Stuffed--Lenten-Style

Stuffed eggplant seems ubiquitous during Lent in New Orleans. They were served at lunch at school, and it seemed that every Maw-Maw trotted out these footballs of bread and cheese on Friday night. Usually having only a passing acquaintance with some sort of seafood, and even eggplant, the cooked eggplant shells mainly served as a conduit for dishing up seasoned breadcrumbs, Progresso Seasoned Breadcrumbs to be more exact. This isn't a dish I look back on with unmitigated fondness, with fuzzy warm feelings of bonhomie and luv. Indeed, I had some misgivings about attempting this, but I figured it only served two, so if it stank, I wouldn't be wasting too much. Its also a recipe from Galatoire's, so just how bad could it be?

At first glance, this recipe looks like a breeze.

Stuffed Eggplant
Galatoire's

1 large eggplant
2 Tbs. chopped green onion
1 tsp. parsley
4 Tbs. butter
salt and pepper
1/2 cup lump crab meat
1/2 cup cooked shrimp (or 1 cup of either)
Bread crumbs
Grated Parmesan cheese

Cut eggplant lengthwise, put in a pan with a little water and bake in oven until tender. Scoop out pulp, being careful to keep skin intact for re-stuffing. In a skillet, brown green onions and parsley in butter. Season and add pulp of eggplant and shrimp and or crab meat. Stir together and cook for a few minutes, then stuff into eggplant shells. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and grated cheese., and bake in a moderate oven until brown. Serves 2.

Oh, New Orleans Restaurant Cookbook, you get me every time. A breeze?....Let's see...Cooking times? Nope. An oven temperature perhaps? Nada. How about some amounts? How many breadcrumbs? How much cheese? Argh! Is it me or does this recipe read more like a series of suggestions rather than instructions on how to cook something?

I didn't know exactly how many shrimp would make up a cup, so I used 24 small shrimp, which I boiled, chilled and peeled, and that worked out to be the right amount. I sliced the eggplants in half and set them in a pan with 1 1/3 cups water. I put them in a 375 degree oven and baked for 50 minutes. I started them out cut side up.


But I flipped them over about half-way through the cooking, since they seemed to be getting a little too brown.


I scooped out the pulp from the eggplants, being careful not to break the skins, and removed to a small bowl. I then melted the 4 Tbs. of butter in a small skillet, and when it began to foam, I added the green onions and parsley and sauteed over a medium-low heat for 2 minutes. I added the eggplant and shrimp and cooked for two more minutes, mixing well.



I added 1 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. black pepper and 1/2 tsp. cayenne, mixing well then I stuffed the eggplant shells.


I thought it might be more interesting to make some fresh breadcrumbs to put on top, so I popped a day-old baguette into the food processor and presto!

I used 1/2 cup breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup grated Parmesan for the tops of the eggplant. I put them in a 350 degree oven and baked for 25 minutes, until the top got golden brown.

So the good: Not even close to being a bread football, in fact not really bready at all. I really liked the lightness of the dish, and thats despite having 4 Tbs. of butter. It also wasn't loaded with too much seasoning, so the flavor of the shrimp and the eggplant really shone through. I feel like this is some sort of ur-recipe on which the bastard stuffed eggplants of later ages are based.

Now the bad: It had 4 Tbs. of butter! Yowza! And it didn't really need that much. I think you could halve that amount and it would still taste good. It did need something else, however, but I'm not sure what. Some acid I think. Lemon? Wine? Stay tuned for the revised recipe.