Eggplant forever... (Talong habangbuhay...)

Eggplant, "talong", aubergines. Whatever you call it, it remains on the top list of nepot's favorite vegies.  Yes, his week is never complete or happy or satisfying without a "talong" meal. Even if it only means once a week. Ask him in one word how he describes talong and he'd say: MASARAP! (delicious) Ask him how he feels everytime he learns we have talong for lunch or dinner and he'd say: Wow, exciting! 

peppered baked talong

This talong meal was just made in a rush. Because nepot was missing talong already and because I cooked adobo at that time, he was thinking that talong would be an excellent match with my classic adobo.  So I sliced my talong, drizzled with olive oil, rubbed with salt and sprinkled with pepper. I lined the seasoned talong in a pan, cover  the pan tightly and baked the talong for 3 minutes on each side. Perfect! So, the next time you make adobo for lunch, try to have this too!  If you're into mediterranean foods, you can add cumin and curry powder to the seasonings. Yum! Ooohhh, that one makes my mouth water...

Tortang Talong! Super sarap!

 Tortang talong!!! Yipeee!!! Eggplant omelette. That's how I would translate that into English. I love this too, and so does our son, cholo. One talong dish we gladly share together.  Tortang talong becomes more special with banana or tomato ketchup. But for me, I love it more with vinegar and garlic on the side or crushed tomatoes with chopped shallots.

tinigang na gulyasan

 This photo on the right is Tinigang na Gulyasan. Don't know exactly how it is called, but this gulyasan or skipjack tuna is cooked in vinegar with garlic, ginger, salt and pepper and finger chili. And because i am pleasing nepot, sliced talong has to be added. Voila! Rice all you can!   If i have some left overs of pork fats (especially from my adobo), I would put it on the pan before laying the fish. It's oil makes my tinigang more special.  

Binagoongang baboy with talong

 See that? It was supposed to be a simple pork binagoongan.  Pork binagoongan is sliced pork sauteed  and cooked in bagoong (shrimp paste). You can purchase fresh shrimp paste from wet market. Other ingredients for binagoongan are finely chopped garlic, chopped onions, sugar, cane vinegar and chili pepper. Yes, this one is spicy. Now, if you're an eggplant fanatic, add sliced eggplants! Eggplant goes well with bagoong, and adding it to pork binagoongan makes it a lot better.

 Ensaladang talong  (Eggplant Salad)

A perfect appetizer! The dressing is simple yet really appetizing. Boil some eggplants until tender. Then cool it a bit or run in cold water to cool then tear or shred with fingers.  Mash in salt and pepper. Meanwhile prepare the dressing. Chop some tomatoes and shallots. Mix the two together, then add with vinegar, sugar and pepper. Pour into the shredded talong. Mix well. hmmmm... yum! 

Eggplant for a party? Yes, why not? I made this first during my daughter's third birthday, then when my husband came home from abroad, I made it again for his bienvenida party. I call it Eggplant Parmigiana. Layers of eggplant, ground beef, homemade tomato sauce, bechamel sauce and cheese then baked.  Tastes wonderful! you can try it. Really really good! You can use the bigger eggplants or aubergines for this recipe.   

Eggplant Parmigiana or Beefy Eggplant Lasagna

Talong in Kare-kare  (Recipe available in another blog) 

 Kare-kare is not complete and perfect if one of the vegies is missing. And one of the best is eggplant (for nepot only. for me, I wouldn't want to miss banana heart in karekare). Kare-kare is beef stew in peanut sauce. A perfect recipe is available in this site too. Great meal for a great husband!

Talong Guisado

Talong guisado goes well with any fried dish. I learned this from my mom who, just the same with my husband is a talong addict! But this one is different from the usual sauteed talong because this one is boiled first. So, the same with the talong salad, you have to boil the talong first then shred or tear. Then sauté in oil, garlic, onions, tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. The more tomatoes, the better the taste.

This is my eggplant show.

Trivia: Eggplants are called aubergines in other recipes especially in mediterranean dishes.