I had a bunch of eggplants that I needed to cook and wanted to do a dish that was new to me. I thought the most intriguing eggplant recipe that I found was called Aubergine ‘Cochinita Pibil’ Habanero Salsa, X ni pek by chef Nud Dudhia. I read the recipe. I have most of the ingredients. It makes sense and sounds delicious so I gave it a try. I didn’t have to change much at all here. I didn’t have seville orange juice so I used regular fresh squeezed orange juice. I did round the metric measurements to American. But WOW! It IS FORKING DELICIOUS….It’s a recipe to keep and would be pretty easy to use with meat. For me it came out slightly different. Instead of four 1/2 eggplants stuffed with eggplant I got two halves…(most likely because I stuffed Tham more). I also got extra salsa and extra onions….(no big deal as they are delicious and will be easy to adapt to meals). According to the recipe this makes 4 servings.

Ingredients for 4 servings

3 red onions – very thinly sliced and soaked in ice water for ten minutes (X ni pek)

5 Tablespoons fresh squeezed orange juice (X ni pek)

1 Tablespoon fresh squeezed grapefruit juice (X ni pek)

4 limes – just the fresh squeezed juice (X ni pek)

1/2 fresh habanero – remove seeds and stem – finely chop (X ni pek)

3 large tomatoes – rough chop

1 onion – peeled and halved

3 fresh habaneros or scotch bonnets – stems and seeds removed

3 cloves garlic skin on

3 1/2 oz water or chicken stock

1 Tablespoon red wine vinegar or sherry vinegar

1 Tablespoon olive oil

1 pinch salt

2 eggplants

4 garlic cloves peeled

2 Tablespoons canola oil

1 Tablespoon achiote paste (I used a 1/2 brick)

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 clove

1 cinnamon stick

1 Tablespoon black peppercorns

1/2 Tablespoon cumin seeds

4 allspice berries

1 orange – fresh squeezed juice

2 limes – fresh squeezed juice

2 Tablespoons white vinegar

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 cup cilantro leaves

2 Tablespoons mint leaves

2 Tablespoons scallions (sliced thin)

1 lime – cut into 4 wedges

4 Tablespoons sour cream, creme fraiche or queso fresco

Directions

Broil the tomatoes, onion, garlic cloves and habaneros. Remove them when they turn blackened. Set them to the side to cool.

Make the X ni pek. Drain the onions and place them in a bowl. Add the orange, grapefruit, lime juices and 1/2 habanero. Mix well. This stays on the counter till onions turn pink. ( a little over an hour)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Peirce the eggplants all over with a fork. Cook them till the eggplants are cooked all the way threw. (Mine took an hour.) Put on counter till cool enough to handle.

While eggplants are cooking make the marinade. Add oil to a fry pan on medium heat. When hot add the cumin seeds, oregano, cinnamon, allspice, peppercorns and achiote. Toast 2-3 minutes or until aromatic. Brake down the achiote while you cook.

The contents of your pan get blended and add the garlic cloves, orange juice, white vinegar and salt. Blend until smooth.

Cut each eggplant in half longways. Scoop out flesh while keeping the skins intact. Place eggplant flesh in a bowl and mix in marinade as desired. Spoon the mixed up eggplant back into the eggplant skins and return to the oven for ten minutes. To the remaining salsa add the blacked garlic, onions, habaneros. Add water, salt and vinegar. Serve the eggplant with the X ni Pak (onions) salsa, sour cream, herbs and lime wedges. Add tortillas if desired.

It’s FORKING Delicious!

A special THANKS to chef Nud Dudhia and www.GreatBritishChefs.com for this FORKING AMAZING Recipe.