Saturday, September 29, 2018

CHEESECAKE FOR A SPECIAL CELEBRATION

Besties. Charlotte and I on her birthday. A cheesecake for the occasion. (Photo by Paula Serrano.)

I bought butter, a bag of sugar, five packages of cream cheese—all ingredients that rarely appear in my kitchen. These radical ingredients were to make an old-fashioned cheesecake for the 88th birthday celebration of my good friend, artist Charlotte Gordon. This was cheesecake “by the book,” with no substitutions such as I usually make—olive oil for butter, stevia or other artificial sweetener in place of sugar.


Of course I used ™Philadelphia cream cheese for the recipe, as Charlotte is originally from Philadelphia. Though her love of cheesecake probably flows from years working in New York City, where she was art director of Seventeen magazine in the 1950s. I met Charlotte when she and her husband, Harry, a designer, came to live permanently in Mijas, Spain, in 1973.  Together, we´ve cooked and shared meals ever since. Charlotte continues to make sculpture, collage and photography here.

Birthday girl, 88 years and counting.


Cheesecake is topped with plain sour cream or crème fraiche. Candles and strawberries are optional.

Cheesecake is sweet and creamy.




Crumb Crust
Pastel de Galletas para Tarta


For crumb crust.
In Spain, where graham crackers are not available, I used crushed galletas María. These are plain, not-too-sweet cookies. Vanilla wafers would be a suitable substitute as well. They are quickly ground in a food processor. Most recipes for graham-cracker crust call for additional sugar, but I did not use it. Butter can be melted in the microwave.

For this cheesecake, the crumb crust is chilled before being filled and baked. If using it for a no-bake, gelatin cheesecake, pre-bake the crust in a 400ºF oven for 6 minutes.

Makes enough to line a 9-in/ 24-cm springform pan.

2 cups cookie crumbs (6 oz/ 170 g)
Sugar (optional)
½ cup melted unsalted butter (3 oz/ 90 g)


Place crumbs and sugar, if using, in a bowl. Add butter and mix well. Lightly butter a 9-inch springform pan. Press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and part way up the sides of the pan.

Chill the pan at least one hour before filling and baking. 

Cheesecake
Tarta de Queso Crema

Charlotte is from Philadelphia and so is the cream cheese.

In Spain, packages of cream cheese are 250 grams, or slightly more than the 8-ounce packages called for in the recipe. I weighed out 40 ounces, but I expect the slight extra quantity wouldn’t affect the recipe’s results. Be sure to remove cream cheese from the refrigerator at least one hour before starting the recipe so it has time to soften.

Place a sheet pan or foil beneath the pan in the oven in case there is any leakage from the springform pan.

Crumb Crust, chilled, in 9-inch springform pan
1 ¼ cups sugar (9 oz/ 255 g)
3 tablespoons flour
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
5 (8-ounce) packages of cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ cup heavy cream
½ cup sour cream (crème fraiche) (optional)


In a small bowl combine the sugar, flour, salt and lemon zest. Set aside

In a mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese until fluffy. Add the lemon juice. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla. Gradually beat in the sugar mixture, then the heavy cream.

Preheat oven to 450ºF. Remove pan with crumb crust from refrigerator. Carefully pour the cheesecake batter into the pan.

Bake 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250ºF. Bake 60 minutes more. Cake will have pulled away from the sides of the pan but will still be soft and jiggly in the center. Turn off the oven and open the oven door. Leave the cake in the oven another hour. Remove and set the pan on a wire rack to cool completely. 


Cool cheesecake first in the turned-off oven, then on a rack before unmolding.

Refrigerate the cheesecake in the pan until well-chilled. Use a knife to loosen cake from sides of pan, then release spring and remove the ring. Slide cake onto a serving plate. Spread the top with sour cream, if using. Serve immediately or return to refrigerator to chill the topping.





Related recipes:

More birthday cakes:

Poster for a show of Charlotte's work a few years ago. To see more of her work, go to http://charlottegordon.com/index.html

Sunday, September 23, 2018

EMPANADILLAS—LITTLE SAVORY PIES

Three kinds of Spanish empanadillas, clockwise from the top: Catalan panadons with spinach filling; fried tuna empanadillas, and meat-filled Sephardic burekas.

