This week's Produce Box contains:
- 1 Personal Watermelon
- 1 qt. Peaches
- 1 pint blueberries
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Butternut Squash
- Dixie Lee Peas (shelled)
- Pickler Cucumbers
I also ordered an add on of 4 ears of corn.
Smoothies and baked goodies as well as snacking will use up our watermelon, peaches and blueberries.
Wednesday, July 13- Tonight I will try my hand at homemade
Moussaka. I will take the recipe's advice and make the meat filling earlier in the day. I will assemble everything but the bechamel in the late afternoon. Then shortly before baking it I will make the bechamel sauce to pour on top and then bake.
Moussaka- reprinted from Simply Recipes
Meat sauce
- 2 pounds ground lamb or beef
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 chopped onion
- 4 chopped garlic cloves
- 1 teaspoon allspice
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- 2 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup red wine
- Zest of a lemon
- 2 Tbsp or more of lemon juice
- Salt to taste
Bechamel sauce
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 4 cups whole milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
The moussaka
- 3 large globe eggplants
- 1/2 cup salt
- 8 cups water
- 2-3 Yukon gold or other yellow potatoes
- 1 cup grated mizithra cheese (or pecorino or Parmesan)
- Olive oil
Prepare the meat sauce
1 Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat and brown the ground meat. By the way, the meat will brown best if you don't stir it. Add the onions about halfway into the browning process. Sprinkle salt over the meat and onions.
2 Once the meat is browned and the onions have softened, add the garlic, allspice, cinnamon, black pepper, oregano and tomato paste. Mix well and cook for 2-3 minutes.
3 Add the red wine and mix well. Bring the sauce to a simmer, reduce the heat and continue to simmer gently, uncovered for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat. Taste for salt and add more if needed. Add the lemon zest and the lemon juice. Mix well and taste. If the sauce needs more acidity, add more lemon juice.
Set the sauce aside.
Prepare the potatoes and eggplants
4 Mix the 1/2 cup salt with the 8 cups of water in a large pot or container. This will be the brine for the eggplants.
5 Slice the top and bottom off the eggplants. Cut thick strips of the skin off the eggplants to give them a striped appearance. A little skin on the eggplant is good for texture, but leaving it all on makes the moussaka hard to cut later, and can add bitterness, which you don’t want. (Some moussaka recipes leave the skin on and have you slice the eggplants lengthwise, which is an option if you prefer.) Slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch rounds and drop them into the brine.
6 Let the eggplants sit in the brine 15-20 minutes, then remove them to a series of paper towels to dry. Place a paper towel down on the counter, layer some eggplant on it, then cover with another sheet of paper towel and repeat.
7 As the eggplants are brining, peel and slice the
potatoes into 1/4 inch rounds. Boil them in salted water for 5-8 minutes – you want them undercooked, but no longer crunchy. Drain and set aside.
8 To cook the eggplant, broil or grill the rounds. You could also fry the eggplant rounds but they tend to absorb a lot of oil that way. To grill the eggplant rounds, get a grill very hot and close the lid. Paint one side of the eggplant rounds with olive oil and grill 2-3 minutes. When they are done on one side, paint the other side with oil and flip. When the eggplants are nicely grilled, set aside. To broil, line a broiling pan or roasting pan with aluminum foil. Paint with olive oil. Place the eggplant rounds on the foil and brush with olive oil. Broil for 3-4 minutes until lightly browned on one side, then flip them over and broil for a few minutes more. Set aside.
Prepare the béchamel
9 Heat milk in a pot on medium heat until steamy (about 160 degrees). Do not let simmer.
10 Heat the butter in a small pot over medium heat. When the butter has completely melted, slowly whisk in the flour. Let this roux simmer over medium-low heat for a few minutes. Do not let it get too dark.
