Let’s get started:  the first thing to do is make the sauce.  I make a simple sauce with a lot of garlic and fresh basil.  Mince some fresh garlic.  Fry the garlic in extra virgin olive oil until it gets very aromatic.  Once this happens, add diced roma tomatoes and fresh basil.  By now your kitchen should be smelling pretty great.

Once the tomatoes start to break down a little and the basil is wilted, add crushed tomatoes and tomato paste.  Crack some salt, pepper, and red pepper into the sauce, and slow boil everything as you start preparing the eggplant.

I like to alternately peel the eggplant before slicing it nice and thin.  I keep the slices in water until they are ready to fry. This keeps then from browning. I fry my eggplant in a mixture of half vegetable and half extra virgin olive oil.  Sometimes I fry in all evoo, but I find it easier to use the mix.  Another thing which helps is to use a really nice pan (I love my copper core All-Clads so much).  Fry the eggplant until it turns a nice golden color, and becomes halfway to crispy.

While the eggplant is frying, start to grate the cheese.  I use romano cheese.

When all of the eggplant is finished, I take the sauce off the burner and get to work assembling.  Eggplant first, then sauce, then cheese.  Do this until there is no more eggplant, and then coat the top with a fairly thick amount of cheese.

Put the pan into the oven at 400º for 10 to 20 minutes.  Finally, stick it under broiler until the cheese turns brown, at most 5 minutes.

The finished product is different than the ‘standard’ eggplant parm in that I do not bread the eggplant, and do not bake it for a long time.  I think this gives better individual flavors to all of the ingredients.

From flickr user thebittenword.com

The farm in question is Red Oak Farm, a certified organic farm in Stuyvesant, New York.  Each week they email a list of items and you can choose 6 of them (and 7 as the summer goes on).  They also offer eggs; my friend is getting a half dozen a week.  The first pickup is May 26, here is the list we got to choose from:

• Produce:
• Lettuce Mix (1/2 # bag)
• Asian Greens Mix (1/2# bag)
• Red Radishes (1 bunch)
• Garlic Scallions (1 bunch)
• Arugula (1 bunch)
• Red Russian Kale (1 bunch)
• Green Kale (1 bunch)
• Lamb’s Quarters (1/2# bag)
• Fresh Herbs:
• Sorrel (1 bunch)
• Oregano (1 bunch)
• Peppermint (1 bunch)
• Dried Herbs:
• Oregano (2 oz. jar)
• Sage (2 oz. jar)
• Herbal Teas:
• Chamomile   (10 ct. bag)
• Peppermint  (10 ct. bag)
• Lemon-Anise (10 ct. bag)
• Horsetails   (1o ct. bag)

We decided to go with the following items:

• Jar of dried oregano (to use for pizza sauce).
• the half pound of asian greens, described as “A flavorful mix including Arugula, Mizuna, Tat Soi, Red Russian Kale and Red Mustard.”
• Lamb’s Quarters, a spinach-like green.

Even though we only are choosing three things, obligature and I will probably end up getting some of our friend’s items, and they would get some of ours.  We’re also planning on having semi-weekly CSA-inspired dinner parties, so stay tuned for those posts.

It is still very early in the growing season, but I absolutely cannot wait to see what else comes from this CSA as the season goes on. I have dreams of fresh tomatoes, nice plump eggplant, and tangy garlic.  Time will tell, but we now have 25 weeks of fresh vegetables to look forward to.