The moussaka
Hi friends, I hope you're fine?
I am on leave today and I have an appointment with my childhood friend that I see little because we do not live in the same city and we both have a busy agenda. We try to see each other for two or three months and when we meet, we go to eat in a good little restaurant, we tell each other our lives and the latest gossip about our families and friends.
For today, I booked a Greek restaurant. This is one of my favorite cuisine, between the mezzé, the youvetsi of lamb, the good skewers grilled with a good salad accompaniment and pieces of Greek cheese, it's hard not to find happiness. But above all, my favorite dish is moussaka. I love gratins and aubergines so this explains that.
I do not do it often because it still requires enough work but it's a treat so what I do when I decide to do one is that I increase my quantities to freeze parts for later.
I tested a lot of recipes and after a few years, I finally found one with ideas taken in each of the recipes I tested before. I do not say it's the best, but I really like it and my guests have always told me that it was great; o)
Ingredients (for a gratin dish of about 6 people)
6 eggplants (fresh or to save time in some stores they sell grilled frozen, it is much faster because you can pass the stage to make them disgorge)
4 potatoes
2 onions
Parsley (about half a bouquet)
5 cloves of garlic
A box of crushed tomatoes (small boxes of 400g)
650 gr spicy pork / beef mince
700 ml of milk
5 tablespoons flour
80 gr of butter
250 gr grated cheese (the one you prefer, I put a mixture of grated cheese for gratin) - (in the traditional moussaka we use sheep cheese but it tastes quite special)
Salt, pepper, nutmeg, olive oil (it takes a lot to cook the eggplants because they absorb much oil and if you put enough, they do not brown well).
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 180 °.
Step 1
Cut the eggplants lengthwise into 1 cm slices (do not peel them). Salt them and let them disgorge on paper towels or in a strainer as for pasta for half an hour. If you want to skip this step, take frozen grilled eggplants.
After, cook in a pan with oil until golden brown. Do not hesitate to add oil during cooking.
Step 2
Peel and wash the potatoes and then cut them lengthwise in 1 cm slices as for the eggplants. Brown them in a pan with olive oil.
Then put the potatoes on paper towels to degrease them a little.
Step 3
Chop the onions, garlic and parsley.
Fry the onions and garlic in a saucepan. Then, when browned, add the meat and cook well until it turns a nice color. After adding the box of crushed tomatoes.
Simmer and thicken, stirring occasionally, then add the chopped parsley.
Little trick for chopping parsley I use scissors with spices, they are scissors with several blades, we find them in stores in the range of kitchen accessories.
Step 4
It is necessary to prepare the bechamel sauce, to do this, it is necessary to melt the butter in a small hot saucepan and then to add the flour by mixing with the whisk quite quickly until it makes a homogeneous paste. As soon as it is done, add the milk slowly whisking the preparation without stopping otherwise it will make lumps or it will stick to the bottom of the pan. You can stop when you think that your sauce has the desired appearance, it must be relatively thick if your moussaka will not be well cut but not too much otherwise your guests will have trouble digesting.
Little trick, if your béchamel does not thicken you can add a tablespoon of cornflour, it is super effective (cornstarch).
Then you can put salt and pepper and a little nutmeg, not too much otherwise the taste will take over the rest of the ingredients.
Step 5
Start editing your moussaka. Take a dish deep gratin and preferably rectangular.
Arrange first a row of potatoes, then a layer of eggplant and then a layer of the meat sauce.
Finish with a last layer of eggplant covered with a layer of bechamel and then put in the rain grated cheese.
Bake and cook for about half an hour until the moussaka turns a beautiful golden color.
Let a little rest before serving it will allow you to have shares that are well on the plate, indeed, if you serve it directly out of the oven, it will collapse on the plate and it will not be very presentable. Anyway the taste is there and for me it's the main thing.
Try it, it's a delight!
Enjoy !
hemmmm ! Looks delicious but I'm not good at cooking lol
Fish is a tasty dish of my favorite dishes
It is rich in iron and magnesium
It is useful for health .... I have opened my appetite ...
Looks so yummy and I think it's healthier than lasagna. Well done!
the bulgarian lasagna everyone should try it
Ahhhhh, you'll laugh, but, I did not like moussaka until I was 27, now I love :D
Lol ;o) Enjoy now !
Wow , itas a post that has increased my hunger , but un fortunately, i can not access and afford such expensive spiced dish since i have not earn any coin on steemit, and yet also want to get some money my friend @Indesta120282
And sure from the recipe i just read, its would be yummy and delicious but i wish i can just get to buy it without making it because now i cant wait to prepare it,i just want to eat...thanks for this wonderful recipe on moussaka preparation. Share much recipe when you got some , Thank you for the post ,,,
Oh this post made me sooo hungry and it's 3:40am here. I am going to try this recipe out tomorrow for dinner. I can't wait
Thank you so much
Enjoy! Send me a piece ;o)
awesome recipe!
Ohh, it's pretty simple. Thank you!
wow foods seems tasty
btw egg plants r good for healh too
![]
What is the nutritional value of eggplant? Eggplant is rich in calcium, iron, magnesium and several other important nutrients that aid proper functioning of your body. In fact, 1 cup (or 82 gms) of eggplant consists of 11% fiber, 10% manganese, 5.4% molybdenum, 5.3% potassium, 4.5% folate, 3.5% vitamin K, 3.5% copper, 63.5% vitamin B, 3.1% tryptophan, 3% vitamin C, and 2.8% magnesium.
