STEEMIT IRON CHEF 2017 #06: EGGPLANT. AND EGG. AND PLANT.
Guys, can you believe it's already the 6th week of the Steemit IronChef competition??
So many thanks go out to our wonderful host @progressivechef for organizing such an engaging and creative challenge!
This week's theme is EGGPLANT.
Along with my entire family, I am a huge fan of eggplant parmesan. But, for this week's challenge I just had to avoid the temptation to make a nice big batch of Italian eggplant parm.
Instead, I ventured to another side of the globe, using Japanese flavors in my....
Miso-sesame eggplant & egg & plant tower
surrounded by
Crispy sesame and potatoes.
I roasted slices of eggplant, zucchini, sweet potato, and red potato in the oven, brushing them each with a miso-honey-sesame oil-lime juice glaze a few times throughout, until the miso glaze was thick and crispy.
The result was crispy potatoes and melt-in-your-mouth eggplant and zucchini, just loaded with miso+honey UMAMI!!!!
I separated a backyard egg, mixing the white of the egg with chopped cilantro. I pan-fried the yolk and incorporated both into the tower along with the eggplant and plants (potatoes and zucchini).
I stacked the umami tower on a mixture of cilantro, olive oil, and lime juice. So much freshness to balance the umami!
I also flash fried some cubes of eggplant and potato that were dusted in flour. Immediately after leaving the oil, i tossed the crispy cubes in sesame seeds. The seeds stuck to the exterior of the crispy cubes but also briefly toasted from their heat, which released all the yummy nuttiness from those cute little sesame seeds, adding another flavor burst.
I can safely say that cutting into this tower and swooping forkfuls through the honey miso and cilantro lime sauces was one of the best lunches I've had in recent history. Go get some k?
Here's my proof photo!
Haha love the name of this one. Looks like a delicious tower of goodness.
Thanks :) I did not share with anyone.
Nice post @jaymorebeet, eggplant is also one of my favorite foods. Great photography as well!!!
For some reason, my mind was seeing a gambling theme, with the top-down plate shots being a roulette wheel and the eggplant cubes being dice with sesame-seed pips.
Thanks @cognoscere - i totally see what you're saying. Put it all on purple!
This looks delicious and the plating is beautiful . Can you adopt me please?🙏🏻
Haha ok let's get the paperwork going...could take a while ;)
Wow! That looks really good! I like roasted eggplant - even plain with nothing else, lol. But that tower is something else! I like that egg yolk on there, too!
I'm totally with you - roasted eggplant is so yum. Smoked eggplant too, right?! Thanks @haphazard-hstead :)
That tower though..Really reaching for the sky!! =DD
Looks yummy..I yearn to snack on the crispy sesame cubes...please?
Those cubes - i need to make them with everything. I hated sesame as a kid but now I think it's the best flavor!
hehe funny how our tongues play tricks on us over the years..I love a lot of things I used to detest as a child...coriander, black bean paste, bean sprouts, etc.
I like that pairing of miso/honey with the cilantro/lime! Sounds really good!
Thanks @chefsteve. I wasn't sure how miso + honey would go, but I really like it. I think with too much honey it woudn't work, but keeping the miso flavor more dominant than the honey and adding lime juice kept it all balanced. Thanks so much - i love your feedback :)
Oh my goodness...this is @jaymorebeet coming up with full power! What a wonderful plate my friend! Great idea with the egg yolk and egg white, i would have never thought about this one!
Beautiful entry my friend!
Thanks @progressivechef. I'm so glad you like it - that means a lot coming from you friend :)
Looks delicious:)
Thanks @childcare :)
Looks lovely and sounds so delicious
Thanks @globaldoodlegems. So glad you like it :)
What fun. I'm pretty sure scaling Mt. Eggplant with my fork would be an extravaganza beyond lunchworthyness in the creative foodstuffs department. Thank you for sharing this tower of wonder with us. Very creative indeed.
Hahaha Mt Eggplant. Can we create a contract where you come up with my post titles?? Thanks @ddschteinn!