Sherlocked and Eggplant Or Chicken Parmesan

Sherlock

I love a good marathon. We are having a Sherlock weekend marathon via Netfilx. Thanks Netflix, we’ve been waiting. While I’ve seen all of the episodes available, mom hasn’t watched Sherlock at all. She seems to like it okay but thinks Benedict Cumberbatch is a funny name. She also does not care for movies with all British accents. Oh well, I’m happy to watch them all over again and she's willing to at least sit through it.
Mycroft said their parents were in Oklahoma the other day! A little part of my brain went *squeeeee*. I love it when my state is mentioned on shows I like. Well, I wonder where they are staying.
If you haven’t watched Sherlock yet, I recommend it. And you can check out John's Blog. Sherlock is streaming for free on Netflix now. Keep in mind that each episode is about an hour and a half long and each series is only 3 episodes. If you get hooked (or Sherlocked), you’ll be anxiously waiting for the next series with the rest of us.
 

Mom has been hinting for a while that she would like for me to make my eggplant parmesan. Actually it’s not my recipe it’s my grandma’s. She’s vegetarian and often makes this dish for potlucks. She taught me how to make it when I was still in high school. It’s not hard to make and it’s an excellent dish but I just forget to make it very often. I normally have everything on hand except for the eggplant. It’s just not something I remember to buy.
If I make eggplant parmesan, I also have to make a pan of chicken parmesan. Why? Mr. Picky Eater (my step-father) and Little Speed Racer (our son) are not fans of eggplant. They prefer chicken parmesan. Making the two dishes together is a pretty big undertaking. Now, I have to remember to buy eggplant and thaw out chicken. Lately, something like that has become a difficult undertaking.
 
But today, I managed to remember to do both…well I remembered to buy the eggplant and I defrosted the chicken in the microwave. Close enough.
So, today you get two recipes for the price of one blog post!
Since these two dishes use basically the same ingredients, I made the eggplant first and then came right behind and made the chicken. Then I baked them both at the same time. I hope you enjoy both of them.

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients

2 Medium Eggplants
2 Cups of Buttermilk
2 Beaten Eggs
1 tbsp. water
2 Cups Italian Breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. Flour
Italian Spices (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Cup Shredded Parmesan
Olive Oil
1 Cup of Shredded Mozzarella
1 Cup of Italian Blend Shredded Cheese
1 Small can of mushrooms, drained
1 Can of spaghetti sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
 

Peal your eggplant with a vegetable peeler and slice to the desired thickness. 
Place sliced eggplant in a large bowl and pour in 2 cups of buttermilk. Stir around with your hand making sure all of the eggplant gets coated. Let eggplant set in buttermilk while you move onto the next step.
 

In a medium size bowl pour in 2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs, 2 tbsp. of flour, salt, pepper, 1/3 cup shredded parmesan, and any additional Italian spices you like. Mix the breadcrumb mixture around in the bowl. To me, this should have a good earthy smell when it’s ready.
In another bowl beat 2 eggs and a tbsp. of water together. Place a large frying pan on the stove with olive oil and heat the pan.
 
Dip the coated eggplant slices in the beaten egg, then the bread crumbs.    
Coat well. Place the dredged eggplant in the hot olive oil and fry on both sides until golden brown.
 

Place the fried eggplant in a 9x13-inch Pyrex dish. Layer eggplant, Cheese (mozzarella and shredded parmesan), mushrooms, and pasta sauce until you’ve layer in all of your cooked eggplant. Pour the last of the spaghetti sauce on top and cover with the Italian Blend Shredded Cheese.
Bake until the cheese melts and turns golden and bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes.While the eggplant parmesan bakes, boil your spaghetti or other pasta choice and drain.
 
Serve the eggplant on the cooked pasta. It goes well with garlic bread and a nice glass red wine.

Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

1 Package of Chicken Breast Tenders
2 Cups of Buttermilk
2 Beaten Eggs
1 tbsp. water
2 Cups Italian Breadcrumbs
2 tbsp. Flour
Italian Spices (optional)
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Cup Shredded Parmesan
Olive Oil
1 Cup of Shredded Mozzarella
1 Cup of Italian Blend Shredded Cheese
1 Can of spaghetti sauce

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
 

Place chicken breast tenders in a Ziploc bag. With a mallet flatten out the tenders in the Ziploc bag. 

Place the chicken tenders in a large bowl and with 2 cups of buttermilk. Stir around with your hand making sure all of the chicken gets coated. Let the chicken tenders set in buttermilk while you move onto the next step.
In a medium size bowl pour in 2 cups of Italian breadcrumbs, 2 tbsp. of flour, salt, pepper, 1/3 cup shredded parmesan, and any additional Italian spices you like. Mix the breadcrumb mixture around in the bowl. To me, this should have a good earthy smell when it’s ready.
In another bowl beat 2 eggs and a tbsp. of water together. Place a large frying pan on the stove with olive oil and heat the pan.
Dip the coated chicken tenders in the beaten egg, then the bread crumbs. Coat well. 

Place the dredged chicken in the hot olive oil and fry on both sides until golden brown.
 

Place the fried chicken in a Pyrex baking dish. Layer fried chicken tenders, Cheese (mozzarella and shredded parmesan), and pasta sauce. Pour the last of the spaghetti sauce on top and cover with the Italian Blend Shredded Cheese.
Bake until the cheese melts and turns golden and bubbly, 30 to 40 minutes.While the chicken parmesan bakes, boil your spaghetti or other pasta choice and drain. 

Serve the chicken parmesan on the cooked pasta. It goes well with garlic bread and a nice glass red wine.
 

You can make both of these together, like I did, to save time and ingredients. Just make the Eggplant Parmesan dish first and then the Chicken Parmesan second to prevent the chicken from contaminating the eggplant. Then bake them both at the same time. Or you can just make one or the other. It seems like I always make both at the same time.
If you are curious the red wine, it is called Twisted Sisters and came from a winery in Oklahoma called Girls Gone Wine. It went very well with our dinner. If you have a chance, check out their winery. They have a nice gift shop and wine tasting area. If you buy a bottle you get a free wine glass (or at least I did).
I enjoyed my eggplant parmesan and Twisted Sisters wine while our Sherlock marathon continued.