Moussaka (2) - (Mousakas)

NOTES

Primarily, Moussaka relies on the taste and flavour of the aubergines; if the aubergines are not fresh enough, it is not worth embarking on making moussaka, as it involves a lot of work. People wrongly assume that dubious aubergines can be disguised with a layer of minced meat and a milky white sauce and served as a "glorious" Moussaka; it will be a waste of time.
Greek : Μουσακάς
Serves / Yields : 6 persons
Season:Spring,Summer

INGREDIENTS

•     1 kg aubergines (large or/and elongated variety)
•     160 ml vegetable oil (about 1 teacup)
•     1 large onion, finely sliced
•     450 gr. minced beef
•     1 glass white wine (not retsina, but aretsinoto)
•     350 gr. fresh tornatoes, 1400 gr. tomatoes, drained of some of their juice and chopped
•     teaspoon ground cinnamon
•     teaspoon ground allspice
•     salt and black pepper
•     1 teaspoon oregano
•     25 gr. grated parmesan, kefalotiri, or Gruyere cheese
•     some chopped parsley

    Bechamel Sauce

•     80 gr. butter
•     80 gr. flour
•     600 ml warm milk
•     salt and white pepper
•     30 gr. grated Parmesan or Gruyere cheese
•     2 egg yolks

    Topping

•     z 60 gr. grated Parmesan,Gruyere or kefalotiri cheese
•     4 tablespoons toasted breadcrumbs

METHOD

Moussaka should be baked in the oven. Use a roasting container, eitber square or oblong, approximately 25x25 cm or 39x28 cm. It is recommended that you spread the work involved over two days for your convinience; one can easily cook the meat the day before, witbout the Moussaka suffering at all. Do not do the same with the aubergines; they should be fried on the day.

Aubergines
Top and tail the aubergines, without peeling them. Rinse them, cut them lengthways in 75-mm thick slices and immerse them in salted water, for 30 minutes.Take them out, squeeze gently, rinse, then squeeze them again. Drain them in a colander and pat dry. Fry them in hot vegetable oil until they become pale golden on both sides; you can either deep-fry them, which is easier but they absorb a lot of oil, or shallow-fry them. In either case, drain them on absorbent paper on a flat platter before serving, so that most of their oil will dribble away.

Meat
Sautee the sliced onion in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, until it looks glistening. Add the meat and sautee together, stirring, until all the lumps are broken down and the meat starts to change colour. Pour in the wine, add tomatoes, sliced finely, the spices, salt and pepper and the oregano. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time in case it sticks. Then mix in the grated cheese and parsley.

Bechamel Sauce
Melt the butter and, away from the heat, gradually add the flour and stir to amalgamate. Return to the heat and gradually add the milk and seasoning, stirring continuously. Simmer for 9-10 minutes, stirring, until it has thickened considerably. Withdraw the pan from the heat, let it stand briefly, then add the cheese and the egg yolks. Stir to amalgamate them. Do not let the sauce boil after this. It should by now be a thick bechamel, to enable it to sit on top of the meat mixture and form a kind of crust.

To assemble, cover the base of the roasting dish with half of the fried aubergines, then spread half of the meat mixture evenly on top of them and cover neatly with the remaining aubergines. Spread the remaining meat and sauce evenly over the top and cover neatly with the bechamel sauce. Sprinkle the grated cheese all over the top, and the breadcrumbs. Moussaka from Macedonia may contain a layer of thinly sliced roun potatoes which have been fried first. Bake in a pre-heated oven, gas no.4/ 350 grades F/ 180 grades C, for 1 hour, untit a golden crust is formed all over the top. Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving, in order to be able to cut it more easily. To serve, cut into square or oblong-shaped pieces, about 8 cm thick. It should be quite dry by then and the pieces should ideally stay intact.

Source: Greek-recipe.com

Moussaka - (Mousakas)

NOTES A traditional Greek Recipe by Alexandra Tsakiridou.
“MOUSSAKA” is the shepherd’s pie of Greece. The succulent combination of fried aubergines, delicately spiced minced lamb and rich cheese sauce is irresistible and well worth the rather lengthy preparation. It is always popular at informal parties and can be prepared earlier in the day for final cooking and browning in the oven.
Greek : Μουσακάς
Step by step demonstration of recipe included HERE.
Serves / Yields : 6 people
Season:Spring,Summer

INGREDIENTS

• 700 gr. (1 ½ lb.) shoulder of lamb(boneless weight)
• 700 gr. (1 ½ lb.) aubergines
• 175 gr. (6 oz.) onions
• 225 gr. (½ lb.) tomatoes
• 150 ml. (? pt.) olive oil
• 5 ml. (1 teaspoon) ground allspice
• 15 ml. (1 tablespoon) chopped parsley
• 425 ml. (? pt.) bechamel sauce
• Salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
  Coating
  
