Slice the eggplant (the round way) into 1/2" rounds.

Sprinkle flour on both sides.

Dip into the egg batter which has a little milk, and any spices you want. I usually use garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, basil, oregano. Depending on the size of the eggplant, one large egg with enough milk should do it.

Then put your breadcrumbs in a plastic bag (or bowl) and shake. Don't put too much bread crumbs at one time because it gets too wet and then doesn't adhere to the eggplant. Just keep adding more bread crumbs.

I whipped this up to go with grilled salmon. It was easy and delicious!

2 parts cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered (depending on size)
1 part chopped kalamata olives
1 part diced red onions
1 part feta, crumbled
lemon juice
olive oil (if possible, from a jar of sundried tomatoes)

Combine and enjoy!

Yield: abt 2.5 pints

2.5 lb shallots
.75 c salt
6 c white wine vinegar
4 c granulated sugar
for the spice bag:
4 cardamom pods
2 cinnamon sticks
3 strips lemon rind
1 Tbsp caraway seed
1 Tbsp cloves
.5 bird's eye chile

Blanch and peel shallots. Make sure root ends stay intact, or shallots will disintegrate during cooking.

Place peeled shallots in large glass bowl. Cover with cold water and add the salt. Mix until dissolved.. Weight shallots down (with a plate works) and leave for 24 hours.

We really enjoy the vegetarian dolmades (grape leaves stuffed with rice and other sundies) from Eastern Market, and so we thought we'd try and make them ourselves. We found grape leaves at A Litteri, the Italian grocer in the Florida Market. Overall, these were a lot of work and not as good as what we get at the Eastern Market Grocer. Not sure we'll do this again. This recipe is roughly adapted from these (plus looking at the ingredients list at the Eastern Market Grocer!):

http://kalofagas.blogspot.com/2008/02/dolmadakia.html
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Pine-Nut-Dolmades-with-Yogu...
http://www.astronet.gr/static/content/Stuffed_vineleaves_with_rice.html

Makes about 30 dolmades.