Wood Fired Cajun Stuffed Eggplant with Smoked Chicken & Sausage

[CDN]

As I have made mention before on this website, I have a huge craving for Cajun cooking and a tremendous desire to learn more about the deep roots of the food and the culture known as Acadian. I can and do read about it from time to time, watch "Swamp People" of course, but being from Georgia, it can be hard to get the real scoop. So luckily for me, I have a good friend that is 100% pure Cajun, transplanted here to Georgia several years ago. She is a walking Cajun cookbook, and every chance I get, I try to pry a good Cajun recipe out of her and try to put a BBQ twist on it. This is her latest recipe that she gave me, and I'm here to tell you, it will not disappoint!

What you'll need:

Fresh eggplants, halved (one half will easily feed a hungry adult)

Pulled smoked chicken, about 1/2 cup per meduim sized eggplant (My method for smoked chicken can be found Here)

Smoked sausage, chopped or chunked, about 1/4 cup per medium sized eggplant

1 cup onions, finely chopped

1/2 cup bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 cup celery, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

3 tablespoons butter

1 cup bread crumbs (for this recipe we used panko)

1 cup whole grain rice, cooked

Cajun Seasoning

Lemon juice

Water

Spray cooking oil, such as olive oil or canola

Chopped scallions

Hickory or pecan wood or chunks

Start out by buiding a medium heat fire in the grill or smoker, around 350 degrees. For this cook I used the Weber Kettle, and used a full chimney of lump charcoal, half lit when dumped in, banked on wood side. Toss a chunk of wood on the coals to get a nice smoke going. I used hickory for this cook, but pecan would be a good choice as well. Prep the eggplant by washing it and cutting it in half, lengthwise. Using a small spoon or an ice cream scoop, remove the inner portion of the eggplant, leaving about 1/4 inch all the way around, so that you are left with a carved out shell, similar to how you would if you were making twice baked potatoes.

Place the eggplant shells in a large pan or bowl and cover with cold water, adding a teaspoon of lemon juice to the water. This will keep them from starting to turn brown. Let them sit in the water and lemon juice for about 15 minutes. Place the carved out eggplant in a large pan and cover with water and a teaspoon of lemon juice. Cook on medium heat, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant has softened. Remove from the heat and strain the eggplant to remove the water. In the same pan, lightly saute the bell pepper, onion and celery with the butter, just until they start to soften. Add the eggplant carving, the pulled chicken, the sausage, the garlic, about 3/4 cup of the bread crumbs and the rice to the pan. Season to taste with the Cajun seasoning. Stir to mix it up well.

Spray a large aluminum pan or other baking type dish with cooking oil and place the eggplant shells in the pan. Fill the shells with the mixture and top with the remaining bread crumbs.

Place the pan with the stuffed eggplant shells on the grill on the "cool" side of the grate, opposite the coals. Close the lid and let them cook for about 15 minutes, or until the stuffing starts to get a nice crust.

Garnish with the chopped scallions and serve hot with a nice crusty garlic bread.

[Deerthug]

Looks delicious!!

[Paula]

that looks soo good!