The Sugar Bar

Ever since I got back on track with my foodblog and relaunched this baby through WordPress and onto my own domain, I believe I’ve been ‘guarded’ by a select few guardian angels. I’ve been pampered, encouraged and guided by some special food bloggers and it’s really great to have this support group and also fantastic food talents out there. It makes sourcing for recipes so much easier too and I’m so very pleased. (Also, it actually feels as though I’ve got a few virtual mummies/and daddies out there with their special recipes and nice words) Before I get more emotional about it (jokes) or forget to say what I have to say now: would simply like to thank all that have been regularly commenting, giving me tips and encouragement especially when I messed up. I feel like childishly putting up a Victory V-sign now, but I shall restrain myself and formally express my gratitude here. Cheers guys, really much appreciated.

Also, big thank you to Farida! I got your magazine through the post this morning and that lovely fancy pants card. Awesome, made my day. Can’t believe how packed the magazine is with these fascinating articles. Especially like the one on the origins of the mulberry tree. Yipee yiyay. [AND. I did check out your blog, thank you for the award! I will post about that very soon]

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I have stayed true to the original 3-layered Greek Moussaka as best as I can but the turkey mince I’ve been saving in the freezer for turkey bacon burgers won’t resign itself to be simply that – a burger. Hence, lamb mince has been substituted with turkey mince which is lighter and undoubtedly still good for you. Of course, moussaka (or musaka depending on whether you’re doing this the Greek or Arabic way) is made with a red meat but I love turkey and I haven’t done anything with turkey in it for ages so I believe I’m forgiven!

Moussaka is a kind of cooked salad. It’s pretty similar to a casserole or the English cottage/shepherd’s pie in that you have all the cooked filling placed in an oven-proof dish topped with, in this case a cheese sauce, mashed potato before placing it in the oven for the topping to turn a nice brown. What makes a moussaka a moussaka, however, is the aubergine (or eggplant) base and that lovely cheese sauce that goes on top. Indeed, cheese is queen. Being the dominatrix that she is, the cheese sauce reigns supreme as the top layer of a moussaka. In addition to a traditional moussaka recipe, I’m throwing in some red peppers – all of which in addition to aubergines, tomatoes and a touch of basil are characteristic of the Mediterranean.

This turned out a little too wet despite the salting preparation on the aubergines. I think there was a tad too much liquid in my chopped tomatoes. Overall, the flavours were good and the cheese sauce was quite amazing. Will definitely do this again, especially when there are friends around to enjoy it with me.

Turkey & Roasted Peppers Moussaka
Ingredients

300g free range turkey mince
1/4 of a medium red onion, chopped
1 large red pepper
1 large aubergine
4 large leaves of fresh basil, bruised or roughly chopped
1 can chopped tomatoes
2 tbs sun dried tomatoes pesto
salt and pepper for seasoning
olive oil, for frying
For the cheese sauce:
250g ricotta
275ml milk
nearly 1/4 cup flour
25g butter
1 egg
parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat 175d Celsius.
Drizzle some oil onto the chopped red peppers and place in oven to roast about 20min.
Slice the aubergine into about 1/2 inch thickness. Salt them and place on a plate. These slices will start to sweat and you’ll want to pat them dry with a kitchen towel. It’s good to get away all the juices as you don’t want the moussaka to get too wet. You can either roast these or fry them in some olive oil. I’ve done the latter so it’s quicker. After it’s cooked, layer out neatly onto the base of a casserole dish and place in the oven to keep warm.

Next, heat some oil in a large frying pan. Fry the onions and then add the turkey mine. When most of the pinkness is gone, add the chopped tomatoes, pesto and fresh basil. Simmer for a little. Season to taste. Remove peppers from oven and layer onto the aubergines in the other casserole dish. Then pour the turkey mince onto that as another layer. Grate parmesan cheese onto the top.
Turn oven heat to 180d Celsius. Cover casserole dish with foil and keep warm in lowest shelf of oven.

For the cheese sauce:
In a saucepan on medium heat, whisk together milk, flour and butter with a balloon whisk till glossy smooth. Simmer for a little on a small heat about 5min. Remove from heat to let cool. Then, whisk in the egg and ricotta.
Layer onto the turkey, smooth flat with back of a spoon. Grate some parmesan on the top.
This goes back into the oven for 40min then it’s ready to be served!