Baba Ghanoush (بابا غنوج)
Baba ghanoush is one of my favorite appetizers to order at a middle eastern restaurant. It is creamy and has a smoky flavor. In many middle eastern homes, the eggplants are put directly onto the open flame of a gas stove and grilled that way until the skin is charred on all sides. I do not have a gas stove, and also, my home’s fire detector sometimes goes off when I make toast, so torching a whole eggplant directly on a flame would definitely set off the alarm. The eggplants can be baked, but I am not convinced that baking the eggplants would impart that distinct smoky flavor. I convinced my husband to grill the eggplants and to add a piece of apple wood to the charcoal in order to impart a good amount of smoke. I also had my husband grill the garlic, to add a little extra flavor (also I’m not a huge fan of raw garlic). The baba ghanoush turned out amazingly smoky! *A word of warning to those planning to serve this dish to vegetarians and/or American Muslims: hickory an...