<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Eggplant Parmesan, can also be chicken parmesan, shrimp parmesan, veal,
etc...

(Note, I do NOT deep fry the eggplant and bread it.  The layering gives the
same effect without being greasy. )  The proportions in this are variable and
lots of things can make good additions, like sprinkling shrimp in.  Amounts
will vary on the size of the pan you use.  They arent set in stone, esp the
veggies you layer.   I suppose you could also just toss everything together
and then pour the sauce over it and it would work too. I like the layers
though.

You could slice chicken breasts up and layer them instead of eggplant.  Ditto
with veal or pork.  An awful lot of people think the eggplant is chicken till
I tell them otherwise.  Its good hot, excellent cold, addictive, and even if
you "hate eggplant"  you will probably love this.

2 cups bread crumbs.  Make bread crumbs, either grate the fresh bread, whir
it in a blender, or toast it in the oven a while and then put it in a blender
if you need bread crumbs that dont stick together.  In this recipe, either
way works, just break up the clumps and spread em out. I prefer  Food for
Life's brown rice, fruit sweetened bread for this.  It makes wonderful
stuffing too.

You will need One peeled eggplant:   I recommend lenthwise slicing and
then slicing the long slices into strips, they are more maneuverable in
a pan than round slices are.

1 cup Sliced Mushrooms, I like the brown crimini ones, more flavor

Red bell peppers, sliced into rings.

Parmesan Cheese:  I use the cheaper Canned kind, just make sure its the real
stuff and not the bastardized stuff that is full of other garbage.  Parmesan
varies from the Kraft kind on up to the Reggiano, which can become an item of
religious veneration to some.  I am not that picky.

I line a pan with tinfoil, and spray non stick spray into it.  Then put down
a thin layer of crumbs and parmesan,  I dont really measure, just enough to
cover the bottom with crumbs and then shake some parm out.  Then I put a
layer of eggplant, topped with mushroom and red pepper slices, and then
another layer of crumbs and parm, and so forth till the pan is filled.  I
would reccommend deep dish on this.  Its so good.  End with a layer of crumbs
and parmesan.  Then pour sauce over it.

Sauce

Either a can of tomato paste and 4 cans of water to thin it, or a couple of
cans of diced tomatoes in juice.  Either works  the amount varies depending
on how big a pan full you are making.  This covered a pan that is about 3
inches deep by twelve long, and nine across.

-Garlic, about a tsp of powdered, or five or six cloves crushed in a garlic
press.

-Mixed Italian seasonings- half a tsp ***Dried Porcini Mushrooms broken
up into very small pieces. - This is optional, though they add a lot.
They are about 5 bucks a package at PCC, and worth it.  They add a lot
of flavour.

-1/2 cup chardonnay

-1 tsp white balsamic vinegar - also optional, apple cider vinegar and a tsp
of sugar can substitute, but this stuff is yum.  Good in salad dressings.

-Sea Salt:  1/4 tsp, regular will do, but sea salt is what I use exclusively,
its a dietary thing.  I dont tolerate Iodized salt well.

-Onion:  One cup, fine diced.  I used red this last time, though any would do
depending on if you like the sweet ones, or a lot of ONION flavor from the
white or yellow ones.  I like the red sweet ones and in this case their
penchant for turning everything in a dish funny colors is covered up by the
tomato sauce.

-fennel seed:  about 1/3 tsp ground up.  I grind my own in a mortar and
pestle, its fresher that way.

- fresh rosemary, makes a lovely addition, chopped, though can over power
things if you go overboard, maybe half a tsp fine chopped.

-dried basil:  one tsp

Simmer the sauce for a bit  to blend things together and then pour over the
eggplant layered in the pan, you might need to use a chopstick or something
to poke it a bit and make sure it penetrates down to the bottom, this is
another reason for not using round slices, it lays on top of them, and looks
like there is too much to fit in even when there isnt.  You have to lift them
up and let it run down.

Shake parmesan generously all over the top, then spray pam on foil to cover
pan.  Crimp it well and make it tent up over and not touch the food if you
can.  Really seal well and bake it for 50 min in a 350 oven.  If your oven
runs hot, make it 300 degrees and go an hour.  You don't want to scorch the
bottom.  Its good to put it on a rack close to the top of the oven and have a
buffer pan on the bottom rack to dissipate the direct heat.  Then take off
the lid and add a bit more parm and bake for ten min more.