Eggplant bounty

[jackb]

Find a Italian restaurant and see if you can barter, so many eggplant for dinner credit, if you grow basil offer that too

Good thought.

 

[valley ranch]

Find a Italian restaurant and see if you can barter, so many eggplant for dinner credit, if you grow basil offer that too

There is no such thing as fia da ma, but if there were they would have years ago sold Parsley to restaurants for a high price~a Protection into the bargan~ restaurants put a sprig of parsley on plates of food to show others they had paid and were under protection.

Today many restaurants still put a sprig of parsley on the plate~few people know where the tradition came from```
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Or is this the answer:
Nothing decorated more restaurant plates in the 20th century than parsley, most of it by all accounts uneaten.

Why use so much of what nobody wanted? The best answer I can come up with is that parsley sprigs were there to fill empty spaces on the plate and to add color to dull looking food.

Parsley was not the only garnish around, but it has probably been the most heavily used over time. It has shared the role of plate greenery with lettuce, especially after WWII when lettuce become readily available, and to a lesser extent with watercress.

Parsley has long been a favorite in butcher shops where it is tucked around steaks and roasts. As early as 1886 restaurants were advised to emulate butchers and decorate food in their show windows with “a big, red porterhouse steak, with an edge of snow-white fat, laid in the center of a wreath of green parsley.” By the early 20th century, almost the entire U.S. parsley crop, more than half of which was grown in Louisiana and New York, went to restaurants and butchers. By 1915 parsley sprigs were a ubiquitous restaurant garnish that many regarded as a nuisance. Diners sometimes suspected that the parsley on their plate had been recycled from a previous customer.

While European chefs use garnishes as edible complements to the main dish, Americans have focused primarily on their visual properties.

Around 1970 when convenience foods invaded restaurant kitchens, garnishes took on heightened significance in jazzing up lackluster, monochromatic frozen entrees. In the words of Convenience and Fast Food Handbook (1973),“The emergence of pre-prepared frozen entrees on a broad scale has revived the importance of garnishing and in addition, has led to innovative methods of food handling, preparation and plating. If an organization is to achieve sustained success in this field, emphasis must be placed on garnishing and plating. These are the two essentials that provide the customer with excitement and satisfaction.” [partial book cover shown above, 1969]

 

[seedcorn]

I'm the only one that eats them. My peppers suck. Tomatoes are coming on slowly but the eggplants are bearing heavily. I can't find anyone to take them. I've eaten eaggplant parm-by myself. Mousaka-by myself. Not crazy about eggplant dip. Way too bland.

So how do you make eggplant sandwiches? Any other way you enjoy?

 

[ninnymary]

seed, have you tried doing eggplant tempura? They have tempura mixes where all you do is add water, dip the slices of eggplant, then fry.

Mary

 

[seedcorn]

No. I take it you like it that way?

 

[jackb]

I'm the only one that eats them. My peppers suck. Tomatoes are coming on slowly but the eggplants are bearing heavily. I can't find anyone to take them. I've eaten eaggplant parm-by myself. Mousaka-by myself. Not crazy about eggplant dip. Way too bland.

So how do you make eggplant sandwiches? Any other way you enjoy?

My wife slices them in about 1/4" rounds, dips them in egg batter and bread crumbs and fries them in extra virgin olive oil. I like them simply as a side dish or make a sandwich with a slice of cheese on top, or even plain.

 

[catjac1975]

Our freezer is full of eggplant parm, we have jars and jars of marinated eggplant. We have had breaded eggplant sandwiches for lunch several times a week. The mailman will be furious if I leave more eggplant in the mailbox and still they keep coming. I picked these this morning and I will be hiding when Theresa comes home from shopping so I don't have to face her. The only good thing about them is that it does not take long to fill the basket, and there are many more on the plants.

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Mine are the worst this year.

 

[catjac1975]

Eggplant is the one vegetable I can't even bring myself to try. When I was a kid one of my friends farted, took a big wiff, and said "Mm! Smells like eggplant!" I just haven't been able to make myself even get one to try since then.

What the heck. Take a bite! It is soooo good in everything. I even throw bits into soups. The best I ever had was in an Italian restaurant. They were sliced lengthwise and rolled with cheeses and red sauce.

 

[jackb]

Mine are the worst this year.

That is too bad Cat. Blight is getting to our tomatoes but our peppers have a bounty also. My son will take all of the peppers we will give him as he and Ava love peppers. The maple trees are losing their leaves and have been for weeks. It is like fall with them blowing around the property. They have tar spot, which is not fatal but is unsightly.

 

[catjac1975]

That is too bad Cat. Blight is getting to our tomatoes but our peppers have a bounty also. My son will take all of the peppers we will give him as he and Ava love peppers. The maple trees are losing their leaves and have been for weeks. It is like fall with them blowing around the property. They have tar spot, which is not fatal but is unsightly.

I do not have any blight. They are just not setting much fruit. Everything was been late this year. I just got my first big tomatoes-hard crop for sauce and freezing. Peppers finally coming. They were big mature plants when I put them out.