E is obviously for Eggplant

'E' was a hard letter to come up with ideas. Apart from the obvious: eggs, eggplant, elderberry. Yes, elderberry was one of the first ingredients to come to mind. I liked the idea of something eggplanty and had a few ideas. Moussaka was the idea that kept coming back to mind and it was easy to do for a Wednesday night. Another influencing factor on tonight's dinner was the result of a cholesterol check. OK, I need to bring it down, I know. And I hear you saying Moussaka is not going to help out with that. Well, I just happen to own a book that is entitled 'OMG!!! I can eat that?' by Jane Kennedy. 'So here is a ripping non-boombah version of moussaka. You know, that delicious, fragrant, cheesy, white-saucey almost national dish of Greece? Well, this version has less fat and lower calories than the traditional one!!!' - Jane Kennedy

3 long thin eggplants, cut lengthways
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
3 tbs olive oil
500g lamb mince
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup white wine - (I put a bit more in)
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground cumin
pinch cayenne pepper
1 cup tomato passata
1 bay leaf

Bechamel Sauce
300g Greek yoghurt
2 eggs
pinch of nutmeg
sea salt and pepper
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
30g feta cheese

Preheat oven to 180C. Place the eggplant on a lined tray. Sprinkle with salt and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 20 minute Take out of oven and keeping the eggplant on the baking paper, slide off the tray and set aside.
Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in a non stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the mince and lightly brown. Remove from the pan and set aside.
Pour off liquid and using the same pan, add 1 tbs of oil. Add the onion and cook until translucent. Add the garlic, carrot and 1 tbs of water and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the wine and let it sizzle, then add the lamb mince and all the spices, Stir through. Add the tomato passata and bay leaf.
Turn the heat down to simmer, pop the lid on and cook for about 30 minutes. stirring occasionally. Take off the lid and cook for a further 10 minutes and let some of the liquid evaporate,
Line a large ovenproof baking dish with some slices of the eggplant. Top with a layer of the meat mixture. Add another layer of the eggplant and then the rest of the meat.
To make the bechamel sauce, combine the yoghurt and the eggs, add the nutmeg and the S&P. Pour the mixture over the meat and sprinkle with the parmesan and feta.
Bake for 35 minutes, or until golden  brown and the cheese sauce is bubbling.

Now for dessert. I know this definitely is not good for the cholesterol, but 'E' is such a hard letter to find anything, except for Eton's Mess. YUMMO!!
For those that don't know, Eton's Mess is fruit in layers of cream and meringue. I chose strawberries and raspberries. I made the meringues early in the afternoon to make sure they had enough time to dry out. These were definitely the best meringues i have made. I made a nice strawberry sauce by processing some strawberries and lemon juice with some caster sugar to balance the flavour. Play around with it and with different fruit combinations and see what kind of mess you can come up with.