DEFOODY BLOG by Banana

Ingredients

1/2 a big pack of mince beef (Lidl)

1 tin of tomatoes (better with a small can of puree) also Lidl

Sprinkle of oregano, cinnamon, and turmeric (large sprinkle of oregano and cinnamon, small sprinkle of turmeric)

You can leave out the turmeric - it is my special extra to add more anti-oxidants and a golden colour.

6 juniper berries (works fine without them)

2 cloves of garlic (again fine without)

1 onion (again fine without)

2 large spoons of Greek yoghurt

about 1/3 pint of milk

4 teaspoons of cornflour

Olive oil.

bayleaf (again fine without)

1 medium aubergine sliced thin.

and If you want a small potato sliced thin.

Method

Fry the mince with turmeric, garlic, cinnamon and oregano in a small amount of olive oil.

Once browned add the onions and preferably tomato puree but otherwise a can of tomatoes but try not to add all the juice (I suppose straining them would have been a good idea )

Throw in the bayleaf if you have one and the juniper berries and leave to simmer for a while on a low heat.

Put oil in the bottom of an oven proof dish.

Preheat oven to 200 C

In a small pan heat the milk and mix it with the cornflour and yoghurt. Keep heating it until the mixture goes gloopy and bubbles form like when you see a film with a hot mud spring that the baddy is about to drown the goody in. You need to stir to stop it sticking.

Put a layer of potatoes on the oil in the dish and then a layer of aubergine.

put a layer of the meat mixture on top, then some white sauce.

Then some aubergine again, then meat again then aubergine and repeat until hopefully you end up with aubergine on the top which you then cover with what is left of the white sauce.

Bung it in the oven for about 40-50 minutes or until the top has gone golden.

Strictly speaking it should be left to cool and set a bit before you dish it out. But in my house that part never happens and so it ends up quite sloppy on the plate.

Ideally it should stand neatly on the plate on serving it.

I was going to let a portion cool and photograph it - but they ate it all.

I had just enough battery to photograph this once as it didn't need a flash - so not up to usual standards sorry.

It's all gone now. Family fed and happy. I wonder when they will invent a smell upload? It smelled wonderful and tasted even better

Here is my little oven with my ghemiste cooking in it. I checked it after 40 minutes and it is nowhere near done - so I've put it in for another 20 - I think I should have used more rice, it looks very wet, so I took the lid off the casserole to let some of the liquid evaporate while it finishes off.

Here is my swing seat on the balcony where I can cwch up and wait for the food to cook. I'm going to get a drink of 1/2 and 1/2 orange juice and water in a minute. Orange juice is Haemo Porthakallee in greek - well that's near enough at my stage of learning

Here is my potato farming project. I had an old potato I found in the pantry all sprouty and forgotten. So in an attempt to be economical and ecological etc I planted it rather than throw it. It is quite an attractive patio plant. But I am tempted to dig it up to see how it's growing! It's bad enough having to wait for food to cook. Waiting for things to grow is unbearable - and yet I bear it