[graciegirl]

I bought the eggplant, the fresh grated parmesan, some fresh garlic and have gathered several recipes off the internet.

I was born and raised in Ohio and the very first time that I had homemade Italian sauce was here in The Villages. I am a fairly decent cook but I generally make spagetti with sauce out of a jar.

So any tips about this undertaking will be appreciated.

Do you peel the eggplant? How much do you salt it before you drain it in the colander and for how long??? Do you use Parmesan alone or add another cheese?

[2BNTV]

Here's a recipe for you from Google..

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant_parmesan/

[KathieI]

My favorite meal of all time.. eggplant parmesan!!! Yumm, Yumm...

I make a pretty good version but I'm still not used to my electric stove and oven so I've had some disappointments here in TV.

First, Make yourself a very good "GRAVY". Do not add too much oregano, that's a major mistake, in my opinion. Good Italian plum tomatoes, and I always make meatballs and sausage as I feel that the gravy is much better with that additional taste. I love fresh basil in it and my mom used to fry her onion and garlic in the same pan as the meats so their fat cooked into the onion and she drained them before adding them to the sauce. My aunt used to add a small amount of sugar if the gravy was too acidic (I do this as I'm cooking and tasting).

I also never put salt on the eggplants because I don't add extra salt in any of my cooking and I've never had a bitter eggplant. Yes, I peel the eggplant and slice it in about 1/4 " slices. Egg and breadcrumb them and fry them (plan to use a lot of oil, it soaks it up like crazy). I like to fry my eggplant to a crispy but not burned state.

The rest should be easy.. layering as per all the recipes on the internet.

Good luck and maybe other members can give you more tips.

[wendyquat]

Gracie, I was wise enough to take an eggplant cooking class at Redsauce a few months ago and picked up some good information. They cook about 40 lbs (if I'm remembering that correctly) of eggplant a week in the busy season and Kevin says not to salt the eggplant! They peel the eggplants and slice about 1/4 thick, long ways. Dredge in flour, then an egg wash that has been seasoned with salt, pepper,and parmesan cheese. Do not dredge back in the flour. Fry in medium hot oil (not evoo) until browned and drain on paper towels. At this point they would make the parm, or my favorite, eggplant rollatini

I'm also guilty of using bottled sauce but did step up in quality being sure to use MARINARA instead of spaghetti sauce.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out!

[skyguy79]

Gracie, let me assure you that you will survive the experience. my Irish/German wife did and she says that if she can survive doing it, you can too!

The recipes given so far sounds much like my Italian mother would have made it. She not only made the parm, but she also pickled it many times. I can remember the large crocks she used with a round board of some kind on top. Earlier on she cut them in round slices, but later on in small strips. Umm the sandwiches they would make!

Speaking of sandwiches, I prefer that they be cut in round slices rather than oblong ones for the parm because they're easier to handle when making sandwiches. The leftovers make great cold sandwiches. Mom would make them using Italian bread before we would load up the car for vacation then stop along the way at a rest area for a short picnic. Also packed them for a night at the drive-in movies!

Good luck on your new adventure and let us know how they came out... or better yet, make a sandwich out of the leftovers and... well, you know where our house is!

[Trish Crocker]

Gracie, when I make it, I do use the salt. I was told by my Italian ex-mother inlaw that the salt helps to remove moisture from the eggplant..thus making it less mushy (not sure if it's true) I peel it, slice it and then line a colander with it and put a large pan filled with water on top of it to squeeze out the moisture. I leave it that way for about 20 minutes or so. After that, I dip it in flour, egg and milk mix and then bread crumbs. It tastes so good I usually end up eating a few slices before putting it in the pan with the sauce. Good luck! I've tasted your cooking so I know it will be excellent!

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by Trish Crocker

Gracie, when I make it, I do use the salt. I was told by my Italian ex-mother inlaw that the salt helps to remove moisture from the eggplant..thus making it less mushy (not sure if it's true) I peel it, slice it and then line a colander with it and put a large pan filled with water on top of it to squeeze out the moisture. I leave it that way for about 20 minutes or so. After that, I dip it in flour, egg and milk mix and then bread crumbs. It tastes so good I usually end up eating a few slices before putting it in the pan with the sauce. Good luck! I've tasted your cooking so I know it will be excellent!

You may not know where my house is like Gracie does, but if you make sandwiches with the leftovers, I'll be more than happy to give you directions to my place!

[rubicon]

Graciegirl: Peel the egg plant. Soak it in salt water for about an hour while you get your other ingredients, etc gather. You do this to be sure you take any bitterness out of the egg plant. Drain pat dry apply egg wash and then coat with a little flour mixed in with Itaian breadcrumbs. Fry each piece untilgolden brown, drain on paper towel. Caserole dish layer sauce then egg plant then sauce the egg plant until you get to top finsih with sauce and sprinkle mozzerrella cheese. Bake in oven at 350% until cheese melts and sauce bubbles. Let it set 10-15 minutes.

My wife makes her own sauce marinella but someimes she will cheat and use the can tomato sauce because you are getting flavor from the breadcrumbs and cheese.

