Aubergine 🍆 💕 Love 💕
The first of our eggplants are starting to emerge in the garden. My sweet husband always plants a variety of eggplant for me. They are my favorite! He doesn’t care for them in most recipes. I have a few he does actually like, so I will share them as the summer progresses and so does our crop! The great thing about eggplant is that its so versatile. I also find that people who think they don’t like it, usually do when it’s prepared in something like Foccacia Bread, Pizza or other surprising places.
Book Club Selection – “The Great Alone”
I also needed to make something for our book 📚 club get together. We always try to cook something that was in or inspired by the book. It’s fun and it helps soak up all the wine🍷🤣. Just kidding. Sometimes we drink cocktails too.
Our read this month was “The Great Alone”, by Kristin Hannah. This recipe has little to do with this book, but I like to give a shout out whenever I come across a book that grabs you in from the first page and doesn’t let up. For me, it was the kind of book you just can’t put down (or, in my case, stop listening to).
It’s about a family that is ill-prepared but move to a cabin in Alaska in the 70’s to live a subsistence life-style. It was full of reindeer sausage, moose steaks, plenty of delicious sounding seafood, but nothing I had on hand. Bread however, is big in Alaska and so is gardening from spring through summer.
In Alaska, the summers are almost constant sun ☀ so the gardens actually produce well, if you know what you’re doing in that type of climate. Plenty of giant 🎃 pumpkin growers in Alaska! In the book, getting your garden going and tending to it is of the utmost importance. All the food grown then must be preserved to get you through the long winter with hardly a bit of sunshine. Could you do it? I think I could enjoy the summer, but I get a little crazy when it’s been cloudy for more than 5 days in a row, so I don’t think I would make it through a winter in Alaska. Okay, maybe one winter, but I’d pack my own food. No moose nose for me.
This Focaccia combination smelled heavenly and it was delicious! Not a single piece leftover. Give it a try. This is how I made it!
The Focaccia Bread Dough
This is so basic but so full of flavor. It’s a simple pizza dough. Measure 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1 teaspoon salt into the bowl of a mixer, fitted with the dough hook. Start on low to mix flour and salt. In a small cup, measure 1/2 cup warm water and add 1 envelope instant yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes to activate and bubble. Start the mixer on low and add the yeast/water mixture. Once incorporated, slowly add about 1/2 cup water to the mix. You want the dough to leave the sides of the bowl and cling to the hook. If too dry, add a bit more water. If too wet, add a bit of flour. It should be slightly sticky to the touch. Remove from the bowl and knead by hand about 5 minutes.
Set the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen cloth to rise for about 1 hour.
The Eggplant and Onions
Slice one large or a few small eggplants very thinly, about 1/4 inch. Lay the slices on some paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Top with paper towels and let the eggplant sit for about 30 minutes. Slice an onion on the 1/16 setting on a mandolin, or as thinly as you can manage with a sharp knife.
Spread the dough thinly over a baking pan. If it fights you and won’t stretch, let it sit a bit, and go back to it. Once fitted into the pan, with your fingers, form a slight rise for the crust edges and dimple the rest with your finger tips. Lightly top with a drizzle of olive oil. Place the sliced eggplant over the crust, then the onion. Top with about 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano. If you don’t have access to fresh oregano, top with about 1 tablespoon of dried, crushed oregano.
Lightly top with another good drizzle of olive oil. Then, top with a sprinkling of good salt. I used black salt which is a finishing salt. If you don’t have finishing salt, use kosher or sea salt.
Bake at 450° for about 15 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned. Serve either hot room temperature.
Foccacia Bread with Eggplant and Fresh Oregano
Notes
This is great for an appetizer, cut into small pieces or as a main dish, served with a salad.
Ingredients
For the dough
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 package instant yeast
- 1 cup warm water (divided)
- pinch of sugar or teaspoon of honey
For the Topping
- 1 large or 2 medium eggplant, sliced to 1/4 inch
- 1 sweet onion, sliced to 1/16 with mandolin
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano or 1 tablespoon dried, crushed oregano
- olive oil
- finishing salt or kosher or sea salt
Instructions
For the Dough
- Measure 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour and 1 teaspoon salt into the bowl of a mixer, fitted with the dough hook. Start on low to mix flour and salt. In a small cup, measure 1/2 cup warm water and add 1 envelope instant yeast and a pinch of sugar. Let the mixture sit for about 5 minutes to activate and bubble. Start the mixer on low and add the yeast/water mixture. Once incorporated, slowly add about 1/2 cup water to the mix. You want the dough to leave the sides of the bowl and cling to the hook. If too dry, add a bit more water. If too wet, add a bit of flour. It should be slightly sticky to the touch. Remove from the bowl and knead by hand about 5 minutes.
- Set the dough into a lightly oiled bowl and cover with a clean kitchen cloth to rise for about 1 hour.
- Spread the dough thinly over a baking pan. If it fights you and won't stretch, let it sit a bit, and go back to it. Once fitted into the pan, with your fingers, form a slight rise for the crust edges and dimple the rest with your finger tips. Set aside.
For the Topping
- Slice one large or a few small eggplants very thinly, about 1/4 inch. Lay the slices on some paper towels and sprinkle with salt. Top with paper towels and let the eggplant sit for about 30 minutes. Slice an onion on the 1/16 setting on a mandolin, or as thinly as you can manage with a sharp knife.
- Lightly top the dough with a drizzle of olive oil. Place the sliced eggplant over the dough, then add the onion. Top with about 1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano. If you don't have access to fresh oregano, top with about 1 tablespoon of dried, crushed oregano. Lightly top with another good drizzle of olive oil. Then, top with a sprinkling of finshing salt. I used black salt which is a very corse salt. If you don't have finishing salt, use kosher or sea salt. Bake at 450° for about 15 minutes, until the crust is nicely browned. Serve either hot room temperature.
Recipe from Karen Harris https://www.bittersaltysoursweet.com
