Eggplant misadventure

Mummy tried to cook something special today instead of the usual pasta for the family's Sunday lunch. 

Chose a recipe from my new Women's Weekly 'Cooking on a Shoestring' mini recipe book, partly attracted by its claim that the dish will only take 45mins to cook.

Eggplant Parmigiana

1. Remove skin from 2 large eggplants (1 kg) and slice thinly.
2. Coat pieces in flour, egg then breadcrumbs and fry til lightly browned.
3. Using ovenproof dish, spread 750ml of tomato pasta sauce evenly over 3 layers, alternating with the eggplant slices, mozzarella/parmesan cheese and oregano.
4. Bake covered at 200 degree celsius for 20mins, then uncovered for 10mins to brown it.

BUT!!!!

Apparently the angmoh eggplants must be GIANTS, or they are super fast breadcrumb-coaters. I took almost 2 hours to complete the dish!!!! Most of the time spent on coating the mini slices of eggplant from our local brinjal species... and I only bought 800gms!

Was supposed to let Boyboy eat it as his lunch, since he usually does not get much veggie on Saturdays at the in-laws. But poor boy ended up eating cereal mixed with one can of chunky baby food :( Sorry baby!!!

Looking promising

Lesson learnt? Must always start cooking as early as possible, and not try to time it just right for mealtime :6 And don't trust the time given in recipe books.

My end product looked exactly like the picture in the recipe book. Not sure about the taste though. Feels like eating lasagne, as the eggplants become so soft and smooth. But got je-lat after a while. I think this can only be a side dish. Unfortunately this portion was enough to last us for both lunch and dinner :p

Should have fried the slices longer to get the breadcrumbs crispy. Had rushed through due to my time constraints, so they tasted a bit floury instead. Also, I had used more than the stipulated amount of tomato paste, but still felt it needed more.

Anyway, my taste buds were (confirmed!) compromised by my growling stomach, cos I ate it only at 3pm after putting Boyboy to his nap. Hubby ate at 2.30pm but was neutral cos he doesn't like tomato-based food. 

So... not worth all the trouble to cook this again, unless I manage to track down those giant eggplants!