Romanian Mousaka Food

ROMANIAN AUTHENTIC POTATO MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• Wash the skin of potatoes really well using a kitchen brush.
• In a big pot, place the potatoes and enough water to cover them. Boil the potatoes until tender(or a fork goes through them).
• When the potatoes are boiled, remove the pot from the stove, drain the water, and set the potatoes aside to cool.
• While the potatoes are cooling, brown the ground meat in a pan with 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil.
• Add chopped onion, salt, pepper, and paprika mix well, and continue to brown the meat and the onions together.
• When the meat is ready, add the crushed/diced tomatoes or the can of tomato sauce.
• Mix well and cook on medium heat for few minutes until the liquid is reduced and the sauce is formed.
• Add the chopped parsley and mix well.
• Separately, beat the eggs and mix them with the sour cream and the shredded cheese.
• Remove the skin of the potatoes and discard them. Slice the potatoes.
• Butter and flour/bread crumbs an 8x8 inches baking dish.
• Place slices of potatoes on the bottom of the pan. Add a layer of meat mixture.
• Add another layer of sliced potatoes, another layer of meat, and repeat until you finish all ingredients.
• The last layer should be potatoes.
• Beat the eggs, mix them with sour cream and cheese. Add a little bit of salt to your taste. Pour this mixture over the last layer of potatoes.
• Bake in the oven at 350F for about an hour or until golden brown on top.
• Cut in squares and serve warm topped with sour cream.

MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Bake the eggplant: Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F. Brush the eggplant slices on both sides with the oil and lay on 2 small or 1 large foil-lined baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with foil and bake until the eggplant is soft, about 25 minutes. Set aside covered.
• Make the meat sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the beef, oregano, allspice, cloves, and cinnamon. Break the meat up into small pieces and season with the 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 2 minutes. Lower the heat to medium and cook, stirring, until just cooked but still slightly pink inside, about 1 minute more. Add the tomato and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Cover, and cook until the sauce is thickened and fragrant, about 20 minutes.
• Make the custard sauce. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour until smooth. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the milk, salt, and nutmeg. Return to the heat and while whisking constantly, bring to a boil. Simmer 2 minutes. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and stir to cool. When the sauce is cool, whisk in the egg and yolks.
• Assemble the moussaka. Lower the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush a 9 x 13 x 2-inch casserole dish with the oil. Scatter the breadcrumbs over the bottom of the pan. Lay half of the eggplant in the pan, overlapping the slices if needed. Cover with half of the meat sauce and smooth with a rubber spatula. Repeat with the remaining eggplant and meat sauce. Pour the custard sauce over the layered mixture and smooth with a rubber spatula. Sprinkle with the Pecorino Romano and bake, uncovered, until lightly browned and the custard is set, about 1 hour.
• Remove the moussaka from the oven and let rest for 10 minutes. Use a slotted spoon or spatula to serve.

CROATIAN MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Make filling:
• Cut an X in bottom of each tomato with a sharp paring knife and blanch tomatoes together in a 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling water 10 seconds. Transfer tomatoes with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to cool. Peel off skin with paring knife, beginning from scored end, and discard. Finely chop tomatoes.
• Peel potatoes and cut into slices slightly less than 1/4 inch thick.
• Heat oil in a 4- to 5-quart pot over moderately high heat until it registers 370°F on thermometer. Fry potatoes in 6 batches, turning over occasionally, until golden, about 6 minutes per batch, transferring with slotted spoon to paper towels to drain. (Return oil to 370°F between batches.)
• Heat butter in a wide 6- to 8-quart heavy pot over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then add onion and garlic and sauté, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add beef and sauté, stirring occasionally and breaking up large lumps with a wooden spoon, until meat is no longer pink, about 6 minutes.
• Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until almost all of liquid is evaporated, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese and bread crumbs until just combined.
• Arrange one third of potatoes, overlapping slightly, in a buttered 13- by 9-inch glass baking dish, then spread with half of beef mixture. Repeat layering with potatoes and beef, ending with a third layer of potatoes.
• Make topping and bake moussaka:
• Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 375°F.
• Whisk together butter, eggs, milk, cheese, and bread crumbs until just combined, then pour evenly over potatoes.
• Bake until golden brown and bubbling around edges, 35 to 40 minutes. Cool slightly before serving.

MUSAKA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C).
• Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook ground beef until evenly brown. Season with paprika, cumin, salt, and pepper. Stir in potatoes, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, and summer savory. Add enough water to just barely cover. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.
• Pour meat mixture into 9x13 inch baking dish, and spread evenly. In a small bowl, mix together the egg and yogurt; pour, and spread evenly over meat mixture.
• Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, or until top is golden brown.

20 TRADITIONAL ROMANIAN FOODS

Steps:

• Select your favorite recipe.
• Organize all the required ingredients.
• Prep a Romanian food in 30 minutes or less!

POTATO MOUSSAKA - ROMANIAN RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius/ 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Chop the onions finely. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large heavy bottom pan or Dutch oven and fry the onions gently until they are translucent.
• Add the ground meat and fry it until brown, stirring and breaking the lumps while it cooks.
• In the meantime, peel the potatoes and slice them very thinly. Use a mandoline for this task, it guarantees for thin and regular potato slices which will cook evenly in the oven. Set aside.
• When the meat is brown, add dried savory/thyme, sweet ground paprika, salt and pepper to taste.
• Oil a medium, deeper casserole dish with a little of the remaining oil.
• Divide the potato slices into 3 batches. Arrange the first batch of potatoes in a double layer into the dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cover with half of the ground meat.
• Arrange another double layer of potato slices on top of that, adding salt and pepper again. Cover with the rest of the meat and add the last batch of potato slices. Sprinkle with salt and pepper again.
• Mix the tomato puree with about 50 ml/ 1.7 fl.oz/ ¼ cup water to make it a bit runnier. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish. Add more water to barely fill the casserole dish, the upper layer of potatoes should not be covered in water though. Pour the remaining oil on top of the casserole.
• Bake the potato moussaka for about 1 hour and 10 minutes or until the potatoes are soft. Check the potatoes and prolong the cooking time if they are not soft yet.
• If the casserole dish gets too dark on top, cover it loosely with aluminum foil, you should check after about half the time and cover the dish if necessary.
• Serve with pickled vegetables or salad.

ROMANIAN MOUSAKA

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large pan or wok and use to fry the potatoes for about 10 minutes or until just softened.
• Add the onions and fry for a further 10 minutes.
• Transfer the mixture to an oven-proof casserole dish then top with the meat and tomatoes.
• Season with salt and black pepper then stir to combine.
• Pour the beef stock over the top then transfer to an oven pre-heated to 170°C and bake for about 60 minutes. Serve hot.