Argentinian Grilled Eggplant

[ZCZ10]

A Hibiscus bush at a co-worker's house.  This one is over 6 feet tall.  Makes it thru the MN winters just fine.

[ZCZ10]

For Father's Day Mrs. Z got me The Barbecue Bible by Steven Raichlen.  He's a gas and charcoal guy (please forgive me) as most of you know but the book is packed with lots of good ideas.

This one is on page 406.  Looked good so thought I'd give it a shot.  Picked up a good size Eggplant at the store.

[ZCZ10]

Mince 2 or 3 cloves of garlic (mmmmm, I always love using garlic).



Mix with 3 tablespoons of EVOO

Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch slices



Brush on the garlic/EVOO mixture to both sides and place on a grill on "high heat" ( I had mine at 500).

[ZCZ10]

You only need to grill them about 3 to 5 minutes per side.  Before placing them on the grill and while the grill is warming up mix the following spices:
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.
1 teaspoon sweet or hot paprika
1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (optional)
salt and freshly ground pepper

[ZCZ10]

After placing the eggplant on the grill lightly sprinkle the herbs on the top side.
After 3 to 5 minutes flip them over and sprinkle some on the other side.

Here they are after the first flip.



And fresh off the grill ready to eat.

[ZCZ10]

Mrs. Z said I had a little overkill on the spices.  Served them with butter and they were good.  I like a lot of spice.
She said another possibility would be to marinate them in Italian dressing then grill.
Use your imagination.

Well we had to have a little extra for dinner so I turned the grill down to 350 and put a couple brats on the grill.  After they had been on about 12 minutes I put the buns on to brown.

[ZCZ10]

Some sweet pickle relish, ketchup and mustard.





Mmmm Mmmm good!  Grilled eggplant and brats.
Now THAT is a meal!!! 

Stay tuned for what's on tap for tomorrow,
Z

[Ssteppe]

I don't like mushy eggplant, but this technique looks like it would keep the eggplant firm. Looks good.

[ZCZ10]

They were firm.  I grilled them about 4 minutes per side at 500.
The spices were good but I should have sprinkled a little less on each one.
The spices are almost like a rub.

[doodles]

I find that's the good thing about keeping a journal of all your cooks. You write down what you did and how it worked, so next time you cook it, you can figure out what to do differently. That has really helped me, especially with the very thing you encountered - too much spice. Sometimes I have found I didn't care for a particular run with a specific cut of meat, so the next time I did them, I made that change, and it made for a better product. That looks like a great way to work with eggplant.