Fried Eggplant

Eggplant, or aubergine, is probably the favorite vegetable in Turkey. I rarely ate it growing up in the South, but I've developed a passion for it now--especially drizzled with garlic-yogurt sauce.

There are many ways to prepare eggplant to fry, but here's my favorite:

Peel strips of skin off the sides of the eggplant so that it's left in stripes (some skin on and some cut away). Then cut the eggplants into about 1 inch thick slices. Soak the slices in salt-water for about an hour, or omit the water and just sprinkle the slices heavily with salt (which you would then wash off).

Next, I like to layer the slices on a broiler pan and pop them in the oven for a few minutes (around 350 degrees) until tender. That way they don't soak up as much oil when frying.

Heat a skillet (I prefer cast iron) on the stove and add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan. After the oil has heated, add your eggplants and fry until golden on both sides (probably about 7-8 mins on each side).

Remove eggplants as they're ready and place on a paper towel to dab up remaining oil. Serve either hot or cold. Spread some Garlic-Yogurt Sauce on them, and enjoy!