right now

right now

Jul 30, 2011

Wasting the day with Eggplant

If you are like me, you plant way too much eggplant.  Stunning to look at, not so much for eating here.  Yes, I do like a good batch of Baba Ganoush, but that doesn't use up much of it.  Well, if you have hours of time to devote (insert rolling of eyes here), there is always the big baked dish...

Eggplant Lasagna!


No, seriously... this took like 9 HOURS!  I had a really big harvest the morning after our visitors left, and it was another 115º day, so why not?!  I spent the better portion of the day making the sauce with the tomato harvest, not enough for a big canning batch, but was enough to make a big dinner.  After cooking down fresh sauce with lots of basil, oregano and other random additions, I tackled the eggplant -

First, slice your eggplant in whatever fashion you like, I had lots of it so I was wasteful and only sliced off the bottoms and sides with no seeds.  You then need to drain them.  I layered the slices with paper towels then weighted them down for with a heavy baking dish for several hours.

This is optional, but I dipped the slices in an egg wash & breadcrumbs, then lightly fried in olive oil.


Below is all the "stuff".  Eggplant, sauce, ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan & noodles.  I use the no-bake flat noodles from Barilla, as they really work well and don't rip and slide around like the rippled ones do, and I had an awesome coupon that allowed me to stock up!  You could also omit the noodles completely if you wanted.


Below, layer in any fashion you like.  Hey nobody said this was low-fat, just fresh!


I place my baking dish on a cookie sheet in case things bubble over into a hot mess.  About 50 minutes at 350º under foil, then 10 minutes with foil off to brown the parmesan sprinkled on top.  Let it rest for about 20 minutes before slicing, that's the key to keeping the stacked appearance on the plate - and when you spend 9 hours on something, you want it to look sort of appetizing!  This is really filling so I was able to transfer half of the below pan to a freezer dish for another meal, and a few slices to a small leftover dish for hubby's work lunch.


Serve up with homemade bread - you know, with all that spare time you have!  Of course, had it not been so hot outside, there would be no "spare time".  Big bonus, the kids ate it - they didn't actually see me peeling or slicing the eggplant so by the time they came in the kitchen it was fried already and I told them it was fried cheese :)


The rest of the harvest was preserved easily and quickly.  The bell pepper strips were frozen, and I made a quart jar of mixed veggie refrigerator pickles.  Below are Mini Bell Peppers, cuke slices, and long Sweet Peppers in a vinegar mixture with peppercorns, mustard seed & garlic cloves.  I still need to pickle the jalapenos today, but they will also be just a single jar of refrigerator pickles.


What are you doing to keep sane in the heat?  I'm thinking of abandoning the garden to its own devices, I seriously can't take it out there.  Today I'm really going to start cutting a pattern for an outfit for my niece, I've been wanting to do it for over a month.  Where do you think hubby went today?  The heat index is expected to be 110 again, we have 84% humidity and he left a little while ago with a friend to go on a little 30-mile bike ride!  Can't wait to see what he looks like when he gets home! :)



20 comments:

  1. That meal looks wonderful Erin! I slice and freeze some eggplant. You can freeze it plain or already breaded and fried. I also make Caponata and can it. It is absolutely wonderful! I know that you would really like it. Maybe I should do a post with the recipe.

    It's not going to be too hot here today. So, I'm heading for the plots to do a quick picking and that's about all the gardening to be done here today.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Honey, it LOOKS wonderful. But you are a far,far better person than me. NOTHING holds my attention for NINE hours. Nothing.
    Stay cool

    ReplyDelete
  3. I can hardly believe how long your hot, hot, HOT weather has hung on this year! Please don't spend any more time outside than you have to. It's not good for your health. And as for your crazy hubby, I sure hope the guys tooks plenty of water to consume during their ride!

    Your culinary efforts (all of them!) are fantastic! You do a good job of using your eggplant even though you say you don't really like it. Do you tell yourself it's "fried cheese," too?? ;o}

    ReplyDelete
  4. Robin, I honestly grow it only to give the flea beetles some fun so they stay off my potatoes LOL... but the darn eggplant produce beautifully in spite of the beetles! It's so hot, take it easy out there in the plots today!
    ***
    Sue, I have no sane excuse for spending so much time on that dish haha, I think the heat is getting to me. It was really just the sauce and frying the eggplant that took so long, putting it all together was less than 5 minutes! At least in the winter all I will have to do is "open a jar"! During all the wait times I did get some stuff done at least like the pickles and laundry... I'm not that good at staying focused :)
    ***
    Mama Pea, it's so gross out - it was 86º when I woke up at 5:30 am, can you believe it? The guys are great about staying hydrated, I can't say much else about their other decision-making skills LOL

    ReplyDelete
  5. too funny telling the kids the eggplant was fried cheese LOL! Looks absolutely yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  6. That looks gorgeous! I winder if I could get my family to eat it? I stopped growing eggplant because I'm the only one who likes it. I don't like having to prepare separate meals for DH because he doesn't want what I'm eating, but I may end up doing that next year.

