Eggplant

Eggplant has to be one of the most intimidating items at the supermarket. With its monolithic shape and Darth Vader coloring, eggplants are a mystery to many shoppers. This fruit (yes, fruit) is named after the early varieties that propagated across America and resembled large white goose eggs. The standard purple variety resembles the French aubergine. While the purple and white varieties taste the same, the only place you will be able to find the white eggplants is at a farmers' market.

Date: Jan. 4 Her story: Bridget Norberg, 31, grew up in Millersville. She is a health care consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in McLean, Va. Her parents, Eric and Catherine Norberg, live in Millersville. His story: Keith Jankowski, 31, grew up in Clawson, Mich., a suburb of Detroit. He is a research analyst for Schafer Corp. in Washington. His parents, Ron and Ruth Jankowski, live in Royal Oak, Mich. Their story: Bridget and Keith met through eHarmony.com in September 2010 while they were both living in Arlington, Va. The two talked online for about a month before meeting in person for the first time that October.

Remember last week when the Twins screamed a lot? And it was hot? It happens again this week on "The Amazing Race," only without the Superfans sadly trailing behind. Team Rock On won the Fast Forward last week, so they start first. James's father (not specified whether he is Abba's father as well) had some cancer tests, and James learns via video chat with his wife that his father has no chance of remission. Not good news for him, but the family tells him to race on and make his dad proud.

  Dinner in a suburban Italian restaurant is rarely worth a one-hour wait. But it is when it comes to Facci, the first restaurant in Ellicott City 's new Turf Valley shopping center. The restaurant, which opened in September, is named after owner Gino Palma's wife, Pilar; Facci is his pet name for her. Palma's concept is straightforward: high-quality Italian food (Palma hails from Naples), professional service and a sophisticated but comfortable atmosphere. On these, Facci delivers.

For a vegetable that can look like such a brute, eggplant is surprisingly fragile. It bruises easily and those flaws quickly turn bad (cut open a dented eggplant and you'll see the flesh is brown and corky in the affected area). It also loses moisture quickly, leading to dry and pithy flesh. When choosing eggplant, pick ones that are heavy for their size. They'll be the freshest. Also feel the skin. If it is a round eggplant, it should be taut and almost bulging. In Asian markets, the long, thin eggplants often are slightly softer.

Everyone's mother always has a favorite recipe that is appropriate for all occasions. My mother's is an eggplant mixture called caponata.You can use caponata as a dip, sandwich filling with mozzarella or Provolone cheese on top and then baked, or as a pizza topping, omelet filling or pasta sauce.CaponataMakes 6 servings2 medium unpeeled eggplants, washed and cut into 1/2 -inch dice (2 1/2 pounds total)1 tablespoon kosher salt, for soaking3 tablespoons pure olive oil1 medium onion, chopped5 stalks celery, chopped3 cloves garlic, minced1 (3-ounce)

Eggplant -- an edible member of the nightshade family -- is a sun lover that matures to its true beauty when the days are long and hot and the nights are warm.But even in this prime weather, it is highly perishable. Indeed, a truly fresh eggplant will keep in the refrigerator for only three days.Eggplant is low in calories, about 30 in one cooked cup, depending on the type and quantity of oil used in cooking.Be sure when selecting eggplant to do so carefully, following these guidelines:* Smaller is better with a sweet and rich flavor.

I want to make baba ghannouj. Can I roast the eggplants in the microwave? Roasting an eggplant whole is the easiest way to turn its flesh into a soft, succulent puree - the base for baba ghannouj and other eggplant salads. But it cannot be accomplished in a microwave oven. Unlike the ambient heat generated by conventional ovens, so-called microwaves penetrate only about 1 1/2 inches into foods. If you microwaved a ball of rice that was 3 inches in diameter - about the size of a baseball - the center would get hot because the center is only 1 1/2 inches from the surface.

Sometimes I'll have in mind something for dinner and a vague idea of how I want it to end up, but no idea of how to get there. So, I head to a favorite cookbook or sometimes two or more. Skimming through recipes, I often meld the ideas from several into one dish, or I find a cooking method that I like and adapt it. This time, with eggplant on the menu, I opened a classic, Ada Boni's Italian Regional Cooking. This recipe is inspired by her melanzane a fungetielli, or eggplant cooked in the style of mushrooms, from the Campania region.

I BELIEVE IN "sweating" eggplant. Usually I slice it, sprinkle salt on the slices and let them sit for half an hour or more. The salt draws moisture and bitterness out of the eggplant. At least that is what the pro-sweat contingent believes. This is not a universal view. There is also a "no sweat" camp. Its members contend that there is no need for such roughhouse tactics, especially when dealing with fresh eggplant. Patricia Wells, for instance, pleaded with readers of her 1993 cookbook, "Trattoria," to spare the salt and to treat eggplant gently.

