Chicken Eggplant ParmigianoWomen have helped me be more creative with my cooking.Not so much with the recipes, but with their peculiarities.For instance, Selma Krapoff, our Head of Slim Merch, is on a new kick. She wants protein with every meal. And nothing can be fried. Not even sautéed.So when I had a craving for eggplant Parmigiano, I had to get creative. I didn't want to cook two dishes. I racked my brain, what’s left of it. Then it hit me like a frying pan. Or maybe it was Selma who hit me with the frying pan. The light went on above my horsehead, and I knew what I had to do.I decided to make chicken and eggplant Parmigiano! Ain’t I smart? I did a layer of eggplant, a layer of broiled chicken breasts, and a layer of eggplant, instead of just three layers of eggplant.I put in the tomato sauce, mozzarella, Parmigiano and basil with each layer, of course.Then I baked it for about 20 minutes.It was so good. Selma loved it.Then she yelled at me because she ate too much. She told me that if I didn’t cook stuff that tasted so good, she wouldn’t have to worry about getting fat.
Chicken and Eggplant ParmigianoYour breasts and the eggplant should be about the same size. So should the chicken breasts.I bought 2 chicken breasts and cut each in half horizontally, I had 4 cutlets about ½” thick. Then I cut them in half vertically, so I had 8 small cutlets about ½" thick.Then I sliced the eggplant into circular slices, about ½” thick.NOTE:You only have to broil the chicken for a couple minutes per side. It will bake with the eggplant for another 20 minutes in the oven, so you don’t have to worry about salmonella.I hope.Seriously, Slim People? Clean everything that touches raw chicken with warm, soapy water. Or a powerwasher.You gotta keep it clean.INGREDIENTS3 eggs3 cups panko breadcrumbs (or whatever breadcrumbs you like!)Salt and pepper2 medium eggplant, ends trimmed off, sliced into ½” circular slices
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 1 pound) each sliced in horizontally in half; you should have 4 cutlets about ½” thick. Cut each in half vertically, now you got 8 cutlets, each ½" thick, capisce?3 cups of tomato sauce (make your own, it’s so easy and takes just 25 minutes!)1 pound mozzarella, cut into circular slices1 cup fresh-grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese¾ cup of fresh, clean basilHERE WE GO…Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.Put the eggs in a bowl (I used a glass pie dish), add salt and pepper, and mix ‘em up!Spread the breadcrumbs out on a large platter (I used another pie dish).Dip an eggplant slice in the egg, then press each side into the breadcrumbs.Place on a non-stick baking pan.Do this with all the eggplant slices.Put the pan in the oven on the second-lowest rack, let the eggplant cook on one side for 12 minutes, or until golden brown.
Flip each slice over and cook for another 12 minutes or so.Remove.Turn the oven to broil.Take a piece of chicken.Dip it into the egg.Then press each side into the breadcrumbs.Do this with all the chicken.Place it under the broiler, on the second rack. You don’t want it too close, or it will burn.After 2 minutes, or when golden brown, turn over.Cook on the other side for 2 minutes or until golden brown.Remove from the oven.Get a glass baking dish--I used an 9X13-inch dish.Put a layer of eggplant on the bottom.Add a cup of tomato sauce, spread it around evenly.Add ¼ cup of the basil, snip it with scissors evenly on top.Add 1/3 cup of Parmigiano, spread evenly.Add 1/3 cup of mozzarella slices, spread evenly.
Add a layer of chicken cutlets.Add a cup of tomato sauce.Add ¼ cup of basil, snipped on top.Add 1/3 cup Parmigiano.Add 1/3 cup of mozzarella.Here we go! Final layer!Add a layer of eggplant.Add a cup of tomato sauce.Add ¼ cup basil, snipped on top.Add 1/3 cup of Parmigiano.Add the final 1/3 cup of mozzarella.
Turn the oven to 350 degrees.Put the dish in the oven on the middle rack.Let the eggplant and chicken bake for 20 minutes.Put the oven on broil.Put the dish under the broiler FOR A MINUTE! Keep your eye on these guys, you want the cheese golden brown, not burnt!Remove from the broiler and let it sit for 5 or 10 minutes.Then, cut it up, dish it out, maybe sprinkle a little freshly-grated Parmigiano on top of each serving, maybe garnish with a fresh basil leaf or two, and…
MANGIAMO!