    Boy has it been hot everywhere! Sorry yours has been sticking around so long :(

    ReplyDelete
  7. The meal looks yummy, but there is no way I could devote 9 hours, lol. I go out in the garden early in the morning or in the evening. I can't take the heat either, but I refuse to let my garden go. Hope it cools off soon in your area and mine.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have been dying to know if you can pressure can baba ganoush. I cant find the answer to that anywhere. If you dont add olive oil, do you think it could be done? That would be a great way to store the bounty.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I'm not a fan of eggplant but maybe I just haven't had it made by the right person cause that lasagna looks soooo good!
    I really hope the weather cools down for you soon. I can't even imagine what that kind of heat and humidity feels like, not good I'm sure. Stay inside in the cool house.

    ReplyDelete
  10. HOW DID IT GO WITH THE LITTLE ONES,I'M CURIOS IF I CAN PULL THIS OFF-LOOKS DELICIOUS TO ME-HAVE YOU GUYS BEEN CHECKED FOR GIFTMH---OH,YOU DON'T RECOGNIZE THAT WORD, ITS SHORT FOR, GONE INSANE FROM THE THE HEAT---YOUR HUSBAND MUST HAVE IT THAN

    ReplyDelete
  11. I'm not a huge fan of eggplant, but if you put that in front of me I'd it eat! Hope hubby is ok after the ride. Crrrrazy!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Holy Moly. That's a good lookin' meal! I have never planted eggplant before, but we've got it a couple times from our CSA. Now I will actually have a recipe to use for it!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Dr.Momi, they bought the fried cheese thing hook, line & sinker LOL!
    ***
    Alison, if you don't like eggplant I wouldn't plant much of it, it produces like mad - I have 2 plants with 2 dozen eggplant hanging off them LOL. I won't plant it next year as I just don't care either way about it much. Sure is a pretty, well behaved plant though.
    ***
    RMGales, 9 hours is certainly my max LOL, although I would have spent all day cooking sauce anyways :)
    ***
    Jane, you probably could, but I haven't seen it either, I would be concerned that it would turn a brownish icky color though.
    ***
    Sparkless, lasagna is one of those dishes where you can sneak just about anything in there LOL
    ***
    Judy, they ate it! They pushed it around a bit first, but I made sure they were good and hungry before dinner, and then also waved homemade sourdough bread in their faces that they couldn't have unless they ate their lasagna LOL
    ***
    APG, that's kind of how I feel about eggplant - with all the extra work that was involved this year with drought, deluges, heat and insects, I'm not planting it next year, only things I truly want and need.
    ***
    MamaTea, Baba Ganoush is a good way to use up just a few random CSA eggplant, serve it fresh with some pitas right after making and it will disappear! You only need 1 or 2 to make that.
    ***
    To all.... my Mac is once again going down, it took me 5 safe mode reboots to get on here this morning, so if you don't see me blogging, you'll know it's because I'm neck deep in a restore or a backup! Wish me LUCK!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Erin, that looks wonderful! I wonder, could your fridge possibly contain anything but refrigerator pickles? You have peppers like crazy! I planted one green pepper plant, and the peppers are the size of my little finger nail. :) Stay cool, my blogging buddy! Happy sewing!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Patty, LOL... as a matter of fact, I have one entire shelf in the fridge that is nothing but refrigerator pickled veggies and peppers!

    ReplyDelete
  16. WOWZERS! You sure can cook up some good stuff to eat!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Oh, Erin, that looks so delicious! I wish I could muster up that kind of cooking in heat. I am lucky I can make ice cubes! Hope your hubby made it home in one piece.

    ReplyDelete
  18. That lasagna looks awesome Erin! I'm not a huge fan of eggplant, except when it's covered with breading and fried deliciousness. LOL.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I love Eggplant, and have a few plants in the garden, but I find that they grow like a snails pace here. I'm contemplating not growing them next year. The jury is still out on that. I love that Eggplant parm you made. Yum and yum. My favorite.

    ReplyDelete
  20. http://animalfriendlyeating.blogspot.com/ talked about Raw Eggplant Bacon. You can go to google and get the recipe (http://www.eons.com/groups/topic/1790919)
    Hubby does not like Eggplant so I am going to try this.

    ReplyDelete