Nathalie replied to Barb:

>> Eggplant Parmesan
>> Cook's Illustrated, 1-2004
>> A friend pointed me to this recipe this morning and since I'd bought an
>> eggplant at the farmers market before we met up, I decided to give it a
>> go. I made about half the recipe, I think.
>>
>> If I had anyone else in the house who would eat eggplant, I might make it
>> again. As it is, I probably will not >>work. I ate half of what I made
>> and tossed the rest because, realistically, I wouldn't eat it again soon
>> and the cheese was past where I wanted it to be.
>
> Oh my, what a recipe :-(
> The eggs, the bread, the flour and the basil should never be there.
> Melanzane alla Parmigiana is actually a simple dish, albeit
> time-consuming to make : Layers of slices of grilled or fried
> eggplant, alternating with layers of tomato sauce and layers of
> mozzarella, in a baking dish. Cover with grated Parmesan and bake for
> 40 minutes, that's it. Heaven on earth!


The good folks at Cooks Illustrated rarely concern themselves with
authenticity. I think the recipe they wrote sounds good, and I might make it
sometime. I also think the "bare bones" recipe you described sounds good.

They really do a *lot* of recipe testing in their test kitchen, and every
recipe I've had by them has turned out scrumptious (except for the fact that
I like Mrs. Fields oatmeal cookies better than their cookies). However,
sometimes the recipes get unnecessarily involved, and this is one such
example. Another example is the Cooks Illustrated recipe for chicken and
dumplings. It's a FANTASTIC dish using their recipe, but with cream and
sherry, it's hardly what most people think of when the phrase "chicken and
dumplings" is uttered.

Bob