Eggplant parm

I've never made it, or eaten it for that matter, but thanks to monday's "holiday" i'll be doing both...so I need some help.

Every single recipe I'm seeing says bread bake/fry eggplant, then sauce eggplant cheese layer & bake.

1) I have a mini deep fryer somewhere, so I'm trying to decide whether to bake or fry em to cook em. Anybody ever have it cooked both ways and can tell a difference? If not I'll probably bake em since it'll be easier and healthier.

2) I was reading some people salt the eggplant then rinse it off to get rid of some of the bitterness that eggplant apparently has (i have no idea, i've never eaten it.) i was thinking of using some garlic salt to add a little flavor to em.

3) For the breading, can I add powered parm to it or just leave it be?

 

1) - I would not deep fry, eggplant gets soggy real easily. Try pan frying and then broil to crisp and then add the sauce and cheese to melt (don't broil too long).

2) - Blanching is what it is called, it is not needed, but won't hurt. I don't notice the difference.

3) - Yes, but the flavor may not come out as much as you want.

 

pan-fry it til a little crispy, then add cheese/sauce then bake to melt cheese......mmm I'm hungry now.

 

Yeah, I had to leave and go get lunch.

Welcome, I see you are from Fort Worth, we were trying to get a meet together last week then armegedon struck, but we'll try again soon so keep an eye out.

 

Cool, will do.

 

you have to slice the eggplant and salt it,. then let it sit on a rack to lose all the water..then rinse them clean and proceed with the recipe.