Eggplant Parm

So I have to be honest: this eggplant parm was one of the most delicious things I have ever made. But, as my mom would say, it sure was a "patchke"--lots of work. The recipe comes from my mom's favorite cookbook that she gave me over the summer, Classic Cuisine of the Italian Jews. There are a lot of steps involved: first peeling the eggplant and slicing into coins, than letting the eggplant soak in kosher salt, than rinsing and dipping into an egg/parmasean cheese mixture. Than broiling the eggplant on each side...than layering and adding tomato sauce, cheese and another egg/cheese mixture. If it sounds simple to you, trust me it wasn't. I served this at a little dinner part I had last Sunday evening and everyone really enjoyed it and much to my mother's dismay I did add mozzarella cheese on top even though that's not part of the recipe. It was actually so delicious but I now understand why its considered a "birthday dinner" in my house--it's really a special treat because of the patchkeing.
Check out the before and after pictures of the eggplant--