Oyster Eggplant And Tasso Gratin Recipes

OYSTER, EGGPLANT, AND TASSO GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 4 individual shallow baking dishes.
• Drain oysters into a large bowl, reserving liquor. Check oysters for any pieces of shell and discard. Strain liquor through a fine mesh sieve; set aside.
• Melt butter in a small saucepan over low heat. Whisk in flour, then add reserved oyster liquor and broth or milk. Bring mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Whisk in cream and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt, pepper, hot sauce, and nutmeg. Remove mixture from heat; cover sauce to keep warm.
• Heat olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, about 5 minutes. Add onion, tasso, and garlic; stir in sage and rosemary. Cook until eggplant is tender and cooked through, 5 to 7 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper; transfer mixture to a colander; let stand to drain excess oil, about 5 minutes.
• Spread mixture evenly in baking dishes; top with an even layer of oysters. Drizzle with sauce and sprinkle over breadcrumb topping. Transfer to oven and bake until golden brown and bubbly, about 10 minutes. Serve immediately.

EGGPLANT GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• Heat about 1/8-inch of olive oil in a very large frying pan over medium heat. When the oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook, turning once, until they are evenly browned on both sides and cooked through, about 5 minutes. Be careful, it splatters! Transfer the cooked eggplant slices to paper towels to drain. Add more oil, heat, and add more eggplant until all the slices are cooked.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, egg, half-and-half, 1/4 cup of the Parmesan, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.
• In each of 2 individual gratin dishes, place a layer of eggplant slices, then sprinkle with Parmesan, salt and pepper and spoon 1/2 of the marinara sauce. Next, add a second layer of eggplant, more salt and pepper, half the ricotta mixture, and finally 1 tablespoon of grated Parmesan on top.
• Place the gratins on a baking sheet and bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until the custard sets and the top is browned. Serve warm.

EGGPLANT AND POTATO GRATIN

Steps:

• Heat oven to 425 degrees. Slice the eggplants 1/4-inch thick, discarding the tops. Peel the potatoes or leave the skins on, and slice the potatoes 1/4-inch thick. Place the eggplant and potatoes in a large bowl and drizzle with the ghee. Toss with cumin, nigella, red-pepper flakes, cinnamon and 1 teaspoon salt.
• Lightly grease a 9-by-9-inch baking dish or similarly sized gratin dish with ghee, and place the gratin dish on a baking sheet.
• Add the tomatoes and garlic to the baking dish, season with salt and toss to combine. Arrange the eggplant and potato slices on top, alternating between the two vegetables.
• In a small bowl, mix the bread crumbs and Parmesan. Sprinkle the mixture over the sliced vegetables.
• Cover the dish tightly with aluminum foil and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, and bake for another 15 to 20 minutes, until the top turns golden brown. Let the dish cool for 5 minutes before serving.

EGGPLANT STUFFED WITH OYSTERS

Steps:

• Slice side off eggplant lengthwise. Scoop out pulp from large piece and set pulp aside for use later. Sprinkle inside of eggplant with salt, replace its top and refrigerate until time to stuff.
• Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Place two slices of whole wheat bread in oven to dry out while it is heating. 3. Melt butter in heavy skillet over medium heat. With the lid on, braise until soft these chopped items: cubed eggplant pulp, sliced mushrooms, chopped celery and onion.
• Add drained oysters, pimientos, dried-out bread, which you have torn into small pieces, and parsley to the above. (For an easy method of chopping parsley, try using kitchen shears instead of a knife.) Stir.
• Beat eggs until lemon colored and add to the above. Turn heat to low and continue cooking for five minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from fire and salt to taste.
• Remove eggplant from refrigerator and discard the small covering slice. Stuff loosely into eggplant the sauteed vegetables and oysters. Place one inch of water in the bottom of an oven-to-table baking dish. Cover tightly, bake 45 minutes or until tender.

MOCK OYSTERS/EGGPLANT CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Soak the eggplant about 8 hours in salted water.
• Remove eggplant pieces from the water in which they have soaked.
• In cooking pot, cover eggplant with fresh, slightly salted water and cook over medium heat for about 20 minutes or until eggplant is tender.
• Drain in colander.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line bottom of 2-quart casserole with 1/3 of the saltine cracker crumbs.
• Cover with 2 cups of eggplant.
• Season with half the salt and pepper.
• Cut half the butter into small pieces and sprinkle on top.
• Cover this with half of the remaining saltine cracker crumbs.
• Add remaining 2 cups of eggplant.
• Season with remaining salt and pepper.
• Cover top with remaining saltine cracker crumbs.
• Cut remaining butter into small pieces and sprinkle on top.
• Pour in enough half & half to cover (may not take entire pint).
• Bake for 1 hour or until top layer is brown.

EGGPLANT, OYSTER, AND TASSO GRATIN

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Butter a 2-quart baking dish and set aside. Pour the oysters into a bowl and check for bits of shell. Strain the oyster liquor through a fine sieve into a small bowl and set aside. Set drained oysters aside in a small bowl.
• Melt the butter in a small saucepan over low heat and whisk in the flour. Whisk in the reserved oyster liquor and stock. Increase the heat to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil, whisking constantly. Whisk in the cream. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently, stirring from time to time, until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Season the sauce with salt, pepper, hot sauce, and nutmeg. Remove the pan from the heat and cover to keep the sauce warm.
• Heat the extra-virgin olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add the eggplant and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Stir in the onion, tasso, garlic, sage, and rosemary. Cook until the eggplant is tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer the eggplant mixture into a colander to drain for 5 minutes. Stir together the crumbs, parsley, melted butter, oil, and cheese in a small bowl and set aside.
• To assemble the gratin, spread about one-third of the oyster liquor sauce in the bottom of the prepared baking dish. Spoon the eggplant mixture into the dish. Arrange the oysters in a single layer over the eggplant mixture and drizzle with the remaining sauce. Sprinkle the crumb topping over the entire dish. Bake until golden brown and bubbly, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve hot.