Serbian Eggplant Surprise

3 Japanese eggplants

2 big carrots

1 med. onion

1 very lg. purple shallot

½ lg. parsley root

5-8 lg. cloves of garlic

½c Italian or Tuscan seasoned olive oil

Parsley Root - Who Knew??

¼c good quality aged balsamic vinegar

1T Rosemary Seasoning *

1T good quality dried Greek oregano

1¼# finely cubed beef

1 19oz. jar of Spicy Ajvar

1 14oz. can of coconut milk

½c Vodka and ½c (water, milk, cream)

cooked pasta or mashed potatoes

Cut the first five vegetables, in small to medium size chunks, into a large bowl.  Add the minced garlic, oil and vinegar, toss to coat and let stand to marinate 20 minutes or so, while browning the beef in a heavy pot with a little of the seasoned oil or butter.  After marinating, put the vegetables on a parchment paper-lined jelly-roll pan with 1" sides.  Roast at 400° for 30-45 minutes until they're slightly drier than when they started and looking well caramelized.  

*Add to the browned chopped beef, stirring gently, then, I added about ⅔ of a jar of the Ajvar and ½ a can of coconut milk.  Stir and simmer this gently until it's bubbling well.  Adjust the flavors and amounts of Ajvar and coconut milk to make a nice rich sauce.  The Vodka was a really good flavor enhancer as well as good to thin the sauce, with the water, which is what I used, to make it more saucy than "gloppy."  Serve it chunky as it is now, *or use an immersion blender to combine all the vegetables, Ajvar and coconut milk SEPARATELY from the meat, and make it smooth.  After it's blended, add it to the meat.

Serve over a 'starch' - either mashed potatoes or pasta.  At this point you could also put the starch in the bottom of a buttered pan, cover with meat and sauce, sprinkle with a layer of Italian bread crumbs mixed with grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsley, and baked 20 minutes or so.  Lots of fun options with this one.

As always, I wish for you to . . .
Be Creative and have a Happy Cooking Day. . . 😊. . .Lin