From The EI Kitchen
Baba Ghanouj/Mtabbel: simple yet sophisticated
Whether offered alone, as an appetizer, or as an accomaniment to a meal, baba ghanouj is a uniquely delicious and healthy dish that will please everyone with its smokey and tangy flavor. The EI kitchen shows you how to make this popular and inexpensive dip.
Roasted eggplant with sesame seed butter
Simple yet sophisticated, the smoky flavor of eggplant makes baba ghanouj a favorite dish throughout the Middle East.
Ingredients
3-4 medium eggplants, sliced lengthwise
3 cloves of garlic, crushed
Juice of one - two lemons
1/2 cup tahini
1/2 t. sea salt
dash of white pepper
sprinkling of pomegranate seeds
Brush the sliced sides of the eggplants with olive oil and place them on a cookie sheet, skin sides facing up. Put the eggplants in the oven and broil the outer skins until charred. You will smell them burning. Don't worry; that's what makes this dish taste so good!
When outer skins of the eggplants are hard and burned, remove them from the oven and let them sit and cool. In the meantime, juice the lemons. Once the egglpants are cool (it may take more than an hour), scoop the cooked insides into a large bowl. Add the garlic and salt and stir. Then add, alternating, the lemon juice and the tahini until it is smooth. It should be a little thick, so going easy on the lemon juice is best.
When the baba ghanouj is the right taste and consistency for you, make a moat in the mixture and add about 1/4 cup olive oil, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds, and serve with hot bread.
Sahtain! ("To your health!")
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