Mandy’s Moussaka

Two quick notes:  Firstly if you saw this last week, sorry about that – little gremlins crept into the works but I have managed to sort them out and secondly, my apologies if I have not made comment on your posts the last couple of days, things have been a touch on the busy side plus we made a quick trip away.  I will be back soon. 😀

You may wonder why I call this Mandy’s Moussaka.  Quite simply it’s not authentic and I would not want to insult any genuine Moussaka making Greek so rather played it safe.  Authentic or not, its scrumity.  We enjoyed this for dinner the evening Pete and my Mom drove down from Johannesburg.  Both Pete and Mom did say though that adding potato like with a traditional Moussaka would be nice.

Ingredints

500g lamb mince
500g beef mince
2 onions sliced
½ tsp dried thyme
1 tsp corriander seed – ground in a pestle and mortar
½ cup red wine
½ cup beef stock
410g tin tomatoes
2 carrots scraped and grated
Salt and black pepper to taste
5 medium brinjal (eggplant / aubergine) sliced ¼ inch thick length ways
1½ cups cheddar cheese grated

Thick Bechamel Sauce

100g butter
100g flour
4 cups milk
Salt and white pepper to taste
1 egg

Method

1. Fry both the lamb and beef mince until browned.
2. Add the onions and fry until softened.
3. Add the thyme, coriander, wine, stock and tomatoes and allow to simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add the carrots and simmer until the liquid has reduced by half and thickened slightly.
5. Fry the brinjal in batches in a little grapeseed oil until tender, drain on paper towel and set aside.
6. In the meanwhile melt the butter and sir in the flour.
7. Whisk in the milk and continue stirring until thickened and boiling.
8. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the egg.
9. Assemble the Moussaka by layering the mince and brinjals finishing with a layer of bechamel.
10. Sprinkle the cheese over the top and bake at 180 °C for 45 minutes.