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metaset({"version":"1.0","encoding":"UTF-8","entry":{"xmlns":"http://www.w3.org/2005/Atom","xmlns$blogger":"http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008","xmlns$georss":"http://www.georss.org/georss","xmlns$gd":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005","xmlns$thr":"http://purl.org/syndication/thread/1.0","id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6868804209532062116.post-7963318207590079267"},"published":{"$t":"2015-07-20T01:12:00.001+10:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2015-07-20T01:55:28.797+10:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Dinner"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Greek"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Lamb"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"traveling"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"winter warmers"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Moussaka with Yogurt Béchamel"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-qmwt1CeEQHU\/VarM28wfGII\/AAAAAAAAD1o\/dRCGcbo9OV4\/s1600\/IMG_4266.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Moussaka with Yogurt Béchamel\" border=\"0\" height=\"213\" src=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-qmwt1CeEQHU\/VarM28wfGII\/AAAAAAAAD1o\/dRCGcbo9OV4\/s320\/IMG_4266.JPG\" width=\"320\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003EIt has been six months since I came back from my little adventure around the world but I still could not organize myself to start blogging again. \u0026nbsp; Having a new born baby has been proving to be a 24x7 job and I blame baby Lara for my absence.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis recipe is a little something I learned when I was in Greece. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;Actually, \u0026nbsp;I did my fist experiments with Greek food when I was just about sixteen years old: \u0026nbsp;every year we had this competition at school, we had to choose a country and show many different aspects of its culture such as music, currency, dance and of course, food. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;My role in the team was to research and prepare the traditional dishes. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn 1990 my team's country of choice was Greece and I learned how to make Moussaka with a Greek\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003E\u003C\/div\u003Efriend of my family. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;That was the first time I was doing a Béchamel sauce and it took me a couple of tries, and for my mother despair a lot of mess in the kitchen, to get it right.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cb\u003EBéchamel can be a bit tricky - you have to make sure you whisk the sauce quick and continuous while pouring the milk to prevent it from lumping. \u0026nbsp; Another point of attention is to again whisking it non-stop when adding the egg yolks - failing to do that will result in not-so-nice pieces of omelet floating on your sauce. \u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EToo many years afterwards and I am in Greece in this lovely hostel in Athens, right beside the Parthenon when I meet Stravoula, that worked in the hostel and taught me a little secret about Moussakas - replacing half of the milk used in the Bechamel sauce by Yogurt, in her words, would take my Moussaka to a whole new level! \u0026nbsp; \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAccording to Stravoula a few rules had to be observed for a perfect Moussaka: \u0026nbsp; Meat should come \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv class=\"separator\" style=\"clear: both; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-2yY7-f3cWMI\/VavAsdREvWI\/AAAAAAAAD2I\/kepgYPwYHuo\/s1600\/IMG_3310.JPG\" imageanchor=\"1\" style=\"clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;\"\u003E\u003Cimg border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/4.bp.blogspot.com\/-2yY7-f3cWMI\/VavAsdREvWI\/AAAAAAAAD2I\/kepgYPwYHuo\/s1600\/IMG_3310.JPG\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/div\u003Ewith sauce but not \"swimming in sauce\", \u0026nbsp;just enough to coat the meat nicely and Eggplants should be \"sweat\" and fried well before used. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;A potato layer in the bottom would make it more firm and the vegetables could be roasted with lots of olive oil instead of fried for a healthier version. \u0026nbsp; \u0026nbsp;She would also use some cardamom, dried oregano and a generous pinch of clove and cinnamon for a very aromatic meat sauce.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAlthough you can roast the vegetables instead of shallow frying,\u0026nbsp; I think it misses a lot of taste as\u0026nbsp; my Portuguese blood says there is no such a thing as too much olive oil.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; If you must insist on a \"thinner\"\u0026nbsp; version just drizzle the eggplants with some olive oil and bake them for 30 minutes at 180C (350F) instead of frying them.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe recipe I am sharing with you today is a fusion between the Stravoula's Moussaka and the one I learned in my teenager years.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; In case you are wondering, despite an epic failed Zorba \"Ballet\";\u0026nbsp; in that year, with a little help of my Moussaka and a great deal of team work, we won the competition just like this recipe will most certainly win a place in your kitchen. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EEnjoy! \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003Exox\u003Cbr \/\u003ERachel\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E_____________________________________________________________________________\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EStravoula Moussaka with Yogurt Béchamel\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Ch3\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"font-size: medium; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003EServes: 4\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E\u0026nbsp; | \u0026nbsp;Costs: $\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E$\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E | \u0026nbsp;Difficulty: \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003EHard\u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E | \u0026nbsp;Time: \u003C\/span\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"font-weight: normal;\"\u003E2h \u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv style=\"font-size: medium; font-weight: normal; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003EAuthor: \u003C\/b\u003EStravoula and Moi\u003C\/div\u003E\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Ch2 style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EIngredients\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFor the base\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E3-4 Large eggplants\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1 Large potato sliced\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EOlive oil to shallow fry\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESalt \u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFor the Meat Sauce\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E750g (1.7 lbs) Minced lamb or beef\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1 Large onion chopped\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E2-3 Medium cloves of garlic\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1 Can diced Italian tomatoes with the juice\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E2 