Did you use a recipe? I want some eggplant parm now, just from reading your post!
Honestly, I think it's the physical cooking rather than the recipe that worked so well this time. Until last night I was ending up with them either a bit burned on the outside or not cooked on the inside. Turned down the heat a bit this time (to medium+ instead of medium-high) and got what I was looking for. Also, I was more careful with the dredging so that my fingers wouldn't scrape off the coating as I moved the eggplant from one bowl to the next. Little things, but they really made a difference.
I use one of the big eggplants, that look like this:
, not the skinny ones. Slice into 1/2" slices.
three bowls:
1/3 cup flour, salt and pepper
3 eggs and 1 T olive oil
1+ cup of breadcrumbs (I add some dried herbs and spices - like 1/4 teaspoon each of dried onions, garlic powder, oregano and basil - up to you)
drop each slice in the flour, flip it over once or twice, then move into the egg, completely submerging. Carefully pull out of the egg and drop into the bread crumbs. If you can grab the eggplant slice by the side instead of the middle it will work better (I used two hands! tongs might also work). flip until coated, then
set slices on a plate to dry for 30 minutes.If you do it right, you should just barely have enough egg (and will have bread crumbs and flour left over)
For the marinara:
Several peeled tomatoes (2 pounds?) crush the tomatoes by hand, removing the hard part surrounding the stem, and add to a pot.
finely chopped basil
finely chopped italian parsley
garlic
olive oil (I think I used 3 T or so).
salt and pepper
Add all ingredients and simmer at least 10 minutes (but as long as you want). Break up chunks of tomatoes with a wooden spoon while cooking.
Heat olive oil in the pan (I didn't measure, but be generous!). Cook eggplant about 4-5 minutes per side over medium heat. Work in batches to avoid overcrowding. Between batches, scrape out the burned gunk that accumulates in the pan and add more oil if needed (just bring back up to temp). Spin the eggplant discs around 180 degrees halfway through each side so that one side isn't always facing the center of the pan
Now, I probably shouldn't actually call this eggplant parmesan, because I skip the baking step entirely. I just spoon however much marinara over the eggplant slices on the serving dish and sprinkle with parmesan cheese. But if you wanted, you could place the eggplant slices in a baking dish with the marinara sauce and top with cheese and bake until the cheese melts. So, "Fried Eggplant with Marinara and Parmesan" might be more appropriate...
And the beans...easy peasy. combine white beans, some olive oil, fresh rosemary, chopped italian parsley, garlic, and a diced tomato in a pot. Heat 'n' eat.
