My fellow foodies, I apologize for the delay in my postings. My recently divorced, mother was in town and on vacation in Miami. I think that sentence sums up why I have not been at the computer. Hence, I was a tour guide and entertainer for that time.
Luckily, I do have MUCH to blog about since my mother loves to eat as much as I and considering I am officially a post-grade broke girl(as oppose to a broke college girl) she paid. So, naturally my overqualified taste buds took advantage.
Besides the excellent restaurants I ate at, one of the tastiest meals I enjoyed was at my grandparents. If you hate cleaning as much as I, you must make my uncle Robbie’s eggplant parmesan. Did I mention it’s all cooked in one skillet?
He does not measure so I hope you’re good at eyeballing.
To serve 6 people:
- As many thick slice of eggplant you and your friends want to inhale
- 2 cans crushed tomato sauce….San Marzano makes a delicious, difference (*** look further down for an optional extra work step)
- Flour for dipping
- Olive oil for frying….I will never say EVOO sorry Rachel Ray
- Shredded buffalo mozzarella….DO spend the extra cash and get it fresh, you’ll thank me later
- Pasta (if you desire) on the side
- Basil for topping
- Breadcrumbs to assure your plate is crispy
- Egg wash is optional but, he was not trying to make a mess….so he passed on that step
- Wine for sipping while you cook (and after) accompanied by a Rat Pack playlist to set the mood
*Apparently, whole tomatoes in a can have more flavor. I usually buy one can of whole tomatoes and use scissors to cut them up. I also buy a crushed can of tomatoes and combine them together.
Get a decent sized saucepan and another plate for the mixture of breadcrumbs and flour. Alright, maybe I lied…it is a one skillet and a one plate wonder.
All you are going to do is:
- After you heat the olive oil in the pan on medium, you are going to fry up some breadcrumbs. Yup, get those things crunchy. Once they are a little more than golden brown take them out and put to the side.
- Drench the eggplant into the flour mixture and (using the same skillet) fry on both sides with some more olive oil until it looks nice and crisp. In addition to not measuring ingredients, my uncle Robbie also does not measure time.
- While your eggplant was cooking, do not forget to chiffonade your basil. Chiffonade is a fancy term for folding your herbs into ribbons and cutting it. It also sounds prettier than saying mince or cut.
- Take the eggplant out.
- In the same pan, just add the sauce, wait till it gets hot and then add back the eggplant.
- Dash some salt, pepper and basil in.
- Place the desired amount on a plate and add the mozzarella so it melts on the hot tomato sauce.
- Take those breadcrumbs you put to the side and throw those crispies on top of your dish.
- Add some extra basil on top to present an extravagant looking dish.
- Do as the Italians do and drink it down it with vino, if you did not drink it all already by this time. Or you can always send out your boyfriend/husband out for more. What else are they for? (Boyfriend if you are reading this, you know I’m only kidding…)
With this eggplant, my uncle made his Bahamian Mac and Cheese. It is the cheesiest, (probably “fattiest’) thing I have ever eaten and puts Kraft to shame.
I will be posting the recipe at some point today… brace yourself.
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