Moussaka

neuro-praxis

I managed to weasel the info out of my friend that moussaka is her favourite food, so I'm making it for a surprise birthday dinner for her tomorrow night. I'm familiar with what it is, but I have never actually eaten it and obviously I've never cooked it. I am reluctant to look up an untested internet recipe, so if you've made a tasty version of it, I'd love your recipe.

Also, suggestions for starters and accompaniments would be highly appreciated it. (Dessert is sorted.) Thanks!

The Sweeper

This is an oft-discussed recipe here, because it's the recipe for Moussaka by one of the Australian masterchef judge's mothers. There you go, there's a set of connections for you. I haven't cooked this myself, but I know someone who has and they were happy with the result, plus there was a lot of discussion of this particular recipe on the masterchef australia site and they pretty much felt it was a good recipe. If you can't find someone's tried and trusted recipe, this may be the best place to start.

Moussaka
Recipe by George Calombaris

Olive oil
500g minced veal
500g minced beef
2 onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 x 400g cans tomatoes, crushed
2 x eggplants, cut into 5mm slices lengthways
2 red capsicums, roasted, peeled, seeded, finely chopped
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp cinnamon, ground
1 tbs dried oregano
2 green cardamom pods
2 tbs sage, finely chopped
200g kefalograviera (cheese), coarsely grated

Béchamel
3 cups milk
1 onion
4 cloves
1 bay leaf
100g unsalted butter
½ cup plain flour

1. Pre heat the oven to 180ºC.

2 Slice the eggplant and place on racks, sprinkle with salt and set aside for 30-40 minutes, pat off the moisture with paper towel then rinse under cold water to wash off the remaining salt residue, pat dry.

3. Heat an oiled frying pan over a high heat, cook the veal and beef until browned all over, season with salt. Add cumin, cinnamon, oregano and cardamom; cook stirring for another 5 minutes.

4. Heat a large oiled saucepan over a medium heat, sauté the onion and garlic until soft, add the tomato and capsicum, season with salt and leave to simmer for 15-20 minutes, stir occasionally. Add mince and sage to tomato mixture and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.

5. Heat an oiled char grill pan over a high heat, grill the eggplant slices in batches until charred, 2-3 minutes each side. Drizzle with olive oil before turning.

6. For the béchamel, stud the onion with cloves and bay leaf. Pour the milk into a saucepan and place over a medium heat, add the prepared onion, and bring to a simmer. Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat, stir in the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Strain the milk, then add ¼ cup at a time, beating well between additions, continue to stir until the sauce has thickened, then simmer over a low-medium heat for about 10-15 minutes stirring often. Season with salt.

7. Arrange a layer of grilled eggplant on the base of a baking dish, spoon over a thick layer of the meat and tomato sauce, then repeat with layers of eggplant and tomato sauce, finally spoon over the béchamel sauce and sprinkle with a layer of cheese.

8. Bake for about 35 minutes until hot and lightly browned

neuro-praxis

The Sweeper wrote: »

Moussaka
Recipe by George Calombaris

Olive oil
500g minced veal
500g minced beef

I thought this was a lamb dish?!

F.A.

Well, I would definitely recommend using lamb mince instead.

Not quite authentic but nice nonetheless: thinly slice two or three potatoes, treat the same way as the eggplant slices (i.e. grill in oven) and use as a middle layer of the moussaka.

Spanish Eyes

I use a mix of sliced potatoes and sliced aubergines.

I would substitute nutmeg for the cinnamon. No peppers in mine either.

It is not an authentic Greek recipe, but apart from the above I think I'd try it. Might be interesting to see what the cumin and cardamom add.

I'd suggest you make this the day or evening before. Cool it down, and reheat on the night. It makes the flavours meld together really well, and it is not as "sloppy" as when you just take it out of the oven.

The Sweeper

neuro-praxis wrote: »

I thought this was a lamb dish?!

Could well be why it's oft-discussed.

Minder

I've made the Delia recipe moussaka enough times to mess it up at least twice. It's a straightforward enough dish so what could go wrong? My biggest mistake was to add blanched potato to the dish in a layer. The potato didn't cook through as the topping browned, leaving me with an ever darkening moussaka with an unyielding layer of potato that completely refused to soften. Cook the spuds until done first.

The other mistake was salting the aubergines. That is a hangover from the days of Elizabeth David - when aubergines were bitter and the salt was used to draw the bitter juices out. But aubergines are the vegetable equivalent of sponges - watch what happens when you try to fry them. If they can make a bottle of olive oil vanish, a couple of tablespoons of salt will be no problem. No salting. Brush with olive oil and grill or fry on a ridge pan for that smokey flavour.

olive oil
2 large onion, finely chopped
675g lamb mince
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 tbsp tomato puree
1 bay leaves
175ml red or white wine
1 tsp cinnamon (or to taste)
4 medium aubergines, cut into 1cm/½in slices
chopped parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper

I find the lamb mince if much fattier than beef, so I heat the suacepan until very hot then add the mince without oil. The fat in the mince breaks down quickly and the meat fries in that. Add the onions and garlic and sweat until soft. Add the puree and spice, cook for a minute and add the wine. Cook covered for about 20 minutes and stir in the parsley. The sauce should be slightly dry - drier than a bolognese. There is little loss of moisture in the oven, so if it's wet going in, it'll be a wet sauce coming out. Cook the aubergines and assemble the dish - layers of aubergine and meat sauce.

For the topping
90g unsalted butter
90g plain flour
900ml milk
90g parmesan, grated
120g cheddar grated
2 free-range egg yolks
1 free-range egg
grated nutmeg

Make a roux with the flour and butter, gradually add the milk whisking until smooth and cook on a low heat for 5 minutes to cook out the flour taste. Add the cheese and stir until smooth, then add the nutmeg and season to taste. Allow the sauce to cool before adding the beaten eggs - whisking to avoid the eggs setting. Pour over the dish and bake uncovered at 180c for 40 minutes to an hour - depends how dark you like it.

neuro-praxis

I used Antony Worrall Thompson's recipe from BBC Good Food, which is extremely similar to Minder's.

Ingredients:

75ml/6fl oz olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
675g/1½lb lamb mince
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1.25ml/¼tsp cinnamon
1.25ml/¼tsp allspice
2 x 400g/14oz tin of chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp fresh oregano, chopped
2 bay leaves
1 tsp fresh, soft thyme leaves
175ml/6fl oz white wine
4 medium aubergines, cut into 1cm/½in slices
salt and freshly ground black pepper
plain flour, for dusting

For the topping:

85g/3oz unsalted butter
85g/3oz plain flour
900ml/1½pt milk
85g/3oz parmesan, grated
115g/4oz gruyère, grated
2 free-range egg yolks
1 free-range egg

I used red wine instead of white, and couldn't get gruyere, so I used emmental instead.

It was stunning actually. A real masterpiece! I would definitely make this again, although it did take several hours all in all. The accompaniment was simply rosemary and lemon potatoes, followed by lemon cheesecake. Still stuffed four hours later.

Minder

neuro-praxis wrote: »

I used Antony Worrall Thompson's recipe from BBC Good Food, which is extremely similar to Minder's.

Hardly surprising that it's similar - I cut and paste Wozza's recipe instead of typing Delia's word for word from her book. As a two finger typist, it's easier to get the list of ingredients from a common recipe online, then change the quantities to match the recipe I use - Delia's.:D