Slim Man Cooks Zucchini, Summer Squash and Eggplant
"Everything I am I owe to pasta."You know who said that?Sophia Loren.I’ve had a crush on her for a long time. My Uncle Oscar once sat next to her on an airplane. They flew from New York to Rome. A long flight, for sure.But if I were sitting next to Sophia Loren, I would have been praying that we’d get stuck on the tarmac for a few days.Or better yet--crash into the ocean, where just the two of us would be stuck on a small, deserted island for the rest of our lives, where I'd cook for her every day on an open fire on the beach next to our thatched hut while the waves gently wash on the shore as the sun sets gracefully on the horizon while I play my guitar (that miraculously washed ashore) as we drink wine that I made from wild grapes that I discovered when we were bathing in a nearby waterfall.I can dream, can’t I?Sophia Loren loves pasta. So do I.The key to eating pasta on a regular basis is…don’t eat a wheelbarrow full. Italians eat small amounts of pasta. Italian restaurants in America serve buckets full of pasta, all covered in cheese and sauce and goo.Take your hands. Cup them together. That’s the amount of pasta you should put on a plate--unless you're four feet tall and have hands the size of Shaquille O'Neal's.Let me tell you a little story, a heart-warming tale about a boy, a bike and a zucchini.I was living in Nashville. I rode my bike to the post office. I dropped off some thank you notes—I write a lot of them, I have a lot to be thankful for—and saw some beautiful mums outside the fruit and vegetable stand across the street.
I walked in to the red and white striped tent, and there were so many vegetables and fruits; fresh, ripe, colorful, local…it was amazing. They had baskets and baskets of home grown tomatoes. So much stuff to choose from.Only one problem…All I had was a five-dollar bill in my pocket.So, I picked out a green zucchini, a yellow summer squash, and a brown eggplant. I had enough left over for a bulb of garlic and a shallot. The total was four bucks and change. I put the stuff in my messenger bag and rode my bike home.It was a beautiful fall day in Nashville; sunny, cool, and clear. On my way home, I stopped by a friend’s restaurant, a great place called Mafioza's. These mobsters grow basil outside in planters that border the entrance. I picked a small handful, put it in my bag, and rode my bike home in a hail of bullets, ducking and weaving.I got back to the shack and decided to make a little sauce. I put the sauce over pasta, but keep in mind, you can use a dish like this for anything…a side dish, on bruschetta, on pizza, over rice, as an appetizer, on your corn flakes…use your imagination.
The sauce was delizioso. Batu loved it. Start to finish, it took 30 minutes. And it cost about five bucks. My kinda dish!I added some freshly grated carrots, about a ¼ cup, for a little color, and a little crunch.This should serve about three people, unless those people are teenage boys, in which case this will serve one.
INGREDIENTS1 green zucchini, ends cut off, chopped into 1” triangular pieces (about a cup and a half)1 yellow summer squash, ends cut off, chopped into 1” triangular pieces (about a cup and a half)1 small eggplant, ends cut off, chopped into 1” triangular pieces (about a cup and a half)1/4 cup fresh grated carrotsSmall handful of fresh basil4 tablespoons of olive oil6 cloves of garlic, peeled, sliced into thin slices, about 1 1/2 tablespoons1 small shallot, peeled, minced, about 1 1/2 tablespoons1/3 cup of white wine1 cup of broth (chicken or vegetable)¾ pound of spaghetti, or fusilli, or farfalleSalt and crushed red pepper
Here we go...Put a large saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the olive oil.Add the garlic and shallots and some crushed red pepper (to taste), cook for 3 or 4 minutes, until the shallots are clear, and the garlic is pale gold.Turn the heat to high for 1 minute. Then add the white wine, let it cook off for a minute or two.Turn the heat down to medium-low, add all the vegetables.Add the stock, and salt to taste.Let it cook over medium-low heat for ten minutes. Stir every so often.Taste the vegetables. You want them firm--not crunchy (underdone) or mushy (overdone).Adjust for salt and pepper.Take your basil, and snip it with scissors right into the sauce. Give it a stir.Remove from the heat.If you want to use this over pasta, get a large pot, fill it with cold water and put it on the highest heat you got.When the water comes to a boil, add a couple tablespoons of salt (I use Kosher salt, not for religious reasons—I just like the way it tastes).Then add your pasta. Stir it up every few minutes, so it doesn't stick together. People should stick together, pasta should not.When the pasta is al dente—firm to the bite--drain it in a colander.Put the pasta in a large bowl. Drizzle with a little olive oil and mix it up.Add most of the sauce, save a large spoonful for each plate (save three large spoonfuls).Mix it up. Then plate it up!Put a small amount on a plate. Add a spoonful of sauce on top. You can add some freshly grated cheese if you like—Parmigiano-Reggiano or Romano—and…
MANGIAMO!!!!