So this was about eggplant nutritional value. Now, lets discuss about its various types. Technically, there are seven different types eggplants. Take a look:
Japanese Eggplant – The long, thin, dark (almost black), and glossy variety from Japan is the first on this list. Japanese eggplants have a soft, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth texture after being cooked, which will make you want to include them in your special meal.
Chinese Eggplant – This variety from China is similar to the Japanese one, just longer, lighter, and less sweet. It has juicy, meaty flesh with very few seeds, making it perfect for stir-frying and sauteing. Chinese eggplants come in two varieties – Oriental Charm and Pingtung Long.
Graffiti Eggplant – You guessed it right! This distinctively beautiful variety has got its name due to the striped and scattered markings on its skin. Grafitti eggplants have really thin peels and small seeds and are available in all sizes. Good for baking, stewing, and roasting, this type doesn’t need to be peeled. It is widely popular throughout the globe and has a number of nicknames, including Purple Rain, Pandora Striped Rose, Shooting Stars, Fairytale, and Listada De Gandia.
Bianca Eggplant – This Italian variety is round and huge with a light purple and white skin. It has a thoroughly creamy and sweet taste, making it perfect for stuffing and making gravy.
Tango Eggplant – This is a special white species. It is shaped like an egg or a pear. It has a thick skin and a tender and creamy flesh. The tango turns yellow after harvesting and becomes stronger and firmer.
Santana Eggplant – The Italian variety that is popular for making the Turkish delicacy baba ghanoush. It is dark purple and is shaped like a tear drop. It is tender and absolutely perfect for a quick grill roast.
Thai Eggplant – This golf ball-sized Thai veggie is bitter to taste and requires seed removal. Though available in a number of colors, this variety is particularly known for its light green tint with white/yellow stripes.
Trivia: Botanically, brinjal is a fruit (a berry), not a vegetable. It grows on vines, just like tomatoes. For cooking purposes, it is considered a vegetable.
What Is Eggplant Good For?(
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Great info, thanks :) we only have Japanese eggplant where I live. Love the texture and taste especially in pasta dishes.
This is the first time I saw one article with a lot of delicious foods! Oh friend you made me crazy :D Thanks for sharing such wonderful experiences with us!
It looks delicious !
I have to do it :D
The food looks really good! I should consider making it soon!
One of the most time consuming Greek foods, but it's worth it. My parents make it twice a year. They make Ograten a dozen times more, which is the same thing with less ingredients and easier to prepare XD.
Gooood ! I'm Hungry! Also in Romania we prepare this time of food ! It's very good !
Love your recipe and the how simple you made it sound , Moussaka is really time consuming, but at the end its all worth. I make mine vegetarian , instead of Mince i use puy lentils and mushrooms , with loads of spices like cumin , coriander , pinch of cayenne , smoked paprika and spring onions, depends on the occasion sometimes i experiment even by adding gram masala ( Indian type of mix spices) not traditional at all but works very well, the thickness of the filling comes from slowly cooked tin tomatoes till they become like thick paste , then add spoon full of tomato paste and mix with the lentil and mushrooms. Give it a try!
it's so delicious, I want to buy it,can i get vote from you
,thanks
great also good food job!
woow.. nice.. food.. i want to eat..
wow nice post about food.... i excited and impreesd to see your post.... i waiting for your next post.... mind on my pleasure...
I got all salivary immediately i saw the final preparation pic of moussaka and sure i love eating snacks,food..thats foreign thats an hilarious hobby abou me😊.. and sure from the recipe i just read, its would be yummy and delicious but i wish i can just get to buy it without making it because now i cant wait to prepare it,i just want to eat...thanks for this wonderful recipe on moussaka preparation. Share much recipe when you got some
Complete tutorials
I will try this out. I just love potatoes
Thanks for sharing
I like it..... Ehmmmmmmmmm
wow good food.nice post i like your post
yummy,i want to have some
This looks so yummy...... Can't wait to try it. Really wish i could buy this for a start.
I've never had Greek food, but Greece is one of the places of the world that fascinates me. I'd love to be able to visit Greece and try their foods, although I do not like mutton, feta cheese or blue cheese. The top dish in this post looks great.
That looks Yum! Yum!! Thank you for the Recipee
O my,I definitely must try this! And you got me feeling hungry :))
Looks so yummy and excitnig ... it made me hungry more than you >>LOL but unfortunate for me that i cannot eat it now, but i will one day for sure. Thanks for sharing.
I haven't tasted it yet but that dish look delicious to me. Nice post!
Hahaha, i wish i was one of your childhood friend, i would have enjoyed that too. woow i am missing such food.
I think it is healthy and testy food.
looks really tasty:) i will try it later and comment my result :P thanks for sharing
@indesta120282
Looks delicious :-)
oh it's so delicious but diffult to make with me ;)
Wow great photography all the images are amazing..... foods looks really good and delicious and yummy thank you for sharing the recipe....
My mum prepares it same way 💓
This food is popular throughout the Balkans and North of them. It's seriously delicious! I love it :D
食物看起来非常好吃
It is very popular in Bulgaria also. I used to love it before I became vegetarian. If you eat meat, you should definitely try it!
Looks delicious,if only i could reach into my phone and grab a bite.
Wow! just delicious food,,,,,
i liked.......thanks for sharing
İ eat moussaka in Turkey last year and steel feel this taste.
Nice post
Love greece food
Stifado, souflaki
Thanks for the recipe! :D
give me some
i'm hungry