Moussaka and Use-It-Up Aubergene Bake

So, seeing as it has been so long I decided to do a double whammy of recipes to make up for it! So brace yourselves...

Moussaka

Makes two portions

1/2 Onion

1/2 Aubergene
150g lamb mince

1.5 tablespoons of tomato puree

1/4 pint of water

Cheating Sharwoods spice packet (these are great)

White sauce (find a simple recipe if you make it from scratch, I normally put some onion, butter, flour, milk and cheese)

Cheese to taste

Pre-heat the oven to 210 degrees

1. Fry off the onion and mince

2. Add the spices, and fry for a minute or so

3. Add the tomato paste and water, bring to the boil and leave to simmer

4. Whilst this is simmering away, make your white sauce and slice the aubergenes
5. Plop the tomato/mince mix in a oven dish, then put a layer of aubergene, and then put white sauce and grate cheese on top

6. Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown with a texture like sun!

Consume

Ok, I know this is cheating because I used a spice mix pack, but it is really really very tasty, so you should try it! Plus, it comes to about £3 for two, which you cannot complain about.

Then, with the left over aubergene I made an

Italian style Aubergene Bake!

Serves 1

1/2 aubergene

1/2 onion

1 clove of garlic

1/2 tin of tomatoes

A squish of tomato puree

1 teaspoon of basil pesto

Soft cheese (I used boursin garlic cheese)

Breadcrumbs

Parmesan (optional)

Dried basil

Black pepper

Crushed chillis (optional)

1. Slice the aubergene, chop the onions and garlic

2. Fry off the onion and garlic, add the tomatoes, tomato puree, pesto and seasonings. Simmer whilst

3. Brush the aubergene slices with a little olive oil and add a bit of seasoning

4. Grill the aubergenes until a little browned on both sides

5. Put half the tomato sauce in the bottom of a dish or bowl

6. Take the sliced aubergenes, and wedge two slices together with a some soft cheese and put the rest of the tomato sauce on top.

7. Mix breadcrumbs and parmesan together, and sprinkle this on top

8. Grill for a few minutes until the breadcrumbs are crispy.

Munch away!

This one was my own creations, a variation of a recipe I found online with what I had lurking about. I really enjoyed it, because of the variety of textures going on. The only downside was that the aubergene skin was a little tough and chewy, and a bit of a mission to cut! Very tasty and healthy though!

I hope some people fancy one of these recipes, please give it a go and let me know what you thought.

Keep munching

Claire

Carrot, Ginger and Chilli Salad

Now, I wasn't too sure about this one when I was delegated to make it by the manfriend's parents, but it is surprisingly yummy, and nice and refreshing. We had it with a curry, as per 'Jamie's 30 minute meals' rogan josh recipe, and it really complimented it, cutting through the spices and cleansing the palate. But I reckon it would go well with a range of curries and stir fries, even mexican maybe? Anyway, here you go, (this version of the recipe is from my own head, a de-faffed version of jamie's!)

Carrot, Ginger and Chilli Salad

5 or 6 carrots, washed

1 red chilli, (deseeded to make it less spicy)

2 cm ginger

Good handful of fresh coriander

Toasted almonds

Olive oil (preferably extra virgin)

Lemon

Top and tail carrots and grate (use a food blender for speed if you have one)

Peel and grate ginger and chop the coriander and chilli into small pieces

Plonk the carrot, almonds, grated ginger, chopped coriander and chilli into a salad bowl

Drizzle with olive oil, grate in a little lemon zest and squeeze in the juice of about a 1/4 of a lemon.

Mix it baby!

MUNCH!

yum yum. Healthy too! Sorry for lack of photo, I ate it too fast.

Claire

Gooey Chocolate Cupcakes

This recipe was from Kate Shirazi's 'Baking Magic' book (buy it now) as chocolate 'fondant' cupcakes. The word 'fondant' to me implied something other than this cake provides but YE GODS are they tasty. And very easy. Bish bash bosh and you have a naughty tea time treat.

Gooey Chocolate Cupcakes

Makes 12

110g/ 4oz soft margerine

85 g/ 3 oz self raising flour, sifted

25g / 1oz cocoa powder

110g / 4oz caster sugar

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

12 heaped teaspoons of chocolate spread

Icing sugar for dusting (optional)

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, gas mark 4. Line a muffin/ cake tin with cases

Mix together all the ingredients apart from chocolate spread and icing sugar in a bowl, and whisk until it is of an almost moussey consistancy.

Divide the mixture up between the 12 cake cases and bake for 15-20 mins, until firm but springy on top

Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then cut out a little cone shape in the middle of each cupcake and plonk in a teaspoon of chocolate spread

Dust with icing sugar and decorate however else you see fit

CONSUME!

These are amazing whilst still warm, theres a delicious variety of the slight crispness of the very top of the cake, the light and springy sponge and the delightful goo that the melted chocolate spread makes. I also put some little chocolate eggs on top of mine to make them look a bit more ooo and cover over the chocolate spread filled bit, making it more surprisingly lovely.

In my texture-fuelled excitement, I also force fed them to a housemate who doesn't like chocolate cake. Her verdict was a screwed up face and 'very chocolatey' followed by a not so convincing 'but they're nice...' So maybe one best reserved for the chocolate cake fiends amongst us.

All in all, a definite successful bake!

Claire