**The Art of Making Perfect Eggplant Parmesan**
When it comes to making eggplant parmesan, there are several key steps that need to be followed in order to achieve perfection. First and foremost, it's essential to start with fresh, high-quality ingredients. The author begins by discussing the importance of drawing moisture out of the eggplant, as this will help make them less bitter and more tender.
To accomplish this, the author recommends beating eggs together with a tablespoon of flour and then using this mixture as a binder in the breading process. This step is crucial in creating a crispy exterior on the eggplant while keeping it juicy on the inside. The author notes that rinsing and repeating the eggplant slices in the flour, egg, and bread crumb mixture is necessary to ensure even coating.
Next, the author explains the importance of using a three-stage breading system for deep-frying. This involves coating the eggplant slices with flour, then eggs beaten with flour, and finally bread crumbs mixed with dried Italian herbs. The author emphasizes the need to rinse and repeat this process until all the eggplant slices are coated evenly.
Now that the eggplant is prepared, it's time to move on to the sauce. The author notes that using jarred sauce can be a convenient option, but making your own sauce from scratch can elevate the dish to new heights. If you choose to make your own sauce, the author provides a link to a quick recipe in the video description.
With the sauce prepared, it's time to fry the eggplant slices until they're deeply browned and cooked through. The author recommends preheating a wide, deep sauté pan with about an inch of oil heated to around 325 degrees Fahrenheit. This may not seem like a precise temperature, but the author assures that as long as the oil is hot and not smoking, it will be perfect for frying.
Once the eggplant slices are fried, they're drained on paper towels and ready to assemble the dish. The author explains that traditional eggplant parmesan typically consists of multiple layers of sauce, eggplant, mozzarella cheese, and repeat. To make this recipe, simply start with a layer of sauce, followed by an eggplant slice, a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese, and then another layer of sauce.
The author notes that you can wrap the assembled dish in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for up to two days before baking. When ready to bake, preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and assemble the final layers of sauce, eggplant, mozzarella cheese, and Parmesan cheese. The author recommends cranking the oven temperature up to 425 degrees Fahrenheit in the last 10 minutes of cooking to ensure a golden-brown crust.
One crucial tip from the author is that you should not be afraid to make mistakes or adjust as needed. As they demonstrate, even making adjustments on the fly can lead to creative solutions. For example, if you find that your casserole is too thick, you can simply scoop off the top half and use it as a base for multiple sliders.
Finally, the author takes a moment to discuss the importance of supporting local restaurants and advocating for restaurant owners who are fighting for financial assistance during these uncertain times. The author partners with The Botanist Islay Dry Gin to promote their advocacy efforts through a TV commercial that will air during the big game. This is a cause close to their hearts, and they encourage everyone to tune in and support local restaurants in any way they can.
**The Perfect Pairing: A Gin-Gin Mule**
To complement our eggplant parmesan, we have the perfect pairing cocktail: The Botanist Gin Gin Mule. This refreshing drink combines gin, ginger beer, simple syrup, lime juice, and fresh mint leaves for a unique twist on the classic Moscow Mule.
The author explains that the name "Gin Gin" refers to the combination of gin, the liquor used in this case, with gin being short for ginger. They note that the different types of wild mint in The Botanist play a significant role in the flavor profile of this cocktail. To make it, start by muddling six or so fresh mint leaves in a Mule mug along with 1/2 ounce of simple syrup.
Next, add 3/4 ounce of freshly squeezed lime juice and two ounces of The Botanist Islay Dry Gin. Mix for about five seconds to combine, then pile tall and proud with crushed ice. Top up with high-quality ginger beer and garnish with a circle of lime and a sprig of mint.
The author concludes by thanking their partners at The Botanist Islay Dry Gin for their support and enthusiasm throughout this episode. As they continue to advocate for independent restaurants and chefs, the author encourages everyone to tune in during the big game to see their commercial and make a conscious effort to support local eateries whenever possible.
