I remember daring each other to touch the hot black cast iron for just a second before pulling our fingertips away and the joy of watching water spit and dance any time a drop of ice or snow landed on it. There was also a brief, thrilling chapter of spitting on the stove's top to enjoy this effect before my mother made us stop.
The wood stove in my parents' kitchen with Dutch-inspired tile mural by my mom, Rosemary Fox, copyright 2011. |
But I never realized you could cook in the wood stove until I watched a friend's mom wrap some sweet potatoes in tin foil and toss them into the coals when I was over for dinner. Why hadn't we ever thought of that?!
It's been at least 20 years since that aha moment but the idea came back to me the other night when we were casting about for something easy to make for dinner. I sliced up two eggplants, rubbed each slice with olive oil, sea salt and pepper, then layered on some homemade garlic scape pesto that we'd frozen and smeared on some tomato paste.
Then I wrapped them each in several layers of tinfoil (unless it's ripped or covered with something really yucky like fish skin, we wash this and reuse it.)
We popped open the stove door, raked the coals into a nice cozy bed and placed the little eggplant zeppelins on them. We got out the big tongs we use for the barbecue and flipped the eggplants a few times to ensure even cooking.
After about 20 minutes, they were done. We took them out of the stove, all covered in ashes, and opened the steaming packages up.
The eggplant was perfect - tender and flavorful. I topped the slices with crumbled feta cheese and drizzled them with a little olive oil.
Tasted divine and the clean up was minimal, too.
If you have a wood stove or fireplace, give this a whirl. Happy new year, all!
You might also like:
- Roasted Eggplant & Tomato Gratin
- Grilled Eggplant Stacks with Tomato, Feta & Basil
- Provençal Vegetable Tian
Everything about this is absolutely wonderful!
ReplyDeleteWe have this same wood stove, I can't wait to try the eggplant, opening the door to so many opportunities! I never thought of cooking inside it either, not sure why since I cook things in a fire pit! Thanks for this:)
ReplyDeleteLove this. And what a badass stove!
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