Stir-fried Eggplant Recipe

Stir-fried Eggplant
(source: http://thaifood.about.com/od/thaisnacks/r/thaieggplant.htm)

This simple eggplant recipe is aromatic and flavorful, and the generous amounts of fresh garlic make it extra healthy. This eggplant recipe makes a terrific side dish that can also be made vegetarian. It also works with any type of eggplant - whatever is fresh and available where you live. You can also adjust the spice level in this eggplant recipe, taking it anywhere from mild to spicy hot, according to your liking. ENJOY!

Prep Time: 8 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 18 minutes

Ingredients:

1/2 cooking onion (purple onions work well for this recipe)
6 cloves garlic, minced
1-3 red chillies (including seeds), depending on how spicy you like it
1 Chinese (large, with dark purple skin) eggplant, or 2 (thinner, with light purple skin) Japanese eggplants
1/4 cup water for stir-frying
2-3 Tbsp. oil for stir-frying
roughly 1/2 cup (or more) fresh basil
2 Tbsp. soy sauce

SAUCE:
1 Tbsp. fish sauce OR 1+1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. oyster sauce OR vegetarian oyster sauce, OR Vegetarian Stir-Fry Sauce (Lee Kum Kee brand)
1 tsp. brown sugar
1 tsp. cornstarch mixed with 2 Tbsp. water (mix until cornstarch is dissolved)

Preparation:

1. First, prepare sauce by mixing together all sauce ingredients except cornstarch. Prepare the cornstarch and water mixture in a separate cup or bowl. Set both aside.
2. Chop the eggplant up into bite-size pieces (be sure to leave the peel on - this is where most of the nutrients are).
3. Place 2-3 Tbsp. oil to a wok or large frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the onion, half of the garlic, chilli, and eggplant. Reserve the rest of the garlic for later.
4. Stir-fry for 5 minutes. When the wok or frying pan becomes dry, add a little of the water (a few Tbsp. at a time) - enough to keep the ingredients frying nicely.
5. Add 2 Tbsp. soy sauce and continue stir-frying for 5 more minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and the white flesh is almost translucent. Add a little more water when the pan becomes too dry (up to 1/4 cup).
6. When the eggplant is soft, add the rest of the garlic plus the sauce. Stir fry to incorporate.
7. Lastly, add the cornstarch/water mixture. Stir well so that the sauce thickens uniformly (this will only take a minute or less). Remove from heat.
8. Taste test the eggplant for salt. If not salty enough, add a little more fish sauce. If too salty, add 1 Tbsp. lime juice (or substitute 1 Tbsp. lemon juice).
9. Now add 3/4 of the fresh basil, stirring briefly to incorporate.
10. Slide onto a serving platter and sprinkle the rest of the basil over top. Serve with jasmine rice. Enjoy!

Week 11

WOW!  WEEK 11!!!  Can you believe that it is almost September and we are approaching Week 11 of our CSA for 2010?  That means 4 more weeks of produce for full shares and 2 more weeks for half shares!  Hope you are enjoying your food and your summer!!!

IDENTIFYING YOUR PRODUCE: Per your requests we have added an "Identification" section to our online newsletter/blog we hope you find this useful.  We will try to keep it updated with all the produce we give you from now on.  If you have any recipe ideas that you would like to share, please send them to us via email.

FARM NEWS: Our giant heirloom tomatoes are dwindling down, but winter squash is growing strong!  We still have roma tomatoes, green zebras, some cherries, and hopefully some big boy tomatoes ripening up.  Beets and arugula are popping up all over the place, hopefully you will see those in a couple weeks.  Now that we are seeing some cooler weather we hope to offer you lettuce again!  Cucumbers were devastated by these nasty little yellow and black cucumber beetles, but we hope you enjoyed the cucumber you already received. 

NOW OFFERING FALL SHARES:  We are excited to announce that we will be offering a limited amount of additional Fall Shares.  Sign up for 4 more weeks of produce in September and October for $80.  Please contact us via email if you are interested.  First come first serve.

FARM BABY ON THE WAY:  Erik & Amolia are expecting a baby in November... if you haven't noticed her belly yet!  Click here to support the organic baby movement.

QUESTIONS, COMMENTS, CONCERNS:  Thanks to everyone who sends us their questions, comments and concerns.  It is through communication like this that we can make improvements to our service and your enjoyment. 

Peace be with you,
Aliisa, Erik, Amolia & Johanna
HERON HOMESTEAD GROWING TEAM

Identifying the contents of your CSA share



lemon balm. delicious and refreshing lemon scented herb.
make tea from fresh or dried leaves.






cilantro.  add to fresh salsa, tacos, beans, and indian dishes.

dill.  yummy pickles, dilly yogurt dip or on your potatoes





oregano.
hang and dry if not used immediately.





thyme.  hang and dry if not used immediately.
great for soups, stir fries, beans and baking.

rainbow chard

lacinato kale

wild kale mix

red russian kale

curly kale

french sorrel.  lemon/citrus flavor. 
great for soups, salads, fish.





purple peruvian pepper - MEDIUM HOT

jalapeño - HOT



orange thai chile - HOT. great for drying





 





yellow summer squash





zucchini w/ stripes!




zucchini







gold medal heirloom tomato.



red chesnok garlic







sugar sweetie cherry tomato.







Week 8

This Week's Share Includes


- zucchini and/or yellow crook-neck summer squash (see recipe bellow)
- cucumber - Lemon cucumber, pickling cukes, and/or Straight Eight
- tomatoes - Sugar Sweetie Cherry, Yellow Perfection, Roma and heirloom variety Black From Tula- basil
- hot pepper
- potatoes - Colorado Rose
- garlic
- kale - enjoy one of our 5 varieties of kale!
- chard - Swiss chard and/or rainbow chard
- cut flowers - sunflowers


RECIPE for SUMMER SQUASH
(Yellow or Zucchini)

You should find most of these ingredients in your CSA shares!

Ingredients:

2 lbs squash and/or zucchini, sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeds removed, sliced
2 smallish tomatoes or one large tomato, peeled and cut into wedges
1/2 yellow onion, peeled and sliced
1 clove of garlic, chopped
Olive oil
5 or 6 slices of cheese - jack or cheddar
Basil, either dry or chopped fresh
Salt and pepper

METHOD
1 Put onion, garlic, squash, bell pepper into a large saucepan with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil. Put on high heat and brown the vegetables slightly to develop flavor. As you are browning, sprinkle either dried basil or chopped fresh basil on the vegetables. When vegetables are slightly browned, remove from heat, add the slices of cheese, and cover the pan.

2 In a separate stick-free fry pan, put the tomatoes and cook at medium hi heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want to let the juice from the tomatoes evaporate some. After 5 minutes, add the tomatoes to the rest of the vegetables and stir. Salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 4.

http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/moms_summer_squash/

Week 7

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) Newsletter

To save on energy, time, and our earths natural resources we will be posting our newsletter online from now on, instead of printing.  We hope this is convenient for you as well.

This week's share includes:
- kale - enjoy one of our 5 varieties of kale!
- chard 
- zucchini and/or yellow crook-neck summer squash
- cucumber - :Lemon cucumber, pickling cukes and/or Japanese soyu cucumber
- potatoes - we just love these Purple Vikings, we hope you do too!
- garlic
- tomatoes - cherry, roma and heirloom variety Black From Tula
- cut flowers - gladiolas, sunflowers, calendula and/or anise hyssop