Cooking for one

There have been a few departures of late. The Boy has left for a stint in Delhi, India and the Laotian Princess has disappeared to follow her dreams in the land of the free and the home of the brave (otherwise known as the USA). I’ve had lots of company and plenty of dinner invitations but sometimes the apartment is rather… empty. So, to counteract my boredom I’ve embarked on a number of cooking adventures for me, myself and I. 

It’s amazing how the simple act of slicing vegetables and the sound of sizzling meat keeps you company when you’re by yourself. The aroma of garlic, onions and butter being gently fried in a pan quickly fills my small apartment and the gentle whir of the oven promises something delicious to look forward to.

A few weeks ago, I tackled the moussaka from Tessa Kiros’ Falling Cloudberries. It’s such a lovely cookbook filled with a mish mash of recipes. Some are Cypriot, some Greek, some Thai. I love that she’s included recipes of all sorts of dishes she loves to cook and which represents her varied heritage. It’s not the typical French or Italian cook book which can so easily categorised on a bookshelf and don’t we all love different things to eat? Some recipes are quick and easy and some, like the moussaka, require a little more loving attention.

A moussaka is a dish that is essentially created by layering mince meat and eggplant. Kiros also adds slices of potato to the mix and finishes it all off with a bechamel sauce that forms a lovely crust when it’s baked. So, from what I understand, it’s a Greek-style moussaka.

Eggplants are deep-purple jewels of the vegetable world and are silky, soft and creamy. You can’t help but love them whether they’re mashed up for a dip or stir-fried with chilli and garlic. But you need to draw out any bitter juices with a little salt before you even think about adding them to this moussaka or else you risk throwing off the flavours in this lovely dish. This was just step one. 

After slicing eggplants and potatoes, Kiros has you pan frying a small mountain of these vegetables. It’s really not so bad with a glass of wine in one hand and a pair of tongs in the other but when you have a small pan, it takes a while. So, it was a good thing I didn’t have anyone to cook for because they would have been waiting a long time! 

The mince is browned and cinnamon is added to give it a sweet aroma. The meat sauce is brought together with a tomato passata and a bit of white wine and then you just let it simmer away in the background as you sip on more wine, turn up the music and fry more potatoes and eggplants.

The bechamel sauce seems pretty easy to make. It’s a classic sauce, really. Bit of butter, flour, milk. What’s so hard about that? I managed to pull it together in the end, but not without a few mishaps along the way. Did you know that butter, flour and milk can turn to glue on your stove top? I learned that the hard way.

After about two hours of slicing, frying and simmering I adoringly layered all the ingredients and placed it in the oven and then watched as its creamy surface turned into a golden top. 

The result? This dish is rich. You really only need a small square to satisfy you. But, how satisfying it is! So comforting, so flavoursome, you really don’t even need to serve it with anything else. In the end, this moussaka could have easily fed about eight people. You see, that’s the thing about cooking for one – you get to enjoy all the leftovers as well.  

Sorry about the lack of pictures, guys! Trust me, it was more about the flavour than it was the presentation. Though, for what it’s worth, the moussaka does look appetising with its lovely layers all topped off with an oozing layer of bechamel sauce.

Advertisement