Are they turnovers? Hand pies? Pasties? Let’s just call them empanadillas, Spanish for little pastry packages filled with meat, fish, vegetable or cheese. (Large, pie-size ones are called empanadas.)


Empanadillas have been popular in Spain since, maybe, the 7th or 8th century, when Arabs introduced them during the Moorish caliphate. (Known as sambousek, they are still  popular in the Arab countries of the Middle East.)

In medieval times, Spain’s Sephardic Jews lived alongside the Moors in Córdoba, Sevilla, Toledo and many other towns. From their neighbors, they learned the art of making little savory pastries, which became part of cherished foods for special occasions.

After 1492 (the year Queen Isabel and King Ferdinand conquered the last Moorish kingdom of Granada; funded Christopher Columbus’s first voyage to the unknown, and issued the expulsion order against Spain’s Jews), many of Spain’s Sephardim, forced to flee, were welcomed by the Ottoman Empire (present-day Turkey). There Moorish empanadillas met Turkish börek, also a filled pastry. The Spanish-speaking Jews (their lingo is Ladino) took on the Turkish name, but added the Spanish diminutive ending, calling their turnovers borekas or burekas.

Two kinds of burekas made by the Sisterhood at Congregation Or VeShalom in Atlanta. They are a little larger and much prettier than the ones I made.

I sampled modern-day burekas made by the Sisterhood of the Sephardic Congregation Or VeShalom in Atlanta, Ga. The women of the Sisterhood gather every week to prepare quantities of burekas, with fillings of spinach, eggplant and meat. (See a video of bureka making here.) I also purchased their cookbook, The Sephardic Cooks, (published by Congregation Or VeShalom Sisterhood; Atlanta, GA.; revised edition 2008), which includes recipes for burekas (and dozens of other recipes with Spanish-sounding names such as boyos, huevos con tomate, apio con avas, pescado al orno, pastelles, and arroz con garbanzos).

Back in the 15th century, as the Sephardim were dispersing east, Spanish conquistadores took the empanadilla west to the New World, where it became the beloved empanada of Argentina and of Venezuela, where the meat or cheese filling is enclosed in a maize-flour dough.

Here are three sizes of empanadillas, three different types of pastry dough, three fillings and two cooking methods (two are baked; one fried). You can mix and match them to suit yourself. The yields are given for the sizes used in each recipe. If you make them larger, you’ll have fewer; smaller and you’ll make more. I think I would prefer the burekas larger (6 inches instead of 4) and the spinach panadons smaller ((8-inch ones were kind of floppy).




The most typical Spanish empanadillas--filled with tuna and olives and fried.

Catalan panadons are filled with spinach, pine nuts and raisins.

My rendition of meat-filled Sephardic burekas.

Tuna-Olive Turnovers
Empanadillas de Atún

Black or green olives give the tuna filling zest.


These are the most typical empanadillas in Spain, a part of home cooking. They can be put together with ingredients in the pantry. Even the pastry rounds can be bought packaged for quick preparation. These empanadillas are perfect for anything from a picnic to school lunches to a cocktail party.

The empanadillas are usually fried, but they can be baked instead. They can be served room temperature.

I used 2 (110-gram) cans of bonito del norte (albacore tuna) for the filling. Either green or black olives work in the filling. If you use pimiento-stuffed green olives, use ¾ cup and skip the pimiento. The tomato sauce required here is canned tomate frito, a thick, smooth tomato sauce (not concentrate).

The filled turnovers can be frozen before they are fried. Place them on a baking sheet and place the sheet in the freezer. Once the turnovers are frozen, transfer them to a bag or container. When ready to serve, defrost the turnovers 2 hours before frying as directed.

Makes about 30 (3 ½ -inch) empanadillas.


Mix tuna for the filling.
1 cup drained canned tuna (7-ounce can)
½ cup pitted olives, chopped
¼ cup red pimiento, chopped
1 hard-cooked egg, chopped
¼ cup thick tomato sauce
2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
Pinch of fennel seeds
1 tablespoon brandy or Sherry
Pinch of cayenne
1 teaspoon vinegar
Salt, to taste
Dough for Empanadillas I (chilled)
Flour, as needed
Olive oil for frying

Place the tuna in a bowl and break up the chunks with a fork. Add olives, pimiento, egg, tomato sauce, onion, parsley, fennel, brandy, cayenne and vinegar. Mix well. Taste the mixture. It should be strongly seasoned. If necessary, add more salt, vinegar or cayenne. (Filling can be prepared a day in advance and refrigerated, covered, until ready to fry the empanadillas. Drain off any accumulated liquid before filling the empanadillas.)

