The Turks, Italians and Greeks do wonders with eggplant. Karnıyarık, imam bayıldı, moussaka, melanzane alla parmigiana, caponata...all fantastic eggplant dishes!
Completely agree. I dated a lovely Italian woman once and after she found out i wasn't a fan of eggplant, she made a 3 course meal all with eggplant as the main feature. (Yes! Even dessert!) I have been a convert ever since. :D
I'm 55 years old and have never tried eggplant, but I'm ready to branch out and learn all about it. My mother never made it, and I was very intimidated by it, having no idea how to prepare it. I am so ready for these recipes!
Tip: if you bake them, they get a million times better if you sprinkle them with salt, let sit for half an hour and then pat dry. Works for zucchini and squash as well!
Simplest way--slice, then salt, let sit, pat dry, then cover with oil, salt and pepper, and roast in the oven until between golden brown and golden black. Crispy edges, tender center, slightly bitter so they work great with lemon...so good.
@@CripplingDuality - That’s a bummer. If I remember correctly, eggplant is in the nightshade family (as are tomatoes and peppers) and some people are more sensitive to those foods.
PS I love your Eggplant sandwiches. What a great idea!!! One of my favorite ways to bake eggplant is to brush it with best foods mayonnaise and then dip it in breadcrumbs with oregano, salt and pepper of course bake at 400 to 425° for about 25 minutes. You don’t even have to flip it and it turns out perfect. And I do cut them around a half inch thick. Take care.
In some parts of Europe we have a similar recipe but instead of garlic and tahini, add a grated onion and mix it with lemon and oil. It's delicious with fresh tomatoes on the side
Ever since 1963 when I had my first tastes of hummus and baba ganooj (ganooj is the spelling i encountered on arabic--which i don't read or speak--/english menus in those early days) in Turkey and my favorite Lebanese restaurant in NYC. I've been making both appetizers on a fairly regular basis. Given that I've had almost 60 years of selecting, preparing and cooking eggplant, I have personally never encountered a bitter eggplant, regardless of "gender" or size or color. In fact, I much prefer the "female" variety for the enhanced flavor--sans bitterness--it imparts to dishes like baba ganooj and eggplant Parmigiano, not to mention a much better texture and overall mouth feel. I do use the "male" variety when I make the occasional stuffed eggplant dish, where there is the need for a "tougher" structure required to maintain integrity during roasting. While on the subject of preparing eggplant, I've tried salting and rinsing eggplant slices as recommended by "experts" to draw out the so-called bitterness, until I had a conversation with the chef of my favorite Lebabese restaurant in NYC, who told me to skip this procedure and go right to prepping and cooking. It was a great time-saving tip I've used ever since. Great recipes in this eggplant dish collection. Keep them coming. And many thanks
Thank you for reposting these recipes, they really gave me some inspiration! I've always felt I wanted to use eggplant a lot more in my cooking, and now I can. Thanks again!
I love egg plant! I’m gonna try and grow some this year in my garden. This recipes is great I am going to make this for my family! They will love it. Your clear presentation makes it look so easy and delicious. I also make UA-cam videos and I feel so lucky to be able to learn from other talented creators like you! I hope to learn more from each other.
Interesting variety of recipes! I recently discovered 'caponata' and scoured the county for Italian eggplant. I added fresh garden tomatoes instead of canned, peppadew chilis and kalamata olives. Wow!!!
I tried the eggplant sandwiches at Thanksgiving and put half a roasted Turkey with a little bit of cheese. Chef John was right, maybe I should have just used a little bit. To help out my guests, I did put a small bowl for them to spit the bones into. That made for some great tableside comments. But they loved the idea.
That's interesting because after I discovered tzatziki sauce I started using it at almost every meal. It is so delicious! I love it with rice, in a cold salad, as a spread, a dip, etc. Plain yogurt goes really good with most things too and is actually even more versatile than tzatziki because it can be used as savory or sweet.
