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benazir's blog

Moussaka

This is one of the dishes I made before and posted it somewhere on social media and I was asked for the recipe. So not too long after this I started to blog. So hear it goes and I am going to try to keep this as simple as possible because I think I am going to use my oven today instead of my instant pot. I have to drag everything out of it of course. I am seriously up to it. So I will neeed 1 pot to make the bechamel which starts like adding a pat of butter with either 1 oz of either grapeseed oil or olive oil divided and adding 5 tbs of all purpose unbleached flour to make a rouix. Turn heat off and add 2 handfuls of powdered milk which can be from carnation or nido, Add 1 handful of heavy cream powder by Hoosier Hill Farm or add a pint of half and half or half a pint of heavy creeam. Add 1/4 cup of water. Grate a little nutmeg, grind peppercorns of any color and add to the creamy mixture, 1 pinch of either pink salt, plain sea salt or kosher salt and stir until it is lump free and return to the heat to get a little warm that you can feel on your pinky. Crack an egg in a bowl then beat it and add the creamy mixture to this egg a little at a time mix and return all of this to this pot and return to low heat and stir until mixture thickens. Now you have your bechamel and it is time to keep it to the side. Bob red mills has an egg replacer for people who area allergic to eggs and those who are lacto vegetarian. Also there is vegan butter and either nut milk or oat milk for vegans who want to make this bechamel sauce.

For the eggplants you will need at least 1 large or 2 medium. If you can find small or baby eggplants then it is 15 baby eggplants and 4 small which are half the size of the medium. Wash and slice these lenghtwise and preheat oven to 400F or 200C. Lightly oil the pieces of eggplant with either olive oil or grapeseed oil and place a silpat or parchment paper on baking sheets, Arrange your eggplant slices there and bake for 20 minutes. Also you can if you wish if using but not actually a must by scrubbing and slicing lengthwise and make sure the slices are thin and placing this on the same silpat as the eggplants for the same amount of time. Keep this aside and keep oven on for now.

For the meat sauce you will need to add in a large cast iron skillet on high heat either grapeseed oil or olive oil, 1 onion or shallot, 3 cloves of garlic cooked until soft, 1 lb or kg of ground meat. This could be beef, chicken, lamb, veal, goat or even turkey. For vegetarians and vegans you can leave this out or add veggie crumbles instead and it depends on what is in your area. I like beyond meat because this is better then Morningstar Farm and Boka in my opinion. If making the Greek kind then you can add 1 pinch each of mixed herbs like oregano, basil, thyme, marjarom, parsley, rosemary and sage. Add 1 bay leaf. Do not forget to cook the meat until it is done and add 1 can of tomato paste, 14 cup of water and 3 dashes of either wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar. Turn the heat off.

For the Arabic Middle Eastern type then add 1 pinch of peppercorns of any type to mortar and pestle along with 1 broken piece of cinnamon stick, 1 pinch each of sumac, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, 4 allspice berries 1 whole round red chil, 1 pinch each of mint basil and oregano and grind in to a powder. Also you can use bay leaf and parsley here too. I seen the Lebaneese from one of my Pinterest pins puts chickpeas in theirs and if you want to add this it is ok just add 1/2 cup of dried chickpeas and pressure cook this in your instant pot on pressure cook setting with 2 cups of water on sealing or stovetop pressure cooker after the float button pops up for 20 minutes, You can either do 2 things either drain the chickpeas or add a little of the liquid to the sauce for the Lebanese moussaka.

For the assembly add the eggplant ether alone or with potato slices one layer at a time and add tablespoonfuls of bechameal sauce and sprinkle your choice of cheese on top. It can be mozzerella, provolone, fontina, asiago, parmasean or romano cheese, There is even the vegan version of parmasean and provolone for those that are suitable for people also who have lactose intolerance ot milk allergy. There is also Syrian cheese too this would be very lovely and be sure to sprinkle two handfuls of grated cheese everywhere on the top and repeat making sure that the eggplant slices are covered in these sauces and cheese layer like a lasagna until there is no more bechamel, eggplant and cheese left. the bechamel and cheese should be at the very top as well, Use two hands with this heavy cast iron skillet and place in this hot oven and let cook for 15 minutes. The cheese should become melted and bubbly and the sauces steamy and smelling divine.

If using either potatoes or chickpeas, be sure to forgo that extra carb option like a thick French or Italian bread or even plain pasta such as orzo. Enjoy and please tell me how you enjoy this, Please do not forget to donate to my site and watch the adds and thank you. The donation and ad blocks are below and do not forget I will except custom amounts. I hate to appear to be begging but I am really am paying to have my blog monatized. This will also help me pay my bills here in my house and put food on my table because blogging has become my job. It has been brought to my attention that some people with ad blockers comes on this page. If you do please disable it before you come to my site. I appreciate if you do so I can bring you great content.

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