Must Love Garlic

Summer lasted right through October 21st this year. Then, Mother Nature hopped right over fall and landed in winter. I tried to capture colors of autumn, but not a lot showed up. We actually got a sprinkle of snow over the weekend that didn’t stick.

Due to the prolonged summer, our garden lasted through last week.

The final tomatoes had imperfections, but we removed those spots and they tasted perfectly delectable.

Of course, we grew the vegetables we love to eat, and my very favorite of the five we chose is eggplant.

We never had a garden before and didn’t realize when we bought baby eggplant that they’d be the size of our palms. Aren’t they adorable (below)?

So, I have yet another eggplant recipe for my recipes page, and it’s one my grandma used to make.

I originally posted recipes for my blog when my memoir anthology released, so it’s been a while since I posted one. There is a humorous story in the memoir about my Italian family and cooking.

This eggplant recipe I’m going to share is a garlicy Italian marinade you can use to put on cold cut sandwiches, smother on steaks, in bruschetta or even just eat as an open face sandwich with cheese. You must love garlic for this recipe.

Normally we’re supposed to use a regular size eggplant (medium), but I needed to use up the remaining ones from the garden, so I’ll be demonstrating with these cuties.

Eggplant Marinade

1 medium eggplant
1 bottle white vinegar
Water
6 to 10 large cloves of garlic (or more, depending on size of eggplant)
Extra light olive oil for frying
salt
pepper
oregano
red pepper flakes

Prepare at least six large cloves of garlic by peeling and cutting each into 3 to 4 slices.

Peel eggplant skin, then slice it thin into bacon-sized strips. Don’t use these mini eggplants as example of slicing. The eggplant literally needs to be the width and thickness of a slice of bacon.

Mix one part white vinegar with two parts water in a bowl. Put eggplant strips in the water/vinegar mixture. They will float to the top, so place another bowl over them to push down into the liquid. Let soak for at least one hour, but can be left to soak for longer.

Side note: Without soaking eggplant in advance, it can soak up oil when frying and possibly burn.

After allotted time soaking, remove from water and place the slices onto some paper towels to blot dry.

Heat olive oil in pan. Once heated, place eggplant slices in oil and fry for two to three minutes on each side.

After frying, remove from pan and place them on a paper towel to blot off oil.

Now we can add the spicy, garlicy flavor.

Use oblong container (glass or tupperware or pan) and place a few slices on bottom until covered. Spritz white vinegar over the top of the eggplant, sprinkle with salt, pepper, oregano & red pepper flakes to taste. Add two thin slices of raw garlic.

Layer more eggplant slices over the top of last layer and repeat above. Continue to layer and repeat seasonings until all eggplant slices are inside container.

Refrigerate for no less than 24 hours to let the flavors soak in. Use it to marinade any dish that sounds good to you, or with the food I mentioned at top of recipe. I recently poured the entire marinade container over a pork roast with potatoes. Since this marinade lasts for weeks in the refrigerator, it can be used whenever needed to add flavor to dishes.