Polenta Squares with Sasuage, Mushroom and Squash Sauce

This is my first attempt making polenta from scratch. I have used premade polenta a handfull of times served with a variety of pasta sauces. I made 1 1/2 the recipe on the back of the Bob's Red Mill Polenta Bag also on their website:

9 cups water
2 t. sea salt
3 c. Corn Grits/Polenta
4 1/2 T. butter
1 c. grated parmesean

After doubling the recipe, I poured the polenta into a greased 9 X 13 pyrex to set.

Pasta Sauce

1 28 oz can of crused tomatos with puree
1 white onion finely diced
4 cloves of garlic
1 lb. of Italian Turkey Sausage
8 oz. package of crimini mushrooms chopped
2 grated zucchini
2 grated yellow, summer squash
2 T of Italian Seasoning
1/2 c. of grated parmasean

Saute onion, garlic and mushroom in a little olive oil. Add sasuage, add tomatos and Italian Seasoning. Simmer to reduce any liquid. Add grated squash at the end to blanch and cheese right before serving.

Serve on top of polenta squares. YUM!

Dinner From Staples

What do you do when its time to food shop and its dinner time? Make dinner from saples on hand. Tonight's dinner was a salmon pasta thrown together with my random assortment of on-hand staples from the freezer and cupboard.

1 lb. Bowtie Pasta
2 cans of wild salmon
1 bag of frozen, organic peas
1/2 a pint of baby, cherry tomatoes
garlic
olive oil
Italian Seasoning
Parmasean Cheese

Cook Pasta, drain in collendar with canned salmon and frozen peas waiting to be heated. Warm up chopped garlic in pasta pot with oil and tomatoes. Add pasta, peas and salmon. Add herbs and cheese. Dinner for the family, plus left overs for the next day.

Moussaka...Not Moose Caca

Today I stepped out to make this traditional Greek Dish and managed to cut out a lot of fat. The kids inhaled it! I'm so happy they love lamb, but ground beef would do just fine for those who have an aversion to "gamey" meat.


2 pounds aubergines {eggplant} (large and elongated variety) shopping list
½ Cup vegetable oil shopping list
1 large onion, finely sliced shopping list
1 pound minced lamb shopping list
1 glass white wine (not retsina, but aretsinoto) shopping list (I used the Cab I had on hand)
1 pound fresh plum tomatoes, shopping list
Teaspoon ground cinnamon shopping list
Teaspoon ground allspice shopping list
salt and black pepper shopping list
1 teaspoon oregano shopping list
1 oz. grated parmesan, kefalotiri, or gruyere cheese shopping list
Some chopped parsley shopping list
Béchamel Sauce shopping list
3 oz. butter shopping list
¾ Cup flour shopping list
2 ½ C warm milk shopping list (I used 2 cups of lowfat and 1/2 cup of half-and-half)
salt and white pepper shopping list
1 oz. grated Parmesan or gruyere cheese shopping list (the gruyere was great!)
2 egg yolks shopping list
topping shopping list
2 Oz gr. grated Parmesan, gruyere or kefalotiri cheese shopping list
4 tablespoons toasted breadcrumbs shopping list (I skipped these)
See my other notes below...

How to make it
Use a roasting container, either square or oblong, approximately 9 ½ x 13. It is recommended that you spread the work involved over two days for your convenience; one can easily cook the meat the day before, without the Moussaka suffering at all. Do not do the same with the aubergines; they should be fried on the day.

Aubergines:
Top and tail the aubergines, without peeling them. Rinse them, cut them lengthways in ¼ inch thick slices and immerse them in salted water, for 30 minutes. Take them out, squeeze gently, rinse, and then squeeze them again. Drain them in a colander and pat dry. Fry them in hot vegetable oil until they become pale golden on both sides; you can either deep-fry them, which is easier but they absorb a lot of oil, or shallow-fry them. In either case, drain them on absorbent paper on a flat platter before serving, so that most of their oil will dribble away.

Note: I sprayed mine with cooking oil and baked them on a parchment lined cookie sheet at 425 until each side was golden brown.

Lamb:
Sautee the sliced onion in 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, until it looks glistening. Add the meat and sauté together, stirring, until all the lumps are broken down and the meat starts to change color. Pour in the wine, add tomatoes, sliced finely, the spices, salt and pepper and the oregano. Cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring from time to time in case it sticks. Then mix in the grated cheese and parsley.

