Sometimes I get inspired by my own blogging-how  self-centred is that?  My eggplant post of last week spawned two delicious meals.  The first was the same night as the post when I recreated the Sicilian grilled dinner.  We actually didn’t have any eggplant in the house and so my husband used the closest thing-zucchini.  This (along with grilled asparagus that we just cannot get enough of at this time of year) is one of our favourite barbeque staples.  We toss both in a plastic bag with olive oil and Clubhouse Vegetable Seasoning-so simple and so divine. 

Where was I? Ah yes.  The second meal became many dinners.  I took a single eggplant to make Eggplant Parmigiana and it fed my husband and I on Friday evening, Daughter #1 and I on Saturday evening and then she had leftovers for Sunday lunch and I had leftovers for Monday lunch.  Now that is cost effective meal planning!

I always thought that because the dish was called Parmigiana it would have Parmesan cheese in it but it is so named because of the city of Parma.  But because the recipe centres around the use of tomatoes and mozzarella, it is said to have originated in the south, not anywhere near Parma.  Confused? And to make matters worse-we like a lighter version of the classic and use Parmesan instead of mozzarella!

I cut the eggplant into discs so as not to have any piece on the edge that gets thrown away.  It is often soaked in salt at this stage to extract bitter juices but we like it just fine including these so called “bitter” juices.  Then I dipped it into a milk wash, a flour dusting, an egg wash and finally coat it with breadcrumbs (this is also the process that I use for pork cutlets, chicken fingers and many varieties of fish).  In the mean time, I make a sauce of  what ever fresh herbs I have on hand with a can of tomatoes and plenty of chopped garlic and onion.  While that is simmering I brown the eggplant in plenty of olive oil.  The assembly starts with a generous layer of sauce on the bottom of the baking pan.

Kath’s quote:“…in a well regulated kitchen nothing is ever wasted, but with careful preparation even the ‘rough ends’ of a beef steak may be made into a wholesome, tender and appetizing dish; that ‘stale bread’ may be used in the most delicious ‘desserts’ and ‘fancies,’ and ‘left-over’ food from the day before need not be thrown in the trash-box, but may be made into an endless variety of wholesome and nutritious dishes.”-The Pica Creole Cook Book (1901)

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