Developing a Smoked Eggplant Parmesean

[ceeuawlsune]

The idea of a smoked eggplant parmesean occurred to me in the middle of a different post, and now I'm determined to execute it.  I'm aiming to make a 9x13 dish...not individual "eggplant-tomato sauce-mozz" type portions.

Here's what I'm thinking: Smoke the eggplant (cut into 3/4"-thick rounds), smoke some vidalias and spanish onions for the tomato sauce, smoke the tomatoes for the tomato sauce and finally smoke some mozzarella for the cheese.

Here's the problem: I haven't smoked any of these things before.  I'm confident that I can pull this off, though, and very open to suggestions, particularly regarding the tomatoes.

I'm going to cut the onions into 1/4's, toss with olive oil, s&p & fresh thyme.  Smoke, 1.5-2 hours @ 220 with alder.  I'm going to put some fresh garlic in there too, on a pierced sheet of aluminum foil.

The tomatoes, I'm thinking, will DEFINITELY need an additional drip pan underneath, maybe two racks below?  Can somebody give me pointers on smoking tomatoes?  I have no clue what will work?

I'm pretty sure I'll be able to pull off the cold-smoking mozz process as per the instructions elsewhere on this forum.

I'll be sure to post my progress.  I plan on pan-frying the eggplant (after breading) after smoking to get some crispiness. 

I'm not going to make this until probably Christmas or the day after, or it will have to wait until after New Year's, thanks to a busy work schedule through the holidays. 

That means we all have time to discuss different ideas, techniques, etc.  Then I can be the guinea pig who tests it out...

[ceeuawlsune]

Researching the cold-smoked mozzarella techniques, it looks like I'm going to wait until after the New Year to complete this dish.  I'm going to smoke the mozz today, but then wait with it wrapped in Saran until after New Years for the flavor to permeate the cheese effectively.  I'm looking forward to setting up my cold-smoking box/dryer vent unit.

About that...what if it is 30 F outside and only going down?  Do I have to worry about the temperature getting too high?  Ice supplement?  Or do I have to worry about the temperature not getting high enough?  Sheesh!