Norton from Virginia

[Thomas]

wondersofwine, here's a recipe for "eggplant caviar"

1 large eggplant
2 large sweet red peppers
three garlic cloves
1 shallot
handful chopped cilantro leaves
teaspoon (or more, to taste) turmeric
two tablespoons olive oil
crushed black pepper
pita bread or any other flat bread

slice the red peppers in half (length-wise) remove the innards and seeds, place (skin up) on a pan and roast in a toaster oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.

cut the eggplant in half (length-wise) and steam it until the inners are soft.

chop and saute the shallots (1 minute) in tablespoon olive oil then chop and add the garlic to saute 1 minute more.

scoop out the innards from one half of the eggplant and throw into a blender; take the innards and skin of the other half and throw into the blender; remove skin from the roasted red peppers and throw the peppers into the blender; add tablespoon olive oil to the blender, plus the sauteed shallot and garlic; blend it all briefly.

remove the mix from the blender, add chopped cilantro, turmeric and black pepper and stir for a few minutes.

place in a bowl and refrigerate until nicely chilled.

serve chilled with warm pita bread as an appetizer.