individual moussaka

greek food is hit or miss for me. i am particularly partial to moussaka because it reminds me of lasagna. i kept it real simple, made it in individual ramekins and topped with a bechamele sauce.



Moussaka

thinly slice up an eggplant (i used a chinese eggplant)
1/2 stick of butter
1/4 cup of flour
1/2 cup of milk (i used buttermilk because that's what i had)
tomato/spaghettie sauce (i had some leftover with meat)



for the bechamele sauce, i melted the butter in a sauce pan, added the flour and stirred till incorporated. add the milk (or buttermilk) and stir till thickened. salt and pepper to taste.

assemble in layers, first with the eggplant, the tomato sauce and then another layer of eggplant. top it all off with the bechamele sauce. if i had had bread crumbs available, i would've added that to the top but i didn't, so i sprinkled some oats. bake in preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes.



watch that growing ass and stay warm!

my take on a My Thai appetizer

i remember as a child thinking it was rather normal for peter or my mother to go out to the garage and do the frying out there. the times that they had to do quick stir fries in the house, it was also very normal for one of them to yell out for me to haul ass upstairs to shut all the bedroom doors to keep the food fumes out. i found myself doing the same thing today. the hauling ass to shut all the bedroom doors. also, this month's challenge taught me a lesson. it taught me that i am not a fryer. the splatter of the oil and working fast bit, not fun. however, the end product was worth it.

my thai is a thai/sushi restaurant in mt. vernon. i've been there a number of times. and each time i've had their Crispy Green Beans. sometimes i think about it. i think about how crispy and hot that first bite is. i also think about the fact that the green beans are always still green and moist on the inside, but the outter layer is golden brown. and from the moment i tasted this appetizer i knew i had to re-create it.

and that is why i made it this month's theme.

My My Thai Crispy Green Beans
green beans, probably 1/2 lb
tempura batter, follow package instructions
oil for deep frying
2 tbls oyster sauce
1/2 tsp garlic chili

deep fry the green beans til golden brown, it's ok if they stick together. be sure to place on towels to drain excess oil. (i kept it warm in the oven while i finished off the batch.) once all fried up and dried up, place in serving dish, drizzle with the oyster sauce and chili. how simple is that? how incredibly awful for your hips is that???

with a dish like this, doorknobbin is a tad bit more challenging but i'm totally up for it! :)

Happy Doorknobbin' Hookers!

Sizzlin' in August

Matt and I love to grill during the warmer months so I was pretty excited when this challenge was announced. We have a charcoal grill so things usually take a little longer for us. That's ok though. It gives us time to chill outside, drink cold beer and watch Elvis chase the birds.

I originally started out doing Steak Quesadillas with an avocado salsa. What I ended up with was a very large steak burrito instead.

First things first: light the grill. Apparently I got the wrong kind of charcoal so it took Matt a sec to get it going, but he succeeded.

Actually lighting the grill was second. I started out by marinating a big steak. I got a large plastic bag and filled it with the following: lime juice, cayenne pepper, garlic chunks, cumin, and chili powder. I covered the steak well in those ingredients and let it sit for about 2 hours. While it marinated I made the av-tomato salsa.

I simply cut up a few roma tomatoes and a large avocado (maybe two i can't remember). i mixed in fresh cilantro, garlic, lime juice, s&p. fresh and delish. (good job on yours lan!!)

Next came the veggies. I cut up onion and green pepper, made a tin foil pouch to place them in, added s&p, a little EVOO, and set them on the grill to cook until tender.

Time for the steak to hit the heat:

And now for the tortillas.....they don't need to be on the grill for too long. Just long enough to get a few char marks and get toasty.

I sliced the steak into long strips and we piled the meat, veggies, sour cream, and salsa into our tortillas. I really enjoyed this dish. Matt REALLY enjoyed the dish. In his opinion the marinade made all the difference in the world...it had a nice heat w/out being too hot to eat. It was extremely tender as well.
Until next time, fellow doorknobs, keep those buns and oven hot!