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Eggplant Parmesan

I love to invite friends over to dinner. This gives me the opportunity to try out new recipes. Conventional knowledge would tell you not to try new recipes on guests… experiment on your own first and then share with others. Well, you know what, I don’t agree.

This is an eggplant recipe that I created by mixing and matching elements of several other recipes I have seen and tasted and I even experimented something I had never tried before and actually turned out really good. I wanted to do Eggplant in my latest dinner party because my best friend Ana Yolanda is an eggplant FAN. I made enough so she would have left overs… a testament to the quality of the results and a shame for her, but her husband ate ALL of the leftovers.

Don’t worry Ana, I’ll make it again JUST FOR YOU!!!

EGGPLANT PARMESAN
serves about 8

3-4 medium eggplants**, unpeeled, sliced in about 1/2 inch-thick slices
1 cup buttermilk
2 cups of seasoned whole wheat breadcrumbs
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/4 cup half-and-half
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese plus more for sprinkling in between eggplant layers
Salt and Pepper
1/2 cup marinara sauce

fresh mozzarella cheese for the topping

**I learned that you should try to get as light an eggplant as you can find to ensure they have the least amount of seeds and minimize any bitterness

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Dunk the eggplant slices in the buttermilk for like half a minute. This will give the eggplant slices something sticky so the breadcrumbs stick.
Place breadcrumbs in a shallow dish. Coat the eggplant slices with the breadcrumbs. Set aside for a few minutes to let the coating stick a bit.
Heat a very thin layer of olive oil in a skillet. (Note: you’ll need a good amount of oil, because the eggplants will soak it. But you need to add a little bit with each batch so the eggplants brown. If not, they’ll just boil and become limp.) Fry the eggplant slices in batches. Set aside and drain on paper towels.
In a bowl, mix together the ricotta cheese, half-and-half, most of the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
In a large glass pyrex, spoon a bit of sauce at the bottom, place a shingled layer of fried eggplants, smear the ricotta mixture all over, spoon a bit more marinara sauce, place a second layer of fried eggplants, spoon the last of the marinara sauce and top it all off with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Finish off with the slices of fresh mozzarella cheese.
Place the pyrex in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, until the cheese on top is browned and sauce bubbly.
Let it rest for a little while because it can burn if you eat it right away. Serve warm.

Instead of marinara sauce, I made a marinated tomatoes sauce. Simple, mix together all these ingredients and let the flavors marry while the eggplants are frying – Crushed Tomatoes (try for them to be in a jar and not a can – you know, less additives), Olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh basil and minced fresh garlic.

I served this with spinach fetuchinni and sweet plantains. I will share these recipes in following posts. Oh, and with the roasted garlic breadsticks. But you can mix and match as you’d like.

Buon Appetito.

Tags: cheese, eggplant, gratin, parmesan

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Categories main courses

Madelyn’s Spinach Crepes

11 Nov

Every Saturday, I take French classes at the Alliance Française in Condado. Every Saturday, I wake up with a craving for french crepes.

Didier, a french crepe chef visits the Alliance every morning and fixes us with THE BEST crepes I have tasted. I have indeed had crepes in Paris, but lets face it, it was 20 years ago, so I can’t really remember well.

Because I am such a fan of these crepes, I decided to create my own version. I usually have a Spinach crepe with cheese, walnuts drizzled with honey. This is my lunch every Saturday, however, Didier’s most popular recipes are the crepes filled with strawberries and Nutella drizzled with chocolate syrup and dusted with powdered sugar. Here’e a few pictures, please wipe your drool…

Here’s my humble attempt to replicating Didier’s recipe… I only include the recipe for the filling. I used store-bought crepes from the refrigerated section of the supermarket. But I will be trying a whole-wheat version of the crepe recipe and will include it shortly.

This is basically the mix of ingredients and flavors. Adjust the quantities according to the amount of crepes you’re doing. Something about my recipes, I go by eye and feel, and rarely remember exact quantities… hope it’s not too much of a hassle for you.

Spinach Crepes

leeks – sliced finely
Green bell peppers – diced
Frozen Spinach
a bit of half and half
a bit of Cream of Mushroom Condensed Soup – you can omit this part if you’d like, but i thought it would help the mixture cream better
Chopped garlic
Season to taste with Salt, pepper
Sharp cheddar cheese slices or swiss cheese would work fine too
Chopped walnuts
Honey or agave nectar

For the Filling

Sautee the leeks or onions together with the bell pepper in olive oil until soft.
Add the garlic.
Add the frozen spinach right form the bag… no bother to defrost or to drain
When the mixture seems to be thoroughly cooked, add the half and half and the mushroom soup.
Season with salt and pepper and anything else you’d like filling is done

Putting it Together

Take the crepe and warm it up in a skillet, just like you would a tortilla.
Put a bit of the mixture in the center, place some cheese slices and walnuts.
fold edges inside, just like you would do to a burrito
flip the crepe on the other side so the folds are underneath… if you leave it in the original side, the crepe will soften and desintegrate leaving you with a hole and the mixture in the skillet. Flipping the crepe will help seal the folds. you can flip it again a bit to warm up both sides and to melt the cheese inside, but be careful not leaving it too long on the side with the filling more exposed.
move it on to a place and drizzle with a bit of honey or agave nectar. it tastes delicious. it’s a nice sweet coiunterpoint to the savory filling

Believe it or not, this is the recipe that got my fire started about writing a blog… a friend of mine, Kathleen writes a blog Kathleen’s Kitchen and she tried my recipe and liked it.

Hope you enjoy it too.