Eggplant Parmesan and the Beginning of an Endgame

It was a little over a year ago that I started this blog with my first post, an homage to beef pho, the dish that inspired the theme of comforting, delicious, feel-good food. Now, after over 75 recipes cooked, prepared and photographed, I feel that I got out of this blog what I wanted: an outlet through which to hone my food writing, an exposure to the world of blogging and a chance to share some of my thoughts (and some of my food) with anyone interested. And, faced with the imminent decision of whether or not to renew my web domain (and, by extension, whether or not I want to keep blogging for another year), I’ve decided that it’s time to retire Noodle Therapy.

I won’t say that I’ll never have a food blog again. But I think it’s important to recognize when it’s time to take a break, to discover new interests and, perhaps, to later return to old interests with a renewed passion. And, I can honestly say that while I still enjoy cooking and will continue to cook, I have lost some of my enthusiasm for writing about it. Writing blog updates has gone from an activity I enjoy and look forward to another task on my to-do list. As such, I feel they don’t read as interesting as they otherwise would and, at the end of the day, I think it does a disservice to both myself and you, the readers of Noodle Therapy, to have to get through blog posts that are less-than-inspired.

So, with that in mind, I wanted to let you all know that, as of May 13, I will no longer own the rights to this URL and sometime before then, I will publish my final Noodle Therapy post (it somehow seems wrong to stop before then).

But for now, enjoy this eggplant parmesan dish. The eggplant is dipped in flour, egg and fresh breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese, then baked on an oiled, pre-heated pan. The result was crispy, browned disks of eggplant that weren’t oily or mushy, but substantial and toothsome. These were layered between mozzarella cheese and a bright, spicy, garlicky tomato sauce laced with fresh basil, and topped with more mozzarella, parmesan and just dotted with sauce, so the eggplant stayed crispy and not soggy. It’s a stretch to call something with so much melty, stringy cheese and crispy browned breaded eggplant “healthy” but it definitely is a lighter version of the classic casserole. Most importantly, it really was delicious.

Eggplant Parmesan

Active Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 2 hours

Yield: 6-8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 medium eggplant (about 2 pounds) cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick rounds
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 4 cups breadcrumbs (use fresh breadcrumbs from stale white bread, or panko)
• 1 cup grated Parmesan (about 2 ounces)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 6 tablespoons olive oil

Tomato Sauce:

• 3 cans (14 1/2 ounces each) diced tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 4 medium garlic cloves, minced
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil leaves
• Salt and ground pepper

Assembly:

• 8 ounces whole or part-skim mozzarella, shredded (2 cups)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (about 1 ounce)
• 10 fresh basil leaves, roughly torn, for garnish

Method

To make the eggplant:

• In a large bowl, toss eggplant slices and 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt; transfer salted eggplant to colander set over bowl. Let stand until eggplant releases about 2 tablespoons liquid, 45 minutes. Arrange eggplant slices on a triple layer of paper towels; cover with a triple layer of paper towels. Firmly press each slice to remove as much liquid as possible, then wipe off excess salt
• While eggplant is draining, adjust oven racks to upper- and lower-thirds of the oven, place rimmed baking sheets on both racks, and heat oven to 425 degrees F
• In a pie plate or shallow dish, combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan, and pepper. Set aside
• Combine flour and 1 teaspoon pepper in large zipper-lock bag; shake to combine. Beat eggs in second pie plate. Place 8 to 10 eggplant slices in bag with flour, dip in eggs, let excess egg run off, then coat evenly with breadcrumb mixture. Set breaded slices on wire rack set over baking sheet. Repeat with remaining eggplant
• Remove preheated baking sheets from oven; add 3 tablespoons oil to each sheet, tilting to coat evenly with oil. Place half of breaded eggplant on each sheet in single layer; bake until eggplant is well browned and crisp, about 30 minutes, switching and rotating baking sheets after 10 minutes, and flipping eggplant slices with wide spatula after 20 minutes. Keep oven on

To make the sauce:

• While eggplant bakes, process 2 cans diced tomatoes in food processor or blender until almost smooth. Add third can of tomatoes and set aside
• Heat olive oil, garlic and red pepper flakes in large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until garlic is light brown, about 1-2 minutes; stir in tomatoes. Bring sauce to boil, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until slightly thickened and reduced, about 15 minutes. Stir in basil and season to taste with salt and pepper

To assemble:

• Spread 1 cup tomato sauce in bottom of 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Layer in half of eggplant slices, overlapping slices to fit; distribute 1 cup sauce over eggplant; sprinkle with half of mozzarella. Layer in remaining eggplant and dot with 1 cup sauce, leaving majority of eggplant exposed so it will remain crisp. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup Parmesan and remaining mozzarella.
• Bake until bubbling and cheese is browned, 15 minutes. Let rest for 10 minutes, scatter basil over top, and serve, passing remaining tomato sauce separately

Buffalo-Style Chicken Roulades

For a significant period of my life, had you asked me what my favorite food was, I would have said buffalo wings. (Nowadays I cop out and refuse to answer the question altogether, lest I think about it too hard and stare blankly at my interrogator until I’m drooling from an over-saturation of food memories. Besides, I hate playing favorites).

For me, two things are elemental in successful chicken wings. One is the texture, usually achieved by deep-frying the wings to crisp up the skin (though I’ve had success just lightly coating the wings in oil and oven-roasting them). The second is the sauce, for which I think simple and traditional is best – a 2:1 ratio of Frank’s Red Hot sauce and melted butter.

In upgrading one of my favorite foods from apps to tre-tres, I had to address these two elements. To keep the crispy texture of wings in a preparation of boneless, skinless chicken breasts, I turned to panko bread crumbs, which always seem to hold up and give that sought-after crunch to a finished dish. To infuse the dish with buffalo wing sauce flavor, I dipped the chicken in a Frank’s Red Hot-spiked mayo before dredging in the panko, and topped the finished dish with the aforementioned sauce recipe.

The filling of the roulades, a creamy mix of cheeses, minced carrot and scallion, was a good way to keep the dish moist from the inside out, and the dairy and fat played nicely with the vinegary, spicy sauce. Though I didn’t use any this time, I think a little blue cheese might do well in there, to recreate the wings and blue cheese dressing effect.

Buffalo-Style Chicken Roulades

Total Time: 1 hour

Yield: 3 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup shredded Mexican cheese blend
• 3 wedges Laughing Cow garlic and herb cheese
• 1/4 cup scallion, minced
• 1/4 cup carrot, minced
• 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
• 6 tablespoons Frank’s Red Hot sauce
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter
• pinch of garlic powder

Method

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Mix shredded cheese, laughing cow cheese, green onion, carrot, and couple pinches each of salt and pepper in a dish. In one bowl make a breading station out of corn flake crumbs. In another bowl combine mayonnaise, 2 tablespoons of hot sauce, and lemon juice
• Lay out the chicken breasts and pound with a meat mallet to a 1-inch thickness. Divide the cheese mixture among the chicken breasts and spread evenly, going almost to the edges. Roll each breast into a roulade, so the filling is on the inside. Roll chicken breasts in the mayonnaise mixture, then into the panko, and place seam side down in a baking dish
• Bake 30 minutes. While the chicken cooks, melt butter and mix with the remaining hot sauce and garlic powder. Drizzle buffalo sauce over finished chicken breast and serve