In last weeks CSA we received a couple eggplants so for dinner tonight I decided to make a side of fried eggplant to go with our meat ravioli.
I have little experience with eggplant eating it or cooking it so I did some quick on-line research and got right to it.
First I peeled the eggplant. This was pretty easy to do and it’s not necessary the peel is totally edible and depending on how you are cooking it you should keep it on (when broiling they recommend keeping the peel on).
After I peeled it I cut it into slices and laid out on a wire rack. I also learned that certain eggplants may have a bitter taste to them. To draw the bitter juices out of the eggplant sprinkle some salt on the slices. I used seasoning salt and it worked nicely.
Next I whipped 3 eggs with some seasoning salt, a clove of fresh garlic (minced), some Essence of Emeril seasoning, and some crushed black pepper.
In a separate bowl I combined 1 cup of bread crumbs, 1 cup of corn meal, and some grated Parmesan cheese.
I took the eggplant slices dipped them in the egg and then coated them nicely in the dry mix.
I let them sit for a few minutes on a wire rack to help them dry out a bit before frying.
I added about 3 TBSPs of oil into a pan and once it was heated placed the eggplants in. I let them cook for about 2 minutes on each side before removing.
I served them along side our favorite ravioli. You can eat the eggplant with a side of marina or even a side of ranch.
since we made the buffalo chicken pizza tonight, I am stalking your blog. I am growing ichiban eggplants, so I've been looking for ways to cook them up. I'm not sure it would compare to this, but I found a recipe to oven fry them and messed with it a little. You basically put a super thin layer of mayo on the slices, then coat with bread crumbs. I used panko and baked it on a metal cooling rack nested in a jelly roll pan. Next time I think I will cut them in long planks instead of rounds, just seems less labor intensive. (350 for 30 min or so) Pizza was AMAZING, btw. :)
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