Hi folks!

I’ve been wanting to do this for a while now, but never seem to have enough time (I know you know what I mean!).

Since I love being in the kitchen, and post many pics of my creations (follow my Instagram @dianepathieu), I figured why not post some recipes? Some of you even ask for them, so here goes!

Today I made my cousin Sarah’s Baba Ghanoush recipe.  I haven’t always been a fan until I tried it at a Turkish restaurant in Chicago, and fell in love with it!   I must say, it’s time consuming, and has many steps, but it’s well worth it.  It came out delicious!  Although, next time I will need to buy smaller eggplants with less seeds.

Ok, here goes!  Let me know if you want me to post my hummus recipe too!

Here are the ingredients you will need:

2 medium sized eggplants (Cousin Sarah said the smaller ones have less seeds, and recommends those- I should have listened!)

Plain yogurt (you can use Greek, I bought mine at the local Assyrian store)

Tahini

Fresh garlic

Fresh lemon

1 Large sweet onion

Olive Oil (for sautéing and drizzling)

Salt (to taste)

Kalamata Olives for garnish

 

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First, Brush the eggplants with olive oil, making sure to coat all sides.  (don’t mind the peppers, I was using them for my sandwich!)

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You can either grill the eggplant, but since the weather is so unpleasant right now, I popped them in the oven at 425 for about 30-45 minutes.

Watch them closely!  You want the skin to wilt and brown evenly on all sides (you have to rotate them).  While you are waiting, cut up the onion, add some olive oil and caramelize them in a pan. (careful they don’t burn!)

 

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Leave the onions in the pan after they brown nicely.

Pull the eggplants out of the oven/grill when the browning is complete, and place them in a plastic bag to cool. (this is strange, I know!)

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You will let the eggplant sit there for 45 minutes or so to cool.

After that, comes the hard part.  (at least I thought so!)

Peel the skin of the eggplant, and scrape out as much “meat” of the vegetable you can and add it to a bowl, careful not to scrape the seeds with it.  My eggplants were quite seedy, so this was tough.  Don’t worry if some of the eggplant skin falls into your mixture, the texture is quite tasty.

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After you’re done scraping… add in 3-5 tablespoons of tahini (sesame paste), 3-4 gloves of garlic (pressed), 2-5 tablespoons of fresh lemon (careful of the seeds!), onion, 2-3 tablespoons of yogurt, and some salt.

Mash it all together with a fork until the eggplant is smooth and all the ingredients are mixed well.  Smooth it onto your serving plate.

Drizzle with some olive oil and add the olives as a garnish!

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Ta da!  All done!  (I bought the Turshee (pickles) at the Assyrian store to garnish too)

 

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*keep in mind, we are not dealing with “exact” measurements here.  Traditionally, in an Assyrian kitchen, everyone mixes ingredients to their own liking. For example, I added a lot more lemon and salt because I like that sour taste.  So experiment and add/take away anything you wish!

Hope you liked this post, let me know if you want me to continue to post other recipes, and if you have any suggestions!

As always,

thanks for reading!

 

XO DP