Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Mess Hall => Topic started by: zxcvbob on April 15, 2023, 04:38:07 PM
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I like the concept of eggplants, but never know what to do with them. So I buy them, wait 2 or 3 weeks, then throw them away. :laugh: It's time to change that. I'm planting eggplants in the garden this year to force the issue.
Today I'm making moussaka. If you're not familiar with it, it resembles lasagna with a béchamel sauce, made with eggplant or eggplant and sliced potatoes instead of noodles. And the meat sauce should have cinnamon in it.
I found a couple of different recipes and mashed them together:
https://30seconds.com/food/tip/55365/Easy-Moussaka-Recipe-This-Middle-Eastern-Casserole-Recipe-Is-Heavenly
https://www.mygreekdish.com/recipe/vegan-moussaka-with-lentils/
I mostly followed the vegan recipe (lentils and dried mushrooms) except I added beef bouillon to the sauce. I made the béchamel sauce from the other one, with real eggs and milk; I reduced the amount of oil but made up for it by adding cream.
It just came out of the oven and looks gorgeous, but I'm having second thoughts about making a vegetable version the first time instead of using beef or beef-and-lamb.
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It's actually good. It almost has too much salt; I seasoned it before it was through cooking down. Also it could use more eggplant. The 2 big eggplants that're in there totally disappeared. That means I should have sliced them thicker and used 1 more. The thin layer of potato slices at the bottom is nice.
It will probably taste better tomorrow, and the lentils might even absorb some of the salt.
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I LOVE moussaka.
My Mom used to make a green bean moussaka when I was a kid. My God I loved that.
There's a Greek-owned restaurant near my house that I occasionally go to. I always get their moussaka. It's incredible Traditional Greek style with all of the spices.
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The cinnamon was interesting the first time I ate it, but it's starting to get annoying. I'll make this again but leave it out and maybe add a little cheese. It won't be moussaka; more like a vegetable lasagna with baked eggplant slices for the noodles. Thin layer of potatoes, eggplant, meat sauce, mozzarella or provolone, eggplant again, béchamel, parmesan on top. I might even make it again with the lentils and dried mushrooms; that's better than I expected but it could use some red pepper flakes.