Eggplant is Fussy

I wanted to try making Eggplant Crisps, a recipe that Sally made up. I thought if I could make her recipe successfully that maybe I could make cartoons like hers. It's the way my mind works. In case you want to try this in your own home, Sally's notes are in black and mine are in blue.

Slice an eggplant thinly, maybe 1/3" and put garlic salt on both sides. Place between paper towels with something heavy over it for 1/2 hour at least. This pulls out the moisture. Have something standing by as a backup in case things don't work out (bag of cattle corn, upper right).













Preheat oven to 350. In blender make a paste of Parmesan, olive oil, a clove of garlic, some of those tasty small tomatoes that aren't cherry tomatoes, and chives or basil.













Don't forget to put the lid on the blender before you turn it on.













If the paste tastes good smeared on a cracker, it's good. I knew this would be my favorite part, and it was. Not only did the paste tasted good on crackers–it tasted great on tortillas and potato chips.













Lightly oil a cookie sheet right before cooking. Place slices on the sheet. Huh-oh. By the time I finish off the box of crackers spread with paste, it's gotten dark.













Place a thin layer of the topping on the slices. Don't do this in advance or the eggplant will soak up the oil and get soggy. Eggplant is fussy. Cook for about a half hour, should be bubbly on top but not burned, and if you're lucky they'll be crispy. They cooked for a half hour. They cooked for another half hour. Then they cooked some more. My paste never bubbled. Maybe I put too many tomatoes in. Maybe our oven is broken! Luckily we had leftover pizza in the refrigerator as well as the cattle corn.