Eggplant a-go-go

More eggplants leads to more creative eggplant recipes.  Sorry, I don't have pics for these as they went pretty quickly!  These recipes all came out of an old copy of the Victory Garden Cookbook, which I did a quick search for and is available from most every bookselling website out there.  It looks a little out-dated but I am impressed with the recipes.

Eggplant "Grilled Cheese Sandwiches"
Lots of variations on this theme...
  Open faced sandwiches:  thickly slice eggplant (that has been salted and "wept" for 30 min), dredge eggplant slices in egg, then breadcrumbs and fry.  Then top with cheese, tomatoes & cheese, or shrimp & cheese (etc.) and place under broiler until cheese starts to melt.  (we've eaten this a number of times--really good)
  Grilled Cheese Sandwich:  Fry eggplant as above (thinly sliced), place cheese in between two pieces of eggplant.  Cook in butter until cheese melts.
  Broil eggplant instead of frying first (I haven't tried this yet...)

Eggplant-fish stew:
A little wierd, would be better without the fish and just be a jumble of veggies in a tomato-based casserole. 
  Sautee onions, peppers, garlic and herbs, add cubed eggplant (that has wept for 30 min).  Add tomatoes and fish (or sans fish).  Turn into a casserole dish, top with breadcrumbs and bake.  Pretty tasty, even with the fish.

Eggplant roll-ups:
This was kind of a variation on the theme of eggplant parm.
Place some tomato sauce in a baking dish.  Salt thinly-sliced eggplant and let drain for 30 min (larger slices work better).  Fry eggplant (dredged in egg then flour) then drain on tea towel.  Mix veggie crumbles (it calls for sausage & hamburger, but I used veggie alternative), parm, parsley and egg.  Spread the stuffing mix thinly on the fried eggplant.  Roll up, tuck into sauced pan, open side down.  Top with the rest of the sauce and parm & mozz. cheese.  Bake first covered, then uncovered till golden.  This was great!  it was very filling and hearty and good with red wine. 

Basically, I highly recommend this cookbook for those who want to try veggie-based recipes other than the normal tried and true ones.  It has really come in handy.  And thanks to Aunt Genie for sending it to us! :)

Eggplant Parmesan

We have a glut of eggplant, so I fry them up and freeze them.  This year I also made a lot of sauce and froze that too, rather than canning just tomatoes (we have plenty left from last year).

Just washed fresh eggplant from our garden.  I've found the medium-sized ones work best.  Too small and they may have a bitter taste, too big and the seeds will be too developed.

I peel and slice them, then dredge in flour, beaten egg & water, and then breadcrumbs mixed with salt, pepper, fresh parsley and parmesan cheese.  You could also salt the eggplant slices first to draw out water.  I get about four ready to go, so I don't have to stop and slice more while the oil is hot.

Then I fry up the eggplant in hot oil till it is golden brown on both sides.  Drain on a papertowel or tea towel.  Lay eggplant in the pan, overlapping slightly.  Layer parm & mozzerella cheese, tomato sauce, ending with mozzerella on top.

Homemade tomato sauce is best.  This is Fresh Tomato Puree from Julia Child's cookbook.  Basically it is tomatos that have been put through a foodmill, onions, herbs salt and pepper.  Super simple and delicious. 




The finished product:  it went so fast I didn't get to take a picture while it was whole!

My Favorite Things from the garden

We got a large freezer this summer and were busy stocking it with good things to eat during the winter. If you're like me you miss fresh food during the winter but hate to go back to the packaged stuff. So I tried out some new things and here are my favorite things from the garden to eat this winter. 1. Frozen pesto--AWESOME! Freezes perfectly, just as good as fresh. With a glut of basil in July this is a perfect way to preserve it. 2. Eggplant parmesan--not quite as good as the fresh version, but not bad and very easy. I fried them, then flash-froze the fried slices individually. Then packaged the frozen slices in a food-saver vacuum-sealed bag. The slices came apart neatly and reheated well. The consistency was a little on the mushy side, less crispy-crunchy. And additional cooking time is needed to heat back up from frozen, but overall very good. 3. Frozen stuffed peppers--again, not as good as the original, but a good second. They take quite a bit longer to cook since they are so dense. 4. Green beans--I have found that there is a trick to this. The beans retain their flavor better when they are frozen whole, not cut. They taste more fresh when let them thaw first, then sautee them quickly in some garlic and oil with a little bit of herbs thrown in. Better than boiling.