My first true meal from the garden

The other day I fixed my first true meal that just about all came from the garden.  Eggplant parmigiana.  Oooohhh baby was it good.  Special thanks go out to my sister Melanie who although helped after the meal was fixed let me know that I did in fact fix it right. So here is the final look of the meal that almost didn't have leftovers:

This was so good.  Silly me forgot to take a picture when it was first done so this is the very last portion....it went to work with the hubby the next day.  You can see the one of ingredients that didn't come from my garden - Cheese.

Yup thats corn on the cob....from my garden.

The meal before preparation.
1 Eggplant
3 Tomatoes (only one shown still had to get others)
Spices
Corn on the cob
Cheese
1 Can paste
1 egg -beaten
flour
oil

First time ever growing eggplant and thanks to some advice the plants were moved into the greenhouse as they are a heat loving plant.  This is the first one to form and it was tasty.

Thats 3 Beefmaster tomato's in there all puree'd up and cooking.  I added the can of paste after this picture because it needed thickening.  My sister informed me after that beefmaster tomato's are great for slicing but not so much for sauce as they are watery.....found that out the wrong way...but you know what?  1 can of paste thickened it up and I still call this meal made from my garden.

My crazy small corn on the cob hanging out in boiling water doing there thing.  So how to fix this meal you are wondering?  Well let me tell you.  The list of ingredients is already listed above so lets not go through that again.


Cut your tomato's how you like it then put into blender set on puree.  Pour into sauce pan and add paste.  Add spices to taste (oregano, basil, sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley to name a few) Italian seasoning is a good one to add.  Cook on low heat tasting often if it tastes bitter sprinkle a little sugar and stir.

Take your corn on the cob and place into boiling water.  By the time the rest of the meal is done they will be as well just keep the heat on low.

Slice the eggplant like you do tomato's....to get circles dip into the egg then coat with flour.  Then fry in a pan with the oil...add more oil as needed.  Just enough to brown on both sides.  It takes about 2-3 min each side. Place cooked eggplant on a plate covered in a paper towel.

Preheat oven to 400.

Once the sauce is to your taste and the eggplant is cooked place the eggplant into a casserole dish in one layer, add grated parmigiana. cheese if wanted then sauce and topped with cheese (mozzarella shredded is good.) Depending on the thickness of the eggplant and sauce together will determine how long in the oven but should be less than 10 min.  For me it took about 5 for them all to be heated through and the cheese melted.

Serve and enjoy.