Firecracker Eggplant – Alison Mountford

By Alison Mountford, contributing chef, RINewsToday

ACTIVE TIME – 15

TOTAL TIME – 30

SERVES – 6 as a side dish

Intro: Firecracker sauce toes the line between buffalo sauce and teriyaki. It thickens and glazes whatever you put it on while it cooks – and it is so simple to make. We love this type of sticky, rich sauce on eggplant but if that’s not your favorite, you can brush it on fish, steak or other grilled veggies. It’s excellent on chicken wings too!

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup hot sauce (like Frank’s Red Hot)

¾ cup brown sugar

1 Tablespoon soy sauce

2 Tablespoons white or red wine vinegar

2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1-2 large eggplant, any variety!

½ teaspoon salt

3 Tablespoon canola oil

INSTRUCTIONS

PREHEAT THE OVEN TO 425 DEGREES

FIRECRACKER SAUCE

Place it in a small saucepan. Add hot sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, and vinegar. Bring to a simmer and whisk until smooth; simmer for about 7 minutes, or until it’s slightly thickened. Turn off the heat, add butter and whisk until it’s melted.

EGGPLANT

Dice the eggplant into large cubes or long strips. Place them on a paper or foil lined baking sheet and arrange in one layer. Sprinkle with salt and toss with the oil. Bake for about 14 minutes, stopping to stir once halfway through. When the eggplant is soft throughout, golden brown, and ready to eat, remove from the oven and generously spoon the sauce over top. Toss to coat. Return to the oven for 4-5 minutes until glazed and sticky.

Any extra sauce will keep for weeks in the fridge.

Take care, the sauce will burn! (Whatever you use the sauce on should be cooked first, then glazed with the sauce) Delicious over rice or with a vegetable slaw!

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Here is the printable version link: https://rinewstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/Firecracker-Eggplant-pdf.pdf

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Chef Alison Mountford is the founder of Ends+Stems – which is a meal planning membership and recipe website to reduce food waste. “Chef Alison” also hosts a series of online courses for easier weeknight meals and feeding picky eaters with less stress. Alison began in 2005 as a personal chef and caterer in San Francisco but she recently returned home to Rhode Island!

She is passionate about helping families eat well together, with less frustration. Alison is often hired as a speaker to share about household food waste, feeding busy families, and sustainability in the kitchen; she’s appeared many times on The Rhode Show and other podcasts and webinars.

Alison is also the Market Coordinator at Hope & Main – Rhode Island only culinary incubator – where she loves helping new food businesses expand their social media, brand, and increase sales at the farmer’s markets!