I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant in
oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep adding
it). What am I doing wrong?

Dora
--

"limey" wrote in message
...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant
in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep
adding it). What am I doing wrong?

Dora

Eggplant is a sponge for oil. Try oven frying. Dip the slices in egg, then
bread crumbs. Cover baking sheet with heavy duty foil, oil lightly, and cook
the eggplant slices for 30 minutes at 450. This works for slices that are
about 1/2" thick. Adjust time based on how thick you make yours.

"limey" wrote in message
...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant in
oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep adding it).
What am I doing wrong?

Dora
--


Eggplant is notorious for absorbing far too much oil.

Listed below is 1 possible solution - Broiling or grilling the slices also
works. Are you salting and draining the slices?

Dimitri


http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/pages/c00161.asp


Preventing greasiness. Globe eggplant, whose flesh is especially spongelike,
tends to soak up more oil than other varieties. If you've ever brushed a raw,
unsalted slice with oil, you've probably noticed how readily the eggplant
absorbed it. According to food scientist Harold McGee, salting draws out water
and helps collapse the air pockets in globe eggplant's spongy flesh. This makes
the eggplant much less able to soak up lots of oil during frying or grilling.

"Doug Kanter" wrote

"limey" wrote

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant
in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep
adding it). What am I doing wrong?

Eggplant is a sponge for oil. Try oven frying. Dip the slices in egg, then
bread crumbs. Cover baking sheet with heavy duty foil, oil lightly, and
cook the eggplant slices for 30 minutes at 450. This works for slices that
are about 1/2" thick. Adjust time based on how thick you make yours.

Do you do the salt/drain thing first?

nancy

"Nancy Young" wrote in message
...

"Doug Kanter" wrote

"limey" wrote

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the
eggplant in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to
keep adding it). What am I doing wrong?

Eggplant is a sponge for oil. Try oven frying. Dip the slices in egg,
then bread crumbs. Cover baking sheet with heavy duty foil, oil lightly,
and cook the eggplant slices for 30 minutes at 450. This works for slices
that are about 1/2" thick. Adjust time based on how thick you make yours.

Do you do the salt/drain thing first?

nancy


Nope. But, you might want to experiment with a slice or two at a time. If
you overcook, something weird happens - they sort of puff up in the center
and seem to have nothing inside. I think it's because they contain so much
moisture that if you cook it all away.....you get the picture.

On 2005-12-01, limey wrote:

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant in
oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep adding
it). What am I doing wrong?

I salt the eggplant slice and let them sit is a collander for about 20 or
30 minutes. *Alot* of water sweats out of the slices. I then dip the slices
in egg and bread crumbs. Here's the twist -- I bread the eggplant slices with
Panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs). Panko absorbs far less oil than regular
bread crumbs.

Panko:

http://www.asianfoodgrocer.com/index...OD&ProdID=2484

--
Clay Irving
#11915 Only Sherlock Holmes can debug the program by pure deduction from the
output. You are not Sherlock Holmes. Run the ****ing debugger already.
- Good Advice and Maxims for Programmers, Mark Jason Dominus

Nancy Young wrote:
"Doug Kanter" wrote

"limey" wrote

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the
eggplant in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I
have to keep adding it). What am I doing wrong?

Eggplant is a sponge for oil. Try oven frying. Dip the slices in
egg, then bread crumbs. Cover baking sheet with heavy duty foil, oil
lightly, and cook the eggplant slices for 30 minutes at 450. This
works for slices that are about 1/2" thick. Adjust time based on how
thick you make yours.

Do you do the salt/drain thing first?

nancy

I always heavily salt slices of eggplant and let them sit for about 20
minutes... then rinse and pat dry. After that they lose the "sponge"
texture and fry up nicely.

Jill

"limey" wrote in message
...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant
in
oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep adding
it). What am I doing wrong?

Dora
--





You have to coat them in some way or they will keep soaking up oil, I use
flour/egg/breadcrumb which gives a nice crisp coating. IMO the salting and
draining thing does nothing but make them too salty.

David

"Dimitri" wrote in message
"limey" wrote
I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant
in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep
adding it). What am I doing wrong?

Dora

Eggplant is notorious for absorbing far too much oil.

Listed below is 1 possible solution - Broiling or grilling the slices also
works. Are you salting and draining the slices?

Dimitri

http://www.taunton.com/finecooking/pages/c00161.asp

Preventing greasiness. Globe eggplant, whose flesh is especially
spongelike, tends to soak up more oil than other varieties. If you've ever
brushed a raw, unsalted slice with oil, you've probably noticed how
readily the eggplant absorbed it. According to food scientist Harold
McGee, salting draws out water and helps collapse the air pockets in globe
eggplant's spongy flesh. This makes the eggplant much less able to soak up
lots of oil during frying or grilling.

Thanks for the link, Dimitri - very informative. All this time, I've
stayed away from salting since I didn't want all that salt. Now that all
of you have explained the sponginess of eggplant and the moisture it
contains, I must turn to salting and rinsing. It looks as though that will
solve the problem.

Thank you, everyone, for your help.