Looks good Chef! ♡ Tip: You can also garnish with a slice tomato untop,before you put it in the oven .. & And when it's almost done, Put a spoon full of some grated young cheese on top..In the last 5 minutes while it's in the oven..And with some fresh chopped Parsley.. Yoghurt with a lill bit minced garlic is a must..I can't live/eat without that on the side..😂And you will love it too! 😍👍💙 Taste's so much better!!! 😋👌❤
I had a work buddy who was from the Middle East and had an abundance of eggplant. I offered the eggplant to him and he happily took all I had. His wife made the Palestinian version of this dish and it was delicious.
I love eggplant but hardly ever use it because my kids wouldn't touch it...I am going to try as couple of these recipes, especialy the escabeche... Thanks Chef John, from Melbourne, Australia...
You're hilarious! I usually have eggplant as a hamburger substitute or eggplant parmesan so these recipes are really interesting and I'll have to try them. Thank you!
For tge first one, there's a similar tatar recipe that also inclides rice as yiy mentioned. There are a few differences, the filling includes a bit of rice and the eggplants are cut in half and deepfried but I can post the recipe if yoy are interested. For the second, replace the tahini with home made mayo, add diced onion or grated garlic and tou have what in Romania is called eggplant salad.
eggplants used here are known as Japanese eggplants, which are known to be round & plump. Chinese eggplants are normally stir-fried with different ingredients to create various dishes. they are usually flash-fried to retain its gorgeous purple color (at least that's how it's done in restaurants).
A restaurant that has sadly gone away made a great eggplant Parmesan , but sometimes ran a special of eggplant Parmesan Lasagna that was like none other.
Big fun of chef John. Only one suggestion, if it is possible to replace the aluminum foil with reusable silicone covers for bowls. Aluminum production is not environment friendly.
I do like the fact that you always add Cayenne Pepper. However, I don't think you add enough. I'd say about 5X of what you show should be right. But it is up to you. After all, you are the Moshe Dayan, of your pepper Cayenne.
Hot take here… how much tomato paste do you use? Like… I’ve tried the tubes, but I end up using most of the tube on one dish. I like the cans because I just use the whole can in a dish. Am I alone in this?
I scoop out the one tablespoon I need and then I scoop out the rest in tablespoon size lumps and freeze it so I can take one or two and toss them in to what I'm cooking.
What exactly does eggplant taste like? I haven't had one since I was a kid and kinda remember I didn't like it. I've wanted to try it but I hate to buy one and go through the process of making something and then not liking it and having to throw it out, wasting my money.
Hi Try a tub of store bought baba ganoush , not much of a risk doing THAT! Shalom to us only in Christ Yeshua returning soon to reign over the world from Jerusalem.
I used to feel the same way, until I tried to grill them. It doesn't even taste like eggplant anyone, it's like a completely different vegetable. Fascinating stuff.
@@mygirldarby It's not for fun. It's also for their delicious flavor. At least the lamb was dead when it got cut up and cooked, unlike the poor plants that get tortured while still alive because some sick bastards get off on suffering.
@@thaliacrafts407 tomatoes are after eating but I can't digest them in the evenings. I get severe headaches next morning. Surprisingly, I started to get stomachache with avocado as well. I usually throw up afterwards. My son was fine with avacados but it happened to him the same thing. My body is a mystery to myself
isn't it called melitzanosalata then? aka the greek-italian version, and the only main difference is the lack of tahini sauce, while baba ghanoush does have it.
@@justinkantner In most of the Middle East it's called mutabal The real Baba ganush doesn't Use tahini and it has roasted Bell peppers with it And both was from the Turkish cuisine But Egyptians Are the only exception Wrongfully calling it Baba ganuch that's why some people Get confused by the Egyptian name For it
@@slelllo oh well, considering all the versions, i wouldn't really kill him for getting confused. you have to be quite serious about your food history (to be specific, turkish and middle eastern food history) to know for sure. i mean, even when you do google for baba garnousch (posts that compare it with mutabal and melitzanosalata) there is still slight confusion and no post is really the same..
