Eggplant Parmesan, aka Aubergine Parmesan
July 15th, 2009
They say eggs don't grow on trees here. They think 'eggplant' is the silliest of words. But an aubergine? Isn't that a French word?
Did you know eggplants were once white and round-ish? Ahem, hence the name.
Aubergine coloured eggplants came later.
And that's only one varietal! There are loads of kinds of eggplants in the world.
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I received a lovely note from a reader recently. While my absence here at eggbeater hasn't produced many comments, many of you have 'written to me on the side,' and, when I haven't been working, I've responded.
But these personal email exchanges don't include you, now do they?
As you know, I have a thing for eggplant parmesan. But, I have never said much else about it. I have never 'given you the recipe,' so to speak.
But, as you may have gathered, I'm not much into recipes these days. I have given you my best, my favorite, my tried & true. I give them when I get them just right, after making 'em a dozen or so times. And now that I am baking in another country, with completely different ingredients, I'm re-navigating my own recipes and learning new ones, so recipes, as a thing, as a concept, as a reality, have shifted and morphed into something else.
While I am in Recipe Limbo, as it were, I am on-leave as a Recipe Giver.
But I do have a method, with some ever-so-time-consuming hints, for the Best Ever Eggplant Parmesan, in my opinion, of course.
From Linda:
"I found your wonderful blog today through a friend who is helping with
my search for the perfect yellow cake and chocolate icing…
she made yours and says this is it….but I have been sitting here
reading and enjoying your recipes for several hours and it is now
1:00am and I must go to sleep…but you have made me hungry for
eggplant parmesan…
Is there any chance of getting your recipe?
If you have the time it would be lovely."
From me:
I would not say i have a 'recipe' for eggplant parmesan, I just make it. Here are some of my time consuming tricks -
make
your own sauce. mine is usually: sweated onions & garlic in olive
oil. canned Marzano tomatoes, broken up, tomato paste, salt and freshy
ground black pepper. to taste. additions might include sauteed red
peppers, oregano, marjoram, basil… depends what i have. all fresh
herbs, not dried. (did you know that store bought dried herbs {in USA} are
irradiated UNLESS STATED OTHERWISE?)
My sauce could take at least 3 hours, maybe more, so start early. sauce should be
thick because you don't want any excess oil/water in eggplant parmesan.
make your own breadcrumbs. stale/toast bread and run it through a food processor. mix in fresh chopped parsley, kosher/sea salt.
cut eggplant in @ 1" rounds. salt on both sides with kosher/sea salt @ 20
minutes before frying. remember that you can not fry all your eggplant
at once.
make 3 plates for frying. 1. eggplant. 2. eggs, beaten. 3. bread crumbs.
fry in olive oil– a good amount, but eggplant should not be swimming!
get your pan nice and hot (cast iron skillet is best) then add the oil. immediately lay in your rounds.
treat
eggplant like pancakes = try and get all your color on one side before
turning over. get it nice and dark! just this side of burnt.* *but you
do not want the color to come on too fast. it's tricky– you want
everything to be hot but remember that the eggplant is thick and it
takes time for it to get cooked through & through.
you may need to add more oil when you flip. again, do not have these pieces swimming in oil.
set fried pieces aside. on plate lined with towel.
when
I assemble, I treat it like lasagna but with the eggplant as noodle. I
don't usually use ricotta but sometimes i might. my cheeses are
parmesan, grated fine & mozzarella, grated or chopped.
layers might look like: sauce, eggplant, parmesan, mozzarella, repeat.
On top I like to have a scant layer of sauce and then a good layer of mozzarella/parmesan so when it bakes this gets crusty.
this is my recipe.
now you've made me hungry for it. not sure i want to spend my day off making it, but hopefully soon I will…
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