11 Little by little, pour in the steamy milk, stirring constantly. It will set up and thicken dramatically at first, but keep adding milk and stirring, the sauce will loosen. Return the heat to medium. Add about a teaspoon of salt and the nutmeg. Stir well.
12 Put the egg yolks in a bowl and whisk to combine. Temper the eggs so they don’t scramble when you put them into the sauce. Using two hands, one with a whisk, the other with a ladle, slowly pour in a couple ladle’s worth of the hot béchamel into the eggs, whisking all the time. Slowly pour the egg mixture back into the béchamel while whisking the mixture. Keep the sauce on very low heat, do not let simmer or boil.
Finish the moussaka
13 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Layer a casserole with the potatoes, overlapping slightly. Top the layer of potatoes with a layer of eggplant slices (use just half of the slices).
14 Cover the eggplant slices with the meat sauce. Then layer remaining eggplant slices on top of the meat.
15 Sprinkle half the cheese on top. Ladle the béchamel over everything in an even layer. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top.
16 Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until the top is nicely browned.
Let the moussaka cool for at least 15 minutes before serving.
Yield: Serves 8.
Thursday, July 14- Dixie Lee Peas and Rice with BBQ Chicken will be dinner tonight.
Dixie Lee Peas and Rice
- 3 or 4 strips lean bacon, diced
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper, diced
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 2 cups fresh Dixie Lee peas
- 1/2 cup uncooked, white, long-grain rice
- 2 cups water (or half chicken broth and half water)
- Salt and black pepper, to taste
In a deep pot, saute bacon 2 or 3 minutes. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic. Continue cooking until vegetables soften slightly and bacon is crisp. Stir peas into the pot; pour in water. Reduce heat to low. Add rice. Cover and simmer 20 minutes or until the rice is done. Remove from heat and let the pan sit with the lid on 5 minutes. Toss mixture lightly. Season with salt and pepper.
Friday, July 15-I will use my butternut squash to make my Butternut Squash Casserole. I will also grill some pork chops and serve it along with the corn on the cob.
Butternut Squash Casserole- from Williams-Sonoma
Casserole:
4 cups butternut squash puree
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp orange extract
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
3 large eggs
4 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
Topping:
1 cup vanilla wafers, crushed
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup brown sugar
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Lightly grease a casserole dish (4 - 6 cup capacity).
2. Combine squash puree, sugar, milk, vanilla, orange extract, salt, flour, eggs and melted butter. Pour into the prepared casserole dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until set.
3. Meanwhile, make the topping. In a medium bowl, combine crushed vanilla wafers, melted butter and the brown sugar. Sprinkle over top of the cooked casserole and return to the oven to brown for an additional 10-15 minutes. Serve warm.
Saturday, July 16- Tonight we are going to a BBQ at a friend's home. No cooking tonight!
Sunday, July 17- I will make my Southern Green Beans with a grilled steak and Garlic Red Potatoes.
Southern Green Beans
4 slices bacon
1 large onion sliced
4 cans green beans
salt and black pepper
Fry bacon, remove bacon before it becomes crispy.
In bacon fat fry onion until tender.
Pour 4 cans of green beans into pot. If more water is needed add until green beans are covered.
Season with salt and pepper.
Add bacon.
Bring to boil then let Simmer for about 30-45 minutes. (add water as necessary)
Garlic Red Potatoes
2 lbs. red potatoes quartered
1/4 cup butter melted
3 cloved of garlic minced
dash of salt, basil and Tastfully Simple's Onion Onion
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven 350
Place potatoes in shallow baking dish
In a small bowl mix butter, garlic and spices. Pour over potatoes and toss to coat.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over potatoes.
Bake covered 30 minutes. Uncover and continue baking an additional 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Monday, July 18- We still haven't had the fish I have been wanting to make. As long as the market has something on sale, it's fish tonight! Will re-post with the actual meal later in the week.
Tuesday, July 19- If I have leftovers, it will be a leftover night to make room for my next Produce Box!
