No. 30 – Bulgarian Moussa.k.a Potatoes and Mince

(most desperate pun yet)

I feel like I am repeating myself, but this moussaka tasted exactly like its components – spuds and mince, blatantly obvious maybe, but the best and only possible description. This was the first time we marked a culinised dish out of ten - ten being a roast lamb dinner, zero being not worth naming. It turns out that our marking system became more complicated than I originally intended, but I take culinising very seriously and marking the dishes out of ten should give a sort of structure and order to the randomness.  I also tend to forget how good or lets say, less good some dishes are, and find some difficult to recall at all (Bulgarian moussaka in fact being one of them).

Our marking system was doomed from the start. You can’t compare minced beef to a leg of lamb, because a leg of lamb is intrinsically better and minced beef simply can’t and won’t ever compete. This didn’t seem fair though and so having thought about the dilemma for a while, we decided that the moussaka was a ⁴/₁₀ compared to roast lamb dinner (though it depends how much you like lamb) but an ⁸/₁₀ compared to other mince dishes. The final mark works out as a ⁶/₁₀  average.  By this system we could have gone down the road of comparing moussaka to steak, or lobster, or beans on toast, or liver, or marshmallows. We’re just going to have to come up with another system.  

Moussaka                                                                                                                           Rating: ⁶/₁₀

This Moussaka wasn’t what I thought it would be. I thought Moussaka was like some sort of lasagna with aubergine. Not in Bulgaria. I read somewhere that they claim to have invented it and who am I to contest?

It was a very satisfying and comforting sort of dinner. What else can you expect from spuds and mince with a dollop of yogurt?

500g potatoes, peeled and diced small

500g minced beef

oil for frying

salt and pepper

2 onions, diced

garlic, chopped

4 tomatoes, chopped

handful of cheddar or other hard cheese.

1 egg

500g plain yogurt

1 tsp flour

In a heavy ovenproof dish fry the onions and garlic in some oil until soft. Add in the mince and cook until browned. Season. Add the potatoes, tomatoes, cover and bake in a preheated 180 degree oven for about 45 minutes until the potatoes are cooked.

In the mean time, mix together the egg, half the yogurt, flour and cheese. Pour over the meat and potatoes and bake for a further 15 minutes until the top is golden. Serve with a dollop of yogurt and a few dashes of tabasco. 

No. 26 – Bo-snia-il!

 I do try.

I know what it looks like - more beef wrapped in yet more pastry. But this is sheer coincidence and I had to cook this pita because the last burek (which this essentially is) failed due to my terrible filo making skills. This time the pastry came readymade in the form of jus-rol and was, as you’d expect – perfectly thin. With the pastry made there was nothing to worry about.

Well not exactly. (Minor) panic ensued. I had to work extremely fast, so the pastry wouldn’t dry out and become completely useless, yet not too fast so that I’d rip the delicate sheets. This lead to what I can only describe as a slow fluster. The sheer amount of butter needed to brush and glue sheets together, to make the mile of pastry was quite alarming. I therefore underestimated the amount to melt and I was left shouting “I need more butter! Get me more butter!” Pity then, that there was no one around.

Rolling a mile long sausage without tearing it was no mean feat either, but after a little self-assured pep talk, the only thing left to do was go for it. Recalling a lesson from my playschool days, I managed, with minimal tears, to roll the sausage and transform it into quite a beautiful snail, even if I do say so myself. I had great fun making this. It was after all, the food equivalent of play-doh, glue and paper, and who says you shouldn’t play with your food?

Bosnian Pita

Oh, and it didn’t taste half bad either.

Serves 4 – 6

oil for frying

500 g minced beef

1 large onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp all spice

salt and pepper

grated cheddar cheese, optional

1 packet of jus-rol filo pastry (6 sheets)

½ cup of butter

Fry the chopped onion in a little oil with the garlic, until softened. Add the mince and spices and cook until browned and crumbly, but not dry. Allow to cool completely.

Clear yourself a large work surface and dust with flour. Melt the butter and begin to assemble your filo strip. Lay three of the six sheets side by side (longways) and brush butter where they overlap to glue them together. Brush the entire surface of the now long sheet and lay the other 3 sheets on top. You now have the finished sheet.

Place the mince mixture down the middle of the sheet, sprinkle with cheese and brush either side with a little butter. Proceed to roll it up so you have a giant sausage. Now roll it up into a snail shape, transfer it to a suitable greased dish and brush with the remaining butter. Bake in a 220 degree oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve in slices, hot or cold with cucumber and yogurt.