Divide dough before rolling and cutting.


Divide the ball of dough into four pieces. Place one piece on work surface; keep remaining dough refrigerated. Dust rolling pin with flour and roll out dough as thinly as possible. Use a 3 ½ -inch cutter to cut 4 or 5 circles. Gather up scraps of trimmed dough and return them to the refrigerator.


Fold dough over filling and crimp edges.




Place a teaspoon of tuna filling on each of the circles. Fold over and press the edges together. Use a fork to crimp together the edges, sealing in the filling. Place the empanadillas on a baking sheet as they are formed. (If necessary, use a knife or offset spatula to lift them off the work surface.) Continue rolling and filling the empanadillas.

Place oil to a depth of ½ inch in a skillet. Heat until oil is shimmering, but not smoking. Fry empanadillas, 5 or 6 at a time, until browned on one side. Carefully turn them and brown reverse side. (If any of the empanadillas open while frying, skim them out immediately to prevent the oil from splattering.) Remove the empanadillas and drain on paper towels. Continue frying remaining empanadillas in small batches.

Dough for Empanadillas I
Masa para Empanadillas I

This is a shortcrust pastry made with olive oil instead of butter. Don’t knead it as for the other empanadilla doughs. Gather into a ball, pressing to combine the ingredients, and chill it well before rolling out.

Makes about 30 (3 ½-inch) empanadillas

2/3 cup olive oil
½ cup cold dry white wine
½ teaspoon salt
3 ¼ cup flour + additional for rolling out

Combine oil, wine and salt in a mixing bowl. Use a wooden spoon to stir in the flour. Gather the dough into a ball and squeeze it a few times to combine well. Chill the dough for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll out one piece at time, keeping the rest refrigerated. Refrigerate any scraps of dough before rolling and cutting them.

Empanadillas with Spinach
Panadons amb Espinacs

Like a spinach sandwich--savory spinach with raisins and pine nuts wrapped in a yeast dough.


This is a Catalan version of the Spanish turnover (panadons is just the Catalan word for empanadas). It’s not unlike the Sephardic bureka, but made with a yeast dough.

You will need a 14-ounce package of frozen spinach or 2 (10-ounce) bags of fresh spinach leaves to make the filling for these empanadillas. Drain the thawed or cooked spinach well. 

Makes 6 (8-inch) empanadillas.

2 ¼ cups cooked, drained and chopped spinach
3 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup pine nuts
2 cloves garlic, chopped
¼ cup seeded raisins
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Slices of soft goat cheese (optional)
Dough for Empanadillas II (yeast dough)
1 egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Heat the olive oil in a skillet and sauté the pine nuts until they are golden. Add the garlic, then raisins and chopped spinach. Season with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Cook until spinach is tender and all the liquid has cooked away.

Let the spinach cool completely before proceeding to prepare the empanadillas.

Spoon filling on rounds of dough.

Roll out the dough to make 6 (8-inch) circles. (Use a bowl as a guide and cut the dough with a knife.) Place 2 tablespoons of spinach filling on one half of each round. Push slices of cheese, if using, into the spinach. Fold one half of the dough over the filling. Roll the edges together, pinching them firmly to seal the packets of dough.

Preheat oven to 350ºF/ 180ºC. Line a baking sheet with baking parchment.

Place the empanadillas on the baking sheet and bake until they are golden and dough is completely baked, 35 minutes.


Dough for Empanadillas II.
Masa para Empanadillas II

This soft, stretchy yeast dough makes a bread-like casing for the filling. If you are expert at making pizza dough, you can probably stretch the balls of dough into rounds. Otherwise, roll them out and use a pan lid or bowl as a guide to cut the dough into circles.

Makes enough dough for 6 (8-inch) empanadillas.

½ teaspoon active dry yeast
¼ teaspoon sugar
2/3 cup very warm water
2 ¼ cups flour + more for rolling out
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sesame seed (optional)
¼ cup olive oil

Place the yeast and sugar in a small bowl and add the warm water. Allow the yeast to stand until it is bubbly.

