Rachel Perlow

Heck, and I only made 6 quarts!

Congratulations! I kept staring at that picture, trying to figure out what looked wrong to me... There's no pot filler! That backsplash looks too big and open to me. Here's mine, see the pot filler? When you buy more bulbs, see if they have flood vs. spot lights. The spot lights would cause a sharper reflection than the flood, so perhaps flood lights would reduce the grid pattern?

Seriousy, a large potato could be anywhere from 8-16 oz. Do you buy the potatoes by the bag or loose? The ones in the bags are smaller. I have a 5 lb bag of russets which has 15 potatoes in it, some small (~2") a couple large (~5") the rest in between. If I just knew what size your large was, I could figure out how many of mine to use. Thanks, sorry to be a PITA.

Oops, thanks I'll edit it. See, what you did to the eggplant seems to take just as much effort to me. The eggplant I used this week was quite sweet, so if you want to just skip the breading that's fine. Just brushing them with oil and baking sounds good to me too -- just add more cheese to the sauce and maybe sprinkle some bread crumbs into the layers.

Melissa, I'm thinking of making your potato kugel, but I have some questions: 1) What kind of potatoes? Are russets OK? The ones I have don't seem that large, how much by weight is 5 large? (could you weigh yours?) 2) Salt level: I generally don't like things too salty (like commercial mix potato kugel is too salty), but you definitely don't want to undersalt potato kugel, is that 1 tsp enough, alot, or just right? (inquired Goldy Lox. ) Thanks!

My favorite was definitely the scallops from Rod's. They were huge, sweet, perfectly cooked -- it was my main course. I had two before I realized there were other rooms to go to! The steak and wild mushrooms from St. James Gate was excellent as well. They managed to have perfectly medium-rare steak with a dark crunchy exterior. Also nice was that they sliced the steak into manageable bites, important when you're mostly eating standing up, while holding a glass as well. Fascino served a delicious crab cake with celery root slaw. I guess Jason's picture of that didn't come out well. Crab cake was very big last night, I saw three versions of it, plus a salmon cake was served by Cinque Figlie. Next to them, Pierre's was tossing up a very grown up mac & cheese -- enhanced with truffles. A couple more tables down, 15 Fox Place offered tastes of Pizza Rustica and and antipasto kabab, along with a pair of Italian cookies and fruit skewers. The two dishes served in the mini cocktail glasses were cold sweet pea soup with lobster and poached shrimp with orange gelee, both very good, but the orange & shrimp was among the best of the evening. I especially appreciated that The Park Steak House and The Palace were of the few restaurant participants that made something seasonal. This touches upon my only complaint about the evening -- there was way too much hearty winter fare for a warm spring evening. For example, Garlic Rose served beef tips in a reduction sauce with whole garlic cloves in it. There were several examples of ravioli in cream sauces. Speaking of creamy, Joe's American Grill was serving New England Clam Chowder -- I didn't see anyone take any. But then I was really surprised that chain restaurants like Joe's and Papa Razzi were invited to participate (that corner of the room seemed to be the Mall at Short Hills section). OK, one other negative... I was chatting with the chef from Garlic Rose and mentioned that, while the sauteed beef was very good, it needed salt (for those who know, if I say something needs salt, that means something, Jason is always complaining that I under-salt my cooking, I'm rather salt sensitive). He said that other people had complained in the past that it's too salty, and the problem is that if they go through a slow period the sauce continues reducing and the salt gets concentrated. That sounds to me like they always make this dish for outside events like this. Why not make something that is more stable and seasonal? Frankly, I think Garlic Rose could just put out some bread with their fabulous garlic dip and be the hit of the evening! To end on a positive note, that Mixed Berry Sorbet and Lemon Pound Cake from The Stage House was my favorite dessert of the evening. It was nice to sit down with it and a glass of lovely Masala Chai from Wazwan @ Santoor before heading home.

