Hi all,
while doing my christmas ham (the first one of two) I thought I might as well utilize the fire to cook some nice sides. I did two, just for fun.
I bought some fresh dates, and wrapped them with bacon. They were grilled using direct heat when the ham was done. The taste is just fantastic, as the sweet dates match the salty bacon perfectly! Can highly recommend this. PRO TIP: remove the pits before wrapping in bacon.
The dates, before wrapping
The bacon wrapped dates, kissed by fire
The second side dish I did with an aubergine. I wanted to utilize the smoke flavor even though I was doing vegetables, so I figured I could smoke the aubergine (eggplant). I placed it on indirect heat for 45 minutes (was running 225° F), until it had gone soft and a bit wrinkled. Then I gave it a good char, then brought it in to the kitchen, where I chopped it with a knife and then placed it in my mixer.
Smoked aubergine Mousse - Ingredients (serves 2-3)
1 aubergine
1 tsp coriander (dried, but if you have fresh coriander it will be so much better)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
I mixed the ingredients above until it was pretty smooth (but not too smooth). Then I made a youghurt dip, consisting of:
Yoghurt dip - Ingredients
0.5 cups greek yoghurt
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
0.5 tsp salt
You want to use an unsweetened thick yoghurt.
Serve the smoked aubergine mousse in a bowl, with the yoghurt dip in another, and a stack of pita breads. This combo works really well, as you get the proper smoke flavor from the aubergine, together with the sweetness from the cold yoghurt dip. This is a really good starter dish, and eating with your hands is always fun :-)
Smoked aubergine mousse with yoghurt dip
while doing my christmas ham (the first one of two) I thought I might as well utilize the fire to cook some nice sides. I did two, just for fun.
I bought some fresh dates, and wrapped them with bacon. They were grilled using direct heat when the ham was done. The taste is just fantastic, as the sweet dates match the salty bacon perfectly! Can highly recommend this. PRO TIP: remove the pits before wrapping in bacon.
The dates, before wrapping
The bacon wrapped dates, kissed by fire
The second side dish I did with an aubergine. I wanted to utilize the smoke flavor even though I was doing vegetables, so I figured I could smoke the aubergine (eggplant). I placed it on indirect heat for 45 minutes (was running 225° F), until it had gone soft and a bit wrinkled. Then I gave it a good char, then brought it in to the kitchen, where I chopped it with a knife and then placed it in my mixer.
Smoked aubergine Mousse - Ingredients (serves 2-3)
1 aubergine
1 tsp coriander (dried, but if you have fresh coriander it will be so much better)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tbsp olive oil
I mixed the ingredients above until it was pretty smooth (but not too smooth). Then I made a youghurt dip, consisting of:
Yoghurt dip - Ingredients
0.5 cups greek yoghurt
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp olive oil
0.5 tsp salt
You want to use an unsweetened thick yoghurt.
Serve the smoked aubergine mousse in a bowl, with the yoghurt dip in another, and a stack of pita breads. This combo works really well, as you get the proper smoke flavor from the aubergine, together with the sweetness from the cold yoghurt dip. This is a really good starter dish, and eating with your hands is always fun :-)
Smoked aubergine mousse with yoghurt dip
Awesome photo's BTW!!
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