Béchamel Sauce:
Melt the butter and, away from the heat, gradually add the flour and stir to mix. Return to the heat and gradually add the milk and seasoning, stirring continuously. Simmer for 9-10 minutes, stirring, until it has thickened considerably. Withdraw the pan from the heat, let it stand briefly, and then add the cheese and the egg yolks. Stir to blend them. Do not let the sauce boil after this. It should by now be a thick béchamel, to enable it to sit on top of the meat mixture and form a kind of crust.

To assemble:
Cover the base of the roasting dish with half of the fried aubergines, then spread half of the meat mixture evenly on top of them and cover neatly with the remaining aubergines. Spread the remaining meat and sauce evenly over the top and cover neatly with the béchamel sauce. Sprinkle the grated cheese all over the top, and the breadcrumbs. Moussaka from Macedonia may contain a layer of thinly sliced round potatoes which have been fried first. Bake in a pre-heated oven, 350 F for 1 hour, until a golden crust is formed all over the top. Let it stand for 5 minutes before serving, in order to be able to cut it more easily. To serve, cut into square or oblong-shaped pieces, about 3 inches thick. It should be quite dry by then and the pieces should ideally stay intact.

Note: I sliced 5 yellow potatos with the mandilin slicer, and browned them as I did with the eggplant. This was my 3rd layer. First was the eggplant, then the meat sauce, potato and then creamy bechamel. YUM!

Green Tomatillo Enchilladas

This is my first great find, Tomatillo Enchilladas from Williams-Sonoma Website. I am bored with the old Las Palmas Enchillada Sauce packed with sodium, oil and crap. My search began with finding a good basic enchillada sauce recipe. Still looking for a great red sauce.

Salud! Thanks W-S!

2 lb. chicken breasts (I cooked a whole chicken in the crock pot with S&P)
1/4 white onion
1 garlic head, halved crosswise
1 Tbs. sea salt
For the sauce:
3 lb. tomatillos, husked and rinsed
9 serrano chilies (I used 4)
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup safflower or canola oil
1 Tbs. sea salt, or to taste
For the enchiladas:
1/3 cup safflower or canola oil
18 thin corn tortillas (mine made 20)
1 cup crema or crème fraîche (I used sour cream)
1 white onion, thinly sliced (I marinated these in apple cider vinegar thanks to Rick Bayless's tip)
1 cup crumbled queso fresco
Directions:
To prepare the chicken, place in a saucepan with the onion, garlic and salt and add water to cover. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce the heat to medium, cover and simmer until the chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool and lift out the chicken, saving the broth for another use. (The chicken can be wrapped and refrigerated for up to 1 day before continuing.) Discard the skin and bones and shred the meat with your fingers. You should have 4 cups chicken. To make the sauce, in a saucepan, combine the tomatillos and chilies with water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat and cook until tender, 10 to 15 minutes. If some of the tomatillos remain firm, the pan should still be removed from the heat. Drain and, working in batches, place the tomatillos and chilies in a blender along with the garlic. Process until a smooth sauce forms. In a fry pan over medium-high heat, warm the oil until it is smoking. Quickly add the tomatillo sauce and fry, stirring constantly, until the sauce begins to bubble. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the sauce starts to thicken, 5 minutes more. Add the 1 Tbs. salt; taste and add more salt, if needed. Keep warm. When the sauce is combined with the tortillas and chicken, the taste of salt will be quite diminished; it should be highly seasoned at this point. You should have 3 cups of sauce. If needed, add some of the chicken broth. Preheat an oven to 350°F. To make the enchiladas, in a fry pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat until sizzling hot. Using tongs, quickly pass each tortilla through the oil to soften, then drain on paper towels. Using your fingers, dip each tortilla briefly in the warm sauce, place on a plate, put a large spoonful of shredded chicken near one edge and roll up the tortilla. Place, seam side down, in a baking dish. Cover with the remaining sauce. Bake until thoroughly heated, about 10 minutes. Remove the enchiladas from the oven and top with the crema, onion slices and crumbled cheese. Alternately, arrange the enchiladas on individual warmed plates and garnish before serving. Serve immediatelyenchiladas become soggy quickly.
Serves 6.