August 8, 2013 - Eggplant Parmesan

Tonight's Farmers Market Dinner:

Eggplant Parmesan

Making a tomato sauce:

I had a ton of tomatoes at this point, and the intent was to cook a large vat of sauce and use a small amount for the eggplant.  I did not start it early enough and by the time I had peeled and mashed a small fraction of the paste tomatoes it was getting late - and I still hadn't started the eggplant.  So I cut my losses and made just enough for the eggplant parm.  

1. Get a big pot of water to a rolling boil, this will take a while so start it first and early.
2. Cut an X at the bottom of each tomato.
3. Boil the tomatoes for just a few seconds, 10-30 at most.  And then immediately transfer them into a bowl of ice water.  This should make peeling the tomatoes much easier.


4. Add the peeled tomatoes to a saucepan and cook them down.  They should start to fall apart and lose their moisture.  I used a wooden spoon and a potato masher to break the up once cooked a little. I was going for simple chunky sauce, but if I was going for something thinner with a more consistent texture I'd throw the whole lot into a food processer at this point.

5. The sauce was real simple: dried oregano, salt and pepper. A little bit of chopped basil at the end.

Preparing the eggplant:

1. Take off the skin with a vegetable peeler, and slice into 1/2 inch thick rounds.

2. Lay the slices on a layer or two of paper towels and sprinkle salt over the top and bottom.

3. Let the slices sit for 15-20 minute to allow the bitter moisture to ooze out.

Salted

You can clearly see the moisture oozing out.  Wipe both sides down with another set of paper towels to remove both the moisture and remaining salt.

4. Prepare a dredging station with three bowls:

•  The first with just flour
• The second with a couple of eggs beaten, with a few tablespoons of water to stretch the egg if need.
• The third with seasoned breading.  I used panko, seasoned salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, and a little parmesan.

5. Coat each slice with flour, egg, and breading and set aside on a sheet of parchment.

6. Fry in hot vegetable oil until browned on both sides. This is best done in batches and

7. Set aside cooked eggplant slices on a cooling rack. This should stop them from getting soggy while the rest cook.

8. Top them off with some of the sauce and mozzarella cheese and bake until it's hot and cheese is melted.

9. I plated the eggplant parm with sliced cherry tomatoes, caramelized onions, parmesan cheese, and fresh oregano.