@@justinkantner Maybe if he was a normal person But As a Chef With a lot of followers You should try to be a little bit Accurate And at least read the comments I remember A few people Including myself correcting him back in 2015 But he didn't Respond or try The research is further Not just take any recipe from the Web and post it
@@slelllo Tbf, never seen him reply so I wouldn't be mad about that.. + Actually, now when I think about it - Did he ever say he did turkish variant of it? I don't recall and I can't find it for that dish + he use tahini, which is as you said, the egyptian variant. You claimed yourself they do call it baba ganousch, even tho the origin (turkish) is slightly different. I mean, it's like with gulasch. Origin is hungary, but sure as hell you see tons of other versions with same name.. even tho it's technically not proper gulasch.
The Turks, Italians and Greeks do wonders with eggplant. Karnıyarık, imam bayıldı, moussaka, melanzane alla parmigiana, caponata...all fantastic eggplant dishes!
What about sabich?
No they don't, you need a different/better eggplant like the asian one.
Italian mother Greek father lots of eggplant growing up
@@ofir_likes_beer what is it, please tell us, is it easy to make?
Completely agree. I dated a lovely Italian woman once and after she found out i wasn't a fan of eggplant, she made a 3 course meal all with eggplant as the main feature. (Yes! Even dessert!) I have been a convert ever since. :D
I'm 55 years old and have never tried eggplant, but I'm ready to branch out and learn all about it. My mother never made it, and I was very intimidated by it, having no idea how to prepare it. I am so ready for these recipes!
Remember dots not slots and you won’t be disappointed. Have fun!
@@Contrarymary853 - Sadly all the ones growing in my garden right now are slots….
Tip: if you bake them, they get a million times better if you sprinkle them with salt, let sit for half an hour and then pat dry. Works for zucchini and squash as well!
Simplest way--slice, then salt, let sit, pat dry, then cover with oil, salt and pepper, and roast in the oven until between golden brown and golden black. Crispy edges, tender center, slightly bitter so they work great with lemon...so good.
If you like stuffed peppers, stuffed eggplant is way better.
Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, I think they're really underrated
I didn’t like it when I was younger but I do now. I regularly make Eggplant Parmigiana and Baba Ganouj.
@@grumpyoldlady_rants I'm the opposite but that's mainly because I discovered I'm allergic to it :(
@@CripplingDuality - That’s a bummer. If I remember correctly, eggplant is in the nightshade family (as are tomatoes and peppers) and some people are more sensitive to those foods.
PS I love your Eggplant sandwiches. What a great idea!!! One of my favorite ways to bake eggplant is to brush it with best foods mayonnaise and then dip it in breadcrumbs with oregano, salt and pepper of course bake at 400 to 425° for about 25 minutes. You don’t even have to flip it and it turns out perfect. And I do cut them around a half inch thick. Take care.
Ooooo. I have two baby eggplants in the fridge. This sounds perfect for dinner tomorrow. Thanks for sharing!
Do you salt it before you dip it and bread it! Or do you omit the salt part? I’d like to make the sandwich
Very timely, as I have an abundance of eggplant from my garden atm.
John is the Eggplant Wizard.
I see what you did there 😅
In some parts of Europe we have a similar recipe but instead of garlic and tahini, add a grated onion and mix it with lemon and oil. It's delicious with fresh tomatoes on the side
Ever since 1963 when I had my first tastes of hummus and baba ganooj (ganooj is the spelling i encountered on arabic--which i don't read or speak--/english menus in those early days) in Turkey and my favorite Lebanese restaurant in NYC. I've been making both appetizers on a fairly regular basis. Given that I've had almost 60 years of selecting, preparing and cooking eggplant, I have personally never encountered a bitter eggplant, regardless of "gender" or size or color. In fact, I much prefer the "female" variety for the enhanced flavor--sans bitterness--it imparts to dishes like baba ganooj and eggplant Parmigiano, not to mention a much better texture and overall mouth feel. I do use the "male" variety when I make the occasional stuffed eggplant dish, where there is the need for a "tougher" structure required to maintain integrity during roasting.
