Vinete or Baba Ganoush with homemade Mayonnaise

                                         Eggplant Mouse

This Mouse has many names. In arabic countries its called baba ghanoush, in Romania it's called Salade de Vinete (Vinete=Eggplant). I love, love, love this mouse. You can use it as a dip for vegetables or just eat it plain on bread. I need to make it regulary for myself. No one else in my family likes it (yet). So it's all for me me me ;-) 


First I am starting with the eggplants. I heat the oven to 500 degrees, put a cookie sheet underneath so its not dripping on the bottom and poke many holes in the Eggplant with a fork. You really want to do this. I forgot it once and what happens is that the Eggplants explode in your oven. That mess you really don't want, trust me lol.

Once the oven is heated up, put them in and turn them around every once in a while. Leave them in til their soft. You will feel it. They also start to drip juice through the poked holes. Then their done. It's taking a while so you have time to prepare the Mayonnaise. And trust me on this one too, you want to make your own. It does make a difference.

Mayonnaise is pretty simple to make. You just need a hand blender and a glass where the hand blender just fits in. It should be narrow enough.

What you need for the Mayonnaise: 

- 250 ml (1 cup) good vegetable Oil. I like for this the Mazzola Oil

- 1 whole Egg

- 1 TBSP Dijon Mustard (or german Mustard)

- salt

- Juice from half a Lemon (use the fresh one. It is sooooo much better)

How its made: 

It is really super simple. Throw all the ingredients in that narrow Glass and go in with the hand blender. Start at the bottom and move it up to the surface and you will see in a second that the liquid mix is turning into mayonnaise. You may do it one more time, or, like me, try if it had enough salt and Lemon juice and when added, go through with the blender again. DONE. That's it. Told you it was easy. ;-) 

Now you look for your Eggplant. Take it out when its done and peel the skin immediately. Use a little knife to cut through the skin and peel it down. Once the skin is removed, cut off the stem. Let it sit in the sink for a bit to cool down and squeeze it so excessive water can release. 

Once it's cooled down a bit, put the eggplant along with a shallot in a big blender and blend it well together. It should be really nice smooth (but if you like junks, go for it).

Remove the mouse from the blender in a bowl where you want to keep it. Now add a bit fresh pressed Lemon juice and your home made Mayonnaise. 

For 2 Eggplants I use like 3-4 TBSP Mayo. Mix it well. Now try it and add salt if needed. Let it cool in the fridge. The texture will get a bit more dense. It will not stay that liquid. It will be perfect on a slice of bread.

Guten Appetit