Delighted to enjoy some education at the IFBC conference this weekend in New Orleans. I was honored to host the IFBC Pub Crawl with Mark of Beyond Bourbon Street. We met so many wonderful food blogger colleagues, among the best–The Great Eight and Chef Julia— and enjoyed Compere Lapin, W.I.N.O., and Catahoula, among other favorites in town.
I will be attending Abigale’s (above) cocktail classes at Compere Lapin, Drink and Learn, on Mondays. I have new notes on how to host awesome dinner parties (thanks Great 8!) and from Chef Julia I was inspired to get all the veggies out and start roasting again.
Also, quick shout out to Salt and Light Pastry Company, a friend of friends and supporter of Swamp Solstice. May her macaron company rise to new heights!
There is a new baby in the neighborhood, and for the new proud parents, we brought this freeze-able all-time favorite vegetarian dish. I was thrilled to cook my first eggplant grown in the back yard (small, but good. Need to improve my soil game for next season, to be continued…)
Cheesy Eggplant Parmigiana
Adapted from Seriously Good Freezer Meals by Karrie Truman (a fabulous edition for those who want to cook one day a week and stockpile food in the freezer)
2 large eggplant (2 lb each), sliced into 1 cm rounds
4 large eggs
¼ cup milk
3 cups bread crumbs (Pereg Golden Crisp were perfect for this)
¼ cup grapeseed or avocado oil
2 cups mozzarella cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
8 oz ricotta cheese
6 cups marinara sauce* (recipe for this, below)
This first step is mine—not in the cookbook, but according the Joy of Cooking, likely a more definitive text—absolutely necessary. Degorge the eggplants. This is a verb meaning: salt the eggplant slices and allow to sit on a air-dry rack until they appear to be sweating. Then rinse the salt off, just before you bread and fry.
Mix together all the cheeses in small bowl and set aside. Whisk together the egg and milk. Heat the oil in a castiron skillet. Put the bread crumbs in a shallow dish. My favorite bread crumbs of all time are Pereg. The Italian Style are made for this recipe, really, but I noticed I liked the way the Golden Crisp style fried a little better. Mix and match.
So crispy and delicious. Dip the slices in the egg mixture, then coat with breadcrumbs and toss in the hot oil. Fry each side until golden brown and then place on a pan lined with papertowels. Preheat your oven to 350.
In a large 9 x 12 casserole dish, spread a layer of marinara (about two cups). Then place a layer of fried eggplant. Then top with 1/3 of the cheese mixture. Repeat these layers twice until you’ve used all your eggplant. Top with some extra cheese. Bake for 30-35 minutes until bubbling and cheese has browned. You can cover with foil if the cheese browns too early.
Marinara recipe
2 TB Ruccello olive oil
½ cup minced yellow onion
Salt and pepper to taste
28 oz whole tomato, with juice
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
½ tsp dried basil
In a medium saucepan over low heat, saute onions in olive oil with salt and pepper until golden brown. Add tomatoes and spices. Bring to boil and simmer for 30 minutes, uncovered. Pour mixture into a blender and puree until smooth.
