freezing eggplant

piegirl · September 12, 2007

Has anyone had success freezing eggplant - maybe precooking
and then freezing. I purchased some breaded, frozen eggplant
(made in Florida) and it was excellent, pricey but great. I
bought it thinking I could figure out how it was done. The
slices are thin, breaded, and fried, then frozen. Sounds
simple enough but mine were rather soggy. I have a lot of
lavender touch ready and more to come. Very sweet, drier
variety. Thanks for any assistance - piegirl

neoguy · September 13, 2007

Piegirl, there is thread on freezing eggplant in the Preserving your Harvest section.

Grub · September 13, 2007

That's good to know for future reference. Thanks Neo.

However, I pickle my excess eggies and get at least two weeks out of them in the fridge.

Slice them, grill them, preferably on bbq so you get char marks, but don't burn them, then layer them in a non-reactive dish and sprinkle with a touch of minced garlic and chopped parsely, then tip over 50/50 best red-wine vinegar mixed with olive oil, mix around so they soak up dressing, then let sit for at least 24 hours in fridge... they just get better with time and you can eat them in sandwich with cheese and ham or salami, chop into salads, use sliced in pasta... add tahini and mash for best babaganoush. So simple.

Zana · September 13, 2007

Ohhhhhhh man....now I know what I want for lunch tomorrow, Grub. Hmmmmm...Grilled Peppers and Eggplant....or just baba ghanoush.....hmmmmmm...decisions decisions. Actually I'm making Armenian style mixed pickles at the moment...this is my break...just finished peeling 10lbs of baby onions....talk about labour intensive....sighhh.

I've frozen grilled eggplant in marinade or just chopped in plastic bags. Good either way.

piegirl · September 17, 2007

Zana - would you share your Armenian pickle recipe????

I am going to grill my egg plant tomorrow - 30 mph wind
right now, otherwise I would be there right now! Piegirl

Zana · September 18, 2007

Piegirl,
It's already posted here on TV....hang on a sec and I'll look up the thread for you. Here you go: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...kles#post57084 I think its the 6th post.

Ok...I've "quit" for this year on the Armenian Dill pickles - cukes and tourshi. Think I finished over 75 jars - from pint/500ml to gallon/4.5L size. Think there are close to 50 litre jars alone....and that's a "small" marathon this year. Why? Because I did it all on my own...except for my Dad's help - catering while I was pickling....lol. (He doesn't cook....at all.) And unlike the usual one or two day grand marathons with a team, this was over a 2 week period. There are mixed pickle jars, beans jars, onions & hot peppers jars, mixed grill eggplant jars, mixed hot peppers jars and of course cucumber jars, in all that total. Still planning on doing more sauce and perhaps some salsa....and some dried tomatoes in the dehydrator....maybe even some of the hot peppers in the dehydrator. Now if I could figure out how to jury rig a smoker for the bbq grill I'd do the peppers that way before drying and grinding.

Good luck with your grilled eggplant. I did about 2 dozen over the weekend...grilled and then pickled. yummmm.

David52 · September 28, 2007

We just harvested the rest of the eggplant before the freeze, made up a few gallons of babajanouche; all frozen in 1 qt plastic tubs.

This thaws out wonderfully, and tastes pretty good in the middle of winter.

September 12, 2007	#1
piegirl Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 791	freezing eggplant Has anyone had success freezing eggplant - maybe precooking and then freezing. I purchased some breaded, frozen eggplant (made in Florida) and it was excellent, pricey but great. I bought it thinking I could figure out how it was done. The slices are thin, breaded, and fried, then frozen. Sounds simple enough but mine were rather soggy. I have a lot of lavender touch ready and more to come. Very sweet, drier variety. Thanks for any assistance - piegirl

September 28, 2007	#7
David52 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: SW Colorado Posts: 74	We just harvested the rest of the eggplant before the freeze, made up a few gallons of babajanouche; all frozen in 1 qt plastic tubs. This thaws out wonderfully, and tastes pretty good in the middle of winter. __________________ That last tomato, dear? What last tomato? That stain on my shirt collar? Um, er, lipstick.

September 13, 2007	#2
neoguy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2007 Location: NE Ohio Posts: 610	Piegirl, there is thread on freezing eggplant in the Preserving your Harvest section.

September 13, 2007	#3
Grub Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Sydney, Australia Posts: 2,722	That's good to know for future reference. Thanks Neo. However, I pickle my excess eggies and get at least two weeks out of them in the fridge. Slice them, grill them, preferably on bbq so you get char marks, but don't burn them, then layer them in a non-reactive dish and sprinkle with a touch of minced garlic and chopped parsely, then tip over 50/50 best red-wine vinegar mixed with olive oil, mix around so they soak up dressing, then let sit for at least 24 hours in fridge... they just get better with time and you can eat them in sandwich with cheese and ham or salami, chop into salads, use sliced in pasta... add tahini and mash for best babaganoush. So simple.

September 13, 2007	#4
Zana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,521	Ohhhhhhh man....now I know what I want for lunch tomorrow, Grub. Hmmmmm...Grilled Peppers and Eggplant....or just baba ghanoush.....hmmmmmm...decisions decisions. Actually I'm making Armenian style mixed pickles at the moment...this is my break...just finished peeling 10lbs of baby onions....talk about labour intensive....sighhh. I've frozen grilled eggplant in marinade or just chopped in plastic bags. Good either way.

September 17, 2007	#5
piegirl Tomatovillian™ Honoree Join Date: May 2006 Location: Lincoln, NE Posts: 791	Zana - would you share your Armenian pickle recipe???? I am going to grill my egg plant tomorrow - 30 mph wind right now, otherwise I would be there right now! Piegirl

September 18, 2007	#6
Zana Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Southwestern Ontario, Canada Posts: 4,521	Piegirl, It's already posted here on TV....hang on a sec and I'll look up the thread for you. Here you go: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...kles#post57084 I think its the 6th post. Ok...I've "quit" for this year on the Armenian Dill pickles - cukes and tourshi. Think I finished over 75 jars - from pint/500ml to gallon/4.5L size. Think there are close to 50 litre jars alone....and that's a "small" marathon this year. Why? Because I did it all on my own...except for my Dad's help - catering while I was pickling....lol. (He doesn't cook....at all.) And unlike the usual one or two day grand marathons with a team, this was over a 2 week period. There are mixed pickle jars, beans jars, onions & hot peppers jars, mixed grill eggplant jars, mixed hot peppers jars and of course cucumber jars, in all that total. Still planning on doing more sauce and perhaps some salsa....and some dried tomatoes in the dehydrator....maybe even some of the hot peppers in the dehydrator. Now if I could figure out how to jury rig a smoker for the bbq grill I'd do the peppers that way before drying and grinding. Good luck with your grilled eggplant. I did about 2 dozen over the weekend...grilled and then pickled. yummmm.