Eggplant Help

[caseydog]

If you refridgerate after dipping for about 10 (or more if you can), then when ready to fry redip and fry. See if that works.

10 minutes!

The frozen breaded okra works so well, I don't have a reason to do something else. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

CD

 

[Badjak]

The reason I asked is really due to the very good results when employing the traditional breading technique with shrimp and other cuts like thin boneless pork loin or chicken. I seem to always have a bag of frozen breaded shrimp ready to drop in the fryer.
I often bread and freeze, and they are always great. As good as the day I breaded them. But these are proteins, I guess you would call them.
Eggplant is a different animal.
I also love eggplant. And since there is no consensus, I will proceed with my original thought. Bread them, freeze them in single layers and into a freezer bag separated with paper.
Since this method works very well with the other things, I cannot see why it would not work in this regard.
Thanks.
Oh...I like the skin as well. But the last time it was too tough. I think I can test/cook/fry one first. But maybe I just remove partially the skin. Make it look like a zebra. Stripes.

How 'bout trying different ways and you can report back to us

My eggplants are in production.
I only freeze once they have been used in a meal
I fugure you could freeze them raw when making moussaka or so.
But freezing and then frying...
Dunno

 

[Roll_Bones]

Excellent idea! Won't be a solid piece to cut through. Good on you thinking of that.

do you think you have a time frame for when you will be cooking?

Not sure when I will entertain my friend. I ended up peeling the eggplants. I am glad I did.

Somewhat off topic maybe, but eggplant is not very good down here this year.

It's hit-and-miss down here. Sometimes you find great eggplants, and sometimes they are soft and way too big.
I was lucky the other night. They were small and solid. Perfect.

Now that I think of it, I love fried okra, and the breaded okra I buy in the store always works better than what I make from scratch at home. The homemade stuff loses a lot of breading in the deep fryer, but the frozen stuff doesn't.

CD

I have a bag of frozen breaded okra down in the freezer right now. We love okra. Especially in the spring and early summer when they are all locally grown.
Like you, I don't bread those. I use them in other dishes.

Update:
I breaded and froze the eggplant slices yesterday after the discussion here.
Since we had to have dinner, I decided to try some of the frozen slices I had made earlier.
Shallow fried and assembled Parmesano stacks. 375° for 25 minutes.
They came out great.

 

[dragnlaw]

Good to know! Now I will be watching for some good ones. and not worry about the leftovers, just cook what I need and freeze the rest!

So glad they turned out for you. Let us know when you make them for your friend! She's gonna love itt!

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I would be afraid the raw slices would continue to purge themselves during thawing if you froze them. I would make the entire dish and freeze that. If you want to try something different, here's my recipe for Mulignan a la Sicilian. Just be careful who you say that to because in Sicilian it mean eggplant but in modern day Italian it is a racial epithet.

Mulignan a la Sicilian​

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized eggplants
  
• Kosher salt
  
• ½ lb ground beef
  
• ¼ lb ground pork
  
• ¼ lb ground veal
  
• 1 quart of homemade tomato sauce (no jarred or canned sauce, please)
  
• 1½ cups of Ricotta Cheese
  
• 1½ cups of grated Parmesan cheese
  
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  
• 1 egg
  
• Light olive oil

Instructions:​

Preheatoven to 375F. Lightly cover the bottom of a 13-x 9-inch baking dish (you can use ramekins to make individual servings) with tomato sauce.

Slicethe eggplant about ⅛-inch thick. Place the slices on racks withpaper towels underneath. Sprinkle both sides liberally with koshersalt and let stand fifteen minutes. Rinse thoroughly under cold running water, place on dry paper towels and pat dry.

While the eggplant is purging, combine the beef, pork and veal and brown them in light olive oil. Mix the ground meat with enough of your sauce to create a thick "sloppy joe" consistency, heat through, and set aside to cool.

Mix the three cheeses and the egg together in a large bowl, reserving ½cup of the mozzarella cheese.

In a non-stick skillet, lightly brown the eggplant slices in olive oil on both sides. The eggplant will really soak up the oil, so use itsparingly.

As they finish browning, organize the slices into sets of three of approximately the same diameter. Place one slice from each set of three in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Divide ½ of the meat mixture and ½ of the cheese mixture evenly among theeggplant slices. Add a second eggplant slice from each set and evenly divide the remaining meat mixture, and the remaining cheese mixture among the second eggplant slices. Add the remaining eggplant slices, pour some of the tomato sauce over the eggplant slices, and cover them with the reserved ½ cup of mozzarella. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

Bake at 375F for 45 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the mozzarella is brown and bubbly. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes. Serve with the remaining tomato sauce.

 

[dragnlaw]

hmmmm, sounds yummy! Thanks for posting that.

 

[Jade Emperor]

That sounds great

 

[medtran49]

The recipe I use for moussaka parbakes the eggplant, then slices. I've done that for eggplant parm the last few times I've made it. You don't have to use as much oil and the frying time is cut down.

I make stacks as well, don't like the gloppy texture of a casserole.

I don't salt eggplant anymore. However, I do buy the more slender eggplants, rather than the rounded bulbous ones, as they seem to have less seeds.

I don't think raw eggplant slices will freeze well, but you could always try one and see.

 

[Jade Emperor]

Eggplant parmigiana was a “go-to” restaurant dish in the 80’s when vegetarian meals were not all that common. We would never pre-crumb.

 

[Roll_Bones]

I would be afraid the raw slices would continue to purge themselves during thawing if you froze them. I would make the entire dish and freeze that. If you want to try something different, here's my recipe for Mulignan a la Sicilian. Just be careful who you say that to because in Sicilian it mean eggplant but in modern day Italian it is a racial epithet.

