SUNDAYS WITH MARLENA SPIELER - BABA GHANOUSH

Last week I did a cooking demo at the CALSTRS building. A friend of mine puts on Kranium Dayz during lunch hours once a month with different activities. The only problem with giving a cooking demo is that I couldn't cook. The demo is held in a conference room and no open flames are allowed. That presented a challenge but it was fun coming up with a menu that I could demonstrate without cooking. This is what I came up with: Baba Ghanoush, Tabbouleh Salad, Chamim soup and Tuscan Citrus Sponge. The Chamim and the sponge cake I made at home and just explained the process. The Chamim and the Tabbouleh I already blogged and Shankari has blogged about the Citrus Sponge cake. Here is the supper easy recipe for Baba Ghanoush.

BABA GHANOUSH

serves 2-4

1-2 eggplants- do not use Japanese eggplants
2-4 cloves of garlic chopped
10 Tbsp Tahini or to taste
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4tsp ground cumin
salt to taste
extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
pita bread

*Place the eggplant directly on the flame of a gas stove or grill turn frequently until evenly charred and cooked through . Remove from heat and place in a plastic bag and seal tightly and it cool. Peel the skin from the eggplants reserving the juices.

Chop the eggplant in a food processor or by hand. Put the chopped eggplant into a bowl and stir in the reserved juices, tahini,and garlic. Stir until combined. Stir in the lemon juice to taste and season with cumin and salt. Spoon the mixture into a serving bowl drizzle with olive oil. Serve at room temperature with pita bread.
* I tried this method of cooking the eggplant with one eggplant and while it does cook the eggplant quickly I found that it also makes a mess of the stove. As the eggplant cooks the juices begin to drip out all over the stove. I found that peeling the charred skin a little hard to do and I didn't like the charred taste to the eggplant. Maybe I over charred it. The rest of the eggplants I cut in half placed it cut side down and put under the broiler until cooked. It took a little longer but after it cooled it was much easier to scoop out the cooked pulp. You can try both ways and see what you think.
Otherwise this is a tasty dip/spread similar to Hummus.