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Hot Vegetable Dinner
Pare and cut eggplant into 1/2 in. slices, dip in flour, season with salt and pepper. Fry to crisp brown on both sides. Lay slice in center of each plate. In small piles on each plate, place different previously cooked vegetables, buttered and seasoned nicely, such as beets, string beans, carrots and peas. Place crisped slices of pared cucumbers on plate also, around the eggplant in center.
A composed vegetable plate rather than a mixed dish: everything is cooked separately and assembled at the last minute, so the timing of the assembly matters more than any single step. The recipe gives no quantities, which is deliberate — it is a template for using what is already cooked.
- Quantities and yieldNothing is specified. The recipe puts a single slice at the center of each plate, so a medium eggplant of about 1 lb, cut into half-inch slices, will serve several plates. The amount of assorted cooked vegetables per plate is left entirely to the cook.
- Salt the eggplant firstThe recipe skips it, but salting the slices for 20-30 minutes and blotting them dry draws out moisture so the flour coating crisps instead of steaming. Modern eggplant is bred far less bitter than it was, so this is about texture, not bitterness.
- The flour coatingA bare flour dredge is thin and will not survive a wet slice. Press the seasoned flour on firmly and fry immediately; the coating goes soft if the slices sit.
- FryingShallow-fry in about 1/4 in. of oil at 350-365F. Eggplant absorbs oil greedily at low temperatures, so let the fat come back to heat between batches and drain the slices on a rack rather than paper, which traps steam.
- "Crisped" cucumbersAmbiguous. Most likely raw pared cucumber slices soaked in ice water until firm and drained, giving a cold, snappy garnish; the word could also mean they were fried like the eggplant. The recipe does not say.
- Reheating the vegetablesBeets, beans, carrots and peas are cooked in advance and warmed through with butter and seasoning. Warm each briefly in its own pan or the beets will stain everything on the plate.
- Serve on hot platesWith four or five separate components and no sauce, the plate cools fast. Warm the plates and fry the eggplant last so it reaches the table crisp.