Braised Eggplant with Bacon and Tomatoes

     I'm forever on the fence about eggplant. On its own, I really want nothing to do with it. I do, however, love The Wife's Eggplant Parmigiana.  The reason I'm going on about eggplant is that our garden is yielding an unprecedented bumper crop of these bad boys. Desperate times call for desperate measures. I consulted my copy of The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook and found an intriguing recipe involving eggplant, bacon and tomato. This recipe was good on a number of different levels. For one thing, it was very easy to make. It called for a few simple ingredients and came together easily. Second, it was packed with flavor. We served it on brown rice and the first thing we both said was that it tasted very much like fried rice you would get in a restaurant. This one is definitely a winner and will grace our table again! As always, notes and changes are in blue.

Braised Eggplant with Bacon and Tomatoes
via The Thousand Recipe Chinese Cookbook

Ingredients

• 6 bacon strips, cut into 2-inch sections
• 4 tomatoes, peeled and quartered (we didn't peel them because we're lazy. We also cut them into eighths because they were really big). 
• 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (we also soaked them in water and teaspoon of salt for about half an hour. Then we drained the water. The Wife assures me this is some form of sorcery that removes the "impurities" and "humours" from the eggplant)
• 1 to 2 garlic cloves, crushed (there is no such thing as too much garlic. If you want 12 cloves in there, go crazy. I'm definitely using more garlic next time)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste

Directions

1. Place bacon in a cold pan (we used our enameled cast iron dutch oven), then heat and brown lightly. Do not pour off the fat. Add garlic and stir-fry for a couple minutes.
2. Add eggplant cubes and stir-fry to coat with the bacon fat. Reduce heat to medium and cook, covered about 5 minutes, or until eggplant has softened (we left the lid off, because that's what badasses do). Stir once or twice during this time.
3. Gently stir in tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and cook, covered, until eggplant is done, about 5 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper (we added the salt as soon as we put in the tomatoes, since this helps to break the tomatoes down a bit). 
4. Serve over brown rice. Or white rice. Or noodles. Or Cap'n Crunch. Whatever floats your boat. 

UPDATE: Here's a link to the YouTube video for this recipe! You're welcome!

Good times!