The Boyfriend Challenge: Eggplant

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Permalink Reply by Meghan E. Murphy on August 19, 2009 at 6:33pm

Dinner 1: Grilled eggplant parmesan
Notes: I changed the recipe to use fresh tomatoes in the sauce and added a couple of tablespoons of balsamic to the sauce. Needed tomato paste as a thickener.
Result: Success! Mr. Boyfriend loved this (although he did request some prosciutto in the next iteration)

Permalink Reply by Dave Liepmann on August 25, 2009 at 1:31pm

I've been brainstorming eggplant fries for a while. Cut into strips and fry dry, I guess--personally I would lay off the breading, and focus on getting them crispy. Marinara sauce for dipping...?

Permalink Reply by Meghan E. Murphy on August 25, 2009 at 2:32pm

I think you would definitely need to thick cut them (like steak fries) and salt the strips first. This draws out the water. Pat them dry and maybe just dust in a spiced flour and deep fry?

One of my fav ways to make eggplant is to pan fried rounds of eggplant dipped in flour and paprika...

Dave Liepmann said:

I've been brainstorming eggplant fries for a while. Cut into strips and fry dry, I guess--personally I would lay off the breading, and focus on getting them crispy. Marinara sauce for dipping...?

Permalink Reply by Peggy Murphy on August 27, 2009 at 10:35am

My totally Italian brother-in-law makes an outstanding eggplant lasagna. One of his secrets is to sweeten the sauce. This helps counteract the bitterness of the eggplant. There is not a man in the family (and we have a rather large Irish family) that doesn't love it. He makes a simple sauce with tomatoes, garlic, basil and sugar. I have used Jarred sauces and just added sugar. It takes a bit more than you might think - make sure you can actually taste the sweetness. The eggplant needs to be thinly sliced, salted to remove moisture, then dried and sauted gently to cook through. Your favorite lasagne recipe can then be used with the eggplant as a substitute for the noodles. It's a bit of extra work for your lasagne but the results are more than worth the effort.