"Potlaja"
Romanian Eggplant Spread
--for each medium sized eggplant, use 2 small green peppers
--1 small red hot pepper
--salt, oil, garlic & onion to taste
**Over fire (on a BBQ or open flame) sear the skins on eggplants and peppers (to give smoky flavor)
**Put eggplants & peppers into brown paper bags & close for 10 min (double-bag as they give off oil).
**Prepare two colanders with plates underneath to catch excess oil.
**Under cool water remove charred skins from eggplants and peppers. Cut off the tops of the eggplants.
**De-seed the peppers (be extra careful when handling red pepper seeds as they will burn your eyes).
**Place eggplants in one colander & peppers in another.
**Cover with wax paper with extra weight on top to force out extra oil.
**Place into fridge overnight, but be sure to remove excess oils from the plates under the colanders for the first 6 hours.
**Next day: dry peppers w/ paper towels to remove excess oil.
**Coarsely chop eggplants.
**Coarsely chop green peppers (do not chop too small).
**Finely chop SMALL amount of red hot pepper chop (more can always be added—recommend using gloves!).
**Add ingredients together gently. Add salt to taste.
**Add oil to taste (oil from the eggplant & peppers is not suitable for the taste of this dish. However, adding vegetable oil brings both out the flavor and texture).
**Optional additions-- garlic or onion which has been finely chopped up.
**Serve with bread or crackers with extra chopped onions which can be sprinkled on top if desired.
Recipe reprinted from "Maternal Instincts" (as provided by Lily Royce's granddaughter Cindy Royce).
