Eggplant love - moussaka

I was at the West End markets on the weekend and they had the most beautiful looking eggplants. I just couldn't resist buying a couple, with the intent of making some baba ganoush for our dinner guests on Saturday night. One of the things I love most about eggplant is the colour - which is also the colour of our couches.

Anyway, for a whole range of reasons [mainly that I decided to cook a Mexican feast for dinner], I didn't make it.

So when it came to planning dinner for tonight, I thought "aha! I'll make moussaka!". Or, as my hubby has been calling it, Nina Mouskouri! [Yes, he makes me laugh every day :) ]

About 45 minutes in, I did wonder what I was thinking! Anyone who knows me well [i.e. since my undergrad uni days] knows that white sauce and I are not friends. AT ALL. Partly because I lived on tuna mornay for a year or two and the white sauce was always lumpy. But, you know, it was cheap. Today the smell of tinned tuna makes me gag. 

Back to the Nina Mouskouri. I had forgotten how long it took too cook, and starting it at 6pm meant there was no way we'd be eating by 6.30pm. And I was STARVING! But it was absolutely worth the wait. And the hassle of the white sauce. Mega thanks to the lovely tweeps who talked me through what to do with the sauce - @HereIAmLoulou, @lordphantom, @packetnetworks, @blackvalo and @peterpanwine. Gotta love twitter for dinner help! And so many other things... 

Check out that gorgeous white sauce!! 

What you need:
2 large eggplant, sliced about 1cm thick
1 tablespoon vegetable oil [grapeseed or ricebran are best]

1 onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, minced

600g lamb mince

420g can diced tomatoes

1 tsp cinnamon

1tsp fresh rosemary


50g butter

60g plain flour

2 cups milk

80g grated cheese (I like Pizza Plus)

What you do:

I have a non-stick teppanyaki plate on my stove so I cook the eggplant slices on that without any oil. You could also use a non-stick fry pan, or bake them in the oven on a tray liked with baking paper. They take about 7-8 minutes on each side on a medium heat, I turn them every few minutes. 

While the eggplant is cooking, cook the mince and tomato filling. Heat the oil in a large-ish frypan [medium heat], add the onion then the garlic and fry for about 3 minutes. Add the mince and cook for about 5-6 minutes until it's cooked through. Use a wooden spoon to break the mince up, and stir regularly. Once the mince is cooked, add the tomatoes, cinnamon and rosemary. Mix it all together, turn the heat down low and simmer with a lid on for about 20 minutes. 

Pre-heat the oven to 180c. 

After the mince has been simmering for about 15 minutes, make the white sauce. 

Place a medium sized saucepan on the stove on a medium heat. Add the butter. Once the butter has melted and is bubbling, add the flour, stir quickly with a wooden spoon to make a roux. Turn the heat down slightly and stir until the roux is bubbling. Keep stirring for about 3 minutes then gradually add the milk - at this time swap the spoon for a whisk, and gently whisk the milk into the roux, until all the milk has been added. Whisk gently for about 7-10 minutes until it heats up and thickens. Once it has reached the consistency of a thickish custard, remove it from the heat.

To assemble the moussaka layer in the following way:

• add one third of the eggplant to the bottom of a lasagne dish
• cover with half the sauce
• one third of the eggplant
• half the sauce
• one third of eggplant
• white sauce
• sprinkle the cheese on top.

Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. This allows the white sauce to thicken up a bit so it doesn't ooze everywhere. 

Serve with steamed greens or a side salad. 

Serves 6. Which means we have leftovers for lunch - yay!

Moussaka 

Are there any dishes that you put off making because of an ingredient or a particular process? 

Feed the man - lamb shanks

Lamb shanks are a long time fave of most of the men in my life - hubby, brother, father - not the mention the men connected to most of my girlfriends! It, along with lasagne, is my standard go-to meal when I'm trying to get back into the good books, or if I need a favour, or if I just want to pamper hubby.

Having said that, I don't make it all that often, because it takes HOURS to cook (but only about 10 minutes to prepare) and I don't have a slow cooker. Since I've been running my marketing consultancy, I've been making it a bit more often as I work from home and can plan a wintery day around it.

My favourite way to make lamb shanks is to slowly simmer them in a sauce with a can of Guinness. The resulting flavours are rich and velvety. Mmmm. I first had a version of this at a friend’s place on a very cold winter’s night in 2007 and it's been on the menu ever since.

I made it last week - again - when I received my box of lamb from Silverwood Organics - if you love lamb, then check out their site - the quality and flavour is so, so much better than any lamb I think I've ever tasted!

Lamb shanks with Guinness, served on polenta with steamed broccoli

Serves 4 hungry people

• 4 x lamb shanks
• 1/3 cup plain flour
• Salt and pepper
• 3 tbs vegetable oil (I use grapeseed oil or rice bran oil – don’t use olive oil)
• 2 x large brown onions chopped
• 2 x carrots, chopped
• 300g button mushrooms, cut into quarters (optional)
• 1 can Guinness
• 2 cups water or beef stock
• 2 bay leaves
• Small bunch of chopped rosemary (can also use thyme) – fresh is best if possible, otherwise 2tsp dried

1. Place the flour, salt and pepper to season into a plastic bag (I use a freezer bag). Coat the lamb shanks in the bag in the mix (you might need to do them 1-2 at a time depending on the size of the bag)
2. Heat 1 tbs vegetable oil in large pot on a medium high heat on the stove
3. Brown 2 of the lamb shanks in the oil, for about 2-3 minutes, until sealed all over. Remove with tongs and place in separate bowl. Add 1 tbs vegetable oil to pot and repeat with the last 2 lamb shanks.
4. Reduce the heat of the stove to about medium.
5. Add 1 tbs vegetable oil to pot, heat then add onions. Saute for about 2-3 minutes.
6. Return the lamb shanks to the pot.
7. Add the Guinness and stock/water to the pot. You want the lamb shanks to be just covered with the liquid, so you may need to add a bit more water/stock.
8. Add the carrots, mushrooms, bay leaves and rosemary and stir to mix in.
9. Bring to the boil then reduce to a simmer, and simmer for about 4 hours on a low heat.
10. Skim the fat and any surface scum before stirring regularly every 30-45 minutes. After about 2 hours I generally lift the lid slightly so the liquid reduces to about ½ over the remaining 2 hours of cooking time. [I find placing some paper towel on top of the pot is a great way to soak up excess fat – do this 2-3 times depending on how much fat is in the shanks].

Serve with mash, sweet potato mash or polenta and steamed green vegies.

Options and variations

• This can be made in a slow cooker (I just don’t have one!). Coat the lamb shanks in flour mix, then add to slow cooker with all other ingredients. Turn on to medium and leave for about 8-10 hours.
• You can also add a can of chopped tomatoes which adds a bit of texture as well as extra veg
• This is also delicious with polenta (made according to the directions on the pack), or potato mash. I have also used steamed brown rice when I had a mash disaster...
• You can substitute the Guinness for 2 cups of red wine – equally yummy!
• It is even better when made the day before you actually want to eat it. Just skim off the congealed fat before you reheat.
• The recipe is easily doubled, but you need a very large stock pot to fit 8 lamb shanks!

 What's your favourite meal to cook for your loved ones?