[extropy-chat] Melanzane alla Parmigiana (Eggplant Parmigiana) (was: The Extropy of Cooking)

[J. Andrew Rogers]

Cooking Report:

My crop of all the plant ingredients came in and I tried this recipe,  
plus a little experimentation as well.  In short, Amara's basic  
recipe is an *excellent* baseline, and the best rendition of this  
classic dish that I have ever had.  It was universally liked across  
my taste-testing audience that was subjected to it.  There were a  
couple points where the instructions were a bit sparse, but after the  
first attempt, the corrections were easy.  I made about a 2/3 recipe,  
which served approximately 6 people.  It is worth noting that the  
caloric density of this recipe, as best I can compute it, is quite  
low despite the cheese and similar.

Some notes based on my experience:

- The tomatoes need to be significantly reduced (certainly more than  
my first attempt) to come out right.  The construction of this dish  
interferes with evaporation, so counting on reduction in the oven  
will make a very watery result.  For the most part, any reduction  
that needs to happen should happen on the stove.  I do most of my  
work on the stove, so my relative lack of oven cooking experience bit  
me here.

- Per Amara's instructions, I used "a lot" of fresh basil from the  
backyard which turned out excellent.  Extremely coarse chopping is  
all that is needed (the leaves on my plants get huge), and it behaves  
almost like spinach in the dish.  Don't be shy with the quantity, it  
works great.  It is unlikely that one will find it sold in grocery  
stores in quantities so large that you should have leftovers.  It  
would be really difficult to ruin this with too much basil.  I have  
about 20 very happy basil plants which fortunately provide all the  
basil I need.

- I would reduce the cooking temperature to 300F and increase the  
typical cooking time to more like an hour.  As with most dishes of  
this type, the cooking time is defined by the point where the water  
in the top layer evaporates sufficiently to allow caramelization.   
When the top starts to caramelize, it is done.  Amara made mention of  
it, but I will reinforce it: this dish is better behaved when cooked  
slowly.

- This is an eminently hackable recipe.  If you like the basic  
flavors, there is no reason at all that some addition flavors cannot  
be added in the layers.  I like it exactly how it is, but I can  
easily imagine a half dozen different tasty modifications.  It  
actually needed a bit of salt (or salt sources) in my preparation,  
which I compensated for.

Overall, a really proper and basic recipe that is a worthwhile  
addition to any repertoire.  I have certainly added it to mine.


Out of curiosity, do Europeans cook in Celsius?  While I know  
everything is metric for the weights and measures, I don't recall  
ever seeing many cooking temperatures in anything but Fahrenheit.


Cheers,

J. Andrew Rogers




On Jun 27, 2006, at 1:27 PM, Amara Graps wrote:
> Melanzane alla Parmigiana (Eggplant Parmigiana)
> -----------------------------------------------
>
> (English units)
>
> 4 aubergines/eggplants/melanzane
> salt
> extra virgin olive oil
> 1/2 c grated Parmesan cheese
> 2 medium or 1 large (3/4 lb.) fresh mozzarella di bufala
> Lots of fresh basil
> 3-4 c canned peeled tomatoes
> or 2 lb fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled and chopped
>
> Wash and dry the eggplants, slice them into thick slices and lay  
> them on
> a tray. Sprinkle salt over them and leave for an hour.
>
> In the meantime prepare the tomato sauce: puree, heat and add some
> sprigs of basil. Rinse off the brown juice from the eggplants and pat
> dry with a paper towel.
>
> Cover the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and fry the  
> eggplants, a
> few at a time, until they are soft and golden. At first the eggplants
> soak up the oil then it seeps out. You have to add a little for  
> each new
> batch of eggplants. Put them on kitchen paper to drain off the excess
> oil. Cut the mozzarella into thin slices and then strips and grate the
> Parmesan cheese.
>
> Grease a large oven dish with olive oil and lay a first layer of
> eggplants to cover the bottom. Pour on a little tomato sauce, some
> Parmesan and some mozzarella strips. Continue layering until you have
> finished all the ingredients, finishing the top layer with just the
> tomato sauce and Parmesan. Cover with aluminum foil. Pre-heat the oven
> to 350°F and bake for at least 1/2 hour. Remove the aluminum foil  
> after
> 20 minutes.