August 8th, 2012
evaatprosserfarm

Aubergine already

Grilled Japanese Eggplant with Honey Soy Glaze

From Tom Douglas’ Seattle Kitchen

Serves 4

.

For the honey soy glaze:

¼ cup honey

¼ cup vegetable or peanut oil

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

¼ cup soy sauce

½ teaspoon minced garlic

¼ teaspoon red chili flakes

For the eggplant:

4 Japanese eggplants, about 5 ounces each, or 1 globe eggplant

2 teaspoons sesame seeds, toasted

First make the honey soy glaze by whisking together the honey, oil, lemon juice, soy sauce, garlic, and red chili flakes.

Fire up the grill for direct heat. Cut each Japanese eggplant in half lengthwise, leaving the stem on. Then partially cut each half several times lengthwise, like a fan.  If using a globe eggplant, slice it into ½ -inch-thick rounds. 

            Pour half the glaze over the eggplants in a medium bowl and allow to  marinate for 10 minutes.  Remove the eggplants from the marinade.  Allow any excess marinade to drip off, to prevent a flare up when you are placing them on the grill.  Grill the eggplants, turning as necessary until done, about 4 to 6 minutes, but the exact time will depend on the heat of the grill.  Remove the cooked eggplant from the grill.

            Place two eggplant halves or two slices of eggplant on each plate and drizzle with a bit of the remaining honey soy glaze.  Sprinkle with the sesame seeds and serve.

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About Prosser Farm
In 2006, Tom Douglas and his wife and business partner, Jackie Cross, bought a house with a little acreage in Prosser, Washington, in the lower Yakima Valley. The farm is 2½ hours east of Seattle, right smack in the middle of Washington wine country—and conveniently right next door to their pals and Chinook Winery winemakers, Kay and Clay.

At the time of the purchase, the chefs in Tom and Jackie’s joints were already using everything local they could get their hands on--whole pigs and lambs, handmade cheeses, foraged mushrooms, and Washington wines—but the new Prosser Farm would represent a commitment to narrowing the gap between the land, its producers, and the restaurants, all the while continuing to educate their chefs about the effort dedicated to creating the best, from seed to table.

Today, Jackie runs the roost as Farmer-in-Chief, with indispensable help from her Dad, Jim, who built all the raised beds, and her Dad’s wife, Sharon, who works the farm daily with a team of dedicated support staff, including a stellar team of women from the Prosser area who are now returning for their third season. The farm is managed by the ever-creative and zealous Dev Patel—a chef who continues to wow us with both his dedication to the careful selection of tomato varietals in the field and the clearest tomato water on the table.

After a few years struggling with the new farm’s learning curve, the first big year of production was in 2010. On average, 2,400 pounds of produce a week during growing season is trucked in from the farm for distribution to all the Tom Douglas Restaurants. Mellow green garlic, perfect beet greens, baby rainbow chard leaves, beautiful crisp heads of lolla rossa, and lush bunches of spicy red and white radishes are generally the first to show up in our restaurant kitchens. Later in the season, the Seattle-bound truck is filled with sweet apricots, ripe heirloom tomatoes, and a small mountain of spicy peppers and eggplants, irrigated by the Cascade Mountains’ snow-melt and ripened in the hot Eastern Washington sunshine.

Dev and Jackie work closely with the chefs when choosing which crops to plant each year, learning every season more and more about what produce works best for which menu. From the late spring until early fall, the fruits and vegetables from Prosser appear everywhere on our menus--from the tomatoes in Lola’s Greek salad to the roasted peppers on Serious Pie’s pizza to the chard in Dezi’s Meatless Monday creations at palace Kitchen. Many of our chefs have started canning and preserving in order to keep Prosser Farm produce on their winter menus.

It is our goal at Prosser Farm to continue to learn, to continue to grow, and to deliver deliciousness, served with graciousness, from our fields to your plate. Let’s eat!

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