Greek Moussaka

I learnt the word "moussaka" (mu-sa-ka) while watching Masterchef Australia last year. It was served to 2 contestants in a "Taste Test". They were asked to taste the dish and say what ingredients were used in this dish. Moussaka is like a lasagne without the pasta sheets. Eggplant is the most important ingredient in moussaka (it replaces the pasta sheets in lasagne) and the best thing is that it is in season right now.

I had 'M' and 'L' over for dinner last night to catch up with them. They requested something non-Asian. In fact, L requested Spanish cuisine but I couldn't find any good Spanish main courses (I made a Spanish dessert - Cherry Flan). I saw this moussaka recipe on the 'Better Homes and Gardens' TV show. It didn't seem as difficult as I thought it would be, hence I gave it a try :) I must add that this recipe requires intermediate cooking skills. It has a few processes but if you are a multi-tasker, you should be able to prep everything and pop it into the oven within ~30minutes.

Suggestion:
1. Salt the eggplants earlier (if you have time). I reckon you could even do this the night before, cook them and use it the following day assembling it into the baking dish.
2. Cook meat sauce and bechamel sauce at the same time if you can handle multi-tasking. Otherwise while waiting for the sauce to cook in those 5minutes, get started with the bechamel sauce in another saucepan.

2kg eggplant, sliced into 1cm thick slices

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely diced
6 cloves garlic, minced
600g beef mince (for vegetarians: replace with crushed chickpeas)
400g can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp ground all spice
1 bunch of chopped oregano, finely chopped
150g grated tasty or cheddar cheese
1 cup breadcrumbs

Bechamel sauce:
3 tbsp unsalted butter
3 tbsp plain flour
400ml hot milk (heated it in microwave)
300ml cream
4 egg yolks
120g grated parmesan cheese
pinch of salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg

Sprinkle a generous amount of salt over eggplant slices in a dish. Set aside for 30minutes and rinse with water. Pat dry and pan fry with olive oil until they are soft and golden brown.

In a large saucepan, heat some olive oil. Add onions, garlic and beef mince. When the meat is nice and brown, chuck in diced tomatoes, sugar, allspice and chopped oregano. Cook for about 5minutes. Remove from heat.

Whisk butter and flour in saucepan until it resembles wet sand and then whisk in hot milk until it is silky smooth. Once it is thick and gooey, stir in cream (to cool it down) and season with salt and nutmeg. Fold in egg yolks and grated parmesan cheese.

To assemble, spread 1/2 cup breadcrumbs on bottom of baking dish. Line dish with 1/3 of eggplant. Top it with 1/2 amount of meat sauce, then top with 1/2 amount of grated tasty cheese. Repeat the process and finish off with eggplant on top. Pour bechamel sauce on top and bake in the oven for 45minutes at 190C or until golden brown on top.


I used lamb mince instead of beef, mixed spice instead of allspice, dried oregano instead of fresh oregano and low fat versions of some dairy ingredients. My oven took 30minutes (instead of 45 minutes) to achieve the golden brown you see in the photo.

Overall, I was very pleased to be able to make a Greek dish :p It turned out very tasty and delicious. For those who may not like eggplant (our guests were not big fans), fear not because you could hardly taste the eggplant because it was so soft and blended in with the rest of the dish.

This dish looks healthy (meat with 2 serves of veggies - tomatoes and eggplant). However I am not sure how the bechamel sauce rates since there is quite a large amount of cheese, cream, butter and milk (all dairy!). I used light cream, low fat milk and low fat grated tasty cheese but normal parmesan cheese, butter and the 4 egg yolks! You know what? I reckon it is partly the sauce that makes the dish tasty and gives it the wow factor :p

Now, you will feel very proud of yourself when your friends and your parents know that you are able to cook a Greek dish. It is a dish to impress ;)

Postscript: For an even less fatty version, omit the egg yolks. Also, half the amount of ingredients of the bechamel sauce is sufficient for this portion of recipe.

Shopping in the UQ area & Easy Cooking Methods

 (anonymous contributor who lives in St Lucia)

Especially now that the Hawken Drive Coles has changed to a Foodworks (summer 2009-10), its prices won't generally be as competitive as Toowong Village Coles or Toowong Woolworths. Of course Foodworks' location makes it convenient to pick up some items - as does the location of Chai's convenience store and takeaway on the corner of Mitre St and Sir Fred Schonell Drv.

Chai's is a St Lucia institution (!) and sells almost everything the larger stores do, as well as some things that they don't (Asian groceries) - but you have to consider whether the cost of transport to Toowong balances out the mark-up you'll pay on Convenience store items.

