I really like the holiday of Thanksgiving. No, not because of the food (my husband has something to say about that here: Snapping Out of the Thanksgiving Eating Trance), although, I do love the food, but because it is still fairly non-commercial and reminds everyone to be grateful for the blessings in their life. It’s some mainstream yogic philosophy – except the food binging.
2 small eggplants – Japanese eggplants work best, but small Italian eggplants work, too. They should be small because the smaller the eggplant, the less seeds it has, and as we all know, bacon has no seeds.
Oil for frying – It’s tempting to use olive oil, but Canola works best since you don’t want vaguely olivey bacon.
Directions
Peel or don’t peel your eggplant. If you like your bacon more crispy, keeping the skin on will help.
Slice the eggplant lengthwise, about 1/4%u2033 thick (or less). A mandoline helps.
Arrange the slices in layers, sprinkling copious amounts of Bacon Salt over each one.
Mix the slices about, making sure each piece of eggplant gets a good coating of Bacon Salt. Let the slices sit for about 30 minutes, up to an hour.
The salt in the Bacon Salt will draw the bitter liquid out of the eggplant and imbue the slices with bacony goodness.
Lightly blot each slice with a paper towel to remove the excess bitter liquid. You’ll lose some of the seasoning this way, but that’s okay.
Pour about an inch of oil into a frying pan (preferably cast-iron) over medium high heat. (Yeah, you’re deep-frying. As when using bacon itself, concern about fried foods shouldn’t be your top priority). When the oil is sizzlin’, drop the bacon in, a slice at a time, and cook to desired doneness.
Remove to a paper towel and enjoy! The absorbent quality of the eggplant will give the final product just the right amount of greasy, fatty goodness.
Voila! Excellent on BLTs or as a side with eggs and pancakes, or crumbled over a salad, this eggplant bacon is certain to please even the most dyed-in-the-wool bacon aficionado.
*The muffin recipe is from a great book we picked up at the library, The Beeman:
It’s an easy and healthy recipe with only flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, whole wheat or bran cereal flakes (we use whole grain with flax), apple, raisins, egg or Ener G Foods Egg Replacer, milk, oil & honey.
Heather Katsoulis - Google Profile
helps.
