An atheist aubergine

Tonight is challenging.  Tonight I have to cook aubergine for my husband.  He hates aubergine. I mean a genuine hatred.  He will childishly pick it out of dishes.  Tonight we eat an aubergine 'cassoulet'.  The aubergine is the main ingredient.  Wish me luck...

As you know I am totally green with envy over Nigel's earthenware and today is no exception.  He is cooking in Bernard Leach.  I on the other hand am cooking in a hooky Le Creuset dish from a french supermarket. Moving on...The recipe is on pages 37 - 40 including a lovely picture. 

I cut the Aubergines as Nigel instructs but I cannot help feel that my aubergines are genetically modified in some way.  They are massive.  I fight the urge to go off recipe and cut it into smaller pieces (it is hard):

There are some lovely ingredients in this dish. Whilst the recipe calls for a couple of tins of haricot beans, I am using a lovely jar of Alubias Blancas.  Ok, so it is the same thing but I used to live in Spain.  Not the sunny southern parts but the baltic northern parts, where the food is all about adding an extra layer of fat to keep you warm for the winter, when the snow covers the Picos.  Think hearty stews, mystery meats and jars of hearty beans. These, I actually buy in M&S:

The aubergines once browned look like this, probably could have done with a bit more browning:

The smells when you pull together the other elements of the dish is delicious.  When you cobble it all together to pop in the oven it looks like this:

 When it comes out the oven, it looks and smells amazing (if I do say so myself):

Now, how to get my husband to eat this... Meat.  In particular lamb.  I was thinking what to serve this with and I knew it had to appeal to my husband's taste's buds.  Something juicy and tasty, meaty and earthy, enter, a Barnsley lamb chop.

The food match is a hit and my husband comments on how delicious the lamb is.  He also comments on the Cassoulet.  He loves the beans, onions, tomatoes, herbs, etc and graciously eats some of the aubergine. To be honest in parts it is a little undercooked.  I should have cut my genetically modified aubergines smaller. We all live and learn.  The flavours are delicious and it is actually a very filling and low fat stew.  An absolute winner for this time of year.  For the left overs I have chopped the aubergine and will reheat tomorrow and serve with a chicken breast supreme (with the bone and skin on).  Well, that is what my husband and son will eat.  Momma is going 'out out'.

JanieCooksNigel

3/1/16