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: en- This episode is sponsoredby my longtime partner,The Botanist Islay Dry Gin,and they've got big news.Their first TV commercialis airing this weekendduring the big game,and the message in thead is really important.Local bars and restaurantsstill need our supportto help keep them in business.Tune in this weekend towatch the full commercial,continue to support yourfavorite local businesses,and visit saverestaurants.comto see how else you can help.The link's in the video description.Now, let's get down to basics.(upbeat music)All right, so first up,the BLT slider is so easy,we gotta make our own homemade mayo,which is normally a good move anyway,but now you have no excuse.We're starting by combiningtwo whole large eggs,the juice of 1/2 of one lemon,about a tablespoon and a half,a teaspoon of white vinegar,one whole clove of garlic, chopped,one teaspoon Dijon mustard,and 1/4 teaspoon each paprika and cayennein a tall cylindrical container.Then we're gonna blend everybody togetheron high speed using an immersion blender.Now, you might noticethat your mayonnaisedoesn't thicken right away.That might be because yourcontainer is too wide,your immersion blenderisn't powerful enough,you used the wrong ratio of eggs to oil,or you didn't add any oil to begin with.So make sure you addthat oil, 1 1/2 to 2 cupsof neutral-flavored oillike vegetable or canola,blending on high speedand slowly pulsing upwarduntil the eggs and oil emulsify togetherinto a creamy mayonnaise.And once you try this stuff,you will agree with methat it doesn't have the sameplasticky sort of stale flavorthat stuff out of the bottle does.But we're not stopping there.For our BLT sliders, we'regonna flavor our mayowith ranch flavors, so toabout two cups of mayonnaise,we're adding about 1/4cup each chopped chives,chopped dill, and choppedparsley, plus some other stuff:1/4 teaspoon of wishful Cheshire sauce,several dashes of your favorite hot sauce,pinch of kosher salt, and a few twistsof freshly ground black pepper.Add 1/2 cup of sour creamand you've got yourself some ranch,but instead we have, uh,ranch mayo, which is good.It's gonna be good on our sandwich.It's just weird, right? I know.Anyway, we have to contendwith the B of our BLT,that being bacon.I like to spread mine out ona parchment-lined baking sheetand bake at 375 for 25 to30 minutes until crisp,and if we pop our other ovenrack to the very top spotof the oven rack slots, itmakes for a great opportunityto toast up our bread.As you can see, I havean whole focaccia herethat I've halved lengthwise,and if you look really close,you'll notice that I'mbrushing it down with olive oilthat's been seasoned with kosher saltand freshly ground black pepperbefore plopping it inthe hottest top spot,sorry, I won't do that again,and toasting it in ouralready-occupied oven.Now I'm gonna use theroughed-up surface of the breadkinda like a cheese grater,impaling a clove of garlicon the end of a fork or justholding it in your hand,and grate the garlic thoroughlyall over the bread's surface.Finish with some flaky finishing saltand you can probably just eat this as is,or we can turn it intoa sandwich, I guess,spreading some of our herby mayo.That sounds better than ranch mayo, right?Lay down some butter leaf lettuce,followed by tomatoes, followed by bacon.Kendall will insist that thisis the ideal configurationfor a BLT.So now all we have to do is cut it downinto individual serving sizes,and there you have it: two sliders.I'm just kidding, of course.That's no way to die.Divide this up, impale itwith toothpicks for stability,and share it with your friends.The mayonnaise can bemade well in advance,but the lettuce is gonna start to wiltafter a few hours in the fridge.Next up, we're gonna take a crackat one I was very excitedabout: chopped cheese sliders.Now, we've done choppedcheese on the show before,so this is really justreformatting it for a crowd.You can optionally toastyour buns on the flat top.If that's what you wanna do, go aheadand spread these guys downwith soft butter first.Then they go cut side downon the griddle as it's preheating.Keep an eye on thisguy so he doesn't burn,and toast one half at a timeif that's all you got room for.Now that I got my buns all toasted,it's time to do the meat thing.Onto the griddle goes a littlesplash of vegetable oil,and then, Jesus, Andy, isthat two pounds of beef?Maybe do, like, one pound of beef,which, true to its name, we're gonna chopand press down onto theflat top or cast iron pan.Once you got a little chopped up,we're gonna add about1/2 cup of chopped onion.Continue hacking everything upwith a spatula over high heat.And then, the secret ingredient:about one teaspoon or a generousshake of adobo seasoning.Keep chopping and cooking everythinguntil the beef is starting tobrown and it's cooked through.Then we're piling all of our beef in a rowroughly the same size as our buns,shingling with yellow American cheese,and allowing them to meltfor about 15 seconds.Now, in retrospect, like I said,too much beef, but you get the idea.Scoop it onto the buns,top with more cheese,tomatoes, shredded