Recipe: Grilled Eggplant And Shiitake Bruschetta

Grilled Eggplant And Shiitake Bruschetta

I cannot tell a lie. This was a totally failed experiment, but a yummy bite of food.

Experiment first: I've been interested for awhile in the idea of using the microwave to glaze a plate with sauce. The way I've tried it, I put maybe a tablespoon of a fairly thin sauce on the plate, then microwave it for 20 seconds at a time, giving it a shake occasionally, until it just barely dries into a thick coating. It makes kind of a mess and you have to wipe the plate carefully where you didn't want the sauce. But my evil plan was that then I could put a piece of hot, moist food down on it, and the diner could swab the reduced sauce with the food, rehydrating the intense flavors.

I still think I can make it work somehow. But it just wasn't working last night; all I was getting was an ugly brown splotchy mess.

All that 'sperimenting made me pretty hungry though, and I'd made a delicious red wine/soy/miso sauce. So I reduced that to a glaze and used my favorite pastry brush to drag it across the plate, which looked nice (see picture above). I grilled some bread, fresh shiitake, and Japanese eggplant (the last with more of the glaze), and had a midnight snack that assuaged the pain a little. This would make a fine first course for dinner on the deck.

Grilled Eggplant And Shiitake Bruschetta
Makes 4 pieces
Vegetarian; vegan if you omit the parmesan; gluten free if you omit the bread

1/2 c. red wine (I used a Tempranillo)
1/4 c. tamari or shoyu soy sauce
2 T. brown miso
2 T. mirin or 1 T. sugar
4 slices country bread
1 Japanese eggplant, quartered lengthwise
4 fresh shiitake caps, reserve stems
flat leaf parsley
olive oil
safflower oil (or other neutral high-heat oil)
sea salt (Maldon!)
black pepper
parmesan (optional)

In a small saucepan, combine the red wine, tamari, miso, mirin (or sugar) and shiitake stems. Bring to a boil and then simmer until syrupy on a spoon after it cools for a second. Remove the stems.
Rub the eggplant and shiitakes with the neutral oil and a bit of salt. On a grill pan or over a charcoal grill, cook until tender. The eggplant will take longer. For the last few minutes of cooking the eggplant, glaze it with a bit of the sauce. Try to only flip each item once so you get nice intact grill marks.
When the vegetables are almost done, rub olive oil generously on both sides of the bread, and grill them until lightly brown. Watch closely so as not to char the bread.
To serve, use your pastry brush to put a line of the remaining sauce down the center of a long platter. (Or do individual small plates). Cut the eggplant and shiitake into large bit size pieces and arrange a generous amount on each slice of bread. Top each bruschetta with a few leaves of parsley, sea salt, black pepper and slivers of parmesan.

Find related articles in: Appetizers | Experiments | Recipes
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Published on June 25, 2008.

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Jim Fowler commented on Why I'm A Vegetarian, Dammit:

Thanks for honest and thoughtful writing on this subject. I am very like you but not as eloquent... Jim

renato commented on Why I'm A Vegetarian, Dammit:

When I say umans, I'm meaning HUMANS.

renato commented on Why I'm A Vegetarian, Dammit:

I've always seen myself as a "potential vegetarian" or an omnivore with vegeterian tendencies, or whatever, but that was never something I gave thoughts about.

Since childhood I've prefered salads and vegetables over meat - with the exception of fish. But you know, living with people who eat meat all the time, you end up eating meat too, even not liking it at all.

Well, I went to Argentina, my favorite neighbour country (time to say, I'm Brazilian). In Argentina all they eat is meat. They are much more carnivores than omnivores. So, that was ok for me, cause since then I didn't have any concern about eating meat, except its taste. But one week of it made me so sick.

When I returned to Brazil I thanked so much God or the deities or the powers of nature (you see, I have no standard religion) for the incredible amount of vegetables we have here - I believe it doesn't compare to anywhere in the world. Fresh vegetables! I decided to stop eating meat. Many of my friends were going vegetarian at the same time. Thanks to the Universe and its forces, or to simple coincidence. And most importantly, add to that that my pet dog was run over by a bus and I could see all that suffering and trauma in her eyes. And my own despair. There came the realization that there are feelings between us umans and animals. "Do animals have feelings?" is not a necessary question for me, since I have feelings towards them, and that's enough. For your curiosity's sake, she recovered very very well. Dogs are so resistant!

I do very ocasionally eat fish and seafood - so I'm actually pescetarian, which is a specific kind of omnivorism. But meat... since I made my decision I tried meat one more time, but it tasted quite rotten, like a dead thing (which indeed it is). I can't stand the smell of animal fat anymore.

Hard to put up with people that think you'll die or get terribly sick if you don't eat meat. So to deal with it I started reading a lot about vegetarianism, and related issues. You know, a little database to try to argue with meat lovers. Most of the texts I've found are just ideological pamphlets, just too irate to be valid. Yours, Michael, is one of the few that address the issue in a nonpassionate, tolerant way. It made me realise that a diet is a matter of choice and should be adressed in a simple, natural way. It's as simple as choosing a pair of shoes to wear (assuming you're not a girl), especially when you feel good about it.

Sarah commented on Why I'm A Vegetarian, Dammit:

My reasons are similar to yours, but slightly different. I just find the idea of eating the flesh of another living creature, a creature that can feel pain, and has free will, simply barbaric. We're all connected, I don't see a tremendous difference between eating a cow and eating a human, both disgust me beyond belief. I don't think we should be feeding ourselves on death, it just seems wrong. Armed with this, I can combat any possible circumstance people hypothetically construct for meat eating.
It frustrates me when people demand explanations for my choice, and mock me for my lifestyle, thank you for writing such a well voiced and intelligent article that helps to combat the antipathy many meat eaters seem to feel towards vegetarians.

Michael Natkin commented on Why I'm A Vegetarian, Dammit:

Thanks Amber! I started when I was 18, so I remember well how much flak you take at that age. For what it is worth, it gets a lot easier as you get older and the people around you are more accepting.

Spa Flyer commented on How to Make Fluffy Couscous - Easy Couscous Recipe:

Wow, thanks for the tip. I only recently discovered cous cous and just love it. I was curious why it was fluffy sometimes, and not others, and thought it was the water. I think now it was the depth or narrowness of the various bowls I was using. I'll use my big, flat roasting pan next time. Thank you!

frantic foodie commented on Why I'm A Vegetarian, Dammit:

Michael, love the way you wrote this one, was a vegetarian for 5 years. You should print this and wear it on your forehead, that way people won't even have to ask

Amber commented on Why I'm A Vegetarian, Dammit:

I've been a vegetarian for 4 years. I'm only 17, so I seem to get more flack from meat-eaters about my decision. It's always pretty hard for me to get my point across to people who ask because I tend to get angry or flustered and I just drop the subject before I start crying or yelling. This article explains exactly why I made my decision and continue to live by it. So, when people ask me from now on, I do believe I will tell them the URL to this article. Thank you, and I will also be checking out this website from now on.

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