Just for the heck of it, I costed out my recipe. One lasagna pan of moussaka cost approximately $17.75 and yields 6 servings, for a cost of around $3 per serving. The eggplants are a little expensive in the store right now, at around $2/lb. (I paid $1.79 at an ethnic grocery), the meats averaged around $3/lb at the butcher. If you are able to take advantage of store specials and when eggplant is in season it would come out less per serving. You know, I want to suggest this to tammylc as one of her Dinner for 40s, but she needs a vegetarian alternative the her meat main course. Does anyone have a suggestion on how to make a vegetarian moussaka or what would be a complimentary vegetarian main course when moussaka is the meat option?

Thanks for the compliments all. Smithy, I agree with your list about eggplant prep. They're all a PITA, requiring much attention and make the eggplant too oily. The baked cutlet technique makes for crunchy on the outside, creamy on the inside eggplant. I used to not like plain eggplant, but it is hard to not snack on these as they wait to get layered into the casserole. Another note... Yesterday I used fresh bread crumbs for breading (had some hot dog buns to use up). Interestingly, they did not stick as well to the eggplant compared to plain, dry, store-bought crumbs. So, the eggplant slices weren't as well covered as they usually are, and they browned more too. So, if you make this, don't worry if your's aren't as browned as in my picture. And, they don't have to be totally limp after coming out of the oven. First, they will probably sit for a while until you are ready to assemble the moussaka, then they will be baked again. Finally, if you haven't started this project yet... When you go to buy your ingredients, get an extra eggplant, especially if you can find some of those smaller ones like we did. If you have extra meat sauce and bechamel after filling your casserole, you'll be glad to have it on hand to make the papoutsakia.

I used a sharp, peppered sheeps' milk cheese that sat too long and got pretty hard. We ground it up and used it in the breading for the eggplant cutlets, to flavor the white sauce and with bread crumbs on top. Normally, I'd use parmesean or pecorino romano or even feta, but I wanted to use up that cheese we already had -- it was excellent.

Well maybe they're not male and female, but there were definitely two very different looking types of eggplants in that bin at the store. I don't buy the immature theory because the "male" ones were as long or longer than the "female" ones. Or, maybe they are immature, whatever, they were definitely sweeter and less seedy than the larger/rounder eggplants I'd bought in the past, so go for those. I posted our recipe on RecipeGullet, if anyone wants to check it out, click.

Chufi, thanks so much for the inspiration of the papoutsakia. They were excellent. I didn't top mine with cheese the way you did, but the bread crumb/cheese mixture I topped the moussaka with. Also, I didn't fry the eggplants, I just oiled the pan and baked the halves cut side down for about 30 minutes. And, I didn't scoop out the interior eggplant, I just smooshed it a little and pushed it to the side. Anyway, they were excellent. A note about male vs female eggplants... In the past I never paid attention to the type of eggplant, but the difference between male and female eggplants is really obvious, at least with the large black kind of eggplant. As someone posted above, the female eggplants are larger with a dimpled blossom end, the male ones are more slender and uniform in diameter, with a smooth blossom end. I made sure to get all male eggplants. Wow! There really is a difference in the amount of seeds, some barely had any seeds, and the flesh was much sweeter. As I post in my eggplant cutlet recipe, I don't bother salting/draining the eggplant and when you eat the cutlets straight, you can really taste the difference.

Moussaka Serves 8 as Main Dish. This recipe is a result of the discussion on the Moussaka Cook Off thread. Olive Oil, for greasing pan and spraying on eggplant cutlets 3 Potatoes, small to medium Eggplant Cutlets, link below 3 Black Eggplants, preferably male (see below) Meat Sauce 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 lb Ground Meat: We use a 2:1:1 combination of lamb: beef: pork 28 oz canned tomato (crushed, whole, or puree) 1/2 c Wine, red or white, whatever's open. 1 tsp salt 2 tsp middle-eastern 7-spice mix (Sabah Baharat) or a combination of Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice and Nutmeg, or more, to taste 2 tsp dried oregano White Sauce 2 c milk, lowfat is OK 6 T flour 6 T butter 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 c sharp grated hard cheese (parmesean, feta, or other sheeps or goats milk cheese) 2 egg yolks Make the eggplant cutlets, reserving the leftover bread crumbs/cheese mixture for topping the moussaka. Choose male eggplants if possible, as discussed here, they have less seeds and are sweeter. Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes to par cook. Cool with cold water, peel and slice, set aside. Meanwhile, prepare the meat sauce by sauteing the onions in olive oil until translucent, set aside. Brown the meat, drain off any excess fat. Then add the onions, tomato and spices and simmer for about 30 minutes. Sometime during the simmering, preheat your oven to 350 F, how long into it depends on how long your oven takes to come to temp. While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the white sauce by the roux or VitaMix method, whisking in cheese and egg yolks off heat after the bechamel has thickened. Oil a lasagna pan and place the potatoes in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of the meat sauce. Add a layer of eggplant, then another layer of meat sauce, then a final layer of eggplant. Top the final eggplant layer with the white sauce and a sprinkling of bread crumbs and grated cheese. Bake in 350 F oven for 45-60 minutes if eating immediately. Only bake for 30 minutes if you're baking ahead and refrigerating or planning on freezing it. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Lamb, Beef, Vegetables, Pork, Dinner, Middle Eastern ( RG1211 )

