Dinner party vege contribution

wendalls, May 13, 9:59am
Has anyone any suggestions? There is a theme of "rosemary, mint or cinnamon" I wanted to avoid doing the easy roast veges with rosemary although that could be a back up with a mint yoghurt dressing. I have looked into morrocan style vege Tagine using cinnamon, but I don't think I have time for a test run. Also my husband is not keen on morrocan and I'm not sure I am either.
I will need to do as much prep as I can at home and then use the hosts oven. My guess is the main will be Lamb. Not sure though!
Any other ideas? Thanks.

sarahb5, May 13, 10:01am
Minted pea purée? Roasted parsnips with cinnamon?

beaker59, May 13, 10:55am
Potatoes baked in tinfoil with butter and a sprig of fresh thyme. Nice but for a large dinner party eliminate tinfoil hassle by baking in a covered pan.

davidt4, May 13, 8:31pm
Braised leeks and eggplant with olives and mint? Let me know if you would like the recipe.

wendalls, May 13, 9:51pm
I would love the recipe thank you Davidt4.

davidt4, May 13, 10:07pm
Here you are. This can be served cold, warm or hot. We prefer warm.

Leek & Eggplant with currants and olives

1 large leek (or 2 small) thickly sliced, green parts as well as white
1 large eggplant in2 - 3 cm chunks, skin on
125 ml good quality extra virgin olive oil
1/2 c currants
1/2 c black olives
salt and pepper
parsley to serve

Combine all ingredients except parsley in a large wide pam, cover and cook over a low heat for about an hour or until vegetables are very tender. Check liquid occasionally and add a little water if necessary. The mixture when cooked should be luscious but not too wet. Add chopped parsley just before serving.

wendalls, May 13, 11:42pm
Thanks very much!

darlingmole, May 14, 3:13am
greek salad with mint/yoghurt dressing?

sally63, May 15, 12:37am
David I want to marry you! OH, I see you said 'we' so I guess I can't.
Do you serve this with crusty bread?

davidt4, May 15, 1:57am
We don't eat bread, so no I don't, but it would be delicious, especially if you trickle some top quality ev olive oil over the veges just before serving.

I serve this dish as a side vegetable with grilled meats and with fish, also as part of a mezzo table.

Thank you for the proposal. I will bear it in mind.

sally63, May 15, 2:47am
Yummmm sounds lovely. I will have to make it. My family does not care for eggplant even in baba ganoush which I have a delicious recipe for. It is one of my favourite vegetables.I will make it for me in that case and hope somebody else likes it. I am intrigued by the addition of currants.Turkish?Moroccan?

davidt4, May 15, 5:03am
It's not a traditional dish, I made it up, but the currants are a Turkish sort of thing which I use a lot in savoury dishes, especially pilafs and tagines.

socram, May 15, 5:35am
For a really simple dish, roast pumpkin with a sprinkle of cinnamon?

awoftam, May 15, 5:39am
Sounds bewdy! I have added it to my Davidt4 folder :-) Thanks so much for sharing.

wendalls, May 15, 9:30am
So David t4, I'm assuming you have a parsley and a mint version? Just checking since you mentioned mint in the first comment but it's not in the recipe you've given. I haven't cooked or eaten a lot of leeks or eggplants so can't easily imagine mint with them.
Thanks for the other suggestions people!

davidt4, May 15, 8:08pm
Add fresh mint before serving. A tsp of dried mint added at the start is good too.

wendalls, May 18, 5:38am
Well the veges were very nice! Even fussy husband liked the eggplant and leeks thanks david T4. I also did a whole baked spud each with pancetta wrapped rosemary in a hole on top. Was a successful night!

sally63, May 18, 6:00am
Just making it now!

eastie3, May 18, 7:53am
Thank you davidt, it was delicious.

sally63, May 18, 8:27am
Yup yuuuuumy. I cheated a bit. Added a wee bit of fresh mint and some more on top just because I like mint so much and am next going to try it with some crusty bread and olive oil on the top and serve it luke warm. This is the kind of food I enjoy the most. Thanks again Davidt

davidt4, Jul 24, 7:04pm
Thanks for all the kind feedback! It's really satisfying to learn that others enjoy the dish.