Place the flour in a mixing bowl. Add the salt and sesame seed, if using. Make a well in the center of the flour. Add the oil and yeast water. Use a wooden spoon to mix in the flour and liquids.

Turn the dough out on a lightly floured board and knead the dough until very smooth and elastic, adding the least amount of flour to the board to keep the dough from sticking.

Gather the dough into a ball and place it in a lightly oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and place in a warm place to rise, about 90 minutes.

After yeast dough rises, punch it down before rolling.

Punch down the dough and knead it briefly. Divide it into six egg-sized pieces. Pat and roll the balls of dough into 8-inch circles. 









Burekas (Sephardic Turnovers)
Empanadillas Sefardíes

This recipe for burekas comes from The Sephardic Cooks, published by the Sisterhood of Congregation Or VeShalom in Atlanta, GA. Besides the basic dough, the cookbook includes recipes for several different fillings. I’ve used the one for meat filling.

The recipe calls for “canned tomatoes, strained through colander with juice.”  I used canned tomate triturado. Every cook adds a personal note—mine was to season with some allspice. Having tasted the meat burekas made by the congregation Sisterhood, I thought mine were not as juicy. I’m thinking that is because Spanish beef is dryer, not so fatty as American meat. Also, their burekas were larger than the 4-inch ones I made.

The baked burekas freeze well.. To serve, thaw them and reheat in a hot oven.

Makes enough filling for 36 (4-inch) burekas.

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 pound ground beef
½ cup sieved canned tomatoes, with juice
2 tablespoons long-grain rice
½ teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon allspice
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 hard-cooked egg, chopped
Dough for Empanadillas III (burekas)
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon sesame seed (optional)

Heat the oil in a skillet and sauté the onions until softened. Add the ground beef and fry it, breaking up the lumps with a fork, until it loses its red color. Add the tomatoes and juice, rice, salt, pepper and allspice. Cover and simmer until the rice is tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove from heat and add parsley and chopped egg. Allow to cool. (Filling can be prepared a day before rolling and filling the dough.)

A spoonful of meat filling.

Roll out and cut balls of empanadilla dough for burekas. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling mixture on one side of a circle of dough.

Fold over into half-moon shape. Press the edges together, then roll and pinch the edges to seal the dough. Place the filled burekas on a baking sheet that has been oiled or lined with baking parchment. 

Roll and pinch the edges together.



Preheat oven to 400ºF. 

Brush the burekas with egg. Sprinkle them with sesame seeds.

Bake the burekas until golden, about 30 minutes. Cool them on a rack.



Burekas are brushed with beaten egg and sprinkled with sesame before baking. Cool them on a rack.

Serve the burekas hot or room temperature.


Dough for Empanadillas III
Masa para Empanadillas III

This hot-water pastry dough is the one used for the bureka recipe. It’s super easy to work. Oil in the mix keeps the dough from sticking to the board, needing no additional flour.

I used a recipe from The Sephardic Cooks,  Their recipe calls for “vegetable oil.” In my kitchen in Spain, I use olive oil exclusively. It also calls for White Lily flour. I used all-purpose flour. I made half the quantities given in the book.

½ cup olive oil
1 ¼ cups water
½  teaspoon salt
4 cups flour + additional if needed


Place the oil, water and salt in a large pan. Bring to a boil, remove from heat and immediately stir in the flour. Use a wooden spoon to mix the dough, then turn it out on a board and knead until smooth. Add additional flour only if dough seems sticky.

Roll out the dough into walnut-sized balls. This recipe comes from The Sephardic Cooks.

Roll the dough into 36 walnut-sized balls. (If preparing in advance, cover them with a cloth so they don’t dry out.)

Roll out each ball thinly. Use a 4-inch cutter to cut each into circles. Gather up the dough trimmings, form balls and roll and cut them in the same manner. The dough is now ready for filling.   



My consuegra, Juana, fries empanadas venezuelanas, made with corn meal and filled with meat or cheese. A New World version of Spanish empanadillas.

Here are more types of dough for empanadas:

Saturday, September 15, 2018

PEARS, SAYS LEO

“What should I blog about this week?” I ask, not really expecting an answer. Looking up from his breakfast, Leo says, “Pears. Pudding.” In Brit-speak (my grandson’s mother’s tongue), “pudding” means “dessert,” or any sweet. 



