Gardening: Mary's Little Eggplant

Friends by Proxy Dirt

In the nursery rhyme of my child hood, Mary had a little lamb. But my new friend and gardening buddy, Mary has a little eggplant. And she is as proud and loving of it as if it were her woolly cuddly lamb.

Mary came to me this spring through a mutual sister gardening pal and

in response to my invitation to have someone or a few someones share my yard for gardening.

As our young publishing company and www.thimbleberrypress.com (and please, become its fan on facebook) has begun to develop, my kid grow up and need more of my time during her teen years, and the demands of this blog increase, my gardening time has diminished. I have sat longing to go outside and get my hands on the dirt...but other duties at the keyboard and steering wheel have called. So I have been thrilled to have Mary come to garden.

Mary is a dear. And a brilliant dear--who is also a medieval scholar. I love to look out my bathroom window and see her folding bike parked beside the sheds and see her loving her plants--herbs, flowers and vegetables into bloom and fruition. I sometimes feel that I am out there with my hands in the dirt instead of hers. We are friends by proxy--proxy dirt.

That Dear Little Eggplant

Mary sent me these eggplant photos two days ago and I was as thrilled as if I were at a birthing! Here in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, through the magic of the internet..and it does seem magic to me still, I can share in the thrill of that first vegelette transforming from bloom to tiny egglette. That is Mary's love and the trans formative amazement of dirt, rain and sun on a tiny seed to nurture it into its fulfillment.

Gardening has done that for me--even proxy gardening--taken the little seed of possible, and nourished it into becoming.

I think I will always be a becoming...we all always are really. It is a false premise that we become and then are finished. No--like Mary and my friendship and the little eggplant--we are all always becoming. And that is a delicious thing.

Comments

[Virginia]

yes, I agree...it is rather like tofu..but it makes a delicious backdrop. Try it in Iman Bialdi--a baked dish with tomatoes, onions, pine nuts and a dash of cinnamon. it's middle eastern and so yummy.

See this recipe. It has no cinnamon, but I like it with...or without. Enjoy
Imam Bayildi Recipe at Epicurean.com

Imam Bayildi Recipe
Turkish Vegetable

Ingredients:
2 medium onions, chopped
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 medium eggplants
2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Directions:
Saute the onions in a little oil. Add the garlic, tomatoes, parsley, salt, and pep per. Cook until mushy. Cut the stem ends from each eggplant. Make 3 lengthwise slits, almost from end to end. With and hold each slit apart and spoon the onion mixture into each cavity. Arrange eggplants in a baking dish. Sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup oil. Bake, covered, in preheated moderate oven (350 F.) for 40 minutes, or until tender.

Serve hot. or as they do in Turkey, cold with yogurt. Makes 4 to 6 servings.

One modification. Instead of making three slits in the eggplants, etc. hollow the eggplants out, but leave a firm outer edge . Take the insides of the eggplants, chop them up, toss them into the pan with the other sauted ingredients. Saute the new mixture.

Then stuff the eggplants with that mixture. I f you want to microwave, I found that 15 to 20 minutes on medium works well . Actually, I microwave for 15 minutes then I baste the eggplants with the liquid at the bottom of the dish. I then cook for the remaining 5 minutes at high. You can tell by looking when the outer edge is done. We slice it for serving.

TURKISH IMAM BAYILDI (The Imam Fainted) "There are many stories about the origin of the name of this dish. One of them we heard while visiting Ankara, Turkey's capital. A long time ago a Turkish Imam (Mohammedan priest ), known for his love of good food, surprised his friends by announcing his engagement to the young daughter of a wealthy olive-oil merchant. The friends did not know about her ability to cook. But they presumed part of her dowry would include olive oil. They were right. For her father gave the groom twelve jars, each one large enough to hold a person, of the precious oil. After her marriage the bride proved to be an excellent cook and each day prepared a special dish for her epicurean husband. One of them, eggplant cooked in olive oil, became his favorite. And he ordered that his wife prepare it each night for dinner. This she did for twelve consecutive days. On the thirteenth, however, the dish was missing from the meal. Queried about its absence, the bride replied, "Dear husband, I do not have any more olive oil. You will have to purchase some more for me." The lmam was so shocked that he fainted. And since that day, according to the story, his favorite dish has been known as Imam Bayildi, The Imam Fainted."

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More Turkish Vegetable Recipes

Submitted 6/13/05.
Source: rec.food.recipes Archives
Submitted By: Rick Smith
rick@dragons.net
Imam Bayildi

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[Garden Gopher]

Never cared much for eggplant. It just seems to have little or no taste.