Jade Cafe

Recipes

Warm Morning Goodness:
Corn Bread
Biscuits
Pancakes
Corn Cakes (Sweet)

Pies and things:
Pie Crust
Jam Pockets

Small Dishes:
Mushroom Stuffed Bread
Chicken Whiskey Wontons
Savory Corn Cakes

Soups:
Eggplant Soup
Squash Soup
Chicken Stock
Vegetable Stock

Drinks:
Agua Fresca

Eggplant Soup

1 large eggplant
1 can chicken stock (14 oz)
salt
pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil
A little chopped parsley for garnish

How to make Eggplant Soup:

Roast the eggplant. You can do this in one of two ways. Start by poking the skin of the eggplant in several places to keep it from exploding as it roasts. Then you can either roast it in the oven or in hot coals. If you roast it in hot coals, the soup will have a deep smoky flavor.

To roast it in the oven, put the poked eggplant on a baking sheet in a 400 degree oven and roast until it collapses. If it is not as well cooked on one side, you can turn it over and roast it some more. To roast it over hot coals, place the poked eggplant down in some coals, like in a barbeque or campfire. Cover and roast till it collapses.

Once roasted, the eggplant should have a charred skin and soft, light brown insides. The skin may be cracked open in places, and that will just help with the draining. Place the roasted eggplant in a strainer suspended over a large bowl and let it drain. Drain it as long as possible, as the liquid that is draining out is bitter. You can drain it over night or just for a half hour or so, if you don't have more time.

Scrape the insides out of the eggplant and into a blender.Discard the peel. Make sure you get all the darker brown pulp closer to the skin, as this has lots of flavor. Add the chicken stock, salt and pepper, and olive oil. Blend till smooth. pour the soup into a large pan and heat slowly.

Serve right away with a little chopped parsley on top as a garnish.

A Note on Ingredients:

Use the large, globe shaped eggplant, not the long, asian ones. Don't use extra virgin olive oil, as the flavor is too strong. Use regular or "lite" olive oil. For canned chicken stock I use Health Valley or Hain, because they don't have any chemicals in them. You want to use a light flavored stock for this soup.