Slim Man Cooks Eggplant Parmigiana
My old apartment had three bowling alleys in it. They were built in the 1930s and were a bit dilapidated. The balls and pins were made of wood, and they weren’t in the best of shape. But you could play a game, if you didn’t mind setting up the pins after each shot.There were two grass tennis courts out back, and they, too, were dilapidated. Overgrown. You could play a set if you brought a machete.The house was huge. It had a fireplace on the first floor that could hold a Volkswagen.The house belonged to Peggy Waxter. She was outspoken, feisty, cynical, and almost 100 years old. Peggy lived upstairs, and I lived downstairs with my dog, Batu. Peggy was hard-of-hearing. On her 100th birthday, her son gave her a present. They were on the screened-in porch upstairs; I was on the patio beneath them. I could hear the son yelling,“Mom! I got you a present!”Silence.“Mom! Open it up!”Silence. Then I could hear her opening the wrapping paper.“Mom! It’s a hearing aid!”Silence.“Mom! What do you think? IT’S A HEARING AID!”Silence. And then Peggy spoke softly,“I’m a hundred years old. I’ve heard enough.”The house used to be a country club called Stoney Run Club. Peggy and her husband bought it, and did some minor renovations — like adding bedrooms — but it still felt and looked like a small old country club.
The apartment downstairs must have been an old clubroom. There were the bowling alleys on the side, a large main room with a fireplace, and a huge patio that overlooked the overgrown tennis courts. You entered the apartment through a big screen door in the kitchen. The kitchen was great; lots of large windows, a big antique sink, and old wood countertops. It had a small four-burner stove in the corner that worked like a charm.Batu and I started making cooking videos in that little kitchen. I’d whip up a dish, shoot video, take photos and write down the recipe. I’d take Peggy a plate once in a while. I’d go up the ancient wooden staircase, past the moldy bookcases, take her a plate, and have a chat and a chew.Roland Park is wonderful neighborhood. The grocery store, Eddie’s, has been there for 70 years. It’s an old family store that has a guy who opens the door for you when you walk in and out. The hardware store, Schneider’s, has been there for more than a 100 years. The pharmacy (Tuxedo) has been there more than 75 years.It’s that kind of neighborhood. Big old Victorian houses, big old trees, and it’s right in the middle of Baltimore City. I went to school in Roland Park. I’ve always loved the neighborhood. I loved that apartment. So did Batu. It was my favorite place to live. And I adored Peggy.The Baltimore Sun newspaper called her “peppery.” She was not afraid to speak her mind. She was named one of the Top Ten Most Powerful Women In Baltimore by Baltimore Magazine. Not that she was impressed by that. She once said,“I’m the most-honored person who has never graduated from a school.”Her husband, Thomas, graduated from a couple of schools including Princeton and Yale. Peggy and Thomas came from money and they both dedicated their lives to helping “poor people.” That’s the way she put it.“He was the most important man in Maryland,” Peggy Waxter once said about Thomas. “He loved the poor people, and he went to Annapolis and fought for them.”When he died in 1962, Peggy harnessed her grief, and focused on community action. She fought for women’s rights and civil rights. She once got pissed off that a big department store in downtown Baltimore wouldn’t allow black people to try clothes on. So Peggy took a black friend and went shopping there. They tried on clothes. They didn’t get arrested, but it brought attention to the situation, and it changed soon after.At 100 years old, Peggy got around pretty well. She used a walker, but she got around. Whenever she had a problem, she’d bang her cane on the floor, and I’d come up and help.