Moussaka Serves 8 as Main Dish. This recipe is a result of the discussion on the Moussaka Cook Off thread. Olive Oil, for greasing pan and spraying on eggplant cutlets 3 Potatoes, small to medium Eggplant Cutlets, link below 3 Black Eggplants, preferably male (see below) Meat Sauce 1 large onion, finely chopped 2 lb Ground Meat: We use a 2:1:1 combination of lamb: beef: pork 28 oz canned tomato (crushed, whole, or puree) 1/2 c Wine, red or white, whatever's open. 1 tsp salt 2 tsp middle-eastern 7-spice mix (Sabah Baharat) or a combination of Cinnamon, Cloves, Allspice and Nutmeg, or more, to taste 2 tsp dried oregano White Sauce 2 c milk, lowfat is OK 6 T flour 6 T butter 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 c sharp grated hard cheese (parmesean, feta, or other sheeps or goats milk cheese) 2 egg yolks Make the eggplant cutlets, reserving the leftover bread crumbs/cheese mixture for topping the moussaka. Choose male eggplants if possible, as discussed here, they have less seeds and are sweeter. Place the potatoes in a pot of cold water. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes to par cook. Cool with cold water, peel and slice, set aside. Meanwhile, prepare the meat sauce by sauteing the onions in olive oil until translucent, set aside. Brown the meat, drain off any excess fat. Then add the onions, tomato and spices and simmer for about 30 minutes. Sometime during the simmering, preheat your oven to 350 F, how long into it depends on how long your oven takes to come to temp. While the meat sauce is simmering, prepare the white sauce by the roux or VitaMix method, whisking in cheese and egg yolks off heat after the bechamel has thickened. Oil a lasagna pan and place the potatoes in a single layer on the bottom of the pan. Top with a layer of the meat sauce. Add a layer of eggplant, then another layer of meat sauce, then a final layer of eggplant. Top the final eggplant layer with the white sauce and a sprinkling of bread crumbs and grated cheese. Bake in 350 F oven for 45-60 minutes if eating immediately. Only bake for 30 minutes if you're baking ahead and refrigerating or planning on freezing it. Keywords: Main Dish, Intermediate, Lamb, Beef, Vegetables, Pork, Dinner, Middle Eastern ( RG1211 )

She also said clove, but it was clear she didn't want to tell us all of them. I think I detect nutmeg. Basically it is a sweet spice blend, powdered. ~~~ Thanks Smithy, great timing. It smells like the Arabian blend, but that's only five, so I'll guess it also has the cardamom and coriander seeds, I don't detect any cumin, paprika or pepper. Shout out to the Jews: It smells like the spices in the scent box at havdalah.

Chufi, that stuffed eggplant looks excellent. I'd be tempted to make that, except I can't figure out where I could add potatoes!

Thanks Bella. Of course, Jason doesn't want me to put ricotta in it, so I won't be using that recipe now. But good to know.

