RFCJ RECIPE ARCHIVE
Posted by : Ruth Heiges Beef & Eggplant Charlotte - meat
There is a wonderful cooking-demo program on one of the Israeli TV channels every Tuesday evening, with the recipes printed in "Signon," [style] a supplement of the Ma'ariv Hebrew daily the following day. Yesterday's program appealed to me so much that I went out to purchase the newspaper today. The name of the program is "Shum, Pilpel, Vi-Shemen Zayit" -- garlic, pepper and olive oil. Unfortunately, the magazine does not list the names of the presenters, a food/restaurant critic who truly knows his way around the working end of the kitchen, and a wonderful young chef who has no airs about herself, but gets right down to preparing and presenting the recipes. The published recipes are not very clearly presented, though. If I hadn't seen the program, I wouldn't have known how to prepare the dishes from the way the recipes are written, so the following is a combination of the translated recipe and what I observed from the program. Eggplant Charlotte ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 2 large eggplants 1/2 kilo/1 lb ground beef 2 tomatoes The eggplant: ------------------------- 1. Slice the narrow end into several round slices of about 1/4-in. thick. Slice the remainder longitudinally. 2. Fry the slices in oil until limp and starting to brown. 3. Drain well and set aside. The beef --------------------------- Brown in a frying pan; season to taste. Drain thoroughly. The recipe does not call for it, but I would fry onions with the meat; possibly also diced pepper. It could also be nice to add in a few ounces of pine nuts. The tomatoes ---------------------------- Blanch, peel, and cut into thick slices. Assembly ---------------------------- The chef used a deep glass baking dish which I estimate to have been about 9-10 in. in diameter; perhaps 1-1/2 to 2-quart capacity. It is used as a mold which is later overturned. 1. Arrange the round slices as aesthetically as possible on the bottom of the dish, bearing in mind this will form the top of the finished product. 2. Line the sides of the dish with the large slices. Slices should slightly overlap each other, and there should be an extensive overhang over the sides of the dish. 3. Fill with the browned meat mixture, packing it down well. 4. Top with the tomato slices. (If you see it's not going to be possible to put the inverted cover on the dish, remove some of the tomato slices.) Sprinkle with salt and pepper. 5. Fold each eggplant slice over the tomatoes, in turn. 6. Place the cover on the dish, inverted, or cover with a plate. Press down firmly, and weight it down with a heavy object (to put the mixture under pressure). 7. Allow to stand at room temperature for several hours. 8. Before serving, carefully spill out any accumulated liquid, then overturn onto a serving platter to unmold. Slice wedges for serving. Ruth ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "He has sorry food who feeds on the faults of others." - Canadian Proverb
