My First Meat Moussaka
Last week I made a dish that was “inspired” by moussaka, which is a favorite choice when I order from Middle Eastern restaurants. Today my husband and I ordered "take out" from a small Middle Eastern restaurant that is in a gas station--don't wince-- it serves the best M.E. food! Well, I was being friendly with the owner, making light jokes and such, and I told him I made moussaka recently. He asked me to tell him how I did it. I gave him the basics of my recipe (which I half-researched on my own and half-whipped up based on the flavors I like) and he frowned and was a bit disgruntled. He said I did not make moussaka. He asked me how long did it take me to make it and I said about an hour. He said if I had made it the right way it should have taken about six hours! I admittedly did not follow a "traditional recipe" but I still liked my moussaka, and my family did too!
Basically I browned ground turkey (not the ground breast) with onions, and seasoned the meat mixture with cardamom, pepper and salt. Then pan-fried some sliced peeled potatoes and sliced eggplant (separately) in olive oil and made layers in a baking dish. I made a béchamel sauce and added a little cheese. I think it was some shredded Monterey Jack that I had in the refrigerator. I poured the sauce over the layers and baked it covered with foil for about 30 minutes and then uncovered for about fifteen at 350. My mistake was that I allowed the eggplant to soak up too much olive oil, and while I love the flavor, the finished product was a bit oily.
As you can tell, my moussaka was fly-by-night! But boy, was my moussaka tasty! It had the flavors I liked and it was very rich. I know it wasn’t the traditional dish that one must labor over, but in a pinch it was more than fine and I will make “my moussaka” again and again. I do not have six hours to work on a meal, unless it is Christmas or if I'm having Jake Gyllenhaal over for dinner. Ha!
I think when I make "my moussaka" again I might use ground lamb, or maybe a mixture of lamb and beef.
Sorry no pictures! We gobbled it up!