Alone and Unobserved

I was recently tagged by Craig. The rules:

1. Pick up the nearest book (at least 123 pages).
2. Turn to page 123.
3. Find the 5th sentence.
4. Post the 5th sentence on your blog.
5. Tag 5 people.

Of course, since I’m in a library, the nearest book would be La Gran Enciclopedia de los Insectos.

Familia Limnephilidae: Extensa familia que comprende a la vez insectos de grandes y pequeñas dimensiones, con las alas generalmente ahumadas, sin manchas distintivas, pero con largas antenas filiformes.

I don’t think I’ll tag anyone specific this time around, but if you are reading this and are interested in participating, feel free to claim that I tagged you.

Like a great number of other healthy, delicious vegetables [SEE: arugula; broccoli rabe; endive], I didn’t taste eggplant until I lived in Italy. This is not to say that Italians only eat greens (hello, pasta!) or that they are more health-conscious than my mother (because that is simply not possible); just that fresh vegetables and fruits are ubiquitous and cheap, not to mention fresh and delicious, if bought at the local markets in Italy.

The first eggplant I encountered was breaded and fried “cutlet-style,” a common Sicilian side dish, and it was love at first bite. The crunchy, flavorful breading surrounds a juicy, soft eggplant interior that melts in the mouth. Here’s a recipe for them from my recipe box: Cotolette di Melanzane

Eggplant is so versatile. It can be baked, fried, grilled, boiled, braised, breaded, and even though it tastes completely different each way, it’s still just as delicious. You can put it in pasta sauce, layer it on pizza or turn it into a dip for pita—you can even stuff it, as the marvelous sognatrice demonstrates on her blog.

If you just consider the standard Eggplant Parmigiana, there are as many ways of making it as there are cooks, which means that the ideal Parmigiana I crave is a bizarre mixture of all of the versions I’ve tried: the sauce would have to somehow be plain marinara while also containing prosciutto cotto (both cubed and sliced), boiled egg, capers, onions, garlic, ground beef, hot peppers and capers; the eggplant would have to be fried and baked, breaded and plain, and cut crosswise and lengthwise; the dish would have to be layered with mozzarella, scamorza, pecorino, ricotta, breadcrumbs, and béchamel; and it would have to be served both hot, warm and cold. Thus far, reality has prevented me from realizing this ideal recipe, but I am determined to persevere.

In the meantime, here is a recipe that uses breaded eggplant cutlets and has a spicy tomato sauce with capers: Melanzane alla Parmigiana. Be sure not to eat it all at once; it only gets better after being chilled overnight.

Enjoy!