoes and have some french fries; they go well together. If you were at somerville kitchen, you will have the added benefit of eating jardin pickled turnips and jardin tomatoes. 

And don't forget to give the cats something to play with given no interesting table scraps come out of this meal.