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Stuffed Eggplant
1 eggplant 2 tablespoons butter Salt and pepper 1/2 cup water 2 cups crums Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and scoop out the center pulp, leaving the rind about one-half inch thick so that the shape may be firm. Cover the shells with cold water. Chop the pulp fine, season it with salt and pepper, add butter or other savory fat and cook in a frying-pan for ten minutes, stirring well, then add water and one cup of bread-crums. Drain the shells, sprinkle the interior of each with salt and pepper and fill them with the mixture. Spread one cup of crums on the surface of the mixture, place the two pieces of plant in a baking-dish or deep pan, and pour enough hot water into the pan to come one-third up the sides of the plant. Bake one hour, and serve hot.
A plain baked stuffed eggplant from the era when the vegetable was still slightly exotic in American kitchens. The recipe assumes you know your own stove, so the one thing it omits is the oven temperature.
- Oven temperatureNo heat is specified. A moderate oven, around 350F, is a reasonable choice for an hour-long bake in a water bath; the shells should be tender enough to yield to a spoon.
- "Crums"Probably soft bread crumbs, torn or grated from a loaf, rather than the dry fine-ground kind; the recipe does not say which. Dry crumbs would absorb more of the liquid and give a stodgier filling.
- Size of eggplantThe quantities suit a single medium globe eggplant. Two halves of one plant serve two as a main dish or four as a side.
- The water bathHot water a third of the way up the pan is the hinge of the method: it steams the rind tender without scorching the outside before the centre heats through. Top it up if it boils away.
- Soaking the shellsCovering the shells with cold water while you work keeps cut surfaces from browning. Modern eggplants are bred less bitter, so salting and long draining is optional, but the cold water still helps.
- "Other savory fat"Bacon drippings, chicken fat or olive oil all work in place of the 2 tablespoons of butter. The period phrase probably acknowledged that butter was the more expensive choice.
- The crumb toppingA cup of crumbs spread on top will stay pale and floury unless tossed first with a little melted fat.
- TimingAn hour is generous for a medium eggplant. Test at 40 minutes by piercing the rind; if it is soft and the filling is hot through, it is done.