What I recreated: Soslu Patlican, eggplant with flare

 The Place: A La Turka

The Location: 1417 2nd Ave New York, NY 10021

The Dish: Soslu Patlican- An egglant appetizer, literaly means aubergine (eggplant) with sauce.

What is inside

The Ingredients:

eggplant
tomato sauce
tomatoes
peppers
olive oil

This was not my main meal, but I happen to believe that I am quite the chef when it comes to cooking eggplant so I chose this dish over the stuffed chicken to recreate.

My recreation

Ingredients:

eggplant
tomatoes
tomato paste
garlic
orange, yellow and red baby bell peppers
olive oil
salt and pepper

Kitchen karate

I chopped up the veggies with my beloved Victorinox Chef's knife, and gave the eggplant some special attention. I cut the eggplant in half and placed it on a plate skin side down, and I sprinkled with flesh with salt and let them hang out for a bit. 

Why did I add salt and let them hang out?

Because eggplant is very porous. When you add salt to the cut sides it helps to draw out the water from the eggplant's cells, which are surrounded by air pockets. Without the water the cells will collapse along with the air pockets. 

And this matters because...

When the eggplant is heated with olive oil (or any oil) the air inside of these pockets is squeezed out, and is replaced with the oil; the result? A soggy glop. To prevent this the salt gets rid of the air pockets. Keep this in mind, especially when frying eggplant.

To continue...I mixed all of the ingredients together in a sauce pan and let the mixture simmer. The tomato was the runner-up vegetable (OK, technically fruit), as the tomato's juice helped the cooking process and ramped up the flavor profile. 

Eggplant, Aubergine, Tomato, Tomahto

Aubergine comes from the French langauge, and is used in other parts of Europe, as well as in English speaking UK. In the US, eggplant is the prefered word. 

Eggplant is a rich part of the Mediterranean culture. It is a good source of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. It also containts a phytonutrient (plant chemical with "special health powers" is what I will leave this at) that is found in the skin called nasunin. Nasunin scavenges the free radicals (think: haters) in our bodies that try to beat up our cells. This particular phytonutritent has been shown to protect cell membranes from damage, which allows nutrients in and waste out. It's my kind of "superfood."