Dora

"limey" ha scritto nel messaggio
...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant
in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep
adding it). What am I doing wrong?
Dora

I know it coud be a controsense, but you must use more oil to fry your
slices of eggplant. In this way the slice float better on the oil and absorb
less!
Is like fry potatoes (chips): if you put few oil, the potatoe come out
soaked!
Although is normal for Parmigiana, to be oiled, sometime too oil , as in
your case, could irritate! There was a friend of mine who found a way to
make a very light and, in the same time good, parmigiana: after having fried
eggplants, she put the slices in a colander (layers separeted with
abssorbent paper) with a weight over for half a day or for one night. When I
tasted it , it was the best parmigiana I have eat in my life!
Cheers
Pandora

In article , says...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant in
oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep adding
it). What am I doing wrong?

Dora


I've learned to either slice them and stick them under the grill or to pile the
slices into a ceramic dish and nuke them to pre-cook. No oil at all. My wife
does the egg and breadcrumb thing and serves them like that, whereas I usually
go on to put them into layered dishes and finish them off in the oven.

-Peter

--
=========================================
firstname dot lastname at gmail fullstop com

"Doug Kanter" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
"limey" wrote in message
...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant
in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep
adding it). What am I doing wrong?

Dora

Eggplant is a sponge for oil. Try oven frying. Dip the slices in egg, then
bread crumbs. Cover baking sheet with heavy duty foil, oil lightly, and
cook the eggplant slices for 30 minutes at 450. This works for slices that
are about 1/2" thick. Adjust time based on how thick you make yours.

Why breadcrumb? Breadcrumb will make a too dry pseudo-parmigiana!
Cheers
Pandora

Pandora wrote:

"limey" ha scritto nel messaggio
...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the eggplant
in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep
adding it). What am I doing wrong?
Dora

I know it coud be a controsense, but you must use more oil to fry your
slices of eggplant. In this way the slice float better on the oil and absorb
less!
Is like fry potatoes (chips): if you put few oil, the potatoe come out
soaked!
Although is normal for Parmigiana, to be oiled, sometime too oil , as in
your case, could irritate! There was a friend of mine who found a way to
make a very light and, in the same time good, parmigiana: after having fried
eggplants, she put the slices in a colander (layers separeted with
abssorbent paper) with a weight over for half a day or for one night. When I
tasted it , it was the best parmigiana I have eat in my life!
Cheers
Pandora



She fried it first and then pressed it in a colander? Interesting, I've never
heard of that. I assume it was not breaded? Do you have more info on the
techinique? I'd be interested in trying it.

My problem when I make this dish is that inevitably there is ONE damned slice
that I cut too thick and didn't fry long enough and it manages to retain its
raw, spongy, semi-crunchy texture through the whole process, grossing me out
and making it so i have to find it and pull it out or I won't be able to
finish.

--
..:Heather:.
www.velvet-c.com

"jmcquown" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
Nancy Young wrote:
"Doug Kanter" wrote

"limey" wrote

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the
eggplant in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I
have to keep adding it). What am I doing wrong?

Eggplant is a sponge for oil. Try oven frying. Dip the slices in
egg, then bread crumbs. Cover baking sheet with heavy duty foil, oil
lightly, and cook the eggplant slices for 30 minutes at 450. This
works for slices that are about 1/2" thick. Adjust time based on how
thick you make yours.

Do you do the salt/drain thing first?

nancy

I always heavily salt slices of eggplant and let them sit for about 20
minutes... then rinse and pat dry. After that they lose the "sponge"
texture and fry up nicely.

Jill

I don't know in America, but in Italy eggplants of today are not bitter!
Peraps are all the pesticide that use! So we don't need to put them in the
colander with salt!
Cheers
Pandora
So

"The Bubbo" ha scritto nel messaggio
...
Pandora wrote:

"limey" ha scritto nel messaggio
...

I love eggplant parmigiana. However, when I initially brown the
eggplant
in oil, it takes far more oil than I think it should (I have to keep
adding it). What am I doing wrong?
Dora

I know it coud be a controsense, but you must use more oil to fry your
slices of eggplant. In this way the slice float better on the oil and
absorb
less!
Is like fry potatoes (chips): if you put few oil, the potatoe come out
soaked!
Although is normal for Parmigiana, to be oiled, sometime too oil , as in
your case, could irritate! There was a friend of mine who found a way to
make a very light and, in the same time good, parmigiana: after having
fried
eggplants, she put the slices in a colander (layers separeted with
abssorbent paper) with a weight over for half a day or for one night.
When I
tasted it , it was the best parmigiana I have eat in my life!
Cheers
Pandora



She fried it first and then pressed it in a colander? Interesting, I've
never
heard of that. I assume it was not breaded? Do you have more info on the
techinique? I'd be interested in trying it.

There is nothing to know! It's just what I have said!
And then: NO BREADCRUMBS at all, for the real parmigiana!

My problem when I make this dish is that inevitably there is ONE damned
slice
that I cut too thick and didn't fry long enough and it manages to retain
its
raw, spongy, semi-crunchy texture through the whole process, grossing me
out
and making it so i have to find it and pull it out or I won't be able to
finish.

Use more oil, like I do and then put in the colander like my friend do. I
cut slices with cutting salami machine, at a thickness of 1/2 cm.
That's all!
Cheers
pandora

--
.:Heather:.
www.velvet-c.com