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.

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.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I live in Sweden and work from home, so I rarely come down with colds. However, the other day I got a whopper - a sore throat, a horrible runny nose and a really bad cough - so I decided to try Kan Jang. Kan Jang is a popular cold remedy here produced by the Swedish Herbal Institute. I started on Kan Jang a day ago and was surprised by the results. My runny nose is completely gone, and my cough has subsided drastically. The postnasal drip that has been driving me nuts for a couple of years is gone.

Thai green curry with chicken offers an appealing mixture of sweet and hot flavors. The curry paste has peppery, often fiery, notes, and a coconut milk sauce adds a gratifying creamy richness. The slices of chicken tossed with few bamboo shoots, some basil, a handful of sliced carrots, and maybe some eggplant and peas, give you a pleasing, potent dish served over rice. Among the thicket of Thai restaurants in Baltimore, I found three winning examples. Thai Restaurant Address --3316 Greenmount Ave. Phone --410-889-6002 Hours --Lunch: 11:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday; Dinner: 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday, 5 p.m.-10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 5 p.m.-10 p.m. Sunday An artful, if mild, mixture of chicken and vegetables, including eggplant, for $13.75.

Don Mantz had seen that face somewhere before. On "Nightline" maybe. Or was it a David Frost interview?It was former President Richard M. Nixon, all right: the ski-jump nose, the heavy jowls, the protruding brow. But this time it was different; it was purple. And it was growing out of the ground in Millersville. It was an eggplant. And it was only the beginning of a bumper crop of celebrities.After Mr. Nixon, grew another one of the purple vegetables -- very nice for a Parmesan or just frying in olive oil with a little garlic -- that looked remarkably like comedian Bob Hope.

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.

Panini Express 70 Delicious Recipes Hot Off the Press Massimo's Italian Kitchen Authentic One-Dish Meals From a Seasoned Chef By Massimo Capra Sellers Publishing / 2007 / $22.95 Both Maxine Clark and Food Network chef Massimo Capra highlight oodles of inventive risotto dishes in their tomes. Capra's Risotto With White Asparagus, Black Pepper and Wild Strawberries and the one with shrimp scampi and zucchini look delicious. The Red-Beet Risotto I made was vivid in color but tasted bland.

Harumi's Japanese Home Cooking By Harumi Kurihara Morimoto: The New Art of Japanese Cooking By Masaharu Morimoto DK Publishing / 2007 / $40 The artsy tableaus in the Japanese Iron Chef's new cookbook might be more at home on a coffee table than in the kitchen. Masaharu Morimoto's brand of global fusion is a flamboyant 180 degrees from Harumi Kurihara's more humble - and practical - home-style fare. Eating is theater to the television star and restaurateur. I wasn't too intimidated to make Morimoto's signature raw Tuna Pizza With Anchovy Aioli but couldn't find decent ruby-red, sushi-grade fish in time.