in the mailbox was the Oct/Nov issue of Fine Cooking magazine with a recipe for Moussaka by Christina Pelekanos that she learned from her Aunt Angeliki who lives on the island of Crete. And there I had the eggplants...how could I resist?
I made half the recipe but had two lbs of eggplant so I sliced it very slightly thicker than 1/4" so I could use it all. All the other ingredients I halved and used an 8x8 square Corningware dish.
The recipe is really good. I've only used 3 other recipes so I don't have much to go on but we like the dish with potatoes added. I have fear of frying so I was really dreading the fried potatoes and my potatoes came out browner than the potatoes pictured in the magazine. I was afraid they wouldn't be tender and fried for the full time stated. My oil wasn't too hot, I used my instant read thermometer to monitor it and I don't think it got over 365 degrees. I am wondering if it's possible to fry potatoes at 375 degrees for 4 minutes and not have them brown. If it matters, I used a 10 inch cast iron skillet and a little over 1/2 cup oil for half the amount of potatoes.
One funny thing, the recipe calls for 80% lean ground beef and the HEB custom meat market here sells Prime ground beef which is 80% so I bought it. After I had the meat cooked and was ready to add the tomatoes, I looked at all that fat in the skillet and removed about half. Not sure what difference it made in the finished dish. I did make the full recipe of the meat sauce the day before and it's a good thing because this is a time-consuming dish. I froze half of the meat sauce, so have a head start on the next batch of moussaka. I'm still tired, even though I didn't have to do my own dishes, lol.
I might be tempted to just steam the potato slices next time.
It was fun and I wanted to share my experience. I'm looking forward to leftovers tonight.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/moussaka.aspx
I made half the recipe but had two lbs of eggplant so I sliced it very slightly thicker than 1/4" so I could use it all. All the other ingredients I halved and used an 8x8 square Corningware dish.
The recipe is really good. I've only used 3 other recipes so I don't have much to go on but we like the dish with potatoes added. I have fear of frying so I was really dreading the fried potatoes and my potatoes came out browner than the potatoes pictured in the magazine. I was afraid they wouldn't be tender and fried for the full time stated. My oil wasn't too hot, I used my instant read thermometer to monitor it and I don't think it got over 365 degrees. I am wondering if it's possible to fry potatoes at 375 degrees for 4 minutes and not have them brown. If it matters, I used a 10 inch cast iron skillet and a little over 1/2 cup oil for half the amount of potatoes.
One funny thing, the recipe calls for 80% lean ground beef and the HEB custom meat market here sells Prime ground beef which is 80% so I bought it. After I had the meat cooked and was ready to add the tomatoes, I looked at all that fat in the skillet and removed about half. Not sure what difference it made in the finished dish. I did make the full recipe of the meat sauce the day before and it's a good thing because this is a time-consuming dish. I froze half of the meat sauce, so have a head start on the next batch of moussaka. I'm still tired, even though I didn't have to do my own dishes, lol.
I might be tempted to just steam the potato slices next time.
It was fun and I wanted to share my experience. I'm looking forward to leftovers tonight.
http://www.finecooking.com/recipes/moussaka.aspx