Tablespoons tomato paste\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E2 Bay leaves\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1 Teaspoon ground cinnamon\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E2 Green cardamoms, crushed seeds only\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1 Teaspoon oregano \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1\/2 Teaspoon allspice\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1\/4 Teaspoon ground cloves\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E200 ml Dry red wine such as Cabernet\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETwo tablespoons olive oil\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste \u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFor the Béchamel (please check the text to tricky parts if\u0026nbsp; never made it before)\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003E2 Cups lukewarm milk\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1 1\/2 Cups unflavored Greek yogurt\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E100g (3.5 oz) Unsalted butter\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E100g (3.5 oz) Plain flour\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E2 Egg yolks\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E150g Grated Kefalotyri cheese or Parmesan if you can't find it\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003E1\/4 Teaspoon ground nutmeg\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESalt and freshly ground black pepper to taste\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Ch3\u003EInstructions\u003C\/h3\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cb\u003EFor the Base \u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECut the Eggplants in about 1\/2 cm thick slices,\u0026nbsp; discard the stalks\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESprinkle salt all over the eggplant slices and place it in a colander for about half of an hour. \u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe eggplant will \"sweat\" during this time - rinse it with water, squeezing a bit with the palm of your hands to remove the water.\u0026nbsp; Pat them dry.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EZest the potato and cut it in about 1\/2 cm thick slice\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHeat about a finger of olive oil in a frying pan\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EQuickly fry the potato just to give it some color\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EFry the Eggplants slices until nicely colored - you might have to add more olive oil as you go because the Eggplant absolves a lot of the olive oil.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELeave them to dry on paper towel while you prepare the Béchamel sauce\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cb\u003EPreparing the Meat Sauce\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EYou might want to start preparing the meat sauce while the Eggplants are sweating\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EHeat the olive oil over medium heat in large sauce pan\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EFry the onions, bay and garlic until onions are soft and slightly colored \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAdd the mince to the pan and brown the meat until there are no pink spots\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EStir in the Cloves, Cardamom, Oregano, Allspice and Cinnamon and fry it for a couple minutes more\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAdd the tomato paste, stir well\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EStir in the tomatoes in its juice\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EStir in the wine \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAdd a pinch of salt and pepper, bring it to boil, reduce the heat\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELet it simmer for about an hour, til the sauce has reduced a lot, leaving just a nice and moist meat with some sauce\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETry it and add more salt and black pepper to taste \u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003Cb\u003EPreparing the Béchamel\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EVegetables are fried, Meat Sauce is simmering: time to make the Béchamel\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIn a large pan melt the butter over medium heat\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAdd the flour and whisk it quickly to make a paste, let it fry for a couple of minutes, always whisking it.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EStir in the milk, whisking non stop\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EStir in the Yogurt and cook for a couple of minutes, you should have a very thick custard at this point\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ERemove from the heat and add the egg yolks whisking it well and quickly until incorporated\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EStir in the nutmeg\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EStir in 100g of the cheese \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAdd salt and black pepper to taste\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003Cb\u003EAssembling and Baking\u003C\/b\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPre-heat the oven to 200C ( 390F)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ECoat the bottom of a large rectangular baking dish (about 20x30cm) with olive oil\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPlace the potato slices on the bottom of the dish, top it with 1\/3 of the eggplant slices\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPour in half of the meat Sauce and even out with the back of a spoon\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAdd a second layer with 1\/3 of the eggplants and pour in the rest of the meat, evening out the layer with the back of a spoon\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAdd a final layer of eggplants, compress it with the palm of your hands and cover it with the Béchamel sauce\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESprinkle the remaining grated cheese\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EBake it for about 60 minutes until the crust is nicely baked and golden\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWait until it cools down a bit to cut otherwise it falls apart.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003EGarnish with finely chopped parsley and serve with a bottle of Tempranillo.\u003C\/div\u003E\u003Cdiv\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.theuntamedcook.com.au\/feeds\/7963318207590079267\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.theuntamedcook.com.au\/2015\/07\/moussaka-with-yogurt-bechamel.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6868804209532062116\/posts\/default\/7963318207590079267"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/6868804209532062116\/posts\/default\/7963318207590079267"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/www.theuntamedcook.com.au\/2015\/07\/moussaka-with-yogurt-bechamel.html","title":"Moussaka with Yogurt Béchamel"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Rachel Elich"},"uri":{"$t":"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/105782269827755266758"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-w1UFAdIZiv0\/AAAAAAAAAAI\/AAAAAAAABlE\/40IGZ3-HZOw\/s512-c\/photo.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-qmwt1CeEQHU\/VarM28wfGII\/AAAAAAAAD1o\/dRCGcbo9OV4\/s72-c\/IMG_4266.JPG","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}}});