Eggplant Parmigiana

Tonight I nearly lost it... my temper, my dedication to my family, my desire to do the things I love... but I didn't lose it all, I just made some resolutions.

You see, I love my family, and I love to cook; I owe it to my mother and father who often cooked together in the kitchen making all sorts of unusual food items: Sushi; Lomi Lomi Salmon; Haupia; Chinese Egg Noodles with Char Siu; Buddhist Monk's Soup (Jai) etc. Even though they didn't always get along in other areas, they did seem to like to cook together, so maybe that's why I love to cook so much myself.

Just tonight, in fact, as I was preparing what I knew was a "risky" dish for my family, I thought how much I love the step-by-step methodology, the putting together of ingredients, to create something unigue and delicious. I was making Eggplant Parmigiana. This was risky because I don't think anyone in my family has ever eaten a piece of eggplant on their own before; perhaps SJ has in a Szechuan Chinese dish, but other than that, they avoid this veggie like the plague.

But I had 3 beautiful purple specimens, deep and rich in color, still firm, ready to be used. I sliced them a 1/4 inch thick as called for in the recipe, then proceeded to hand-dip them in beaten eggs, and finally, tossed them in a mixture of Italian bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Placing them carefully in single layers on top of a baking sheet painted with EVOO, I baked (not fried) them in the oven until toasty brown. After that, I layered them on top of tomato ragu, sprinkled grated Mozzerella cheese on top, and threw on some real parmesan cheese. Four layers later, the dish was ready to be cooked. It looked beautiful!

I then made Tomato, Capers, Artichoke and Mozzerella Bruschetta, one of my favorite dishes that I often use as an appetizer. It's a wonderful dish that's no fail... can't get this one wrong because it's so basic. I used a larger slice of bread tonight because I had it on hand, but the best size is a baguette round, about 2 - 2 1/2 " long, so the bread doesn't absorb too much of the tomato liquid and get soggy.

I served the Eggplant Parmigiana to my family on our new red dishes; it was a very pretty presentation with the fresh garden salad on the side along with the Bruschetta. Middle daughter, EB, asked what it was, and I told her that it was Eggplant Parmesan (accentuating the 'parmesan' part). As everyone was getting settled into their seats, she took a bite and said, "Where's the chicken? All I can see are the tomatoes!" Now where did she get the idea that there were even tomatoes in the dish? I suppose the eggplant looked like fried green tomatoes to her, something we often partake of during the summer months.

After repeated questioning and noticing that the twins had stopped their forks mid-air after hearing her question the ingredients, I explained that the dish was made with eggplants. Well, all moving parts stopped, the forks came to a standstill, and everyone was hushed. EB, who usually is the least picky eater (is that saying very much for my family?), then blurted out, "I took a bite and it made me sick! I"m not going to eat this!" All other siblings, and father dear as well, all took the same stance and refused to bring any more of the "stuff" to their lips. Husband SJ proceeded to return his portion to the casserole dish!!! I couldn't believe my eyes and I couldn't believe what was happening. After spending nearly two and a half hours preparing this dinner, what I thought would be something new and exciting to experience, my family totally refused to even touch their eggplant, could barely tolerate it on their plates. And I thought it was delicious.

I vowed to them outloud, then and there, that I was going to go on strike, and that for a month I wouldn't buy groceries or make any meals for them. I'm going to try to be resolute in my vow; my family has become totally spoiled about what they will and will not eat! So they will go through all the canned goods, all the dried pasta, all the frozen bagels bites, the fruit, the yogurt, and you bet, all the cookies too, and then they'll find nothing new. I know I sound evil, but I've had it (at least for tonight), and I'm not going to tolerate this abuse again any time soon!

What happened to the Eggplant Parmigiana? I took the other half of the casserole to my neighbors next door and my friend down the street... I believe the text I received 15 minutes ago from my neighbor was something like, "We've eaten nearly the whole amount you brought over, and please send the recipe."