EGGPLANTS

There’s pretty well always an eggplant in the supermarket but, as we all know, they get pricey in the middle of winter when imported ones take over from the locals. Now is the time to harvest or buy them while the going is good. If you are picking your own now, eggplants are ready when they are nice and glossy and slightly soft to touch. Leave them on the plant too long before harvesting and they will turn bitter. Store in the fridge and treat them with care. Eggplants bruise easily.

1 To salt or not to salt?

Sprinkling the cut eggplant with salt, weighing it down and waiting 20 minutes or so to extract the water used to be de rigueur because eggplants were once more bitter than those we buy today. However, salting is still a good idea if you are frying your eggplant because it will stop it sucking up too much oil. Salt, wait, rinse and dry it, then fry. Can’t be bothered salting? Keeping the oil very hot before adding the slices of eggplant will also help minimise a greasy overload.

2 Freeze them for later

If you have a glut, eggplants can be frozen but, because they have lots of water, they need to be cooked first. Cut into chunky slices and bake them in a moderate oven for about 20 minutes, until just tender. When cold, layer the slices between squares of baking paper so they don’t stick together and freeze in sealed bags or containers. Use them later in dishes like eggplant parmigiana. If you want to use eggplant later in dips, roast them, scoop out the flesh and freeze that in a sealed container for up to one year.

3 Turn them Japanese

Do the Japanese restaurant thing at home and make nasu dengaku: baked eggplant halves smeared in an umami-rich sweet miso glaze. Try Kathy Paterson’s easy miso eggplant recipe, her version of this traditional, tasty vegan side dish.