Those Thai Eggplants (and the Melon)
Aug. 25th, 2020 10:26 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lydamorehouse I finally decided what to do with those Thai eggplants I got from the CSA.... https://myheartbeets.com/thai-eggplant-green-curry/.
I nearly completely changed the original recipe to suit the needs of my family (they like some spice, but no way would they tolerate Thai peppers... and then there were just things we didn't have around, or did, as in the case of these bone-in chicken thighs.)
Image: chicken thighs frying in a pan with cute green golf ball shaped Thai eggplants, cut into quarters.
The end result looked like this (the carrots are just garnish. The dish would have been more colorful with more of the ingredients that 'my heart beets' wanted):
Image: finished dish, with rice.
This dish was AMAZINGLY delicious. I am super looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch today. (I will tell you that I decided to go all out for lunch because St. Paul was under a heat advisory for the latter half of the day, and so I figured EAT BIG AT LUNCH. I regret nothing.)
The Thai eggplants were fascinating. First of all, I watched a video that implied that I should really try one fresh, uncooked, and so I totally did. They are crunchy and oddly peppery? A little like a softer radish? The heat was a surprise. No offense to purple eggplants which I also adore, I tend to think that anything called an eggplant is going to be tastier cooked and then kind of be mild and more about texture? So, I was unprepared and pleased with the raw taste.
I was likewise surprised that even after cooking in the coconut milk and curry paste for a decent amount of time, the Thai eggplant totally kept a bit of its outer crunch in a REALLY SATISFYING way. Like, I expected the creamier (yet still spicier than expected) interior flesh, but getting a bit of a crunch from the exterior was really nice.
The sun-jewel melon was likewise delicious and fun. It tasted like a honeydew? Again, I watched a video (I watch a lot of food prep videos when dealing with new-to-me foods) where the nice lady showed me that for the best taste, you really want to _very gently_ remove the inner seeds because the sweetest part of the rind is really the bit right next to the seeds. You can eat the seeds? But they were watermelon sized, and I'm not keen on seeds that big. But, so the flesh is hard and really delicately flavored? Smelled a bit like a rose? I found it delightful to just munch on, but the melon they sent us was big and so, since I had a small batch of strawberries macerating in the fridge, I just cut up the remaining melon and made a strawberry + sun-jewel melon jam that was insanely yummy.
Image: Shiny, chunky jam in a jar on the table on our porch.
The picture doesn't quite do the jam's color justice. It's very sparkly, and so you can see why sun-jewel melon got that name. The jam tastes mostly like strawberries, but you get a lovely aftertaste of something floral.
I literally just made one jar. Shawn is on a list of small batch canning and they're forever just making a single jar of something. Obviously, this is not full-on canning--it's only for the fridge, but it should last a couple of months, easily... in theory. We've already eaten half the jar.
The last thing I need to figure out what to do with from the CSA is collard greens. I have a TON.
I nearly completely changed the original recipe to suit the needs of my family (they like some spice, but no way would they tolerate Thai peppers... and then there were just things we didn't have around, or did, as in the case of these bone-in chicken thighs.)
Image: chicken thighs frying in a pan with cute green golf ball shaped Thai eggplants, cut into quarters.
The end result looked like this (the carrots are just garnish. The dish would have been more colorful with more of the ingredients that 'my heart beets' wanted):
Image: finished dish, with rice.
This dish was AMAZINGLY delicious. I am super looking forward to having the leftovers for lunch today. (I will tell you that I decided to go all out for lunch because St. Paul was under a heat advisory for the latter half of the day, and so I figured EAT BIG AT LUNCH. I regret nothing.)
The Thai eggplants were fascinating. First of all, I watched a video that implied that I should really try one fresh, uncooked, and so I totally did. They are crunchy and oddly peppery? A little like a softer radish? The heat was a surprise. No offense to purple eggplants which I also adore, I tend to think that anything called an eggplant is going to be tastier cooked and then kind of be mild and more about texture? So, I was unprepared and pleased with the raw taste.
I was likewise surprised that even after cooking in the coconut milk and curry paste for a decent amount of time, the Thai eggplant totally kept a bit of its outer crunch in a REALLY SATISFYING way. Like, I expected the creamier (yet still spicier than expected) interior flesh, but getting a bit of a crunch from the exterior was really nice.
The sun-jewel melon was likewise delicious and fun. It tasted like a honeydew? Again, I watched a video (I watch a lot of food prep videos when dealing with new-to-me foods) where the nice lady showed me that for the best taste, you really want to _very gently_ remove the inner seeds because the sweetest part of the rind is really the bit right next to the seeds. You can eat the seeds? But they were watermelon sized, and I'm not keen on seeds that big. But, so the flesh is hard and really delicately flavored? Smelled a bit like a rose? I found it delightful to just munch on, but the melon they sent us was big and so, since I had a small batch of strawberries macerating in the fridge, I just cut up the remaining melon and made a strawberry + sun-jewel melon jam that was insanely yummy.
Image: Shiny, chunky jam in a jar on the table on our porch.
The picture doesn't quite do the jam's color justice. It's very sparkly, and so you can see why sun-jewel melon got that name. The jam tastes mostly like strawberries, but you get a lovely aftertaste of something floral.
I literally just made one jar. Shawn is on a list of small batch canning and they're forever just making a single jar of something. Obviously, this is not full-on canning--it's only for the fridge, but it should last a couple of months, easily... in theory. We've already eaten half the jar.
The last thing I need to figure out what to do with from the CSA is collard greens. I have a TON.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-25 05:14 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-25 05:40 pm (UTC)Here's my collard greens recommendation.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 04:45 pm (UTC)And the jam is superb. I just had the next to last drop on a bagel. So tasty.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-25 07:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 04:46 pm (UTC)I realized that what I was groping for as to what it felt like to bite into a cooked on is that, cooked, these have the consistency of a ripe tomato. Which I liked, even though I am not a tomato fan? (The texture is not my problem.)
no subject
Date: 2020-08-25 07:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 12:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 04:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 02:20 am (UTC)Bubble 'n' Squeak again?
no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 04:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 08:28 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-26 05:27 am (UTC)https://www.marthastewart.com/933505/orecchiette-sausage-chard-and-parsnips?utm_source=pinterest.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=social-share-recipe&utm_content=20200724&utm_term=933505
(I used rutabaga instead of parsnips and I think you could also sub in beets or carrots. Basically a root vegetable with some sweetness, sliced thin and cooked until tender.)
no subject
Date: 2020-08-27 04:49 pm (UTC)