Ozra, a promising new Persian-Mediterranean restaurant, opened quietly in Little Italy back in early July. It's co-owned by Reza Holland and Mahrdad "Max" Tabasi, who have invested a lot of time, thought and, from the looks of things, money in their renovation of what had been an old bakery building just a few steps down from Vaccaro's Italian Pastry Shop. Can't quite picture where this is? Don't feel bad. This block of Stiles Street doesn't get a ton of foot traffic.

This week's share included an eggplant. I considered an eggplant parmesan dish or lasagna, but there was too much else on the calendar for that kind of effort. This eggplant sandwich is easy, fast and tastes a little like an eggplant pizza. It seems like one of those dishes a parent could get a kid to eat without too much coercing. I found it in the July/August issue of Everyday Food magazine, though I gave it a twist -- and heat -- by using Wegmans Arrabbiata Sauce, which was sitting in my refrigerator, waiting to find its purpose.

Remember last week when the Twins screamed a lot? And it was hot? It happens again this week on "The Amazing Race," only without the Superfans sadly trailing behind. Team Rock On won the Fast Forward last week, so they start first. James's father (not specified whether he is Abba's father as well) had some cancer tests, and James learns via video chat with his wife that his father has no chance of remission. Not good news for him, but the family tells him to race on and make his dad proud.

Eggplant has to be one of the most intimidating items at the supermarket. With its monolithic shape and Darth Vader coloring, eggplants are a mystery to many shoppers. This fruit (yes, fruit) is named after the early varieties that propagated across America and resembled large white goose eggs. The standard purple variety resembles the French aubergine. While the purple and white varieties taste the same, the only place you will be able to find the white eggplants is at a farmers' market.

It's full steam ahead at the B&O American Brasserie, which has just rolled out its new winter dinner, lunch and bar menus and launched a couple of social-media promotions.  Beginning Feb. 8, B&O American Brasserie will begin Wind Down Wednesdays, with 50 percent off bottles of wine during dinner service. And B&O will be reaching out to diners with social media offers. Rotating deals like 50-cent oysters, $1 sliders and $3 flatbreads will click in when diners check into the restaurant's Facebook page when placing their order.

The line "treated like family" gets tossed around a lot when it comes to restaurants. But rarely do you feel that comfortable or connected by the time you pay the check. Orchard Market & Cafe in Towson doesn't just make you feel at home — it also serves up a first-rate Persian meal. Hidden in the back of a strip mall off of Joppa Road, Orchard Market is almost impossible to find — unless you know where to look. It's a testament to the restaurant that it has been open for 22 years despite such a terrible location.

As the weather cools, my friends hold get-togethers just for the fun of it. And I always feel pressure, even if unspoken, to bring a dish with me when I'm invited to a party. One standby is a simple eggplant dish, which is sort of a salad but can double as a chunky dip. I developed this recipe by combining elements of a number of my favorite eggplant dishes. It seems every culture has a traditional eggplant specialty. The Greeks have melitzanosalata, a salad of eggplant, walnuts, lemon and garlic.

This project started off as a way to say "thanks for showing up" to the eggplant. In these, the waning days of garden productivity, I am grateful for any plant that continues to bear fruit. As often happens with my cooking projects, this one soon took a turn in a different direction. I found a recipe that mixed eggplant, basil and four cheeses. The challenge came with handling the calzone, the trouser-leg-shaped dough that wrapped around the eggplant and cheeses. The trick was transferring the dough, stuffed with eggplant and cheese, onto the pizza stone in a piping hot, 500-degree oven.

Question: : I am 64 and nearing retirement, but with the stress of the economic downturn, I'm having a difficult time sleeping. Sleeping pills like Ambien or Lunesta cost more than $160 a month, which I cannot afford. What can you recommend for me so I can sleep at night and stay sharp on the job? Answer: : Ambien is available as an inexpensive generic, zolpidem. It has some adverse effects, though: Some people sleepwalk or even sleep-drive while on this drug, and many readers report some generic formulations don't work as well as Ambien.

I have been drinking "eggplant water" I made from floating half a dozen thinly sliced pieces of eggplant on top of two or three quarts of water. I have been drinking 60 ounces daily for about two weeks. My weight dropped 7 pounds, and my blood pressure is down from 150/80 to 124/66. This might be helping my insulin resistance, which made it hard for me to lose weight. When cells don't respond efficiently to insulin, blood-sugar control is more difficult. Losing weight is also more challenging, but people who shed pounds often lower their blood pressure.