You may want to try this one which is pan cooked then reheated in the oven until crispy. It's a dish we love: Here a recipe from the Spanish island of Mallorca. Most women there know how to make it and it's often seen in the typical restaurants there. Ingredients: Sauce: 4 TBS olive oil 4 medium sized ripe tomatoes, blanched, skinned and chopped 1/2 onion chopped 1 teasp salt The rest: 2 medium eggplant - if young and tender - leave skins on, otherwise peel. Slice into rounds 1/4 inch thick. Put immediately into bowl of salted water to prevent turning brown. 4 medium potatoes - peeled or not as you like, also sliced 1/4 inch thick. 5 Italian (mild) green frying peppers - seeded and cut into bit-sized pieces 3 cloves garlic - smashed a sprig of chopped flatleaf parsley oil for frying - I use sunflower oil clean newspaper and kitchen towels Sauce - Put the 4 TBS olive oil in a small frying pan and heat. Add chopped tomatoes, onion and salt. Simmer about 20 minutes or until thick and jammy looking. The Rest - 1) Fill large frying pan with about 1/2 inch oil. When hot but not smoking add 1/3 the amount of potatoes. When golden, remove and drain on paper towel-covered newspapers. 2) Continue with the rest of the potatoes - cooking them in two more batches, letting oil heat up again between batches. When potatoes are all done put peppers into hot oil along with garlic cloves and fry until toasted. Remove along with garlic to paper. 4) Drain and pat dry the rounds of eggplant and put them into hot oil and fry in 3 batches - draining them on paper. in the bottom of an ovenproof casserole dish, sprinkle with salt, next layer half the potatoes, again a bit of salt, next layer half the peppers. Repeat with the same ingredients (no more salt) until all are used. Spoon sauce over top and add a bit of chopped parsley. 6) Put into medium oven for about 20 minutes until all is reheated. This is also good served at room temperature and the next day. SharonCb

@jrb451 Here is the caponata recipe. CAPONATA 1/2 cup olive oil 3 cups diced eggplant (3/8" cubes), about 1 medium 1 1/2 cup coarsely chopped onions 1 cup celery in 1/4 " slices 2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes 3 Tbs. minced garlic 2 Tbs. tomato paste 1/4 cup red wine vinegar 12 small stuffed green olives, sliced into thirds 12 black olives, pitted and sliced into thirds 1/4 cup small capers, drained 3 Tbs. sugar 1/4 to 1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 cup lightly packed minced parsley 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. pepper In a large skillet, heat the oil. Add the eggplant and saute several minutes until partially soft. Add the onions, celery, tomatoes and garlic and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, add the remaining ingredients, and toss lightly. Chill until ready to serve. Serve chilled or at room temperature. Notes: Chopped anchovies can also be added. Diced zucchini can be substituted for half of the eggplant. Diced yellow peppers make a colorful addition.

Let's say I'm intrigued. First, there are the crinkle cookies to be tackled. ;) But the mini-cheesecke pan has spaces maybe the size of a quarter to half dollar. They're straight sided and have loose bottoms. I also have heart and pumpkin shaped ones, which are profgessively a little larger. I use them for interesting things, but haven't tried an actual cheesecake. This might be the right first toe in the water.

I'm tired--your question sparked a memory, but when I pursue it it goes away like a puff of steam, rather than solidifying. I have this memory of making cornichons, but no datails are coming forth. The central question of where the fruit came from is bringing back an echo of them being for sale, which would have been the impetus of doing such an odd (for me) thing. Only one jar for the fridge, I'm sure. Or possibly a few to give to other fridges. I keep seeing yellow backgrounds, so maybe it was when I was living abroad, which would also make sense because there wasn't a great variety of foods in the small town, but often interesting produce from neighboring farms would show up at the grocery store. None of which is helpful. It sounds like lower priced jars solved your question, and Look-what-the-cat-dragged-in produce in a different time and place doesn't help either, but I thank you for fishing up the memory! I used to love those "French picnics".