Big fat greek

Hi guys

No, I'm not Greek, but the big, fat part is still true, well, at least we're working on that and today's recipe is decidedly Greek.  Very Dukan, but Greek.

Today marked the start of my third week with my personal trainer, honestly, I get so tired that I hardly feel like I've made any progress during the workout.  But it is in the minutes/hours AFTER the workout that I can feel the HUGE amount of progress I've made.  Honestly, my expectations of what I want to achieve in the two months with a trainer are a little ridiculous, but hey - aiming for the stars and reaching the moon ain't half bad in my book.

A thought crossed my mind last week while standing in the line at Woolies, waiting to pay for some of their delectable charcuterie (our Vday treat), I was being assaulted from all angles by the sight of sweets and chocolates and all manner of evil stuff - you know how those ass holes line the yellow brick road to the till...
I thought to myself - I'm running the gauntlet.   And by keeping my head low and keeping my eye on the prize (the till in this case) NOTHING can stop me, I am an invincible warrior running towards my goal!!

About the Greek part - my cooking repertoire is very reliant on a very versatile Italian type mince ragout.  Today I decided to switch things up a little, inspired by some beautiful Asian eggplant I bought from a market on Sunday.

Can you guess??

Moussaka

• 1kg of VERY lean mince (I use venison)
• 2 sliced onions
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons of dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons of dried oregano
• 2 tins of copped tomatoes (liquidised)
• 3 eggplants, sliced about 1 cm thick
• 500 ml skim milk
• 2 tablespoons of cornstarch
• salt and pepper to season
• a tablespoon of Parmesan (I grate it with a microplane, so it's not even 3 grams)

Season and bake the eggplant on a baking tray sprayed with non-stick spray at 180 degrees Celsius for about 30 minutes.

Brown the onion, add the garlic and mince and brown.  Stir in the nutmeg, cinnamon, herbs and tomatoes and cook for about 20 minutes.  Season to taste with salt and pepper

 

Temper two eggs with some of the warm mince and mix into the mince mixture.

 

Now bring the milk to the boil and use two tablespoons of the milk to mix in the cornstarch and pour back into the milk.  Season with salt and pepper and a pinch of nutmeg.  Bring to the boil until thickened.

 

Place the eggplant in the bottom of an oven proof dish, pour the mince on top, white sauce goes on top of that and finally the Parmesan (again, I grated very finely, used like 3 grams, just to get the sauce to brown)  Now bake at 180 degrees Celsius for about 40 minutes.

 

Enjoy! And break a plate if you must!

 

God bless

Janie B