Cold Antipasti...for One

It's always a great feeling when you can't decide what you want to eat, then can simply pull together a great dish with garden fresh ingredients..all except the buffalo mozzarella, of course.

That's all I have to say in today's blog post..I really only wanted to share this colorful dish :)

Hot Child in the Garden...

As we find ourselves in the midst of the dog days of summer, it's easy to neglect your garden in fear of suffering a heat stroke. We had about a week of temperatures in the triple digits, which is quite hot for the north east.

Despite the delirious heat, I managed to get in some much needed garden maintenance. A desperate watering, tying up saggy plants, cutting off dead leaves and of course (the fun part) harvesting!

I know some of you are thinking it, "Lil, those tomatoes don't look ripe!!" I know they don't, however, I didn't want the pesky little chipmunks feasting on all the fruits of my labor. Anyone know a (non harmful) solution?! In all seriousness though, how good do my melons look?!

I also started seedlings for my fall veggies this week. Some of my seeds are already 1-2 inches tall. that's how damn hot it's been!

Eggplant Parm

I was craving eggplant parm as I sat in my garden impatiently waiting for my baby eggplant to grow in. So I decided, instead of waiting, I would hit up my local farmers market (which consistent of 3-4 produce booths) and pick up some farm fresh eggplant.

(my slow growing Italian eggplant)

After picking up my supplies I remembered a friend of mine making a killer eggplant parm. He insisted the key to his recipe was sprinkling the eggplant with salt and straining them. A skip he said almost no one does...I didn't want to burst his inflated Italian cooking ego, but most recipes I found online DID include this step, so I let him carry on believing he was special. This step is done to pull some of the moisture in the eggplant out and to prevent bitterness...So, now let's start at the beginning...

Things you'll need:

2 lbs Eggplant (I used a combo of Italian and Japanese Eggplants)

4 eggs

Bread crumbs

Parmesan Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

Tomato Sauce

Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

Peel then slice the eggplant about 1/8-1/4 inch thick, depending on your preference. Generously salt the eggplant then layer in a colander and let the excess water drain off for about an hour to two. Once the eggplant are ready to go, give them a basic breading- dip in egg then coat with bread crumb mixture (bread crumbs, Parmesan, salt and pepper). Heat a large pan, with a nice coating of olive oil, to medium-high heat and saute until golden brown on both sides (about 2-3 mins per side depending on thickness)

Now, for the fun layering part.. Coat the bottom of your casserole dish with whatever tomato sauce you are using (I used some homemade sauce) then add a layer of eggplant. Top each layer with a little sauce, parm cheese and mozzarella cheese...repeat until you have no more eggplant. Pop into an oven at about 375 for 30 mins. Enjoy!

(Almost all gone before I got the 'after' pic)