Eggplant Caviar Timbale and Tomato Coulis

Submitted by Yves Bainier, Executive Chef, Bel-Air Bay Club,

by C&RB Staff (editor@clubandresortbusiness.com)
June 2007
 

Yield: 4 servings
 

Procedure:
For the Eggplant:
• Cut the skin as wide as you can, leaving a 1/4-inch on the skin, which will be used for the outside of the timbale.
• Cut all eggplants into small cubes (about 1/2 inch).
• Peel and chop the onion fine, as well as the garlic.
 
For the Eggplant Skin:
• In a medium pan, sauté the eggplant skin slowly in olive oil, starting with the flesh first on the pan; cook until the flesh is well-cooked. Then turn it over and cook the other side and let it cool down.

Cooking the Eggplant (with patience):
• In the medium pot, begin to sautée the onion olive oil slowly and stir frequently with a wooden spoon to avoid having the onion burn and brown.
• After 10 minutes, add the chopped garlic and keep the cooking process going.
• Simultaneously start to sauté the cubed eggplant a small amount at a time at low heat, until the eggplants are completely cooked.
• When a batch is ready you can then add it to the onion, and keep on until all eggplants are cooked (this process takes time). If you cook the eggplant too fast, you will need to add a lot of olive oil at the end product, otherwise it will be very greasy.
• Season to taste and add a pinch of cayenne pepper, then let it cool down in a non-reactive bowl.
• As the eggplant mix cools down the flavor of the seasoning tends to vanish, and the cayenne pepper brings it back. 

Preparing the Timbale:
• Line the timbale mold with the eggplant skin, with the outside skin against the edge of the ceramic mold.  As you are serving the timbale it should look black all the way around.
• In a small bowl break the whole eggs and whisk them.
• Mix it with the eggplant and add two tablespoons of chopped basil.
• Stir carefully.
• Fill up the mold with the mix to the top, and place in a roasting pan with water halfway.
• Place a sheet of aluminum foil to protect the top from the heat, and bake in a preheated oven at 300 degrees for forty-five minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and let it cook for another fifteen minutes.
• Take out of the oven and let cool for one night, or six hours.

For the Tomato Coulis:
• In a medium pot, boil some water.
• Remove the core of the tomato and cut a small cross shape on the other side (this method helps to take the skin out easily).
• Place the tomato in the boiling water for 20 seconds, and then in an ice bath (water and ice).
• Peel and split in half and squeeze the seeds and water out of the tomato.
• In a blender place the tomato, olive oil, and salt; process until smooth.

Serving the Timbale:
• In a salad plate, place a ladle of the tomato coulis and unfold the eggplant timbale on the middle of the plate.
• Sprinkle a bit of basil chiffonade around the timbale and serve. (Chiffonade is slicing a lettuce leave or herb very thin, instead of chopping it.)