While on the subject of preparing eggplant, I've tried salting and rinsing eggplant slices as recommended by "experts" to draw out the so-called bitterness, until I had a conversation with the chef of my favorite Lebabese restaurant in NYC, who told me to skip this procedure and go right to prepping and cooking. It was a great time-saving tip I've used ever since.
Great recipes in this eggplant dish collection. Keep them coming. And many thanks
I love the recipe. Just love egg plant stuffed and baked. It's just a whole different meal for me 👌👌
Dots not slots.... words to live by... I am inspired, sir.
It's not true. Eggplants are not male or female.
your videos make people feel relaxed and entertained keep going your videos are beautiful 💖🥰🍓🍓🍓🥰
Thank you for reposting these recipes, they really gave me some inspiration! I've always felt I wanted to use eggplant a lot more in my cooking, and now I can. Thanks again!
I love egg plant! I’m gonna try and grow some this year in my garden. This recipes is great I am going to make this for my family! They will love it. Your clear presentation makes it look so easy and delicious. I also make UA-cam videos and I feel so lucky to be able to learn from other talented creators like you! I hope to learn more from each other.
Perfect recipes for Sunday brunch, lunch, dinner and absolutely delicious!.
Interesting variety of recipes! I recently discovered 'caponata' and scoured the county for Italian eggplant. I added fresh garden tomatoes instead of canned, peppadew chilis and kalamata olives. Wow!!!
The staple food of Italy in Summer lol!
I tried the eggplant sandwiches at Thanksgiving and put half a roasted Turkey with a little bit of cheese. Chef John was right, maybe I should have just used a little bit.
To help out my guests, I did put a small bowl for them to spit the bones into.
That made for some great tableside comments.
But they loved the idea.
Nice stuff. Typically every Turkish or Greek meal is served with yogurt, tzatziki sauce.
That's interesting because after I discovered tzatziki sauce I started using it at almost every meal. It is so delicious! I love it with rice, in a cold salad, as a spread, a dip, etc. Plain yogurt goes really good with most things too and is actually even more versatile than tzatziki because it can be used as savory or sweet.
Looks good Chef! ♡
Tip: You can also garnish with a slice tomato untop,before you put it in the oven .. & And when it's almost done, Put a spoon full of some grated young cheese on top..In the last 5 minutes while it's in the oven..And with some fresh chopped Parsley.. Yoghurt with a lill bit minced garlic is a must..I can't live/eat without that on the side..😂And you will love it too! 😍👍💙
Taste's so much better!!! 😋👌❤
I love making Baba Ganiush! My secret ingredient is smoked paprika as a finishing touch. You're welcome 😁
I find that you can replace "Baba Ganiush" in that sentence with almost any savory food.
Either that or I have a smoked paprika addiction.
I just realized I spelled it wrong.🤪
Thank you for all these delicious recipes! I knew some of them, and I'm happy to have learned others! Thank you very much !! 😘💚💚💚
I had a work buddy who was from the Middle East and had an abundance of eggplant. I offered the eggplant to him and he happily took all I had. His wife made the Palestinian version of this dish and it was delicious.
Perfect timing, Chef John. I’m about to be loaded with eggplant. I have one ready to harvest and several more getting close.
Actually, I had two big ones!
Awesome! When did you start them? Did you start them from seeds?
@@DB-xo6xh - I tried to start them from seed but it didn’t work so I had to buy starts.
My nephew does a bread crumb and parmesan crusted fried eggplant. So good.
Spoondentations. Thanks for that. Chef, your the best!
I LOVE EGGPLANTS
I love eggplant but hardly ever use it because my kids wouldn't touch it...I am going to try as couple of these recipes, especialy the escabeche... Thanks Chef John, from Melbourne, Australia...
You missed the opportunity to call this video the "Eggcelent Eggplant collection".
You're hilarious! I usually have eggplant as a hamburger substitute or eggplant parmesan so these recipes are really interesting and I'll have to try them. Thank you!
Leakage de fromage ...love your sense of humour Chef. ❤️. And all your recipes of course !🙂
Missed opportunity for "Eggcellent Eggplant recipes"
I would add pine nuts to the first recipe. 👍
For tge first one, there's a similar tatar recipe that also inclides rice as yiy mentioned. There are a few differences, the filling includes a bit of rice and the eggplants are cut in half and deepfried but I can post the recipe if yoy are interested.
