In our new effort to become less fervent carnivores, Tony (the bf) and I set off to the Saint Paul Farmer's Market. The first thing we spotted was some beautiful looking eggplants, then Tony mentioned something about parmesan and pretty soon we were plopping a ginormous and beautiful eggplant into our reusable grocery bag. We set off with high hopes of vegetarian delights.
We basically conjured up Eggplant Parmesan the same way you might approach chicken Parmesan. Battered, Fried and then cooked.
For some reason, it wasn't until we tried putting it into our mouths that we realized... umm... we don't really like eggplant that much. Or at least we knew it wasn't the cheese, sauce or noddlely part we had a problem with. True truth, we reverted to our omnivore roots and we made the same thing with chicken a couple weeks later and saw it to be a (huge) improvement. Can you tell which one is which in the pictures above?
To my knowledge, I've had eggplant three times total in life. The first, I thought it was revolting, and the second I thought it was so-so, and the third in this parmesean was probably the best, but still not really that great. (Apparently those first two times escaped my memory when I saw the pretty eggplants at the Farmer's market.)
So, my one thought is: I still don't know if I'm just not an eggplant person, or if I just am consistently eating it wrong. So here's the recipe (if you dare)... and let me know if you have any tips for improving my eggplant consumption
Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients:
-Whole Eggplant
-2 eggs
-bread crumbs
-spagetti noodles
-Any brand Pasta Sauce, or make your own.
-mozarella cheese
Directions:
Slice eggplant about 1/2 inch thick width wise. Batter with eggs, then bread crumbs. Fry in pan with olive oil.
Prepare noodles and sauce. Combine in baking dish. Place Fried eggplants on top, and cover with cheese.
Bake at 350 degrees F for 20 to 30 mins or until cheese is golden brown.
If you slice the eggplant *really really* thin--like 1/8in or even less, it gets crispy all the way through, more like fried zucchini. It's more work though.
ReplyDeleteI don't think even I could eat that--if it's not crispy, eggplant does this odd, slimy, weird thing. Texture FAIL.
Also (brain malfunctioning here, sorry), if you build eggplant parm like you would lasagna, it works better. Leave out the pasta (or if you must have it, cook separately and serve eggy-plants on top).
ReplyDeleteDo a bit of sauce in the bottom of the casserole--one you like. Then a layer of those thin, crispy eggplants, then some more sauce, some cheese, some more eggplant until you run out of eggplant. More cheese and sauce for the top, cover with foil. Then you bake at... 350*, I think... the same way/time you would a lasagna. about 30 or 45 minutes covered, then under the broiler (or just in the oven) until the cheese on top is melted/crispy.
Much better, trust me. (She said, trying to figure out how to manage eggplant parm at home, vegan style, still fried in mom's non-frying house... November is going to be... Interesting.)
Did you salt the eggplant to get the bitter juices out of it? That definitely affects flavor.
ReplyDeleteYou are supposed to salt the eggplant and then let it sit for about 30 min, and then rinse it off. The sodium helps pull all of the excess water from the eggplant. It really makes a difference.
ReplyDelete@j - I really like the sounds of that Lasagna version you described. I think that might inspire me to try eggplant again.
ReplyDelete@Alyse and City Gal - didn't do the salting action, thanks for the tip. I'll try that next time.
Try roasting the eggplant. That is the only way I can stomach the stuff.
ReplyDeleteWell, there was this absolutely fabulous eggplant/tahini dip that I inhaled in Jordan. I was eating it for days before they told me what it was. But I think that calls for roasted eggplant also.
Definitely salt before like the others have said. I also discovered a great recipe for eggplant as a side dish and Kaleigh likes it too. Kind of coated in bread crumbs and parm and then baked in the oven...right at the end cover with cheese and eat when melted. It's yummy.
ReplyDelete