Many students like to buy their perishables from the West End markets on Saturday mornings - and catch the bus, train, or City Cat (ferry) to do so.

The butcher and fruit and veg deli in Toowong Village foodcourt are also competitive.

Otherwise Toowong Woollies usually marks down meat and dairy products daily - more so than Coles seems to - so you can often grab a decent bargain.

Do respect the laws concerning NOT removing shopping trolleys from shopping centres though! It is illegal to do so, and ultimately this form of stealing results in price mark-ups within the supermarkets in order to recover the costs for retrieving stolen trolleys. This affects you (as well as your fellow shoppers) and is not a very thoughtful way to assimilate into living and studying in Australia!

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Grilling

Grilling is one of the simplest and easiest ways to cook a meal; it takes little preparation and is healthy (no extra oil needed) and quick.

Good cuts of meat to grill include chops (lamb and pork), cutlets, chicken breast fillets, and ribs - so yes, you'll end up with a western style meal - depending on what you marinate your meat in, and whether you serve it with rice or potatoes!

Marinate or season the meat with basically anything - sauces or spice / seasoning powders - whatever you have in the cupboard or fridge that takes your fancy, and for as many or as few hours or minutes as you can.

Line a baking tray with foil or baking paper (to make it easier to wash when you're done), stick your meat onto it, and grill! You can use the grill setting in your oven, a portable counter-top grill, or a BBQ grill plate - they'll all do a similar job. 180 degrees C is a good rule of thumb temperature, and you might need or want to turn the meat over half-way (especially chicken breast).

Take care to grill white meats till they're white through, and red meats to taste. Beware of over-grilling the meat though - a few minutes can turn it from succulent to dry and stringy.

Supermarket meat packs will often have grilling instructions (temperature and time) listed on them, otherwise ask the butcher at point of purchase.

Slice up veggies (zucchini, eggplant, capsicum, squash, mushrooms, beans are all good options) to grill also (on a different tray from your raw meat, with a hint of salt / seasoning / lemon juice) and add some carbs on the side if you really need them!

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Roasting

Cooking a roast is also exceptionally easy. It can literally be as simple as:
- buying a pre-marinaded cut of roasting meat (eg. beef, whole chicken or chicken pieces, lamb leg); Toowong Woollies often marks down roast cuts
- sticking it in a large baking / roasting pan
- surrounding it with chunks of roasting veggies that you've peeled, cut up, and coated (but not soaked) in vegetable oil (onion, potatoes of any kind, pumpkin, carrots, turnips, parsnips, peeled whole garlic cloves, etc)
- sticking the pan into a pre-heated oven (often 180 deg C) for as long as the meat packet or butcher says (often 60 minutes per kg of meat)
- carving the meat up, serving it with your veggies (you can add peas and gravy) and eating it!

If you want to be adventurous buy un-marinated meat and season it yourself - salt and pepper, herbs, chilli, garlic, lemon juice, etc.

Another option is to put all your raw ingredients in a roasting bag (look in the Cling Wrap / foil / baking paper section of the supermarket) which you tie up and pierce with steam-ventilation holes before placing into the pan. This keeps all the juices together, not to mention reducing the washing up mess a whole lot!

And leftovers can be re-heated, or used to make pies or soups.

Grilled Lamb with Steamed Veggies & Apple and Raisin Couscous

Lamb forequarter chops are often on sale at Coles, Woolies for as cheap as A$6-7 per kg. Lamb meat here is unlike mutton in Singapore/Malaysia. I am not sure what is the difference but my mum reckons that lamb in Aust is nice tasting and has no 'smell' like those back home.

I bought this lamb leg steaks when they were on sale. Thought will try them out since I have not eaten lamb for some time.

Marinade the lamb steaks with dried rosemary (or fresh ones if you have), dash of olive oil, salt and pepper. Place steak on grill over medium high heat and sear on one side, turn down grill to medium. Turn over when steak releases easily from grill. Repeat on other side. Meat should be browned on the outside and still pink inside.

I have also cooked up some veggies and a couscous dish to go with the lamb steak.

Place 1/4 cup of dried couscous (I think the most common brand is Sam Reno) into a bowl. Pour 1/4 cup of boiling water into it. Stir with a fork and leave it for 10 mins to fluff up. Add 1/2 tbsp of butter, small pieces of apple (cut and soaked a little while in salt water to prevent browning) and raisins (amount as you prefer). Add a dash of salt. Mix everything well and serve with veggies and lamb steak.

Note: On the box of couscous, it mentions that 1/2 cup is 1 serving. However 1 cup is sufficient for 3 persons as a side to a dish like this with a decent piece of meat and veggies. Cook as much as you would like to eat.