Rereading the Dinah Shore recipe, the main variation is that ricotta cheese is added to the bechamel. Opinions on this? re: Ground Lamb -- I'm finding it very hard to procure. I needed some last week when I made gyro, and I had to buy shoulder chops and debone and grind them myself. I'm going to call some semi-local butchers to see what they have. I spoke with a butcher at Pathmark Supermarket and they said they aren't allowed to ground lamb for customers, only beef. The only way they can sell ground lamb is if it comes boxed. Same for pork. They have to keep their grinding machine beef only. He suggested ShopRite, but I suspect it is a similar story there, as they wouldn't grind the chops I bought there either. He said it's bad for the customers and the butchers because the stores need fewer "meat men" -- only the store's bottom line benefits. Follow-up: I called the butchers and they have ground lamb in frozen 1 lb packages, patties or not. One has it for $2.99/lb (Oradell Prime Meats, Oradell, NJ), the other for $3.80/lb (United Meat Market, New Milford, NJ). Both of these prices are less than I paid for shoulder chops (again that I had to debone and grind in my food processer) at a supermarket (ShopRite $3.99/lb). Moral: Patronize your independant butcher for the lamb.

Let me start by saying that Jason likes potato in it, I don't. But the last few times I've made it with the potatoes to please my man. The first recipe I ever used to make moussaka is Dinah Shore's recipe in Dom Deluise's Eat This! It'll Make You Feel Better, currently out of print, so you'll have to check your local library. I found a recipe online labeled as Dinah Shore's Moussaka (Greek Eggplant) and Meat, but I can't find my copy of Eat This! to make sure it is the same. No potatoes in this recipe, but feel free to add a layer or two. As for the eggplant, I find it easier, quicker and less greasy to bake the eggplant, rather than frying the slices. Here is a link to my Eggplant Cutlets recipe on RecipeGullet. These eggplant cutlets are perfect for Moussaka or Eggplant Parmesan, or as a side dish on their own. I have to make extra because Jason'll eat them staight off the pan. As for the Bechamel sauce, I've got that down easy with my new VitaMix: Finally, let me say that if you don't have a crowd to cook for, Moussaka freezes beautifully. Get some small containers for individual portions (bake in a large pan, cut out individual portions to freeze in those containers) or family meal sized portions, for us, that would be about a loaf pan. I recently picked up some extra loaf pans at a restaurant's going out of business liquidation, so I may just use some of those for adding to the freezer larder.

I've also made coconut rice with coconut milk, btw. From what you described, it just sounds like you have too much liquid in the pot. You don't add coconut milk to the regular amount of water, you substitute it. Also, in general I find the "recipes" on bags of rice have too much water, usually a 2 to 1 ratio. Approx 1.5-1.75 water to 1 rice usually works better for me, and that includes any sauteed vegetables. In other words, if you're adding some sauteed vegetables, like onions, add less liquid to the pot (not quite equally substituting the amounts, i.e. 1/2 cup diced onion? reduce the liquid about 1/4 cup).

It's a moist instant stock base. If you have homemade chicken stock, that's even better, or if you don't want the chicken flavor, just add some salt to the hot water. No, the coconut doesn't disintegrate, it absorbs some water and is there with the rice. It's basically a coconut rice pilaf, the sauteeing of the coconut and rice before adding the liquid adds a nice toastiness to the dish.

Here's my method for making coconut rice, posted on RecipeGullet: Coconut Rice (without Coconut Milk)

Are there a lot of kids named Gavin at your club, or was that a first then second (the Barney cake) birthday parties? I love the whimsy of the white wedding cake with the writing on it. Who's idea was that, yours or the bride's? What are some of the words on it?

Um, Darcie, you have to call them to let them know the work is ready to be inspected. At least in my area. There is a record of a permit being taken out for work on the property, if there is never a sign off of an inspector at the conclusion of the work you could have problems transfering the property if you are ever to sell it. Of course, I live in a suburb of NYC and we're just bureaucracy crazy, West (By God) Virginia may be different.

So, what kind of salt did you get?

Here are links to the recipes I used: Gyro Meat with Tzatziki Sauce from Good Eats, "My Big Fat Greek Sandwich" - I suggest increasing the salt by about 50%. All lamb was good, but next time we're going to try a combo of lamb and beef. Lamb and pork might be good too. Excellent tzatziki sauce. Pita Bread from eGCI Lebanese Cooking course -- the pita bread recipe is about 1/4 the way down the post. I don't think you need a recipe for diced tomatoes and shredded feta cheese.