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.

Warm winter wonder Part 2

Inspired by some fresh produce from the local farmers market - very ripe tomatoes, aromatic basil and garlic - this was either going to be a rich tomato sauce for pasta or tomato soup.  In the end the weather helped make the decision.  So on a cold (well for Queensland anyway), rainy winter's day, it was time to make some warming soup.  This Tomato Bisque is simple,  delicious and takes very little time.  It certainly warmed me up for lunch today.

Tomato Bisque (serves 6 - 8)

1kg vine ripened tomatoes
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
50g unsalted butter
1 Spanish onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 fresh bay leaf
2 basil stalks (leaves and stalks)
1 cup (250mL) dry sherry
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
300mL tomato water (the water the tomatoes were blanched in, plus skins and seeds)
300mL cream

1. Score base of tomatoes and blanch in boiling water, till skin starts to split and peel away - about a minute.  Remove, drain and peel tomatoes.  Cut each tomato in half and de-seed.  Reserve the seeds and juice.  Chop tomatoes roughly.  (I usually peel and de-seed the tomatoes into the saucepan lid, then you can easily tip them into a sieve to drain the juice off.  Add water from the pot you blanched the tomatoes in, to the drained tomato juice to make up the 300mL 'tomato water', which you add to the soup later on. Then discard the seeds and skin.)
2. Heat a large saucepan, add olive oil and butter.  Lightly fry onions, garlic, bay leaf and basil stalks.
3. Once the onions are translucent pour in the sherry and allow to boil.
4. Add sugar, salt, pepper and chopped tomatoes.  Stir to combine, then pour in the tomato water (the juice from the drained skins and seeds, topped up with water from the blanching pan), bring to the boil.
5. Allow to cool slightly, remove the bay leaf (leave the basil in) and blend in batches until smooth.  (The soup could be chilled and frozen at this point.)
6. Return to saucepan add cream, stir, bring to boil.
7. Serve with crusty bread and a sprig of basil on top.