Moussaka

The winter tends to bring on a rash of meat-heavy meals: sausage, meatballs, sausage, bacon. In some ways (for me) this is a paradise, but the old adage "too much can be a bad thing" (or whatever the hell it is) proves true even for a meat-lover like myself. That being said, this particular meal still has meat in it. But I believe Moussaka is traditionally a non-meat dish, and with these good intentions I have gained momentum towards a slightly less meat-full diet.

Perhaps I am also dreaming of Grecian isles during these winter months; a nostalgic dream of those years when debt figures were still being bluffed. Perhaps even farther back, when people still believed that a fleshy god was living just beyond the clouds and impregnating gorgeous virgins on earth. 

Ah, those were the days. 

Really my only knowledge of Greece comes from the film Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. In this film, we do not see Rorie Gilmore eating anything because she is too busy bathing her nubile young body in the Aegean Sea and flirting with a beautiful fish monger. From my perspective, if she wasn't stuffing her face with fish and cheese and motherfuckin' spanikopita all the time, bitch is crazy.

This recipe comes from Gordon Ramsay's World Kitchen....or GORDON RAMSAY'S WORLD KITCHEN, as I believe he would probably be shouting his title. This MOUSSAKA is therefore Ramsayed up, meaning that it's maybe a little more fancy, a little more British (is he British?), and a little more mean than traditional fare. 

I probably shouldn't make too many assumptions about Ramsay; my only experience watching any of his programs was on Master Chef, the Fox program. I only watched that because my old choral conductor from high school made it to second place (WAY TO GO SHEETAL!), and really I only watched the portions when she was on, so I didn't get a real flavor of just how much of a jerk Ramsay can be. I just hear he has a reputation. 

What I do know is he makes a mean Moussaka (good mean) and he takes WAY better pictures of food than me. 

I have to apologize for these pictures, they are an outright disaster. But here is what is going on everybody. We have this thing called "track lighting," basically code for "lightbulbs that are outrageously expensive and aren't carried in any stores and which you will never be able to get out of the light sockets."

We spent a hefty portion of our cooking time attempting to dislodge these suckers from the "tracks" which enslaved them (see photo below of Luke's skills with tools) and then found we couldn't replace them anyway because NOBODY HAS THESE LIGHTS. NO ONE. So you must suffer the pains of dim lighting on top of my sad abilities with the iPhone camera.

Moussaka

(from Gordon Ramsay's World Kitchen)

3-4 tbs oliv oil

3 large onions

4 garlic cloves

2 lb ground lamb

s and p

3/4 cup red wine

4 tbs tomato paste

2 14-oz cans chopped plum tomatos

2 cinnamon sticks

1/2 tsp allspice

handfull oregano

2 large eggplants

Cheese sauce:

1/3 cup butter

1/2 cup AP flour

2 1/2 cups whole milk

5 oz cheddar

2 medium eggs

Heat the oliv oil in a skillet, add minced onions and garlic and brown. increase heat and add lamb, brown it. Pour in wine and let it bubble until it has almost evaporated, then add tomatoes, paste, cinnamon, allspice, and oregano. Simmer for 30-35 minutes. 

Cut eggplants into thick slices, brush with olive oil and season with s and p. Heat a skillet on high and then brown both sides of the eggplants in rounds, and put aside. 

Preheat oven to 400 deg. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add flour and make a roux. lower heat and add milk while whisking. simmer gently for 10 minutes, then stir in the cheese and seasoning. Remove from the heat, let cool and then add whisked eggs. 

Take the cinnamon sticks out of the sauce, and then layer eggplant, tomato sauce and cheese sauce in three layers in a casserole dish. Bake for 35-40 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before SCARFING DOWN.