Italian Heirloom Eggplant & New Hours

Our hours at the farm are M-W-F from 9 am to 5 pm, and now, after requests from our customers, we will try out additional hours at the farm on *Saturday from 10 am to 3 pm.*  One of us will still be at the Ruidoso Downs Farmer's Market on Saturday, probably from 7:30 am to about 10:30 am.

If you love to eat eggplant, or are adventurous and ready to give it a try, have we got a treat for you!   Our Italian heirloom eggplants are in their prime right now.  Just look at this beauty, weighing in at just under three pounds...

Looks intimidating?  Apparently so, as it did not sell by the end of the day.  It did not go to waste but was rather used it to test out a recipe for eggplant parmesan.  Some people just slice eggplant up, wipe it down with olive oil, put on a few spices and grill it on the BBQ.  That is much more simple than eggplant parmesan.  Regardless, the recipe is below:

Eggplant Parmesan

By Myron & Dena Coelho at Coelho Natural Farm, LLC

Ingredients

·         Black Beauty Italian Eggplant (about ½ pound per person)

·         Olive Oil

·         Egg(s) (about 1 large egg per pound of eggplant)

·         Cornstarch

·         Panko (Kikkoman gluten free coating)

·         Parmesan Cheese - shredded

·         Pasta Sauce

·         Fresh Basil

·         Spaghetti or Linguini

Directions

Preheat an oven to 250 degrees F.

Time the preparation of the pasta and pasta sauce with the completion of the eggplant slices.

Beat egg(s) in a bowl large enough to dip eggplant.  Spread some Panko on a plate large enough to handle eggplant slices.  Heat up olive oil in fry pan.  Slice eggplant to desired thickness, I use about ½+ inch.  Sprinkle sliced eggplant with cornstarch, spread it around on slice.  (It does not need to cover slices completely, just enough to help keep beaten eggs on the eggplant.)  Then dip eggplant slice into beaten egg(s) and let excess eggs run off eggplant.  Put slice on plate with Panko and cover both sides with Panko.  Fry in heated olive oil until each side is golden to golden brown.  Remove from fry pan and put on baking sheet covered with parchment paper.  Top slices liberally with shredded parmesan cheese.  Put cheese covered slices into oven to keep warm until all slices are prepared.

Modify any store bought pasta sauce as you want.  Since I want my dish focused on the eggplant, I do not add mushrooms or sausage or bell peppers, rather I only add fresh Genovese basil, about 1+ tablespoons per two cups of sauce. 

To assemble, put cooked pasta on a plate, place prepared eggplant slices on top of pasta, pour sauce over pasta and eggplant, and top with more parmesan cheese.

If we have left-overs, we store the cooked eggplant separate from the pasta so that we can reheat the slices in the oven.