For the second, replace the tahini with home made mayo, add diced onion or grated garlic and tou have what in Romania is called eggplant salad.
Just in the right time! My plants are full of eggs!! 😃
this recipes looks awesome ty for the video chef John 😍😍
oh wow
eggpllant pickle and peppers
eggplants used here are known as Japanese eggplants, which are known to be round & plump. Chinese eggplants are normally stir-fried with different ingredients to create various dishes. they are usually flash-fried to retain its gorgeous purple color (at least that's how it's done in restaurants).
Thank you very much !!!!!!!!👍👍👍
thank you John, i appreciate the tips, also Eggplant just love, take care
Oh karnıyarık! My childhood special dinner
Ya can't have a bad eggplant dish 🥰
I luv Baba ghanoush 💙👍
Eggcellent.
Just wearing my Damp Hands Make Smooth Balls shirt as I watch this 💕
A restaurant that has sadly gone away made a great eggplant Parmesan , but sometimes ran a special of eggplant Parmesan Lasagna that was like none other.
My mom's family used to make this
Eggcellent eggplant
Love Love Love Eggplant! Seek out a recipe for CAPONATA. Lovely on salad, or pasta, as an antipasti or on grilled bread as a topping. CAPONATA!
yes last video rocked
rochester chire lol
You made me so hungry for eggplant
You are amazing 👍
And moussaka, too😊
Thank you ‼️
I love food
"Eggplant-gender" 💖 Chef John We Love You
Making egg plant look good is a feat for all of mankind the eggplant sandwich is probably really tasty with capacola
Slippery hummus...😂
Can you also make a video on brinjal (eggplant) pickle? ❤
Hi Chef John, I'd love to know your recipe for Eggplant appetizer aka....Sicilian Caponata.
I love your pans. Are they AllClad?
how fortuitous this year my garden has had a great crop.
Big fun of chef John. Only one suggestion, if it is possible to replace the aluminum foil with reusable silicone covers for bowls. Aluminum production is not environment friendly.
hey! thumbnail person! eGGcellent was right there man.
Is this the first instance of something resembling “alright that’s just you cooking” ?
Hey Chef…
What’s the difference between this eggplant escabeche and caponata?
"LEAKAGE FROMAGE"...hilarious!
I used to hate eggplant. Now, after watching this... I _still_ hate eggplant. Sorry Chef John. (Still liked, still subscribed :)
Me too
I Burst out LAUGHING 🤣🤣🤣 17:08 "I was afraid someone would walk into the kitchen while I was measuring an egg plant." 🍆📏⏸
I've tried eggplant twice. I didn't hate it. But I also didn't like it.
I think I want to make the eggplant sandwich with the lamb mixture from the stuffed bellies.
Me too
cheese, and eggplant. can't go wrong with that. love ratatouille on some toasted sour dough as well.
Nobody found “dots not slots” offensive? What happened to y’all? You used to be so much fun! 😂
Eggscellent.
This,1st recipe, looks really delicious and I’m not an eggplant fan.
I do like the fact that you always add Cayenne Pepper. However, I don't think you add enough. I'd say about 5X of what you show should be right. But it is up to you. After all, you are the Moshe Dayan, of your pepper Cayenne.
Hot take here… how much tomato paste do you use? Like… I’ve tried the tubes, but I end up using most of the tube on one dish. I like the cans because I just use the whole can in a dish. Am I alone in this?
I scoop out the one tablespoon I need and then I scoop out the rest in tablespoon size lumps and freeze it so I can take one or two and toss them in to what I'm cooking.
What exactly does eggplant taste like? I haven't had one since I was a kid and kinda remember I didn't like it. I've wanted to try it but I hate to buy one and go through the process of making something and then not liking it and having to throw it out, wasting my money.
Hi
Try a tub of store bought baba ganoush ,
not much of a risk doing THAT!
