Eggplant Parmesan

I should be studying for my 3 maths exams, but it's so sunny outside!

Therefore I'm going to stay inside my room and blog about the healthy version of eggplant parmesan that I make? Healthy because I don't pan fry the eggplant slices.

What you need:

• 1 eggplant
• 2 medium eggs (or one large egg)
• 250g mozzarella cheese
• 500mL pasta sauce
• Parmigiano Reggiano, or parmesan, cheese (apparently there's a difference -- Parmesan cheese is imitation stuff made for Americans. Sure ok.)
• about 100g breadcrumbs

1. Wash and slice eggplant into disks about 1cm thick, or 1/2 inch.
   
   
   
2. Beat the egg(s) and pour bread crumbs into a shallow dish.
   
   
   
3. Grease a baking tray. I'm a germaphobe so I took a baking tray and placed tin foil on it and then greased the tin foil. Also, I'm lazy (once it's done, I just throw out the tinfoil -- no need to wash the pan!). Bread the eggplant disks: Coat each face of the disk in egg and rub it in breadcrumbs. Place onto the baking pan. When all the disks have been breaded, bake for 20 minutes at 200°C. After 20 minutes, remove from oven, flip over every slice, and bake again for 20 minutes at 200°C.
   
   
   
4. While the eggplant disks are baking, cut a small hole in the mozzarella bag. Squeeze out as much water as possible. Finally open the bag remove the chunk and cut it into small pieces. Try to make them no larger than a standard board game dice. Alternatively, if you have pre-shredded mozzarella cheese, ignore this step of course.
   
   
   
5. Remove eggplant disks from the oven once they're finished.
   
   
   
6. In another baking pan, preferably a casserole dish with depth, line the bottom with some pasta sauce.
   
   
   
7. Place a few disks in the pan. Sprinkle mozzarella cheese and parmigiano reggiano cheese.
   
   
   
8. Cover this layer with some pasta sauce. Then repeat with another layer of eggplant disks. Keep repeating until you're out of eggplant.
   
   
   
   
   
9. Once all the eggplant disks have been used, cover with the remaining pasta sauce. Then sprinkle on any remaining cheese. Add any spices you like. I added basel and garlic salt.
   
   
   
   
10. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 200°C just to get the cheese to melt. Buon appetito!
    

Fun Fact: One of my flatmates walked in as I was taking it out of the oven and she asked me what it was. I told her it's eggplant parm, but she's never heard of it. She's Chinese Canadian so I guess it's ok.

Potluck Last Week - What I Made

Last Saturday, John, Jess, and I had a potluck dinner. We each made a dish and pretty much hoped everyone else would appreciate it. At least, Jess and I were pretty self-conscious. This was the first time anyone outside of myself has ever tasted my cooking. Rather than chickening out and making pasta, I decided to be a little braver make the only somewhat original thing I knew how to make that other people might be able to appreciate -- rice noodles with Creamy Coconut & Thai basil sauce.

Ingredients:

• Rice noodles: about 200g, soaked in water for about 2 hours (though it only needs to be soaked for 30 minutes)
• 2 sliced onions
• 200g chicken, cut into bite-size cubes
• arbitrary quantity of shrimp (ie: whatever I had left), de-veined and cut into halves
  
• one 425g jar of Creamy Coconut & Thai Basil sauce
• 350g Family Stir Fry mix from Asda: bean sprouts carrots, Chinese cabbage, spinach
• garlic salt (for lack of real garlic)
  
• Sriracha sauce
• vegetable oil
• soy sauce (not pictured)
• curry powder (pictured, but not used. Could be used for a more Singapore-style taste, though)

1. Turn on the stove to medium heat. Pour some vegetable oil into the wok. Allow to get warm. Dump in the chicken and shrimp. Cook for a bit until chicken is mostly white, but not completely.
2. Add about 1/3 jar of Creamy Coconut & Thai Basil sauce.
3. Allow the chicken and shrimp to cook for a bit in the sauce, ensuring that every piece is coated.
4. Add onions. Stir around, making sure the onion slices separate from each other.
5. Add stir-fry mix. Mix around.
6. Toss all the ingredients in the wok. I was using a fork and knife because I don't have the right utensils, but optimally, spatulas or tongs would work best.
7. Add water if things start to get dry. Periodically perform this step throughout the process.
8. Add the rice noodles.
9. Add the rest of the sauce. Toss like a salad.
10. Add some garlic salt. Keep tossin'. Change heat to medium-low setting if things at the bottom of the wok are browning quicker than you can fold the mixture. Taste and tweak by adding more garlic salt or anything that might help.
11. Mix some Sriracha sauce with water so to make a mixture that spreads more easily and evenly. Pour onto the noodles. Taste and tweak by adding more Sriracha sauce for a spicier taste or water to water it down.
12. Keep tossing, attempting to achieve a homogeneous mixture.
13. Remove from the heat after reasonably homogeneous mixture is achieved. (Optional) Add some soy sauce for coloring or taste. Of course, mix it up.
14. Finished! Transfer to a plate or casserole dish for neat presentation. I lack a large enough plate or a casserole dish so I just transferred to a medium-sized pot. Garnish with some spinach, cabbage, and bean sprouts from the stir fry mix.
15. Enjoy!