Bon Appetit and Ciao

[cathyw]

Hi Gracie,
Definitely peel the eggplant, the skin is too hard. No salting necessary. Just slice, dredge and fry.I don't use flour. I dredge in egg and then Italian breadcrumbs. It's a little crunchier than the flour method.
I use San Marzano peeled whole tomatoes. They come in a can and are really flavorful. Just break them up a bit, add some seasoning (garlic, basil, etc)
I also use mozzarella cheese. Just fry the eggplant, layer and bake.
I'm sure yours will be delicious. Let us know.

[kgentile1010]

Hi Gracie,

I'm also from European decent, but married an Italian. I make it similar to everyone here. I peel the eggplant. I make a batter, flour-milk-eggs. Goes in the batter and then in the breadcrumbs, and then fry it. The sauce is the most important. The quality and consistency of the tomatoes is for me the big thing. I use Tussorroso Crushed tomatoes. To make an easy sauce, I use 1 lb of ground beef, and 1 lb of ground pork. You can add italian sausage, or a pork chop. Brown up the meat, pour in 3 -4 cans of the tomatoes. Add a bunch of Garlic powder and Onion powder. Cook on low for 3 hours. Stir it every 20 minutes or so. That's it. I also use very strong cheese. I like a Sharp Provolone and Pecorino Romano ground together. I'll be there in November and we can have some Italian cooking lessons. My Italian MIL taught me to make homemade tortillini's, ravioli, marsala, pesto. Lots of yummy italian. There's nothing more fun than a Tortillini party. Hang out, dring some wine, make Tortillini's and then eat em.

[jackz]

Some great tips already so I will just add a few from me:

Peel the eggplant. Slice it in thin 1/4 " slices lengthwise and if you find it too long then cut those lengthwise slices in half.

I place the slices on a large plate with milk on it and soak them on both sides for about 5 min per side, then on another plate beat one egg with a bit of milk and coat both sides of the slices, next put each slice on a plate of Italian Seasoned bread crumbs (Progresso or Contadina is good) for both sides.

Then using other than Extra Virgin Olive Oil, either cornoil, safflower or peanut oil, fry the slices on both sides till brown on each side.

Then place the fried slices on a plate covered with papertowels and cover each layer with additional paper towels to absorb oil.

If you have already made sauce great, otherwise you can use a very good quality jar of marinara sauce. I place a row of the fried pieces in a corningware dish then spoon on sauce over each piece, season with Italian Spices and top each piece with a small piece of mozzarella cheese, Buffalo mozzarella if you can get it, then continue placing pieces on top of each other piece and repeat the sauce, spice and cheese. When you have the dish filled add additional sauce, spices and cheese on top, Cover and bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes.

Enjoy.

P.S. I usually do up some Italian Sausages in sauce to accompany the eggplant.

[Trish Crocker]

Originally Posted by skyguy79

You may not know where my house is like Gracie does, but if you make sandwiches with the leftovers, I'll be more than happy to give you directions to my place!

Only if the sandwiches are on nice crusty Italian bread!

[skyguy79]

Originally Posted by Trish Crocker

Only if the sandwiches are on nice crusty Italian bread!

[senior citizen]

Originally Posted by Trish Crocker

Gracie, when I make it, I do use the salt. I was told by my Italian ex-mother inlaw that the salt helps to remove moisture from the eggplant..thus making it less mushy (not sure if it's true) I peel it, slice it and then line a colander with it and put a large pan filled with water on top of it to squeeze out the moisture. I leave it that way for about 20 minutes or so. After that, I dip it in flour, egg and milk mix and then bread crumbs. It tastes so good I usually end up eating a few slices before putting it in the pan with the sauce. Good luck! I've tasted your cooking so I know it will be excellent!

You are correct Trish as was your ex mother in law.
We always have salted the eggplant.
It removes the bitter "bile"......eggplant is naturally bitter.
Slice it as directed......some leave the skin on; some remove it.

Get a big colander...layer the eggplant slices, sprinkle lightly with kosher salt or sea salt.......regular salt can also be used.

Put a heavy plate on top of the salted eggplant....press down on it.

Let it "SWEAT".....you will see the dark liquid..........half hour or so.

Wipe all the slices off with paper towels....to remove excess salt.
Or rinse off.

We do the line up of flour / egg wash / Progresso Italian bread crumbs........then fry in small batches in olive oil.

Wipe out pan between frying batches and add more olive oil.

It is delicious just plain fried as above.

But real eggplant parm needs to be layered with sauce and mozarella.
Use a 9 x 13 baking dish.........or larger pan for more eggplant.....

Layer it with the marinara sauce and top with mozarella......or you can put some between the layers as well.....lightly.

BAKE in oven........read your recipe for temp and time.

Tastes great leftover.........hot or cold. My favorite of favorites.

[dkrhardy]

WOW! A bunch of great ideas. My DW (Darling Wife) peels it, cuts it across the thing, not lengthwise, and does lightly salt it to let the thing dry out (paper towels). Then she does like most do, only she uses Panko crumbs and also uses EEVO to fry it. GL
Don & Kaz