An "Italian" Moussaka Without a Lot of Details

I spent a good number of hours in the kitchen today (but that is my normal, not an exception) making my own "Italian" version of moussaka. It took a lot longer than anticipated.

Made some breaded eggplant but was low on breadcrumbs so after dipping the slices in egg and flour I covered the tops only with breadcrumbs flavored with oregano, black pepper, garlic powder and parmigiano. Baked them on a cookie sheet rather than fried.

The ground beef and tomato sauce (finely chopped onion, celery and carrots, garlic, diced garden tomatoes and canned tomatoes, basil and parsley) simmered for more than an hour.

Put some sauce, then a layer of eggplant, then most of the sauce, than a light layer of mozzarella, then another layer of eggplant and the remaining tomato sauce.

Topped the casserole with parmegiano-bechamel sauce and bread crumbs. 

Baked it at 350 for about 45 minutes. Served with a hot Italian sausage and a loaf of homemade bread.

Leon and I ate half the casserole...had to stop, but could have eaten more.

The photos don't do it justice.

1) Tomato Passata 2)Roasted Eggplant with Mushrooms and Tomato

Just what I don't need: another kitchen gadget. This one is for making tomato passata. Basically, tomato puree.

My tomatoes are ripe now, so a few days ago I took a chance and stopped in to Bed bath and Beyond - the item was supposedly out of stock, but there it was on the shelf.

 

Prepping my San Marzano and Roma tomatoes. Halving and cutting out green parts; boiling water bath until the skins start to loosen; let the excess water drain.

 

 

Basilico Genovese from the garden.

 

This is imported Passata. The jar is typical of the product in Italy.

This is all I got out of those tomatoes. About 24 liquid ounces. Watch the videos to see how much passata some people make.

The skin and seeds to go into compost.

 

I don't can stuff. This will go into the freezer. I did a second pass with the skins and seeds and got about a cup and a half more of passata which I will use for tonight's tomato sauce.

 

This is how the pros do it:

 

My next project for the morning was to make eggplant parmigiana.

But hubby called and said that we are going camping tomorrow instead of Monday as the campground had this Sunday available, but not this coming Saturday...whatever.

So I had to change my plans for the eggplant as it would take me hours with clean-up and now I had to hustle and cook and get the camper packed.

So I diced up the eggplant with garlic, onion, baby bella mushrooms, salt, pepper, oregano, pepperoncini (hot pepper flakes), olive oil and roasted the whole thing in the oven at 425 degrees.

My new plan involves adding the veggie mixture into a tomato sauce to serve over pasta. But I will need more sauce and don't want to use up all my new passata for tonight...so I reverted to the tomato paste from a can. (Kirkland organic if that makes a difference.)  Mom and every Italian aunt always "fried" the tomato paste in olive oil. It is not for me to question that wisdom, so that is how I do it too.

I added the second pressing of passata to the paste with water.

The roasted veggies ready to add to the sauce.

 

Fried some sausages and deglazed with a little red wine and added them to the sauce. Had some homemade turkey meatballs in the freezer, so added them as well.

So there. Can't wait for pasta tonight. Oh, and I also made bread this morning too. Baked one loaf and put two balls of dough into the freezer. We'll take one camping and have fresh bread one evening.

Dover Sole, Rissoto with Mushrooms and Asparagus

I've been trying to have fish at least once per week, but it is more expensive than chicken, for sure.

Sprouts, the poor people's Whole Foods where you don't spend a Whole Paycheck, had wild caught Dover Sole on sale. They also had wild caught Pacific Rockfish. I went for the sole. Very quick cooking in the frypan.

Lightly breaded Dover Sole dipped in egg and breadcrumbs 

Velvety Risotto with Crimini mushrooms, onion, white wine, chicken stock, parmigiano reggiano, butter 

Asparagus braised in chicken stock (there was some left from the risotto)

A simple, elegant meal

Give Us Our Daily Bread

[This is a duplicate post from ReluctantRebel]

One thing about not being able to sleep past 2 AM is that I get to make dough.

Rather than lay in bed and contemplate the ceiling or try to rub my sore back (Am I too old to be shoveling snow?) I finally got up, got dressed and went to my office - the kitchen.

Leon had mentioned cinnamon rolls...actually a co-worker of his was asking, so I woke up thinking about cinnamon rolls.

One not so good thing about not having a "recipe" is that when something comes out exceptionally well, you have no way of replicating it exactly.

My cinnamon rolls this morning were quite exceptional. I think I used a teaspoon of yeast in 1/2 cup water and 1/3 cup sugar; let that set for a few minutes, added a teaspoon of salt and a cup of gently warmed milk (2%) a half stick to 2/3 stick of butter, softened and enough flour (?) to make a soft dough. Beat it up, kneaded it gently and let it rise for an hour.

Then I formed the rolls by making a "rope" about 6-8 inches long, dipped each in melted butter and dredged them in cinnamon sugar, formed a spiral and placed them on a baking sheet and into a 375 degree oven for 20+ minutes.

After they cooled just a bit I frosted them with a thick confectioner sugar/water/orange extract mix.

Exceptional!



Then it was on to the bread. Actually I started the bread dough while the cinnamon rolls were rising.

I will say I am getting better every time I make bread. This morning I used 3 1/2 large coffee mugs of water, 2 teaspoons of yeast, a little sugar, salt and I mixed in a cup of whole wheat pastry flour with the King Arthur all purpose.

Those bread snobs who weigh everything: the water, the yeast, the flour. And they calculate the percentages of water to flour to yeast and salt. I have a kitchen scale but I think I would break it if I weighed my ingredients.

Besides, I've watched old Italian women on YouTube make bread in a large trough which probably holds twenty-five pounds of flour.

I think they take turns making bread for the entire neighborhood in one huge wood-fired oven that is prepared ahead and heated to probably over 900 degrees. It holds maybe 30 or more loaves of bread.

I don't have a wood-fired oven, but I heat mine to 475 degrees and place a large roasting pan with about 1/2 inch of water on the bottom of the oven and allow that to heat to steam point.

I brush my loaves with water and sprinkle on sesame seeds (cuz I like the flavor they impart) before taking them to the oven. The bread is done in 20 to 25 minutes.

Exceptional! If I do say so.

Insomnia bread. I beats tossing and turning.