Late night muchies

It happens to everyone. The inability to sleep. Too late to order pizza or go out for food, yet the munchie monster demands something tasty. What better opportunity to put some skill to the test. These times are making my pocketbook a bit anorexic, so I didn't have much of anything on hand. Except some eggplants, a few eggs, and some herbs. Knowing that I have had some pretty less-than-fabulous eggplant frying experiences before, I wasn't too keen on trying this purple orb again so soon, but either out of hunger or frugality, I decided to not let this last eggplant go to waste.

After 30 minutes of purging the eggplant in salt, I went for the fastest cooking method I could think of. Frying. A quick dip in some beaten egg, well seasoned flour, and it was time to plunge my eggplant into the hot-oil bath. Extra virgin olive oil was all I had on hand really, so that's what I used. You see, frying is only bad for you if you fry in something other than olive oil. Olive oil is healthy, therefore, in my twisted little mildly delusional world, frying is healthy too.

The thinly-sliced eggplant rounds cooked up surprisingly fast, just about a minute per side brought out a nice golden brown. I quickly pulled them from the cast iron skillet turned fryer, and set them to dry on a paper towel. Once they were all done and ready for the plate, all it took was a quick shot of olive oil across the top, some pecorino cheese, black pepper, and a few flecks of Fresh Thyme and this finished things off nicely.

I must say, This may be one of my new favorite snack foods. Crisp on the outside, slightly creamy on the inside, with the unmistakably fruity and salty taste of olive oil and pecorino cheese. All of it bound together with the bright flavor of fresh eggplant.

Yup, tonight the munchies monster met his match, and I found out that you really can fry eggplant if you take a little time to prepare them first. Cut'em thin, purge'em well, fry'em up good and fast, and devour right away. It's surprise meals like this that make cooking such a fun adventure. Sometimes it is just best to rummage around the kitchen, pick something, and just COOK it. Until next time. =)

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