iceberg, and top it up.You can, of course, topit with ketchup and mayoif you remember to do so.Skewer with toothpicksand you're ready to go.Maybe clean up your tablea little first, Andy.Little professionalism.Did you just shrug yourshoulders at me, young man?Oh, you're giving meattitude hands now. (scoffs)This guy. Thinks he's a celebrity.Next and last for our vegetarian friends,we're gonna make someeggplant Parm sliders.Is that two eggplants, Andy?That's gonna be way too thick. (sighs)All right, you're the boss.Cut up two eggplants,apparently, into 1/4-inch slices.Spread out on a paper towelset in a rimmed baking sheetand generously salt withkosher salt on both sides.I'm gonna pretend I didn't see that.Top with more paper towelsif you cut up way too much eggplant.Rinse and repeat, coverwith another baking sheet,and then weigh the whole thing down.Okay, that's enough. (sighs)Andy, come on. Can yoube serious for once?Okay, that's kinda cute.Anyway, weigh it downfor, like, 20 minutes.That's gonna draw moistureout of the eggplant.That's going to make themless bitter and more tender.Next up, we need a three-stagebreading system for deep-frying.That's three large eggs beaten togetherwith a tablespoon of flour,three cups of bread crumbs,optionally with dried Italian herbs.Eggplant goes first in theflour, then in the egg,then in the bread crumbs.Rinse and repeat until allof the eggplant slices are coated.Now you can use jarred sauceor you can make your own.Either way, we wanna end upwith about three cups' worth.If you wanna see how tomake a quick tomato sauce,click the link in the upperhand corner right now.Otherwise, we're headed overto a wide, deep saute panin which we've preheatedabout an inch of oilto somewhere around 325 degrees,but you don't have to be precise about it.Just make sure it's hot, not smoking,and the eggplant slicesare sputtering excitedlybut not too excitedly.Fry for one to two minutes per sideuntil deeply browned and cooked through.Then, drain on paper towels.Now we can start assemblingour eggplant Parm in earnest.It goes sauce, eggplant,mozzarella, sauce,eggplant, mozzarella,sauce, eggplant, mozzarellawith extra mozzarellaon the last mozzarella,extra sauce, and Parmesan cheese.Just make sure you govery light on the sauceso you don't get sloppy sandwiches.At this point, you canwrap in plastic wrapand fridge for up totwo days before baking.Bake in a preheated 375degree Fahrenheit ovenfor 45 minutes to anhour, cranking the oven upto 425 in the last 10 minutes of cookingto ensure that everythinggets browned and bubbly.Then we're gonna let this guysit for at least half an hour.We need it to not be too juicywhen we put it on the sandwiches.Now, Andy, if you had made the casseroleabout half as thick,you would've been ableto turn it straight outonto the awaiting buns.So I guess you're gonnahave to start from scratch.Wait, what are you doing?It's gonna be way too thick.Oh, you're scooping off the top halfso that way you can maketwice as many sliders.You took a problem and turnedit into an opportunity.A probletunity.I think what Andy's trying to show us hereis that in the kitchen, especiallywhen you're entertaining,sometimes you have to improviseand make the best of a bad situation.Don't beat yourself uptoo much for mistakes,and remember that your friends are mostlyjust gonna be happy thatyou're feeding them,especially if you serve itwith a delicious cocktail.For today's cocktail,we're pairing our sliderswith The Botanist Gin Gin Mule.The Gin Gin behind this cocktail's namecomes from the combinationof gin, the liquor used,in this case, The Botanist,and gin, short for ginger.I like how the differenttypes of wild mintin The Botanist play in a Mule.Harvest some fresh mint orjust grab some from your fridgeand toss six or so leaves into a Mule mugalong with 1/2 ounce of simple syrupbefore commencing to muddling,bruising the leaves a little bit,but not mashing theminto teeny-tiny piecesthat are gonna get stuck in your teeth.Then we're adding 3/4 of an ounceof freshly squeezed lime juiceand two ounces of TheBotanist Islay Dry Gin.Mix for about five seconds or until mixed,pile tall and proud with crushed ice,and top up with high-quality ginger beer.Garnish with a circle oflime and a sprig of mint,and there you have it:The Botanist Gin Gin Mule.Thanks again to my friendsat The Botanist Islay Dry Ginfor partnering with me on this episode.I'm really excited for themand their first-ever TV spot,to air during the big game, no less.The Botanist is doing the commercialwith the Independent Restaurant Coalition,an advocacy organization for chefsand restaurant owners thatstarted during the pandemicto fight for federal financial assistance.Nearly two years later,the IRC is still fighting on behalfof your favorite neighborhoodrestaurants and bars.This is a cause that'simportant to The Botanist,and it's important to all of us.So make sure to tunein during the big gameto see the full spot,and while you may be makingthese sliders at home,make sure to go and supportsome local restaurants, too.Visit saverestaurants.com.The link is in the video description.(mellow music)\n"
