Eggplant Parmigiana

Today I decided to cook up some eggplant parmigiana. I must say I cook up a mean eggplant parm (got some good pointers from my boyfriend's little Italian Nona). Of course I couldn't find all the necessary ingredients while perusing the entirely Asian grocery store in my hood. I usually would use canned crushed tomatoes for my red sauce but had to suffice for cans of "tomato sauce"...so be it (the were located in the isle labeled "American and Mexican food"). Tasted alright to me. Definitely wasn't the best eggplant parm I've made by a long shot. The pans used to fry the eggplant weren't heating evenly so some parts were getting burnt while others were raw. Oh well, here goes.

Ingredients:

2 medium/large sized eggplants

1 pound of mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated

1 medium onion (for sauce)

2 cloves of garlic chopped (for sauce)

1 can of crushed tomatoes (28 oz.) (for sauce)

1 can of tomato paste (5.5 oz.) (for sauce)

2 cups of seasoned breadcrumbs

4 eggs

Olive oil (Extra virgin is best)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Peel eggplants (some people leave the skin on but I think it gives me heartburn). Slice eggplants into thin circles (some people slice their eggplant length wise but I have a hard time getting them thin enough that way). At this point you can turn on your stove top to heat up your frying pan.

Once the pan is hot throw in some extra virgin olive oil, the oil needs to

be nice and hot before you cook your eggplant. To prepare your eggs, simply whisk them a little bit in a bowl large enough to fully submerge your eggplant slices (sometimes I throw in a little milk...just because I do). Lay your breadcrumbs in a shallow dish to evenly coat your eggplant. I like to make a little assembly line starting with my eggplant slices, then I dunk them in the egg, then thoroughly coat them in the breadcrumbs, then into the pan (the eggplant should sizzle when placed in the pan...this is it's way of telling you that it loves to be deep fried).

<--- "Yayyy, we love being fried...thanks"

After about 2 to 3 minutes you can flip those suckers over and check out their sweet golden tan "oh yeaaa". 2 to 3 minutes on that side and they should be done. Place them on a plate lined with a paper towel to soak up the extra oil.

By now your kitchen is smellin' yumtastic.

So now you can spread a thin layer of tomato sauce (directions below) in the bottom of a casserole dish or baking pan. Layer the fried eggplant rounds slightly overlapping each other. Then ladle the sauce over those bad boys (I don't like a ton of sauce on mine).

Now spread the cheese over the top like so. Drizzle some more

sauce on top for good measure. You can now put this little number in the oven on the top rack just for the cheese to melt. I like to wait for it to bubble and get a little bit dark in some places. Thats how you know it's good.

Bake for 10-15 minutes or until bubbly. Take it out, let it cool for a few, then ENJOY!

Directions for sauce:

Heat up large pot with a drizzle of olive oil. Dice onion and sautee until translucent. Throw in your chopped garlic for a minute then your can of crushed tomatoes and tomato paste. Bring to a boil, then simmer for about 10 minutes. Add whatever tasty herbs and spices you like.

My lil sis on her second helping!

A Piece of Toast for the First Post

Do you own expensive cooking appliances? Do you know the difference between cardamom and marjoram? Have you ever made a reduction, flambéed or brined anything? ...Yea me either. I practice the art of “winging-it”. I cook things that are in the pantry and if I run out of something I make it up as I go. Some food experiments turn out better than others.

I am a born again meat eater and hating every bacony, chickeny, juicy steaky moment of it. I like to have a lot of canned goods on hand for when the zombie apocalypse comes and fresh food is in short supply. I like all foods but stay away from seafood and mushrooms. I love to cook for family and friends and learning to create new things.

For my first post I wanted to stick with something simple for the Sloppy Chef…hence, toast. (get it, it rhymes) J

Ingredients:

Bread (any variety really…white, wheat, rye, pumpernickel, cinnamon raisin, challah, flatbread, focaccia, Italian bread, pita…you get the idea)

Optional accoutrement: Butter, Jelly, Nutella, Cheese, Jam, Humus if you’re feeling frisky

Directions:

Insert bread into toasting apparatus.

Choose desired degree of toasty preference. (ex. light, medium, dark, charred)

Carefully remove your toast from the toasting appliance.

Spread a thin layer of desired topping.

Enjoy