If you are looking for a new, deep fried vegetable dish to serve at your next holiday party you may want to consider making “Deep Fried Crab Stuffed Eggplant.”
Caution, this recipe is not for the health conscious. It can be modified though by skipping the beer batter and deep frying steps and instead finishing off the dish by placing it back in the oven.
To make “Crab Stuffed Eggplant” you will need to assemble together the following ingredients;
• 8 ounces domestic beer, room temperature
• 3 egg yolks, beaten, paprika
• 2 large eggplants, washed and dried
• 1 pound lump crabmeat
• ¼ cup + 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 2 ½ cups+ 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• Garlic powder
• Salt to taste
• Pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 slices bread, cubed
• ½ cup light mayo
• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon minced onion
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Place the two eggplants onto a baking sheet and bake them until they are tender.
Afterward, remove the eggplants from the oven and cut each of them in half lengthwise. Once the eggplants are cut in half, take a tablespoon and scoop out the pulp. When you are done removing the pulp you should be left with a ½ inch shell.
Next place the extracted pulp into a bowl and mash it. Then set the pulp filled bowl to the side for later use.
Take out a heavy, medium sized saucepan and use it to melt 1 tablespoon of butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in 1 tablespoon of all-purpose flour into it. Then, while stirring continuously, add ½ cup of whole milk to the butter and flour mixture.
Allow the butter, flour and milk mixture to boil until the mixture thickens. Then add in the 1 teaspoon of minced onions, Worcestershire sauce and cubed bread. Afterward, set the mixture aside and let it cool.
Once the mixture is cool, add ½ cup light mayo, tablespoon lemon juice, salt, pepper, and ¾ cup of whole milk.
Proceed by taking a large, heavy skillet and adding to it the crabmeat and 2 tablespoons of melted butter. Next add the mashed eggplant pulp to the pan and mix well. Remove the skillet from the stove top and begin to stuff the hollowed out eggplant with the crab mixture.
Once the eggplants are stuffed, sprinkle the tops of the stuffing mounds with paprika and garlic powder.
Set the stuffed eggplants aside. Next take out a large mixing bowl and add together 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder, ¼ cup melted butter, 8 ounces of beer and 3 beaten egg yolks. Whisk it all together until well blended.
Continue by filling a deep fryer with vegetable oil and allow the oil to get hot. Once the oil is hot, dip the eggplant halves into the beer batter and gently place them into the hot oil. Allow them to cook in the deep fryer until they are golden brown. Remove them from the deep fryer and then serve.
