Eggplant Eloise
This is a dish that looks like Mardi Gras on a plate: fried eggplant stuffed with shrimp-crab meat filling, topped with a rosy Choron sauce and garnished with bright green snow peas, carrot, and shreds of red cabbage. This dish could serve as an appetizer or a main course at lunch or brunch.
Ingredients
- Tarragon Reduction
- Tarragon Leaves - 4 tablespoons, minced
- Fresh Chervil - 2 tablespoons, minced
- Shallots - 2 tablespoons, minced
- Dry white wine - 4 teaspoons
- Cracked peppercorns - 1 teaspoon
- Tomato Reduction
- Tomatoes - 2 medium, peeled, seeded, and diced
- Dry white wine - 1 tablespoon
- Beer Batter
- Eggs - 2
- Beer - 1-1/2 cup (12 ounces)
- All-Purpose Flour - 1 cup
- Pinch of baking powder
- Cajun-style Seafood Seasoning - 1 tablespoon
- Seafood filling
- Unsalted Butter - 4 tablespoons
- Celery - 3 stalks, finely diced
- Onion - 1 small, finely diced
- Carrot - 1 small, peeled, finely diced
- Green Bell Pepper - 1 small, seeded, deribbed, and finely diced
- Garlic Cloves - 2, minced
- Shrimp - 1 cup, medium (30 count), shelled and deveined
- Dry white wine - 3 tablespoons
- Crab Meat - 6 ounces, fresh, cooked
- Green Onions - 2
- Worcestershire sauce - 4 dashes
- Cajun-style Seafood Seasoning - 1 tablespoon
- Choron Sauce
- Egg Yolks - 6
- White wine
- Unsalted Butter - 2 pounds, clarified
- Dash Worcestershire sauce
- Salt to taste
- Cayenne pepper to taste
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- Eggplant - 1
- Cajun-style seafood seasoning to taste
- Vegetable Oil - two quarts, for deep-frying
- Flour for coating
- Beer batter (above)
- Garnishes
- Unsalted Butter - 3 tablespoons
- Snow Peas - 1 cup, blanched
- Carrot - 1, cut into thin discs, blanched
- Red Cabbage - 1 cup, shredded, blanched
Instructions
To make the tarragon reduction: In a small saute pan, combine all ingredients and reduce 3 to 4 minutes, or until the wine evaporates.
To make the tomato reduction: Cook tomatoes in wine in a medium skillet for 5 minutes, or until softened and most of the liquid is evaporated. Puree the tomatoes and pass through a fine-meshed sieve.
To make the beer batter: In a medium bowl, whisk together all of the ingredients until mixture is smooth.
To make the filling: Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium saute pan or skillet over medium heat and saute the celery, onion, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the shrimp and cook until pink, then add the wine. Add the crab meat, then the remaining butter and green onions. Season with Worcestershire sauce and seafood seasoning.
To make the sauce: In a medium saucepan whisk the egg yolks over medium heat until thickened, about 3 to 4 minutes. Gradually whisk the warm clarified butter into the egg yolks. Season with Worcestershire, salt, cayenne, and lemon juice. Add the tarragon reduction and tomato reduction.
Peel the eggplant and cut into 1-1/4-inch-thick discs. Using a spoon or melon baller, hollow out the center of each eggplant slice, leaving 1/4 inch in the bottom as a base to make a cup. Sprinkle with seafood seasoning. Heat the oil to 375 F in a deep fryer or deep saucepot. Dip the eggplant discs in flour, then beer batter. Deep fry for 3 to 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels.
To prepare the garnishes: In three separate small pans, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter over medium heat. Put one of the garnishes into each pan and warm in the butter.
To serve: Fill the fried eggplant slices with seafood mixture and top with Choron sauce. Garnish with snow peas, shredded red cabbage, and carrot.
