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‘This was a revelation in cooking eggplant’
It’s hit that time of the summer when, if I’m at the farmers’ market and standing in front of a table heaped high with baskets of eggplant, I must tell myself the same thing my mom told me in front of the supermarket candy display: just one. If I don’t, I run the risk of bringing home too much eggplant. The shiny, almost black Italian eggplant. The lavender-smudged Rosa Bianca eggplant, as bulbous and knuckly as the heirloom tomatoes. The long, slim Chinese and Japanese eggplants, the adorable fairytale eggplant. I want all the eggplants, but they won’t all fit in my bike panniers (of course I’ve tried). So this week it’ll just be some Japanese eggplant for Sue Li’s five-star sweet and sour eggplant with garlic chips. (I’ve also made this with larger eggplant varieties; just cut them into slenderish batons.) If you’re not so into eggplant — or you’re cooking for the eggplant-avoidant — this recipe is a great place to start your eggplant journey. Any lingering bitterness is completely canceled out by the pungent garlic oil and the assertive soy-vinegar sauce that’s sweetened with brown sugar. And the garlic chips (the tasty result of that garlic oil) add a solid crunch to counter the eggplant’s melting softness. I usually eat this dish with rice and a fried egg, but it’s occurring to me now that, for a really nice dinner, I could serve it as a side to a roast duck I pick up from an Asian grocer. Oh, or a plate of pan-fried dumplings, also snagged from said grocer. Maybe some cold, fresh tofu? More reasons to leave room in the panniers. Featured Recipe Sweet and Sour Eggplant With Garlic ChipsToday’s specialsThai-style coconut curry chicken tacos: Summer is the season of Hand Food, and I would like my hands to be holding Kay Chun’s superfast and superflavorful chicken tacos. Here’s Theresa, a reader: “This recipe is amazing, I didn’t change a thing and it’s delicious. Next time, I will double the sauce and make rice bowls.” Tomato, olive and feta salad with tinned fish: You know that fashion thing where you mix high (expensive items) and low (thrift store finds)? That’s what I’ve been doing with my pricey heirloom tomatoes and cheap sardines. I could also see going the other way with Yasmin Fahr’s easy, no-cook meal, using less precious tomatoes and fancy tinned fish. However you assemble your salad, this is a great dish. Whole wheat maple zucchini bread: Because if it’s mid-August and I’m a New York Times Cooking editor and I don’t provide you with a really good zucchini bread recipe, am I really doing my job? This one, which bakes in a 9-inch round cake pan, comes from Ifrah F. Ahmed and already has readers raving.
And before you goStrawberry and sesame swirl soft serve. That alliterative title tells you a lot about Clare de Boer’s genius recipe; the only thing it leaves out is the crumbly bits of halvah that are crumbled on top and stirred through right before devouring. Click here or on the image below to see how it’s made:
Thanks for reading!
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