Smoked Baba Ganoush

Sunday

Oct092011

Smoked Baba Ganoush

Sunday, October 9, 2011 at 12:42PM

A couple months ago I was fortunate enough to dine [again] at one of the top restaurants in the country, Townhouse, in Chilhowie, VA. One of my favorite dishes of the night, aside from the incredulous turbot chicharrone, was a barbequed eggplant. It was a very unassuming dish, but full of flavor, and put the idea in my head that smoke, and char, and barbeque, and all those good things belong with eggplant.

Baba Ganoush is one of my favorite eggplant dishes, so it didn't take long for my mind to arrive at the idea of smoking it. After all, the eggplant is supposed to be cooked over an open flame to get a smoky flavor, so why not just smoke it to begin with?

The end result is a simple but delicious mash of eggplant. If you don't have a smoker, a broiler or wood burning grill will work well, but the extra punch of smoke is really what sets my version apart. You will need:

3-4 Medium Eggplants
1/2 C Tahini
1 Lemon
Olive Oil
[Smoked] Sea Salt

First, smoke the eggplant. Since I have a small smoker, I had to give the eggplant a rough chop, and found it easiest to peel the eggplant first. If you can smoke a halved eggplant, don't worry about peeling, as the flesh will scoop out easily from the skin.

After 30 minutes of smoking, the eggplant will turn an earthy brown.

You'll know the eggplant is done when it can be easily mashed with a fork. Once all of the eggplant is smoked, mash it all in a bowl, leaving a few chunks for texture. Season the mash with smoked salt, and add the juice of a lemon. Next, gradually add a half cup of tahini. The tahini will initially dilute the smoke flavor, but it will come back over time, so I suggest making the baba ganoush at least a day in advance (which makes it great for parties and entertaining).

When it's time to serve, set out the baba ganoush to come to room temperature, then garnish with a generous drizzle of good olive oil, and chiffonade of flat leaf parsley if you're feeling extra fancy. As I've learned, it's a great dish that guests will talk about for weeks.

Smoked Baba Ganoush

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