1+1+1 = ?

Never in a million years would I have thought that I would be making what I made for this challenge.


I had a concoction like this one in a little Italian restaurant probably 20 years ago and remember being surprised that it tasted so good.  Flash forward to today and when I saw the Daring Cooks Challenge this dessert popped into my head again....for the first time in 20 years!

The challenge: choose one ingredient from each list provided and make something yummy.


My three ingredients:
List 1 - Parsnips, Eggplant, Cauliflower  
List 2 - Balsamic vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle peppers 
List 3 - Maple syrup, Instant Coffee, Bananas

I didn't remember what this freaky dessert was called so I had a rough time finding a recipe for it but did eventually run across Rosetta and her recipe for Melanzane al cioccolato or eggplants and chocolate.  I made a lot of changes to the ingredients but the idea is the same. 

Eggplant as the packaging.....check
Goat cheese to replace ricotta in the filling.....check
Instant coffee in the chocolate sauce.....check

What I discovered was that this is a labor intensive dish and the eggplant soaked up and then released, what seemed like a lot of the oil it was cooked in.  It didn't ruin the taste of the dish but it did leave a very small oil slick on the plate when it was served. 

I did have one more problem and that was that I didn't wait long enough for it to set when it was done baking and, as you can see, I ended up with a very free form blob of tasty mess.  It really took till the next day for the whole dish to hard set and then it resembled a chocolate lasagna but I forgot to take a picture of it.



I added the almonds and some crushed up Italian shortbread cookies to the top.  I know that this picture looks more like a chicken cutlet with a mole than eggplant and chocolate but either way this was extra tasty.  Will I make this again?  I might, but I will probably not make so much.  I would halve or quarter the recipe and make it part of a tasting rather than the main attraction.  What I will say is that my 7 year old LOVED it even after he found out that it was eggplant and that can't be bad!  I am also thinking that the best part of the whole thing was the eggplant in cinnamon and sugar so I am going to have to make a sugared eggplant chip and I bet that it would be delicious!

Here is my version of the eggplant and chocolate dessert.

With that success behind me, I decided to try another combo.  How about...

List 1 - Parsnips, Eggplant, Cauliflower  
List 2 - Balsamic vinegar, Goat Cheese, Chipotle peppers 
List 3 - Maple syrup, Instant Coffee, Bananas

How about a blackberry, maple syrup and balsamic braised chicken and cauliflower?  Let's try it.

The color was a little all encompassing but that was to be expected.  This was really fantastic and I might do some more experimenting with this one using a different meat.  I think pork would be fabulous!

Here is the recipe for the Blackberry Balsamic Cauliflower Chicken.

Thanks to Karen and David from Twenty-Fingered Cooking for a really fun challenge and, as always, be sure to visit The Daring Kitchen to see what other amazing dishes were created this month!

Our April 2012 Daring Cooks hosts were David & Karen from Twenty-Fingered Cooking. They presented us with a very daring and unique challenge of forming our own recipes by using a set list of ingredients!

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