improvised eggplant parm.

in the csa box this week we got TWO types of eggplant.  a nice purple one and a really cool white one!

conflicting needs:
-eat and compare both varieties
-don't monopolize the eggplants away from steph (my roommate sharing the box at the moment)

solution: cook half of each one (i still haven't seen her so she hasn't told me if she was cool with that or not...)


breaded eggplant.


ingredients
1-2 eggplants
1/4 c cornmeal
1/4 c flour
1/4 c panko bread crumbs
salt and pepper
1 egg, beaten

directions
1. preheat the oven to 350.  cut the eggplant into 1/4 - 1/2 inch slices.
2.  mix the cornmeal, flour, and bread crumbs in a bowl along with the salt and pepper (be generous with that salt).
3.  set up an assembly line: egg.  crumbs.  greased cookie sheet.
4.  coat each piece of eggplant in the egg, then the breadcrumbs, then place on the cookie sheet.
5.  bake for 20-30 minutes, turning after 10 minutes.  just go to however crispy and brown you want em.


so these were really really excellent plain, but we also ate them in an eggplant parmesan-like meal.  i cooked some spaghetti noodles, put those into bowls, put some eggplant pieces on top, poured tomato sauce over, sprinkled on a hefty amount of quattro formaggio blend from trader joe's, and romnomnomnommmm....

now to discuss the two eggplant varieties.  they were both really delicious and both tasted like eggplant.  the purple one has a fuller flavor and is more savory, while the white one is milder and has a hint of sweetness...its almost creamy.

my cookbook section on eggplants told me that unless they were garden-fresh i should salt them first for 30 minutes.  ...skipped that step!!!  these babies were SO garden fresh.

also i didn't take a photo because i ate them too fast.  sorry?

UPDATE: i came up with a better version of this recipe.  so if you want to make this, use the recipe in this post instead!!