One of many first belongings you study once you start to prepare dinner is that burnt equals unhealthy. The sight of a blackened slice of toast, too-crispy hen, or bitter sugar is rarely factor if it occurs accidentally — and it may possibly occur accidentally in a cut up second. However what when you burned your substances on objective? “There are such a lot of [burnt] issues on this world that we love: actually charred grilled meats; bourbon, which makes use of burnt charred barrels,” chef Edward Lee says. “To me, the flavour of burnt will not be essentially a destructive factor.”
Take, for instance, Lee’s recipe for eggplant, bologna, and mushroom burnt toast, a dish he teaches in his class for YesChef, a subscription-based streaming platform providing cinematic cooking lessons taught by world-renowned cooks. No particular person ingredient of the recipe is totally scorched, per se, however every is cooked till a “charred word” comes out. Roast a head of garlic till gentle to make a garlic mayo; sear Japanese eggplants and slices of bologna in pecan oil to carry out some caramelization; and throw chanterelle mushrooms into the identical pan to select up all these flavorful juices. Assume the eggplants are prepared to come back off the warmth? Push them just a bit additional. You need that candy char to come back by means of.
“In all probability the worst mistake you can also make within the kitchen is to burn one thing, proper?” Lee says. However with this upscale bologna sandwich, it’s a should. That “burnt” taste is what provides complexity to the dish, lending extra grownup flavors to a favourite dish from Lee’s childhood. — Dayna Evans
Eggplant, Bologna, and Mushroom Burnt Toast
Serves 2
Elements:
For the roasted garlic mayonnaise:
1 garlic head
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pinch salt
1 ½ cups mayonnaise, resembling Duke’s Mayonnaise
1 pinch floor black pepper
For the seared bologna, eggplant, and mushrooms:
1 Japanese eggplant
4 tablespoons pecan oil
Kosher salt to style
2 thick slices of bologna per sandwich
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
3 ounces chanterelle mushrooms or oyster mushrooms
Black pepper
Sherry vinegar
For plating:
½ tablespoon unsalted butter
2 slices brioche bread
1 tablespoon roasted garlic mayonnaise
1 pinch flake salt
1 teaspoon pecan oil
Contemporary parsley to garnish
Directions:
For the roasted garlic mayonnaise:
Step 1: Preheat your oven to 400 levels.
Step 2: Place a halved garlic head on a baking tray lined with aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Reassemble the garlic head earlier than loosely wrapping it with foil.
Step 3: Place within the oven for 30 to 40 minutes till gentle and golden brown.
Step 4: Take away the garlic cloves from their skins and add to a medium-size bowl and mash right into a paste. Add mayonnaise and floor black pepper, and blend additional.
For the seared bologna, eggplant, and mushrooms:
Step 1: Slice the eggplant lengthwise in half and rating the reduce aspect. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of pecan oil. As soon as it’s absorbed, sprinkle with salt.
Step 2: Place a skillet on medium-high warmth, add 2 tablespoons of pecan oil and let it warmth by means of. Switch the eggplant to the skillet with the reduce aspect dealing with down, gently press with a wood spoon, and let it prepare dinner by means of and char for 10 to 12 minutes.
Step 3: As soon as properly charred and softened, flip the eggplant and prepare dinner the pores and skin aspect for an additional 4 to five minutes.
Step 4: Whereas the eggplant is cooking, add each slices of bologna to the identical skillet and prepare dinner till charred and golden on either side, about 2 minutes for all sides. Use an earthenware coaster or one other software to press down on the bologna to maintain it from curling. Take away the eggplant and bologna from the pan and set them apart.
Step 5: Add ½ tablespoon butter to the recent pan. Whereas it’s nonetheless foaming, add the chanterelle mushrooms and a sprinkle of salt.
Step 6: Prepare dinner for 1 to 2 minutes till the mushrooms have picked up the entire charred flavors from the pan.
Step 7: Add the salt, black pepper, and sherry vinegar, then take away from the pan and serve.
For plating:
Step 1: Add ½ tablespoon butter to the identical sizzling pan over medium-high warmth. High with a thick slice of brioche bread, and let it char and prepare dinner by means of for 1 to 2 minutes, or till golden brown. Elective: Whereas the toast continues to be within the pan, slather 1 tablespoon garlic mayonnaise on the bread’s face-up aspect, then flip and let the bread char by means of for an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or till golden brown.
Step 2: Switch the toast to an ornamental plate.
Step 3: Unfold an extra 1 tablespoon garlic mayonnaise on the opposite aspect of brioche and high with a slice of charred bologna.
Step 4: Slice the charred eggplant crosswise in half-inch slices.
Step 5: High the bologna with eggplant items and chanterelle mushrooms. Garnish with recent parsley leaves, a drizzle of pecan oil, and a pinch of flakey salt. Repeat Steps 1-5 with the second piece of bread.
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