Eggplant: Moussaka, baba ghanoush, ratatouille, eggplant parmesan — there are so many recipes that you have to experience before eggplant season is over!
Figs: Here’s a gallery of fig recipes. And here’s some fun fig history from Alan Davidson’s Oxford Companion to Food: “The Romans used to eat large amounts of both fresh and dried figs. The finest fresh ones were an expensive delicacy, while cheap ones were described by Pliny as the food of slaves. Dried figs were used mostly as a sweetener and to make sweetmeats, their high natural sugar content being particularly valued in an age when sugar was an exotic rarity. Figs were used also in savory dishes, and a Roman would not be surprised by the modern Italian habit of eating fresh figs with prosciutto.”
Peppers: Someone visiting the farm said that the peppers in her garden had been better than ever this year. Ours have been phenomenal as well — I think in our case it has something to do with the shade cloth that we have set up to cover the entire field as a way to prevent sunburn on the fruit. I have been roasting the peppers by placing them (without a pan) above the flame on my gas-stove burner. Cook them that way until the skin starts to burn and separate from the pepper flesh. Then put them in a paper or plastic bag to steam for a few minutes. Finally you can scrape off the skin and enjoy your roasted peppers — They’re great in all kinds of salads.