Shalom to us only in Christ Yeshua returning soon to reign over the world from Jerusalem.
I discover that boil the eggplant they become mushy slime soft
Need to be boil for one minute
20:16 Leakáge du Fromáge 🤣
Liquage du fromage?
You can slice them anyway you like but, I don't like the eggplants...
I used to feel the same way, until I tried to grill them. It doesn't even taste like eggplant anyone, it's like a completely different vegetable. Fascinating stuff.
Try the asian ones, the small ones in Thai recipes esp.
Oh, that Karniyarik looks good! But beef instead of lamb? That should be against the law!
I think it should be against the law to kill a lamb and eat it for fun. But to each their own.
@@mygirldarby It's not for fun.
It's also for their delicious flavor.
At least the lamb was dead when it got cut up and cooked, unlike the poor plants that get tortured while still alive because some sick bastards get off on suffering.
i want to quote Kentucky Ballistics, but i know that i would be incorrect
😅
Was looking for a KB comment:)
Still not feelin’ it.
Instead of cheese & salami on eggplant sandwiches, let's do crab meat.
The eggplant I have been buying has been bitter YUCK And I love eggplant lasagna😊
I love eggplant but it gives me stomachache?
Do you get the same effect when eating tomatoes? Maybe nightshades don't sit well with you.
@@thaliacrafts407 tomatoes are after eating but I can't digest them in the evenings. I get severe headaches next morning. Surprisingly, I started to get stomachache with avocado as well. I usually throw up afterwards. My son was fine with avacados but it happened to him the same thing. My body is a mystery to myself
No garlic in a baba??????????????????????????????????????
The singing talking chef come back
I've heard it said that Jewish women are not allowed to marry unless they know how to prepare eggplant 100 ways. True? IDK!
Break it up in pieces and sprinkle on potato soup like bacon.
yarış çizgileri
I cook my eggplant with lots of cheap oil, it makes the eggplant slide out of the pan as you dump into the trash.
You had the opportunity to pun up "most eggtastic eggplant recipes" and you didn't take it? I'm unsubscribing.
The only good egg plant is smashed and thrown in the garbage.
You're still wrong this is not Baba ganosh The only people that call it that are the Egyptians The real Baba ganuch is something else
isn't it called melitzanosalata then? aka the greek-italian version, and the only main difference is the lack of tahini sauce, while baba ghanoush does have it.
@@justinkantner In most of the Middle East it's called mutabal The real Baba ganush doesn't Use tahini and it has roasted Bell peppers with it And both was from the Turkish cuisine But Egyptians Are the only exception Wrongfully calling it Baba ganuch that's why some people Get confused by the Egyptian name For it
@@slelllo oh well, considering all the versions, i wouldn't really kill him for getting confused. you have to be quite serious about your food history (to be specific, turkish and middle eastern food history) to know for sure. i mean, even when you do google for baba garnousch (posts that compare it with mutabal and melitzanosalata) there is still slight confusion and no post is really the same..
@@justinkantner Maybe if he was a normal person But As a Chef With a lot of followers You should try to be a little bit Accurate And at least read the comments I remember A few people Including myself correcting him back in 2015 But he didn't Respond or try The research is further Not just take any recipe from the Web and post it
@@slelllo Tbf, never seen him reply so I wouldn't be mad about that.. + Actually, now when I think about it - Did he ever say he did turkish variant of it? I don't recall and I can't find it for that dish + he use tahini, which is as you said, the egyptian variant. You claimed yourself they do call it baba ganousch, even tho the origin (turkish) is slightly different. I mean, it's like with gulasch. Origin is hungary, but sure as hell you see tons of other versions with same name.. even tho it's technically not proper gulasch.
No such thing as an excellent eggplant recipe
Nobody likes EGGPLANT!
Cooked or sauteed, sure. Grilled they are absolutely amazing. Night and day difference.
My favorite dish is eggplant parmesan.
I'm really surprised at you!
There is no such thing as male or female eggplants!
Eggplants are gross. period. I have never had on that i liked :P
What annoying voice I never heard any one with that kind accent and tone