Eggplant and Zucchini Spaghetti Muffins

Abandoned Edibles
marinara sauce, eggplant, zucchini, garlic, white cheddar cheese
*BONUS* leftover AEs: leftover spaghetti noodles (additional ingredients: ground pork, onion, egg, panko bread crumbs, butter, spices, etc.)

What I did: dude. This was by FAR the weirdest thing I have cooked with AEs, mainly due to two things: 1) the only baking device I currently own is a motherfuckin' MUFFIN PAN, and 2) I had leftover spaghetti noodles from the night before that I desperately wanted to use. So, I figured, hey--might as well make spaghetti muffins, eh? Basically, what I did was make a three-layered mini casserole in each muffin tin. I made a base (or 'crust') of chopped up spaghetti noodles, egg, and panko bread crumbs for the bottom, added a layer of cooked ground pork, cubed zucchini and onions, a layer of shredded cheese, and then marinara sauce on top. I baked them in the oven at 350 degrees for about 15-20 minutes. And, of course, I greased the hell out of those muffin rounds with butter. Whilst these frankensteinian vittles were cooking, I sliced, battered, and fried rounds of eggplant. I served this dish with fried eggplant on the bottom, spaghetti muffin atop the eggplant, and additional marinara sauce and shredded cheese on top of the muffin.




The Verdict
First of all, apologies for the horrible pictures--I was rather drunk by the time I finished cooking. But back to the matter at hand: spaghetti muffins! Yes, they were bizarre, but also rather tasty. I was pretty proud of myself. Pat on the back for me!

Taste: 7
Creativity: 9
Appearance: 6

Improvements for next time: I can't even IMAGINE.

Tempura Fried Eggplant with Zucchini and Corn Relish & Garlic Jack Twirl

Abandoned Edibles
eggplant, zucchini, sweet corn, green pepper, cucumbers, egg roll wrappers & garlic jack cheese (yes, again!)
*BONUS* leftover AEs: sour cream, spinach (additional ingredients: tempura batter, onion, garlic, marinara sauce, beef stock, flour, butter, vinegar, dill weed, sugar, etc.)

What I did: whew, okay, today was a crazy cooking fest. I actually made a cucumber & onion salad in addition to the eggplant and zucchini relish, so I was busy, busy, busy! Before I even started this project, however, I did some homework. In the past, I've fried eggplant before and it hasn't turned out so hot; I wanted to make sure this time would be different. Traditionally, when I've made eggplant, it would turn out oily, mushy, and without much texture variation--in other words, NAST. This time, I thought I'd A) incorporate tempura batter, and B) research online to pick up a few tips. So. Without further ado--after today's experiment, here is what I learned: first, slice eggplant vertically; horizontal slicing results in the eggplant fibers soaking up the oil, leading to soggy mush. Secondly, you need to "dry brine" the eggplant. Rub each slice with salt on each side, and place in colander for 45 minutes--you'll see big drops of water form on the slices, which is eggplant juice being drawn out of the vegetable by the salt through osmosis. Next, wash each slice under running water and rub it, squeeze, strain, and wash again; you want to make sure to get the salt off, otherwise your eggplant will be inedible. Once you have 'prepped' your eggplant, you are ready to cook it.

As my eggplant was sweating away, I made the zucchini and corn relish. I cubed up green pepper, zucchini, trimmed one ear of corn kernels off the cob, cut onions, garlic, and simmered in pot with beef stock and butter. I added a few tablespoons of marinara sauce, and thickened it up a bit with flour. As for the cucumber and onion salad--this consisted of cukes, onion, sour cream, vinegar, sugar, dill weed, salt and pepper. Two tips for this dish: a) make sure you slice the cukes and onions rather thin, and 2) if you 'sweat' your cukes (same process as the eggplant, only you don't have to wash the salt off), they remain super crunchy and delicious whilst floating around in their sour cream/vinegar sauce.

Okay, you still with me? Good...I realize today's entry is a little long-winded! Okay, back on the saddle, and on to the eggplant: dip in tempura batter (shake off excess), and fry. Yes, it is THAT easy (I used a box of tempura batter, worked great). Now, since I had wonton wrappers and garlic jack cheese, I decided to make a little twirl out of it to place on top of the eggplant, so I also fried these up at the same time.



The Verdict
Hot DAMN this shit was dy-no-mite! I am NOT kidding people, I have never cooked a vegetarian dish that tasted so delicious. Everything worked SO well together, and the texture variations were just fabulous, from the relish to the tempura to the crunch of the egg roll wrapper to the melted cheese that oozed out. The eggplant was NOT oily and/or mushy, the tempura batter worked fabulously, the twirl added a necessary crunch, the relish added an interesting flavor component, and the cucumber/onion salad was the perfect accompaniment. I actually LICKED MY PLATE. No lie.

Taste: 8.5
Creativity: 8
Appearance: 7

Improvements for next time: perhaps add seasonings to tempura batter...can you do that? Or would that mess up the composition? Methinks additional research is in order.