Today is my wife’s birthday. So to honor her, here is a recipe named for her. Happy Birthday Peggy! I Love You!
My wife, Peggy loves eggplant. Every couple of months, we drive
over an hour to Copeland’s in West Little Rock. Her main reason to
go there is one dish, Eggplant Pirogue. A pirogue is a
flat bottom boat that is used in the swamps of Louisiana. This dish resembles a
pirogue, half of the eggplant stuffed with plenty of seafood.
3 medium Eggplant cut in half lengthwise
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
½ cup Ham diced small
½ cup Onion chopped
¼ cup Yellow Bell Pepper chopped
3 cloves Garlic chopped
½ cup Seafood Stock or Chicken Broth
½ pound medium Shrimp peeled, deveined and chopped
½ pound Lump Crabmeat cleaned of shells
½ cup seasoned Bread Crumbs
6 tablespoons Fresh Parmesan Cheese grated and divided
¼ cup Green Onions finely chopped
1 tablespoon Fresh Basil chopped
1½ teaspoons Fresh Tarragon chopped
1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
1/1/2 teaspoon Creole Seasoning Blend
Preheat over to 425 degrees. Score cut side of each eggplant half
in a crisscross pattern. Lightly coat cut sides of eggplant with cooking
spray. Place eggplant halves, cut side down, on a baking sheet. Bake
at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. Turn the eggplant halves over and
bake for an additional 10 minutes or until tender. Remove from oven
and let cool for 10 minutes. Remove pulp for the eggplant, leaving
a ¼ inch thick shell. Place eggplant shells on baking sheet coated
with cooking spray. Chop pulp and put aside. Reduce oven to 350
degrees. Heat olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high
heat. Add ham, onion, bell pepper, and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes.
Add reserved eggplant pulp and stock, cooking for 10 minutes or until
most of the liquid evaporates, stirring occasionally. Stir in shrimp and
crabmeat, cook 1 minute and remove from heat. Add breadcrumbs,
three tablespoons Parmesan cheese, green onions, basil, tarragon,
lemon zest, and Creole seasoning, stirring gently to combine. Mound
about ½ cup of seafood mixture into each shell. Sprinkle each with
the remaining Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes
or until thoroughly heated and shrimp are done.
Enjoy!!!
