New passions....well, over the summer I have developed a passion for aubergines! ;o) I found a receipe for an aubergine dip, Baba Ghanoush (don't you just love that name?), in a library book called Easy Vegan and gave it a whirl. It is deeeeeeeeelicious! ;o)
Here's the recipe as written in the book....
Baba Ghanoush (smoked aubergine dip)
This creamy dip can be served as part of a selection of little dishes or a simple appetizer/starter. Normally the dish is made from vegetables that have been roasted whole and the flesh scooped out. In this version, they are peeled, then sliced and roasted, so the result is much more mellow.2lbs aubergine
about 2/3 cup olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
4 tbsp tahini
freshly squeezed juice of 1 – 2 lemons or to taste
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
To serve:
1 tbsp sweet paprika
3 tbsp oilve oil
2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley
toasted pitta bread or other flatbread, to serve
Serves 4 - 6
Preheat over to 200C/Gas mark 6
Trim the aubergines, peel then slice thickly. Arrange the slices on a baking sheet and brush both sides with olive oil. Roast in the oven for about 20 minutes, until browning and soft, turning them once.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.Transfer to a food processor and add the garlic, tahini and the juice of 1 lemon. Process until creamy, then taste and adjust seasoning with salt, pepper and more lemon juice.
Pour or spoon into a shallow dish. Mix the paprika with the 3 tbsp olive oil and trickle it over the top of the baba ghanoush. Sprinkle with parsley and serve with strips of toasted pitta bread for dipping.
Note: For a softer garlic flavour, roast the garlic cloves whole and unpeeled with the aubergines then squeeze the soft flesh out of the skins and blend with aubergines.
I roast my garlic, love squeezing it out (must try it on bread, mmmmm!) and I used smoked paprika for the dressing. It's almost superseded my hummous passion! ;o)
My other new, not to mention astonishing, passion is COFFEE! Seriously, I love coffee! Anyone who knows me in the real world will know that I don't do tea or coffee, never have done, and in the case of coffee I can't bear the smell! Well, all that changed last month when at the ripe old age of 44 I took my first tentative sips of the brew I now adore! ;o) I've spoken before about how my tastes have changed over the last few years and how I eat lots of things I disliked in the past and coffee is another on the list. For a few months I had been thinking coffee smelt nice! That in itself is something of a surprise after loathing it for so many years! When I finally tried my first cup of coffee I was instantly surprised at liking it and since have been on a flavoursome trawl through the world of coffee! I even have my very own cafetiere now! ;o) I love it when new flavours burst into my life and I'm revelling in this one. By the way, for anyone I meet in real life....strong, splash of milk, one sugar please! ;o)