Inspiration: ripe pears.


In front of us on the table is a bowl heaped with pears picked from my neighbor’s garden. They’ve taken almost two weeks to ripen and now they are perfectly sweet, but still firm. So, OK, Leo, this is for you, a sweet pear cake.

Chopped pears go into the batter with olive oil and yogurt for a sweet and simple cake.

I'm serving the pear cake with unsweetened Greek-style yogurt.





Olive oil makes a moist cake.

Ice cream would also be lovely with the pear cake.

Pear Cake with Olive Oil
Bizcocho de Peras con Aceite de Oliva

Use any variety of pear for this cake. The pears should be ripe, but firm. Either grate them coarsely or cut in small dice so they soften during baking but still have some texture.

Bake this cake in a sheet pan or bundt mold. The deep bundt pan will require longer baking time than sheet pan.

12 ounces firm, ripe pears (2-3), peeled and cored
1 teaspoon lemon juice
½ teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 cups + 3 tablespoons flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil + additional to oil the pan
½ cup plain yogurt


Preheat oven to 360ºF. Oil a 6-cup  bundt pan.

Coarsely grate or finely dice the pears. You should have about 1 ¼ cups fruit. Sprinkle with the lemon juice and stir in the zest. Set aside.

Sift the flour with the baking powder, soda, salt and cardamom into a small bowl.

In a large mixing bowl, beat the sugar and eggs until light. Beat in the oil and yogurt until batter is smooth. Add the flour mixture gradually and beat until just smooth.

Fold the pears into the cake batter. Pour into oiled pan. Bake until cake pulls away from sides of the pan and a thin skewer inserted in the cake comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

Cool the cake in the pan.

Cool the cake in the pan for 20 minutes. Loosen the edges with a thin knife. Invert the pan onto a rack. Allow to cool completely. 



Cool completely.



















More recipes with pears:

Saturday, September 8, 2018

CANE “HONEY,” MORE

Once the jar was open, I had no choice but to find some other uses for miel de caña, cane “honey,” or Spanish molasses. (See last week's blog for more about miel de caña, a tradition in Málaga where sugar cane once was grown.)

 

As molasses is often an ingredient in barbecue sauces, I decided to make one with only molasses as the sweetener and no added sugar. Instead of the usual ketchup as a base ingredient, I used fresh plum tomatoes in the market now.



Pureed tomatoes simmer with molasses, vinegar and spices for a not-too-sweet barbecue sauce.


Fatty ibérico pork ribs caused flare-ups on the grill.
I first tried the sauce on a couple racks of ibérico pork ribs. Fresh ibérico pork is fabulous, because the fat keeps the flesh especially juicy. However, the dripping fat caused constant flare-ups on the grill. After having to scrape off all the encrusted bits afterwards, I plan next time to par-boil the ribs first to remove some of the fat.  

Molasses quickly caramelizes on the grill, so add sauce once ribs are cooked.


Ready for grilling--chicken legs are seasoned only with salt, pepper and fennel pollen.
Chicken legs worked much better. They grilled slowly until tender, then were painted with the sauce to glaze them. I am “harvesting” wild fennel flowers and stripping off the pollen to use as a seasoning. It’s especially good with pork, chicken or salmon. Any other spice or herb could be used instead—cumin is my usual favorite.

Molasses in the sauce gives a touch of sweetness to balance the vinegar. Pimentón adds some heat.






Barbecue Sauce with Molasses
Salsa Barbacoa con Miel de Caña



Use either ordinary pimentón (paprika) or smoked pimentón or both in this sauce. Two kinds are called for, sweet and “hot” (pimentón picante). If the hot is not available, use cayenne, but in a lesser quantity.

Lightly oil measuring spoons and cups before measuring the molasses. The sticky molasses slides right off.

Use light or dark molasses, not blackstrap.

Makes about 2 cups sauce.

1 ½ cups skinned and chopped plum tomatoes (about 5 tomatoes)
1 cup chopped red bell pepper
½ cup chopped onion
3 cloves garlic
¼ cup dark molasses
1/3 cup Sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon hot pimentón
1 tablespoon sweet pimentón (paprika)
Fennel pollen or other spices or herbs (optional)

Place the tomatoes, red pepper, onion and garlic in a food processor and process until vegetables are finely chopped.