Once a year, in late September, I’d grab Batu, and we’d head to Ocean City, Maryland. My uncle Oscar had a small apartment overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. He’d let the family use it for vacations. September is a great time of year to go – no crowds, no traffic, the weather and the water still warm.I’d hang out for a week or so; bodysurf, fly my kites, cook, eat, drink, write, play guitar. And then I’d lock up the joint and head back to 
Baltimore.I was driving home from the beach one early evening, Batu was in the back, I was listening to the Orioles and the Yankees baseball game on the AM radio. I stopped at a roadside stand and picked out two large, ripe and lovely home-grown tomatoes and an eggplant. I drove home, crossing the Bay Bridge as the sun went down. It was late when I got back to Roland Park.The next morning I heard that Peggy had passed away. She was 103. I was shaken.That day I was scheduled to mail out the new Slim Man CD single to 175 radio stations around the country. I stuffed 175 CD singles of “Every Time It Rains” into 175 envelopes and went to the post office.The post office was a little old brick building in the heart of Roland Park. I was friends with all the clerks. They used to let me bring Batu inside. Some of them would even come out to Slim Shows. I dropped off my 175 CDs and they mailed them off.I got home from the post office and needed to cook. I was really sad. I was gonna miss Peggy. I looked at the tomatoes and eggplant that I had picked up from the produce stand on the way home from Ocean City. What do you do with tomatoes and eggplant?You make Eggplant Parmigiana.After Peggy died, her son sold her house for half of what it was worth-he just wanted to get rid of it. Batu and I had to move in a hurry, in the dead of winter, right after Christmas. As I was going through my stuff, I came across a card Peggy had given me for my birthday.“Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow you may die.”Love, Peggy.EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA
If I have some amazing homegrown tomatoes, I’ll use them to make a sauce. I chop ‘em up, and remove any stems or blemishes.But I usually use Italian tomatoes in a can. San Marzano tomatoes are best. Most cans are 28 ounces, which is about 3 or 4 cups. Open the can, put the tomatoes in a bowl, and smoosh ‘em up by hand, removing any stems, cores, or blemishes.Some folks fry the eggplant slices first, some folks bake ‘em. I’ve done it both ways. In the video, I fry the eggplant.But baking is now by far my favorite; it makes the dish much lighter. Eggplant throws off a lot of liquid. But when you bake it, the liquid evaporates, so you don’t have to salt the eggplant and drain it, which is a pain.Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.INGREDIENTSYou’ll need 3 cups of tomato sauce, you can use bottled sauce—but I make my own, here’s how:2 tablespoons olive oil6 cloves of garlic, sliced thin (about 2 tablespoons)Crushed red pepper (I start off with ¼ teaspoon)4 cups of tomatoes, fresh or canned (I use 1 twenty-eight ounce can of whole, peeled Italian tomatoes)Fresh basil leaves about 1/2 cupKosher SaltHere we go…The SaucePut a large sauté pan over medium-low heat.Add the olive oil, the sliced garlic and the crushed red pepper.Cook until golden, 3 to 5 minutes.Add the 4 cups of tomatoes – canned or fresh.Add some salt, and stir.Put the heat on high.When the sauce comes to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer.Take half the basil leaves, and tear or snip them with scissors into the sauce. Stir.Cook for 20 minutes, stir often.Then, taste for salt and red pepper and adjust.Take the rest of the basil leaves, and snip them into the sauce.Remove from heat.You might not use all this sauce for the eggplant parmigiana.INGREDIENTS The Eggplant3 small eggplant3 eggs3 cups Panko breadcrumbs, or whatever breadcrumbs you likeOPTIONAL: ¼ cup olive oil (if you’re frying, rather than baking)A handful of fresh basil (3/4 cup)1 pound of mozzarella, two large balls sliced into ¼ inch circular slices1 generous cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated, plus some for sprinklingKosher saltFresh cracked pepperHere we go!Slice off the ends of the eggplant, and cut the eggplant into circular slices, about ½ inch thick.Take the eggs, beat ‘em in a bowl, add salt and pepper.Take your breadcrumbs, put ‘em on a flat plate.Dip an eggplant slice in the beaten egg, let the excess drip off.Dip it in the breadcrumbs. Coat both sides. Do all the eggplant slices like this.If you’re baking, put them in a nonstick baking pan, and stick ‘em in the oven at 375 degrees until golden brown, about 12 to 15 minutes or so. Then, flip them over and bake for another 12 to 15 minutes until golden brown.If you’re frying, put the olive oil over medium heat, and fry on both sides until golden, about 4 minutes a side, then put the slices on paper towels when done.In the bottom of a baking dish (I used a 9”X13” glass baking dish), add a layer of baked/fried eggplant. Then add a cup of tomato sauce, spreading it out evenly. Then add some basil, about ¼ cup — snip the leaves with a scissors or tear them with your fingers.Then take a 1/3 cup of freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and spread it on top. And then add a layer of sliced mozzarella, about a third of what you have (1/3 pound).Go back, Jack, do it again - a layer of eggplant, a layer of sauce, a layer of basil, a layer of Parmigiano, and a layer of mozzarella.Do three layers. Sprinkle the top of the final layer of mozzarella with grated Parmigiano and a few breadcrumbs.
Put the eggplant Parmigiano in the oven. Let it cook for about 25 minutes.Then, put the broiler on high, and put the baking dish underneath the broiler for just a quick minute, to brown the top. Keep a close eye on this! When the top browns, take out the dish.If there is any excess liquid in the bottom of the pan, use a turkey baster to remove it.
Let the eggplant sit for a couple minutes. Then…Dish it up! Make it look nice, put some freshly torn basil leaves on top, add some freshly grated Parmigiano, and…MANGIAMO!!!!