• 1 large egg
• large pinch grated nutmeg
• 75 gr. (3 oz.) Cheddar cheese

METHOD
Wipe, top and tail, but do not peel the aubergines. Cut them into slices about 6 mm. (? in.) thick. Put into a colander with a light sprinkling of salt between the layers and leave to drain for half an hour. Peel and slice the onions; peel, de-seed and chop the tomatoes. When ready to cook, pat the aubergine slices dry with paper. Heat 45 ml. (3 tbsp.) oil in a frying pan over a low heat and, when hot, fry the aubergine slices gently until tender, in batches, turning once. Lift out and drain on absorbent paper. Add extra oil between batches as necessary. When all are fried, make the oil in the pan up to 30 ml. again. When this is hot, fry the onions gently for about 5 minutes, until soft and pale gold. Add the meat and fry. Add the tomatoes, allspice, parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well, cover and cook very gently for 25 to 20 minutes. Heat oven to 180-C. (350 F.), gas mark 4. In a deep, ovenproof dish, arrange alternate layers of aubergines and meat, finishing with aubergines. Warm the sauce over a low heat. Separate the egg and, off the heat, stir the yolk, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste, into the sauce. Reserve the egg white for use in another dish. Pour the sauce evenly over the surface of the dish. Grate the cheese over the sauce. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes until the topping is golden and bubbling.

The popularity of “Moussaka” has deservedly spread. It is a delicious combination of meat, vegetables and a thick, rich sauce. It’s the most traditional Greek dish and also absolutely delicious!

Source:
http://pieria.spark.net.gr/etimes/moussaka.htm

Artichoke moussaka - (Mousakas me agginares)

NOTES

Greek : Μουσακάς με αγγινάρες
Serves / Yields : 6 persons
Season:Winter,Spring

INGREDIENTS

• 15 artichokes
• 1 bunch spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 bunch dill, finely chopped
• 1/2 kg minced meat (pork or beef)
• 2 spoons butter
• 1 tomato, not to ripe
• 3 lemons
• Some oil
  For the cream
  
• 1 lt warm milk
• 8 spoons flour
• 2 eggs
• 4-5 spoons butter
• Piquant kefalotyri chese, grated
• Some grated hard tack

METHOD

Clean the artichokes. Slice the stem of the artichokes and remove the outer leaves, which are hard in texture. Rub each artichoke with the lemon and put all of them in a saucepan full of salted water. Boil them and when they are ready remove from heat and drain.

Prepare the minced meat. Heat the oil in a saucepan, roast the onions, add the butter and the minced meat. Stir well. Add some water and the tomato and simmer until all water is absorbed. When ready remove from heat and add half of the dill.

Cut the artichokes in pieces and spread them in a baking pan along with the minced meat. Then, prepare the cream as the following instructions indicate: Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Add gradually the warm milk and stir until the cream thickens. This is the procedure for making the bechamel sauce, which is used as topping in moussaka and pasticio. Do not let the cream boil. Remove from heat. Beat the eggs well and add them with half of the cheese and the rest of the dill

Spread the cream on top of the artichokes and the minced meat. Pour over the rest of the cheese and the hard tack and add also some pieces of fresh butter. Bake the moussaka in 200 C until it takes a brown color.


Source: Greek-recipe.com

Greek Vegeterian Mousaka

 

 

Most people probably know of Moussaka as a "classic" Greek dish, but Vegetarian Moussaka is not quite as well-known. We find it really delicious and many people who are not vegetarian have said that they actually prefer it to the "normal" moussaka, which is made with meat and not mushrooms.

Try it and I'm sure you'll like it!

Ingredients

1 kg potatoes suitable for frying
4 large courgettes
8 medium eggplants
½ litre frying oil

For the Sauce

1kg button mushrooms

2 crushed garlic cloves

1 tin chopped tomatoes

2 onions finely sliced

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 bay leaves

½ cup olive oil

For the Béchamel

1 litre fresh milk
250g butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
200g grated parmesan cheese (2/3 for the béchamel and 1/3 to sprinkle on top of the béchamel)

Preparation

Slice the potatoes, courgettes and eggplants lengthwise into ½cm slices.

Deep fry them – first the potatoes, then add the eggplants and finally add the courgettes.

Remove them and place them on absorbent kitchen paper to drain off as much oil as possible.

The Sauce

Gently fry the onions in a large pan.

Add the crushed garlic and stir for 1 minute.

Add the mushrooms and continue stirring.

Add the tomatoes and bay leaves.

Add the parsley.

Continue heating until all the juice has been absorbed and you have a thick sauce.

Béchamel

In a heavy-bottomed pan gently heat the butter until it melts.

Add the flour and stir continuously.

Add half of the milk and continue to stir with a whisk.

When the mixture starts to thicken, add the rest of the milk whilst stirring continuously.

When it starts to thicken again, lower the temperature to the minimum and add the grated cheese and then turn off.

In a deep oven dish place a layer with half of the potatoes at the bottom.

Add a layer with the courgettes on top and then a layer with the eggplants.

Spread the sauce on top.

Add a final layer with the remaining potatoes on top of the sauce.

Add the béchamel on top and sprinkle the remaining cheese over it.

Bake in a pre-heated moderate oven for approx. 40 minutes or until it has turned a golden colour on top.

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