Mulignan a la Sicilian​

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized eggplants
  
• Kosher salt
  
• ½ lb ground beef
  
• ¼ lb ground pork
  
• ¼ lb ground veal
  
• 1 quart of homemade tomato sauce (no jarred or canned sauce, please)
  
• 1½ cups of Ricotta Cheese
  
• 1½ cups of grated Parmesan cheese
  
• 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
  
• 1 egg
  
• Light olive oil

Instructions:​

Preheatoven to 375F. Lightly cover the bottom of a 13-x 9-inch baking dish (you can use ramekins to make individual servings) with tomato sauce.

Slicethe eggplant about ⅛-inch thick. Place the slices on racks withpaper towels underneath. Sprinkle both sides liberally with koshersalt and let stand fifteen minutes. Rinse thoroughly under cold running water, place on dry paper towels and pat dry.

While the eggplant is purging, combine the beef, pork and veal and brown them in light olive oil. Mix the ground meat with enough of your sauce to create a thick "sloppy joe" consistency, heat through, and set aside to cool.

Mix the three cheeses and the egg together in a large bowl, reserving ½cup of the mozzarella cheese.

In a non-stick skillet, lightly brown the eggplant slices in olive oil on both sides. The eggplant will really soak up the oil, so use itsparingly.

As they finish browning, organize the slices into sets of three of approximately the same diameter. Place one slice from each set of three in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Divide ½ of the meat mixture and ½ of the cheese mixture evenly among theeggplant slices. Add a second eggplant slice from each set and evenly divide the remaining meat mixture, and the remaining cheese mixture among the second eggplant slices. Add the remaining eggplant slices, pour some of the tomato sauce over the eggplant slices, and cover them with the reserved ½ cup of mozzarella. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil.

Bake at 375F for 45 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the mozzarella is brown and bubbly. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes. Serve with the remaining tomato sauce.

Mulignan. I remember that word from the Soprano's.
Thanks for the recipe. Sounds great.
I was able to fry and make the Parmesano with the frozen slices. They came out great.
I felt somewhat comfortable freezing them breaded and raw. I am very comfortable now. But let's see how they go as they will stay frozen now until I use them again.
Thanks everyone!

 

[Badjak]

Mulignan. I remember that word from the Soprano's.
Thanks for the recipe. Sounds great.
I was able to fry and make the Parmesano with the frozen slices. They came out great.
I felt somewhat comfortable freezing them breaded and raw. I am very comfortable now. But let's see how they go as they will stay frozen now until I use them again.
Thanks everyone!

Please give us feedback when you try them again
Happy it worked. I didn't expect it would.
Serves me right, Don't assume, just try

 

[BAPyessir6]

Mmmm the last time I had eggplant was a 3 cheese eggplant that was 90 percent cheese to 10 percent eggplant. Needless to say, it was delicious!

I've only made eggplant Parm like once or twice. Now y'all got me feeling like I wanna make it again!

 

[Roll_Bones]

Update:
In regard to freezing breaded eggplant slices. They do excellent from frozen.
I have used the frozen slices 3 times since this thread was started. I always fry one first to make sure they are good.
Last night I fried one slice with Parmesano in the picture. Once fried, a little kosher salt was presented to my wife for testing.
She told me they were good enough to eat just this way. Fried, a little salt and a little Parmesan Regiano.
So the jury has spoken.
Breaded eggplant slices do very well in the freezer, even over time.
I can now buy the best eggplant I can find, slice, drain and bread in advance. Then freeze.

 

[Badjak]

Thanks for the update!

 

[BAPyessir6]

Ooooh yummy. Now I'm adding eggplant to my list! (I have a vacuum sealer so now I'm on a kick of What Else Can I Cook For Fun Then Freeze for Later?!?)

Also that Where's my Water game on your profile is such a fun game! Makes me wanna play it again.

I also have a question regarding eggplant parmesan as you are the expert as far as I can tell.

How thick do I slice my eggplant?
When you say stack (not casserole style) do you go breaded eggplant, sauce, cheese; breaded eggplant, sauce cheese etc?

 

[BAPyessir6]

Not sure when I will entertain my friend. I ended up peeling the eggplants. I am glad I did.

It's hit-and-miss down here. Sometimes you find great eggplants, and sometimes they are soft and way too big.
I was lucky the other night. They were small and solid. Perfect.

I have a bag of frozen breaded okra down in the freezer right now. We love okra. Especially in the spring and early summer when they are all locally grown.
Like you, I don't bread those. I use them in other dishes.

Update:
I breaded and froze the eggplant slices yesterday after the discussion here.
Since we had to have dinner, I decided to try some of the frozen slices I had made earlier.
Shallow fried and assembled Parmesano stacks. 375° for 25 minutes.
They came out great.

Another question please. When you said you shallow fries them, then assembled the stacks 375 f for 25 minutes. . .are you halfway cooking them on the stove then finishing them in the oven? Or are you completely cooking them through on the stove then just using the oven to melt the cheese? (I assume mozzarella but I'm no expert you are )

 

[Roll_Bones]

Another question please. When you said you shallow fries them, then assembled the stacks 375 f for 25 minutes. . .are you halfway cooking them on the stove then finishing them in the oven? Or are you completely cooking them through on the stove then just using the oven to melt the cheese? (I assume mozzarella but I'm no expert you are )

They are fully cooked before I assemble them. However, I want to heat them trough. So that's why I bake at 375° for 20–25 minutes.