SC - Margali's eggplant

[LrdRas]

Alderton, Philippa wrote:

> So where is the recipe for Imam Bayadi?
>
> I swear, you spoon-teases are going to drive me crazy!
>
> phlip at morganco.net
>

It exists in my head, nothing was writen down. Imam Bayadi means the
imam fainted. it is sort of a reference to the story that an imam took a
young wife, and she used up so much oil in the making of the dish he
fainted at the cost. eggplant is sort of like a sponge, it will absorb
an incredible amount of oil if it is allowed. the problem with a lot of
the fried eggplant dishes is that they fry in oil that is not hot enough
and it soaks up lots of oil, is soggy and greasy.

i start by peeling and slicing the eggplant in discs, for a presentation
using the eggplant as a base for goodies like beid hamine, jusselle
dates and felafel, or halving it lengthwise and not peeling it for a
more boat of goodies platter buffet presentation.
next, soak it in lightly salted water for 30 minutes or so. dont ask me
why, that is what aisha did.
in a heavy skillet put a fair amount of olive oil, fry both sides of the
disc or the cut face of the half briefly in very hot oil. you want them
lightly golden and crispy. remove and reserve.
in the oil add garlic, salt, freshly cracked black pepper, oregano,
sumac and a few cardomom seeds[not pods] also crushed. fry briefly.
place the discs or boats in a baking dish, brush with the seasoned oil
frequently while baking until you can stick a toothpick in sort of like
aldente veggie style.
beide hamine-what you do with onion skins and eggs-wrap whole raw eggs
in onion skind, put in a pot of water and simmer gently til hardboiled.
let cool and peel. if it is done right, there is a faint taste of onion
and the shells have been dyed brown, and if there are cracks in the
shell they make brown patterns.
jusselle dates-huge whole pitted dates, filles with a mixture of cream
cheese, italian bread crumbs[so i cheat!] and enough beef broth to make
it able to be used to fill the dates. i cheat and use disposeable pastry
bags.
margali

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