It's August, and that means those of us who garden are past the point of reaping what we sow and into "Good God, what do I do with all this stuff?" mode. One word: Can. Learn it, do it, live it. It's not hard, it's not dangerous if you follow the rules and use common sense, and it's no more time consuming than piling all your newly harvested veggies into a grocery bag, tossing them in the car, and driving them across town to your boss's mother's brother-in-law's house. Trust me, you're not getting that raise anyway.
Flash forward to the World Series. Your favorite team is playing and your best friend has invited you over for a big "Go Red Sox" bash. All of your friends and family will be there. He says, "Just bring whatever you want." (Let's assume the beer is taken care of for a moment). What do you do? You can stop at the grocery store and pick up some chips and dip, which everyone will surely eat but no one will comment on, or you can buy (or bake) a beautiful loaf of French or Italian style rustic bread, and reach into the pantry for a jar of your very own, garden fresh, Eggplant Caponata. You are guaranteed to be spending the second half copying the recipe, so think ahead and bring the link to this blog, or you might miss the David Ortiz walk-off homer in the ninth. :).
Of course, you don't have to can this to make it. Just store it the fridge as you would an open jar of relish and use it within a week.
Caponata
6 Red Bell Peppers, cut into 3/4-inch squares.
3 large Eggplants, skin on, diced into 3/4-inch cubes.
1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 cup White Wine Vinegar
1/2 cup Sugar
1 cup diced Yellow Onion
1 cup chopped Celery
1 cup Golden Raisins
6 Anchovies, rinsed and blotted dry
1 cup (loosely packed) fresh Basil Leaves
salt and pepper to taste.
Fry the eggplant and peppers in the olive oil for 5 minutes until the eggplant is crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. In a separate saucepan, heat the vinegar, sugar, onion, celery, raisins and anchovies until boiling, and simmer until the veggies are soft. Combine with the pepper and eggplant mixture and the basil, and either can or refrigerate until needed.
This is great on crostini, or as a topping for grilled Fish, such as swordfish or tuna. Add some capers and tomatoes and smother sauteed red snapper, codfish or haddock with it. Also great on grilled or sauteed chicken breasts, pork chops, or tossed with shrimp and pasta.
Until next time,
"I love you like a fat kid loves cake."
--Anonymous.
