Eggplant something or other (moussaka)

I found I did get the basis of this recipe from a WP blog  Mostly Greek Eggplant Mousskasa , Eggplant Moussaka    after a search for eggplant recipes.

The eggplant is my fav meal, and at times better than the chicken or beef or used as a filler with meat.  So here we go.

I used ground pork instead of beef

I stuck with the cinnamon spice for the Greek style taste of the tomato sauce

some canned diced tomato for the suace

a bit of melomel replaces the wine

process the tomato sauce

salt and let sit for while to draw out some water, test fit in the baking dish

brush with olive oil, broil till browned, both sides

make the bechamel sauce

into the baking dish

add the tomato sauce

top with the bechamel and some grated parmensan, bake.

after baking, let cool a bit.

excellent flavor the eggplant, tomato sauce and bechamel compliment each other

not overly watery or runny, just right, perhaps a glass of wine and a chunk of fresh bread.

 

 

 

 

 

canoodling around

Oh  !  More dough, this time the noodle. Once you get hang of making dough for noodles, it’s hard to let go, back to the dried variety, that is if your not cooking for a crowd.

A beef soup base was the groundwork for the noodle. Simple dry  noodles won’t suffice.

Again I wont bore you with the recipe, this could go in a stew direction also  just thicken up the broth, yep add sour cream and milk or straight cream for a goulash finish.

I keep it as a broth , a bit lighter.

Since a small amount of noodle just grabbed the rolling pin. Dinner for two.

start with the basics

ok it’s the instant pot again, the searing setting give automatic temperature control

plate the meat when done

wilt up the veggies

add some stock

add back the meat

add some hot water supplied by the kuerig, seal up the reactor vessel and give it high pressure for a couple of minutes, this does the carrot effortlessly. Get on the with noodle.

over to the processor with the semolina and a yolk and i bit of water and a dribble of oil is also good.

Bzzzzzzzzzzz..Bzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz,, done

give the dough a break

let dry a bit after rolling

you can use a pizza cutter, nice and steady !

ready for the boiling water bath !

won’t take more than a couple of minutes

Flotation achieved, done

A big drainy scooper

plate up the noodle, top with the beef mixture, I think it only took a few minutes under pressure for the broth mixture, parsley, back to the computer…hmmm..    where the bread. OH we have the noodle no need for bread.  HA ! maybe bread and butter for dessert !

a different lasagna

Started with 2 eggplants, sliced thin and salted and drained. Possibly doing some kind of roll-ups but opted to a lasagna. what was different was the use of shredded turnip as a component in addition to the use of the eggplant, broccoli, with a tomato cream sauce.

The prep, eggplant draining, the shredded turnip (looks like shredded mozzarella) broccoli, and the noodle dough.

Started the layering, broccoli was briefly steamed.

All set up for a later bake, one 8 x 8 inch pan and another round pan to the freezer.

Serving time later in the day.

Better than expected. The tomato sauce balanced everything out when baked. It was a combination of canned whole tomatoes, processed in the food processor, seasonings, a hint of red pepper flakes, oregano, rosemary, a dash of turmeric and a splash of heavy cream. The noodle was minimal and thinly rolled out. Good flavor and just enough heat in the sauce to accent the turnip.

 

 

Tubular Homemade Pasta

A first attempt at making a tubular pasta, basically by rolling the sheets of pasta around the handle of a wooden spoon. As usual, I didn’t follow close measurements and the texture of the pasta was a bit too soft. But the procedure for rolling it around a wooden dowel like handle worked.