Moussaka

I love Moussaka, it's the eggplant and the way it's able to absorb soooo much olive oil. Having said that, I've been trying to find ways to reduce the amount of olive oil traditionally used to soften up the eggplant, and make a couple of other changes. My made up version of Moussaka has layers of eggplant with a tomato-based meat mixture, a layer of spinach, and a yoghurt/cheese topping. I must admit, I made this while I still had an impaired sense of smell, but the ingredients seemed to make sense, and I'll report Doug's opinion on this. He's actually quite a tough critic as he really doesn't like eggplant (Why?!!), so if I can win him over I think this recipe is a keeper :)
Aah, one last thing, measurements are not exact, I just made it up and flung it all together in the first baking receptacle that came to hand.....I don't think it is too difficult. I followed some of the cooking instructions in "The Olive and the Caper" by Susanna Hoffman. Btw, sorry about the hopeless photos, the light is rather poor in the kitchen and I don't do the best job.

Meat and eggplant layer

350g beef (lamb would be better!)

2 medium onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Passata (or some form of tomatoes)
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp all spice
1-2 tsp dried origano
salt / pepper
(fresh parsely or other herbs stirred in at the end would be nice)

1/4 cup olive oil
4 small to medium eggplants

Spinach layer
300 - 400g spinach leaves
handful of pinenuts
3 tbls ricotta
10 kalamata olives

Yoghurt topping
About 2 cups of yoghurt
50g feta cheese
3 tbls ricotta
1 egg

1. Drain the yoghurt for about an hour if it is very thin. I use a clean cotton hankerchief and sieve over a bowl.
   
2. Preheat oven to 230C (450F). I find these oven temperatures a little hot, but i think my oven runs hot, so I usually turn it down a little.
   
3. Slice the eggplants lengthways about 1/4 inch thick. Smear lightly with olive oil (I use my hands) and place on baking trays with baking paper (not so messy). Bake for 10 minutes, turn, bake for another 10 minutes until wilted and slightly golden. Set aside to cool and turn oven down to 170C (350F).
   
4. Brown the meat and set aside. Next, add soem olive oil to the pan and gently fry the onions until golden and soft (halfway through add the garlic). Add the rest of the 'meat layer' ingredients. Cook for 20 minutes (or up to an hour). I like my mixture to be rather sloppy so th eflavour bubbles through the eggplant, but you can cook it until quite dry if you prefer. Set aside to cool slightly.
5. Wilt the spinach in a large frying pan. It depends on the spinach, but I find I then need to squeeze out a lot of water afterwards. Pit the olives.
   
6. For the topping, combine the yoghurty, crumble the cheese into it, ricotta, and egg. Mix well.
7. Assemble. I start with a layer of eggplant, then the meat, then mor eggplant. I like the flavour to percolate through the eggplant. then the spinach, pinenuts (you cantaost them boeforehand if you like), olives and the 3 tablespoons of ricotta dabbed on the spinach.
8. Final layer of eggplant, then pour the topping on.
9. Bake for 1 hour. The top should look a little bubbly and go a golden colour with darker brown spots.

Doug loved it! It may be that he is just being very diplomatic and doesn't want to upset the cook, but I think he was sincere. The normal recipe would use 1 cup olive oil. I found 1/4 cup sufficient....the eggplant is soft and velvety and there is enough 'richness' in the dish with the meat, topping and ricotta, I think. You could possibly add more feta to the topping, or even better, use kefalotyri cheese.
Anyway, This is a flexible sort of recipe, the main thing is the eggplant, and I think cooking it in the oven really beats standing over a hot stove frying!

The Garden

For those of you who don't know I have a garden...well, a balcony that desperately wants to be a garden.....that I desperately want to be a garden. It has the obligatory space for a row of flower boxes, in which one plants: Geraniums. The rest of the balconey is for sitting on.....this is the accepted practice, in fact, this Summer weather right now is also referred to as 'Balcony weather'. Based on my authorative and extensive study of Swiss culture and traditions, I've come to the conclusion that there are three types of gardening practised in der Schweiz (note the dative preposition with feminine Noun - in der Schweiz....my German is getting a little better :)).

1. Flower boxes. Considering how many people live in apartments, this is not particurly suprising. What is a little disturbing though, is that there is very little variation in what is planted in these boxes....well you can chose the colour - Geraniums. I actually like Geraniums, partly because they really are industructable and I suspect nothing else is going to survive the full-force of the sun that hits the front of my balcony. However, variety is the spice of life!
2. The garden. This belongs to those lucky people who have a house, or the bottom floor of an apartment......but don't assume you can just plant a garden. Quite a few people I know with 'garden space' can only keep pots on the paved area or add flowers to any existing flower beds. Those with an inclination to garden (and permission) usually create the usual green space, filled with flowers, shrubs and small trees. Some of the ornaments are a little, well, interesting. Bright baubles on sticks, fake birds, concrete animals/gnomes and 'artistic' rocks. Vegetables and other edible items are strictly for.......
3. The allotment. I think this is a very familar concept, especially for anyone who has ever lived in Britian, the main differences appear to be that a) I have Buckleys of ever getting one, and b) you don't just grow vegetables there. Most of the allotments I have seen here have their own minature little holiday homes on them, with paths, flagpoles and landscaping of sorts....I feel it's more a lifestyle.
   

Back to my Garden (yes there is some random capitalisation of nouns - I blame learning German). My aim is to grow everything I possibly can on the balcony. I have giant plastic ikea tubs, window boxes and plastic pots. I think I'm doing a little better this year, definetely better than 50% sucess rate :) Some of it may not even have been my fault. We had a very long, cold, wet Spring this year (so depressing!) and I think that accounts for the failure of the sugar snap peas, snowpeas and why the sweetpeas are only now putting forth a few meagre blossoms. The chilli plants are also rather sick, struggling is the word. Also, the base of my flourishing cucumber rotted for no aparent reason. On the other side of the coin, the dill and coriander bolted as soon as the sun came out......it's just wrong! A plant with only 4 leaves should not be allowed to bolt.

My favourite plant is the Grapevine. It's didn't really do anything last year (well it survived Winter!) but this Spring it burst into leafy foliage....and then, tiny bunches of grapes! The bunches are still there and the individual grapes are getting bigger, I'm so excited. There are 11 bunches, it's amazing. However, I'm feeling some stirrings of unease as some of the leaves are turning very pale and yellow. The problem is (and this is common to many plants in my Garden) it could be a case of under watering or over watering....I can't tell. The sage is also sporting a few yellow leaves. Expert comments are welcome!

The Balcony is a bit of a mess right now (well, there is room for sitting) as I'm still planting and potting like mad while the sunshine lasts. I have high hopes for the beans, cucumber, tomatoes (some of them) zuchinni and herbs. Just to be pedantic, here is a list: sage, parsely (flat and curley), dill, basil (3 types) oregano (2 types) tarragon, coriander, mint (3 types), thyme (2 types). rosemary, and spring onions. Not all of these are 'harvestable' as such, some have bolted, but they at least made an appearance. I just planted some more radishes, rocket, salad leaves, and purslane.

There is also a very thorney (but lovely) bush rose called 'Ingrid Bergman' which produces the most glorious roses - some of them have double centres which I've never seen before.....maybe I have a mutant rose?

Oh, and 1 small box of Geraniums! When in Rome and all that.