Combine chopped vegetables in a saucepan with molasses, vinegar, salt, two kinds of pimentón and herbs, if using. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer the sauce until reduced and thickened, about 20 minutes.

Cool sauce. Sauce keeps, covered and refrigerated, up to one week.

To use the barbecue sauce: spread it on grilled foods (chicken, pork, beef, vegetables) once they are fully cooked and continue grilling until the sauce begins to brown and glaze the food.
 

More barbecue sauce recipes:

Another recipe with fennel pollen:

More about ibérico pork:

Saturday, September 1, 2018

CANE “HONEY”—A MÁLAGA TRADITION

As the plane descends into Málaga International Airport, you might catch a glimpse of fields of waving cane fronds. Sugar cane still grows here. Once the Málaga coast, from the capital east to Motril on the Granada coast, was big sugar country, supporting large plantations and numerous sugar mills. Nowadays, with the expansion of runways, roadways, beach resorts and shopping centers, the growing of sugar cane has nearly disappeared.


Once sugar cane was extensively grown in the area around Málaga airport. A few plantations remain.

The Arabs introduced the growing and refining of sugar to Spain as early as the eighth century. After the Reconquest from the Moors in the 15th century, sugar mills thrived in this semi-tropical region right up until the middle of the last century, spawning related industries, such as rum distilleries.


Molasses is by-product of making sugar from cane.


To make sugar, cane juice is boiled to a concentrate, causing the sugar to crystallize and precipitate out. The remaining thick syrup is molasses, known as miel de caña, or cane "honey," (now officially called concentrado del jugo de la caña de azucar). Miel de caña is part of Málaga´s culinary tradition. It is drizzled over fritters and fried foods, making an intriguing contrast of salty and sweet. It is used as a sweetener in desserts such as sweet potato pudding or served with fresh goat cheese.

Miel de caña.



One factory in Málaga province still produces miel de caña. Ingenio Nuestra Señora del Carmen in Frigiliana, situated in a mill first established in 1630, imports cane juice from countries where sugar is still grown commercially. (After the discovery of the New World in 1492, Spaniards carried the cultivation of sugar to new continents.)

Here is a recipe for a very traditional  tapas bar dish, fried eggplant drizzled with molasses.

Thinly-sliced eggplant is dusted with flour and fried in olive oil, then drizzled with molasses.

The intriguing contrast of salty and sweet makes this an outstanding dish, popular in tapa bars.

One medium eggplant serves two as a starter or six as a tapa.

Finger food.

Fried Eggplant with Molasses
Berenjena Frita con Miel de Caña

One medium eggplant (about ¾ pound) makes 18 to 20 slices, serving two persons as a starter or five or six as a tapa. Soaking the sliced eggplant in salt water keeps it from absorbing too much oil during frying and also flavors it with salt. 

A small quantity of semolina flour adds a little texture to the coating. Omit it, if preferred.

Use dark molasses, not blackstrap, for finishing this recipe.

1 medium eggplant (¾  pound)
3 cups water
1 tablespoon salt
½ cup flour
1 tablespoon semolina flour (optional)
Pinch of cumin
Olive oil for frying
Coarse salt (optional)
Molasses
Slice eggplant thinly.

 
Cut stem and end off the eggplant. Slice it crosswise very thinly, in 3/8 inch-slices. Combine the water and salt in a bowl and stir to dissolve the salt. Add the eggplant to the water. Place a dish on top so the eggplant slices stay submerged. Soak the eggplant 30 minutes.

Combine the flour, semolina, if using, and cumin in a shallow bowl. Drain the eggplant and pat it dry with a kitchen towel.

Heat oil in a heavy skillet to a depth of ¼ inch. Dredge the eggplant slices in flour, patting off excess. Fry the eggplant in two or three batches until browned on both sides, about 1 minute per side.
Drain fried eggplant on a rack. Serve it hot.

 
Remove the fried eggplant from the skillet and drain briefly on a rack. Sprinkle with coarse salt, if desired. 

Serve the fried eggplant drizzled with molasses. 












Another recipe with molasses:
More recipes with miel de caña (in Spanish) here.

More recipes for fried eggplant: