Best Moms Chicken Potato Moussaka Recipes

MOUSSAKA RECIPE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 F degrees.
• Start by tossing the sliced potatoes and red onion with the olive oil, salt, pepper, thyme and oregano in a medium size bowl.
• Spread them in a single layer on the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking pan.
• Bake for 20 minutes until they begin to soften and turn golden.
• While the potatoes are baking, sweat the eggplant slices by placing on paper towels then sprinkling some salt over each slice. Let them sit like that for about 10 minutes then flip them over and sprinkle with additional salt. After 10 minutes you can soak up any water you may see over the eggplant with paper towels.
• Spread the eggplant slices over the potatoes in a single layer. Drizzle with the olive oil, season with salt, pepper, then sprinkle with the thyme and oregano.
• Place the pan back in the oven and bake for another 20 minutes.
• Once again spread the zucchini slices over the eggplant layer in a single layer, then repeat by drizzling olive oil, seasoning with salt, pepper and sprinkle with the thyme and oregano.
• Bake for another 20 minutes.
• In the meantime, prepare the meat. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until it softens, for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds, just until the garlic becomes aromatic.
• Add the ground meat and using a wooden spoon break it up into small pieces. Cook until it's no longer pink, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add the allspice, Italian seasoning, tomato paste and stir well. Stir in the chopped tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until most of the liquid evaporates. Set aside.
• To make the bechamel sauce, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. As soon as the butter has melted whisk in the flour until it gets fully incorporated into the butter. Start to add the milk slowly. I usually add it in about 4 batches, so add 1/4 of the milk at a time, whisk until all the liquid is absorbed by the flour and repeat until you have whisked in all the milk.
• When the sauce start to bubble, it will be ready to whisk in the pepper and nutmeg.
• Add the egg yolks to the sauce and whisk them in well. Stir in the Parmesan cheese, bring the sauce to a boil again and remove from heat.
• Add about 1/4 of this sauce to the meat mixture and stir.
• Spread the meat filling over the vegetable layers, then pour the bechamel sauce over the meat and smooth it out with a spatula or spoon.
• Bake for another 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and allow it to cool at least 1 hour before cutting it into pieces.
• Garnish with parsley if preferred before serving.

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.

GREEK MOUSSAKA WITH POTATOES RECIPE

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil shimmers, add the onions. Sauté until translucent, stirring often, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and continue to sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
• Add the ground meat and continue to sauté until no longer pink. Drain the skillet.
• Add tomatoes, breadcrumbs, cinnamon, bay leaves, allspice, cloves, salt, pepper, wine, and tomato paste. Mix well.
• Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low. Cover with the lid slightly cracked and simmer, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid is gone, about 45 minutes. If there is still liquid in pan, continue to simmer uncovered, stirring to prevent sticking, until the mixture is as dry as possible without burning. This step is crucial to prevent the final dish from having too much moisture.
• Discard bay leaves, and cinnamon stick (if used), adjust salt and pepper to taste, and set sauce aside uncovered until ready to use. Meanwhile, position a rack in the upper and lower third of the oven and heat to 400 F.
• Toss the potatoes on 2 rimmed baking sheets with enough oil to coat. Arrange the slices in single layers. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Roast until the potatoes are light golden, flipping the baking sheets half way through cooking, about 45 minutes total. Set aside until ready to use.
• Gather the ingredients.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the milk over medium-low heat until warm.
• In a large saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Slowly add the flour, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until there are no lumps. Continue to cook until the mixture is fragrant, about 1 minute more.
• Increase heat to medium-low. Slowly add the milk while whisking continuously. Whisk until sauce begins to thicken, 12 to 13 minutes. It should be creamy, yet thick.
• Remove from heat and whisk in the salt, white pepper, and nutmeg. Adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
• In a medium bowl, whisk the yolks together. While whisking continuously, slowly drizzle in 2 to 3 tablespoons of the béchamel mixture. Continue to whisk in another 2 to 3 tablespoons of the béchamel mixture.
• Return the béchamel-yolk mixture to the béchamel pan. Remove from the heat and whisk until well-combined. Set aside until ready to use.
• Gather the ingredients.
• Reposition a rack in the center of the oven and lower the heat to 350 F. Generously spray a large baking or roasting pan (about 15 x 10 x 2, or 5 quart) with cooking spray. Sprinkle bottom of the pan with breadcrumbs. Place a layer of potato slices on the breadcrumbs. It's OK to overlap.
• Spread meat sauce evenly on top of the potatoes, pressing it down lightly all the way to the sides of the pan.
• Cover evenly with the remaining potato slices. Slowly pour the béchamel sauce over top and spread evenly with a spatula, if necessary.
• Transfer the pan to a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the béchamel sauce begins to set, about 35 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over top. Continue to bake until golden and bubbling around the edges, 35 to 40 minutes more.
• Remove moussaka from oven and allow to cool for 20 to 30 minutes.

MOM'S CHICKEN

Steps:

• In a mixing bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, oregano, rosemary, chile flakes, nutmeg, salt, pepper and garlic. Place the chicken pieces in a resealable bag and pour the marinade in, coating all of the meat. Allow the chicken to marinate, refrigerated, 1 to 4 hours or up to overnight.
• Set up a grill for cooking with indirect heat. If using a charcoal grill, build the coals on one side only. If using a gas grill, heat one side only. Allow the temperature to come up to 375 degrees F.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade. Place the chicken pieces skin-side up on the indirect-heat side of the grill and close the lid. Cook the chicken until almost cooked through, about 10 minutes. Move the chicken pieces over to the direct heat side of the grill and cook until nicely charred and cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Remove from the grill and allow to rest for 5 minutes before serving.

MOM'S CHICKEN & POTATO MOUSSAKA

Steps:

• Boil the potatoes, peel them and smash them in a bowl together with the butter and some salt and add enough milk to get a soft but by no means liquid mass (in fact it’s up to you to decide how thick you want it to be).
• In a frying pan put the 2 tbl oil, the chicken, the tomato paste, cumin, pepper, nutmeg and some salt and start frying dividing the meat with a fork until it starts to fall apart into crumbs.
• Grease a baking tin with the remaining oil (don’t forget the sides too), spread half of the potatoes on the bottom, pour the chicken over them and cover it with the remaining potatoes.
• Preheat the oven to a medium temperature and put the moussaka in and let it heat for 5 min.
• In a bowl beat the yogurt with the eggs the thyme, a bit of salt and some black pepper.
• Pour the yogurt mixture over the moussaka and bake until it gets golden brown (about 10-15 min).
• When ready take out of the oven and leave to cool a bit – potatoes cool very slowly.
• Serve very warm.