For every dish that’s ever made it to my “favorite foods” list, there is always one particular person/place/restaraunt that makes the best version of said dish. I can attempt to make the recipe myself, but it never turns out quite how I want it to. Sometimes it’s an issue with consistency, sometimes spice level…most often it just doesn’t taste right. I can tweak one ingredient or another, but rarely do I even get it to a point where I would consider it edible. The funny thing is, if I were to give it to anyone who doesn’t have that particular taste memory, it will taste perfectly fine to them. To me, however, it tastes gross…well maybe not gross, but it certainly doesn’t taste good.
Baba Ghanouj is one of dishes that is best left to the experts. The “experts” in this situation, are none other than the incredible cooks at Pita Inn. I’ve been eating at this restaurant for as long as I can remember (and maybe years before that). Given the ample supply of healthy and inexpensive dishes, this restaurant has been a favorite of my family since before I was born. I was eating falafel for years before my first taste of a good ol’ fashion American hamburger (please read that with a southern accent). In fact, I used to call falafel “cookies”…that should give you an idea of how many sweets were in my house growing up. And as much as I enjoyed the falafel, hummus, and oh-so-delicious baklava, it was always the baba that remained nearest and dearest to my heart. It’s just so creamy…so light…so…perfectly flavored…How am I ever supposed to replicate that level of perfection?!
When I received the most recent copy of Saveur magazine, and flipped to the section on middle eastern recipes, my eyes kept redirecting to the baba ghanouj recipe. I knew I had an eggplant sitting in the fridge, and it was pretty likely that I would be getting another one at the upcoming City Fresh pickup, but dare I attempt to accomplish the impossible? I’ve never tried to make this dish for the simple reason that I didn’t think I could pull it off. Honestly, I knew from the start that it was pretty unlikely I’d be happy with the finished product, but if nothing else, I was sure I could pawn off the final product on those fortunate/unfortunate enough to never have tried Pita Inn’s baba. Sure enough, I wasn’t satisfied with the result of this failed experiment….but at least I’ve finally taken the first step to finding a baba ganoush recipe that, while it isn’t as good as the one I constantly crave, I can call my own.
(For the record, Anita liked the dish…I’ll just blame my dislike on my stubborn taste buds)
(Adapted from Sauver Magazine)
What you need:
- 8 cloves roasted garlic (for instructions on how to roast garlic, check out this post)
- 2 medium eggplants
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbs tahini
- 2 tbs mayonnaise
- 1 tbs finely chopped parsley (or cilantro depending on which flavor you prefer)
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- Kosher salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
- Olive oil (for roasting the eggplants)
What you need to do:
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
- Slice your eggplants in half, and brush olive oil on the cut side of the eggplant halves.
- Place on a foil lined baking sheet, cut side down, and poke each eggplant many times with the tines of a fork.
- Roast until tender (about 35-40 minutes).
- Once cooked, scoop out the “meat” of the eggplant (you can remove the seeds if you want, but that was way too much work for my taste), and add it to a food processor along with the other ingredients. Note: some people argue that baba is supposed to be chunky, but Pita Inn makes it very smooth, so I insist on doing the same.
- Blend until smooth…’cause I say so.
- Serve with pita chips and enjoy!
Sometimes dishes always taste better in our memories, too!
One of the tricks for baba ganoush is to smoke your eggplant on an open flame. I did it for my baingan bharta and it was phenomenol.. It can be a bit messy though.. and make your home smokey… But oh so good!
What a great idea!! I’ll definitely try that next time.