[CH] Moussaka

Doug Irvine (dougandmarie@home.com)
Fri, 28 Jul 2000 11:04:00 -0700 

Eggplant was on sale the other day, and I had not made moussaka for
ages, so here is a chile head version....also, I use, as a few of you
are aware, pork rather than lamb! Eh Deb &  Garry, and I know, Chuck,
this is sheer sacrilege! But here goes, anyway!
1    eggplant, about one lb
1    zucchini, about 12 inches long
4    medium sized new potatoes
1    lb ground pork....OK awreddy, LAMB if you must!
1    large white onion
4    cloves of garlic
2    jalapenos or serranos
1/2 cup parsley
1/2 cup mint
2    tsp oregano
1/2 cup pizza sauce(7 oz tin)
1/2 cup dry white wine...if ya cant drink it dont cook with it!
1/2 cup water
Cut both ends from the eggplant, peel strips from one side, then cut
into 1/2 inch strips lengthwise. Place in a collender and sprinkle
liberally with sea salt, and let drain in the sink.
Scrape the new potatoes and cut into halves and put in a pot to par
boil, water just to cover.
When potatoes are done, let cool and slice into 1/4 inch slices.
Cut ends from zucchini and cut into half inch rounds, and fry these in a
very little olive oil, until brown on both sides. Set aside. Heat oven
to 450F and after rinsing and drying the eggplant slices, spritz a
baking sheet with olive oil, and place the slices on...place in the hot
oven for about 12 minutes, spray the tops of the slices with olive oil,
and turn over, until that
side is slightly browned. This oven method is far better than what I
used to do with oodles of oil in a frying pan!
Chop onion, garlic, peppers, parsley and mint, and simmer the first
three in a large saucepan
or stainless steel pot, with 2 tbls olive oil, and when onions wilted,
add the meat, and brown, stirring until no longer pink,; add the pizza
sauce, wine, and the water, and the parsley, mint and oregano, and
simmer this until the sauce is reduced to half.....this should not be
too wet
as the veggies add their own moisture.
Make a white sauce:
2    tbls flour
2    tbls margarine or butter
2    eggs, beaten
1    cup milk, or less
1/2 cup parmesan or romano grated cheese
Melt marg or butter, stir in flour, and whisk in milk until thickened,
add some of the sauce to the eggs, mix around and then add it back into
the white sauce, continuing to whisk. Do not let this curdle, but if it
does, put it in the blender and whirl it, then back into the pot, then
add the cheese, and a shake of cayenne pepper.
Assembly: spray olive oil on bottom and sides of a 12" X 9" X 3"
casserole dish. Place one layer of eggplant on bottom, and half the
zucchini slices. Cover this with the meat sauce
and continue layering , using the potato slices, as the top layer. Cover
this with the cream sauce, and place in a pre heated 325F oven for 50
minutes, or until the top is nicely browned. Serve with a salad, Greek
if you wish!  This is much better the next day, after all the flavors
have melded! Cheers, Doug in BC