Had a great supper last night! For the first time this summer we got eggplant from the farm. I've been meaning to ask Sammy why there hasn't been any. But I keep forgetting.
I even tried to buy eggplant at the grocery store the other day and there were none to be found.
First thing I did was cook up some tomatoes. We have had such an abundance of them from the farm this year, that now I no longer am miserly about cutting them up. I've even been skinning them. Usually I hate to waste even the smallest amount, so I eat them with the skins on. But now I usually have a dozen or so sitting around, so I've been just hacking the skins off willy nilly.
Oh yeah...the sauce. So I skinned a bunch of tomatoes and even seeded them. Threw them in a small saucepan. Added about a quarter of a large vidalia onion...just cut up big. Threw in about 4 cloves of garlic that I halved. I cooked it down for about an hour with the lid on and then took the lid off and let it simmer another half hour. This made me very glad for the tiny, 4th burner on my stove. It's a "simmer" burner, with very low BTUs so I can cook stuff like tomatoes or sauces for quite a while without worrying about scorching. The All-Clad cookware helps, too.
So after I simmered that, I took it off the heat for about 45 minutes or so to cool. Then I threw it in the food processor and tossed in some fresh basil and oregano. Whizzed that up and poured it into my gravy boat. Let cool to room temp.
The eggplant. I hadn't had any from Sammy before, so I didn't know if he was growing the milder ones that need no "sweating" or the old, bitter ones. So, just hedging my bets, I peeled my small one and cut it into disks about 1/2 inch thick and I salted both sides and set it in my collander to drain. I only gave it about 15 minutes. Then I rinsed it thoroughly and dried it well. I dropped the pieces into egg and then cracker crumbs and fried it in my cast iron skillet with crisco melted in there.
We do not make the kids eat eggplant. Each year they have to try ONE BITE of ONE PIECE. If they still hate it...all the more for me! Bob likes it but won't eat himself sick on it like I will.
So, we put spaghetti down on the plate, dropped a couple slices of eggplant on and then topped with the sauce and some Pecorino Romano. We had some delicious fresh pears on the side with some succotash and butter, too.
So now we've had the "sinful" version of eggplant parmesan. For the other eggplant, I'll probably just roast the slices in the oven instead of frying. But you know, once a year you just have to have it fried!
8:18:08 AM 
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