Weekend Warrior: Eggplant Casserole

Every Friday, I offer a recipe for the weekend when those of us who love to cook have more time to do so. Today's recipe is Eggplant Casserole, a creole/cajun creation that will convert those who aren't fans of eggplant, like myself. 

Last month, I travelled to New Orleans for the Association of Food Journalists' conference in New Orleans. A group of us went out to dinner at  Mandina's, a classic Creole-Italian restaurant in a bright pink house on Canal Street.

There are all these neighborhood restaurants in New Orleans, where crawfish etouffee and spaghetti and meatballs are on the same menu. It's the result of a large migration of Sicilians to the city. Many of these immigrants started out owning grocery stores/produce stands that would later become these neighborhood joints. 

It is the same story for Mandina's, which has been owned by the same family for four generations. Brett Anderson, the Times-Picayune's restaurant critic, wrote a series of stories called "Mandina's Rising" about the restaurant's recovery post-Katrina. He won a James Beard award for the series.

I'm not a big fan of eggplant. But Judy Walker, the Times-Picayune food editor, ordered the eggplant casserole. When you eat with food writers, everyone tastes everyone else's dishes. And so, the eggplant casserole got passed around the table. I really liked it; likely because the eggplant was barely recognizable in this spicy meat-shrimp-veggie casserole. This dish has been stuck in my head ever since I got back. 

Now I am so glad that I lugged the 11-1/2 pound cookbook back from New Orleans that Chef John Folse gave us after cooking our lunch on another day during the conference. The cookbook is Folse's "The Encyclopedia of Cajun and Creole Cuisine."  

Inside was the recipe that you see below.

Eggplant Casserole

4 medium eggplants, peeled and cubed
1/2 pound ground beef
1/2 pound (150-200) count shrimp, peeled and deveined
1/4 pound butter
1 cup diced onions
1 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced bell peppers
1/4 cup minced garlic
1 cup chicken stock
salt and cracked black pepper to taste
2 cups Italian bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Boil eggplant in lightly-slated water until tender and almost mushy. Drain and set aside. In a 4-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium-high heat. Saute onions, celery, bell peppers and garlic 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are wilted. Add ground beef and slowly cook 25 to 30 minutes or until golden brown and each grain of meat is totally separated. It meat has become too dry during cooking, slowly add a little chicken stock. Stir in cooked eggplant and shrimp. Cook approximately 30 minutes or until vegetables, meat and eggplant are well blended. Season with salt and pepper. Remove from heat and sprinkle in 1 cups of bread crumbs to absorb liquid. Place eggplant mixture in a baking dish and top with remaining bread crumbs. Bake 20 to 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Note: the casserole that I tasted at Mandina's had some spice into it. So I might substitute spicy Italian sausage for the ground beef. 

Source: The Encyclopedia of Cajun & Creole Cuisine by John D. Folse