Caramelized Fairy Tale Eggplant, Homemade Bacon, Oven-dried Cherry Tomato, Malabar Spinach, Grey Shallot, Roasted Garlic Mayo
Something very familiar will probably come to mind when you first look at this dish. I did not intend to recreate a B.L.T., however, it just sort of happened. I realized what I did after I finished the dish and began eating it. This combination of ingredients tasted like something I had had a few times before. I guess my subconscious took control while I was cooking, without me realizing it. My subconscious really likes bacon.
I roasted some thick cut bacon, my own of course, for about 15 minutes reserving the fat for a later use. You should never throw out bacon fat. It is a great cooking oil that adds a ton of flavor to all sorts of preparations, as you're about to see.
I sliced the eggplants in half lengthwise and seasoned them with salt, pepper, cumin and a little cinnamon. I placed the reserved bacon fat in a saute pan over medium heat. I added the eggplant and cooked it for about 6-7 minutes to get a nice crust and to soften them up. I drained the bacon fat off of the pan and splashed in some balsamic vinegar to deglaze.
I made the mayo by cooking whole garlic gloves in olive oil til they were soft. I allowed the oil and garlic to cool a little bit before combing them with an egg, salt, pepper and sherry vinegar and blending to make the mayo.
I sliced the cherry tomatoes in half and placed them on a baking sheet. I placed them in the oven at 300 degrees to dry them for about an hour and served then warm. The shallots were cooked in the bacon fat to soften them.
I arranged all of the ingredients on the plate and garnished with the malabar spinach which was a nice fresh counterpoint all of the richness going down on this plate. I finished off the dish by spooning some of the bacon fat on the plate and dropping some of the balsamic glaze into it.
Product:
Organic Fairy Tale Eggplant - Root Mass Farm
Organic Cherry Tomato - Savoie Organics
Organic Malabar Spinach - Queen's Farm
Organic Grey French Shallots - Culton Organics
Pasture-raised Pork Belly - Stryker Farms
I roasted some thick cut bacon, my own of course, for about 15 minutes reserving the fat for a later use. You should never throw out bacon fat. It is a great cooking oil that adds a ton of flavor to all sorts of preparations, as you're about to see.
I sliced the eggplants in half lengthwise and seasoned them with salt, pepper, cumin and a little cinnamon. I placed the reserved bacon fat in a saute pan over medium heat. I added the eggplant and cooked it for about 6-7 minutes to get a nice crust and to soften them up. I drained the bacon fat off of the pan and splashed in some balsamic vinegar to deglaze.
I made the mayo by cooking whole garlic gloves in olive oil til they were soft. I allowed the oil and garlic to cool a little bit before combing them with an egg, salt, pepper and sherry vinegar and blending to make the mayo.
I sliced the cherry tomatoes in half and placed them on a baking sheet. I placed them in the oven at 300 degrees to dry them for about an hour and served then warm. The shallots were cooked in the bacon fat to soften them.
I arranged all of the ingredients on the plate and garnished with the malabar spinach which was a nice fresh counterpoint all of the richness going down on this plate. I finished off the dish by spooning some of the bacon fat on the plate and dropping some of the balsamic glaze into it.
Product:
Organic Fairy Tale Eggplant - Root Mass Farm
Organic Cherry Tomato - Savoie Organics
Organic Malabar Spinach - Queen's Farm
Organic Grey French Shallots - Culton Organics
Pasture-raised Pork Belly - Stryker Farms