1. 4 large egg plants, cut lenghtwise, fleshy side brushed with olive oil, fleshy side down on the cooking grate, smoke for 2 hours (I would make this after I cooked ribs, chicken, pork,etc. so that the fuel would not go to waste)- I use hickory or mesquite wood.

When the inside of the egg plant is easily removed with a spoon, so that there are not long tough thread like firbous strands, it's ready. You can finish them off in the oven at 350 until they are nice and tender. Spoon the insides out. You can use the black skin if you want but I use just a little for some color.

2. 1 to 2 heaping tablespoons tahini (ground seseme seed paste - it's like peanut butter but more oily- mix it up well to before using it.)

3. juice of one half a lemon (or more if you want - I just keep tasting to get the right flavor)

4. 1 clove of minced garlic.

5. salt to taste. I use sea salt.

6. touch of black pepper

7. whir in a blender to incorporate. Depends on how you like it, I like to know its egg plant so I whir it a few times so I can still see the seeds and know it's egg plant. I don't like a fine smooth blend. You can do it finer if you like.

8. Place dip in bowl. You can top dip with a sprinkle of olive oil and a dusting of paprika.

9.Cut triangular slices of syrian or pita bread to serve on the side with some lemon wedges.

10. Taste will be better than a middle eastern or Greek restaurant. Good dip for chicks !

Mike, you don't happen to have the perfect humus recipe while you're at it??? Been searching for a long time. Local Greek restaurant ahs a great one but of course no matter how much of a bribe they wouldn't share their"secret ingredients".

It is not likely they have 'secret' ingredients--hummus is so straightforward--but what they might have is quality of ingredients and/or ratios(s), i.e., chickpeas:tahini:garlic:lemon, that you find appealing. Lightness or richness of flavor varies among recipes as well. This is a simple difference between how much liquid from the chickpea can (or cookpot) is used in the blend vs. how much water. If you want a lighter finish use less (or eliminate) the bean liquid and use more (or all water).

Other things I like:

• I use a little very finely grated lemon zest (dust, really) as well as fresh juice. The oils in the zest are carried better by all the oil in the hummus.
  
  
• If the garlic you are using has a green shoot forming in the centr of the clove do not use the green--trim around it. The green leans toward bitter.
  
  
• If the garlic you are using is paricularly sulphurous you can soften its flavor and remove a little, some, or all of its 'edge' by boiling the cloves in water. A half-minute will soften the flavor very slightly; 10 minutes will remove strong sulphur-y flavors and bitterness (allowing you to use more garlic if you wish) and will result in a very smooth flavor and texture. I often boil one clove for close to 10, one for 3-5, one for just a minute--for a range of garlic flavors and just a bit of bite.
  
  
• Use really good olive oil in and on top of the hummus at serving. (I cannot recommend Morea enough.)
  
  
• Use white pepper in the hummus instead of black.
  
  
• Use zatar instead of paprika for garnish. The flavor is superior and much more Middle East rather than Mediterranean. If you make your own zatar so much the better--your hummus will evoke Lebanon, Syria, Persia--and you'll need only a jeweled-navel dancer to serve it.

Great baba ganoush recipe, Mike.

Kevin, thanks for the reply. Will try.

Hey Gang-

I tried this recipe out in preparation for a Mediterranean cook for the wife this Sunday, and it's some GREAT Baba.

The only thing I would note is cook temp... the recipe states to "smoke for two hours". I put my four halved eggplants on at 225 for two hours, and I didn't think they were nearly done. Even after three hours they were *just* where I was happy pulling and scooping them out. Next time I might "high smoke" them closer toward the 325-350 range, but the end result was delicious.

Mmmmm, Baba!!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Benny L.,

225 is low. I roast--whole, not halved, simply stabbed with a fork a few places per side--at temps over 350, usually. If the temps happen to be lower, no big deal, but it will take longer, as you've seen.

They are fine at temps of up to ~400. Past that and evenness of cooking suffers.

quote:

they wouldn't share their"secret ingredients"

I recently tried a combo of cumin and smoked paprika that worked REALLY well. We shop at a spice place in NYC call Kalustyan's that's either middle eastern or Indian. Anyways when I cracked open the smoked parika it just smelled like this place, guess it was enough to give my hummus some authenticity that I thought it lacked.

crushed red pepper flakes work well to give it some heat.

Thanks for sharing, I do pretty much the same except I add olive oil when mixing as well as on top (can never have enough ya know and I roast my eggplants directly in the coals instead of on the grates. I find you get more of a smoky taste that way. The first time I tasted this stuff in a restaurant it reminded me of cigarettes

quote:

The first time I tasted this stuff in a restaurant it reminded me of cigarettes

Yeah, I had a similar feeling. I'm not a big fan of the stuff I've had out. Thats the great part of being a home cook you can make it the way you like. I try not to get it so charred that the finished product it too smokey.