The garden is giving out personal eggplants. At least, they are on the small side—you couldn’t put them in your pocket—but you could maybe in your purse… I just was thinking how BIG everything is at the store. And then there are those small round “personal” watermelons I see at HEB. Not sure why we need those. I still couldn’t eat a whole personal watermelon, as it is about half the size of a regular oblong watermelon.
I think there is a conspiracy to produce very large specimens at the grocer. Small and sometimes odd-shaped is how things look when you grow them yourself, so be wary of larger-than-life poor tasting (but good looking) produce.
We have six eggplant bushes this year, thanks to my mom for making me plant in March!

I could go for some tangy nutty fluffy babaganouj—or babagannoush, or baba ganouj—does anyone know how to spell this dish? I have googled and there is no consensus. Please post your spellings in the comments! (With etymology if possible…). We ate this yesterday at Sandy Oaks. I have been eating this since I was a teenager, when I visited the Middle East. It is often second fiddle to hummus, but to me it is much more complex because of the main ingredient being vegetable, rather than a bean.
Spelling aside, this is a simple dish, and I imagine you could make it with a bean masher even. But tonight we are using the food processor.
I sliced two small eggplants in half long ways, salted them for a few minutes with some kosher salt, and then rinsed all the water and salt off. I drizzled some olive oil, and put them in the broiler for about 10 minutes. Then I flipped them and cooked them a few minutes more. They should be soft and easy to scoop out the seeds and flesh from the skin, which should have turned a sort of cloudy dark brown. No more shiny aubergine.
Let them cool, enough so you can touch them to do the scooping. Scoop out the flesh with a spoon into the food processor. Add ¼ cup sesame tahini, ¼ cup good olive oil (we are using Sandy Oaks Texas olive oil), the juice of 1 large juicy lemon, (or 2 small less juicy ones), 1 clove of garlic, and salt to taste. A little paprika is good on top, as a garnish. The key to the smoky flavor is the broiling. You could also grill the eggplants.
I like this dip with tortilla chips as much as pita. Do you make this dish? Do you add any special ingredients? What else can I do with eggplants? What are you growing in the garden?
Tagged: babaganouj, cooking, dip, eggplant, garden, olive oil, recipe, san antonio, tahini
This looks so yummy! I first had it at college, and my mind was *blown” by the tastiness. I didn’t know you went to the Middle East. When did you go?
Argh! I meant why did you go?
Well, I was selected to be a part of a public school delegation, only later to realize it was kind of a PR scheme for promoting Israel. But to me it was free international travel, and a month off school. The food was awesome!
In my experience, grilling the eggplant over wood, not charcoal, is best. You want some resin flavor in there with your carbon flavor.
Also, a traditional thing is to sprinkle the finished dish with pomegranate seeds. I haven’t done this myself, but it was a feature of the single best baba ganoush I’ve ever had, which was in a Palestinian restaurant in the Armenian neighborhood on the west side of LA. The secret is that the eggplant paste can’t be that sweet: the smoke has to predominate. If it’s all in balance, the pomegranate seeds are little, tart explosions in the midst of the oily, sticky eggplant/woodsmoke deliciousness.
Wow, if only I had a wood burning contraption, a fire pit I suppose would work. The pomegranate seeds are a nice touch, i like the contrast. There are very few Arab restaurants here in San Antonio although I bet Houston has some selection. thanks for the comment!
I just made this recipe tonight, with some bonafide Montana-grown eggplant. It was my first time making baba, and it turned out great. Thanks for the recipe, Teach!
Good job Montana, I was hoping you might give it a try! I miss our dates at Hodas in PDX.
Different varieties of the plant produce fruit of different size, shape, and color, though typically purple. The most widely cultivated varieties (cultivars) in Europe and North America today are elongated ovoid, -,
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