Lebanese Eggplant Jam Murabba Mhashee Batindshan Food

LEBANESE EGGPLANT JAM (MURABBA MHASHEE BATINDSHAN)

Steps:

• Cover eggplant cubes with water and bring to a boil; let cook 10 min and drain. Dissolve sugar in 2 cups water.
• Place cloves in small square of cheesecloth, pull corners together and tie with thread to make a bag. Place in sugar water, bring to a boil, add to the eggplant and remove from heat.
• Let stand 24 hours.
• Drain the eggplant, reserving the syrup. Boil the syrup 20 minutes, add the eggplant back in and boil 30 minutes more.
• Remove the bag of cloves.
• Stir in the lemon juice and pour jam into hot sterilized jars.
• Let cool completely and store in a cool dark place.

ALGERIAN EGGPLANT JAM (SAVORY)

Steps:

• Cut eggplant into 1/2 inch slices, sprinkle liberally with salt and let drain in a colander for 30 minutes.
• Rinse well, squeeze gently and pat dry.
• Heat about 1/4 inch of oil in a large frying pan and fry the slices in batches over medium heat until golden brown on both sides.
• Drain on paper towels, then chop finely. Put in a colander until most of the oil has drained off, then transfer to a bowl and add the paprika, cumin and sugar.
• Wipe out the frying pan then add the eggplant mixture and stir constantly over medium heat for 2 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and stir in the lemon juice and season.
• Serve at room temperature.

MAUREEN ABOOD'S EGGPLANT WITH LAMB, TOMATO AND PINE NUTS

Steps:

• Heat broiler and line a baking sheet with foil or parchment.
• Brush both sides of eggplant slices with 2 tablespoons olive oil and sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt. Arrange slices on prepared baking sheet and broil in batches until they are deep mahogany brown, turning once halfway through, 5 to 7 minutes per side.
• Adjust the oven to 375 degrees with rack positioned in the center.
• In a large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of the remaining olive oil over medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, but not browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add ground lamb or beef, stirring frequently and breaking up meat into very small pieces with the side of a metal spoon. Season with remaining teaspoon salt, cinnamon and pepper. Sauté until meat is just cooked through. Taste and add more salt or pepper, or both, as needed.
• In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add pine nuts and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir nuts to coat them with butter and continue stirring constantly until nuts are golden brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Keep a close watch over the nuts; they can burn quickly once they begin to brown. Transfer nuts to a bowl while still warm and salt them lightly.
• Coat a 13-by-9-by-2-inch baking dish with remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of the dish. Lay 1/3 of the eggplant slices in a single layer over the sauce, covering as much surface area of the bottom of the dish as possible. Spoon half the meat evenly over eggplant. Pour 1/3 of the remaining tomato sauce evenly over meat. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the pine nuts. Layer again with eggplant, meat, tomato sauce and pine nuts. Finish with a layer of eggplant and cover with more tomato sauce, sprinkling top with pine nuts.
• Pour 1 cup warm water around the perimeter of the baking dish. (Sauce will thicken as it bakes.) Cover pan with foil and bake for 90 minutes. Remove foil and top eggplant evenly with mozzarella. Bake for 15 minutes longer, uncovered, or until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Serve eggplant warm, over rice.

LEBANESE EGGPLANT SALAD - (SALATIT EL BATINJAN)

Steps:

• Put the whole eggplant as is, (only cut and remove the stem from the top), on a baking sheet and bake it. You'll notice when it's done that the juice came out on the baking sheet and the skin is almost toasted and it becomes soft when you punch it with a knife.
• Let it cool for a bit then cut it in half and remove the skin; just cut it roughly into small/medium diced pieces and put it in the salad bowl, (it's ok if it has some juice still). Then add the rest of the ingredients and mix the salad and serve. This is good with pita bread on the side.

LEBANESE EGGPLANTS (MESSAKA'A)

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in pot and fry the eggplants.
• Remove them and put them aside.
• Add the garlic to the same pot for 2 minutes.
• Add the onions and keep until transparent, stirring frequently.
• Add the tomatoes for 2 minutes.
• Add the eggplants, chickpeas, salt and pepper and simmer for 20 minutes.