Lurah's great Moussaka story posted on Whatcha Cooking March 2012 prompted me to start this topic --

I've never been to Greece, never grew up living next door to a Greek or as far as I know even knowing a Greek. And although there was a Greek population in KC and my Dad's job took him to most of the supermarkets in the area, I don't think he ever went to a Greek one.

But then I married and my husband had traveled to Greece, kept talking about the wonderful dish he ate so much over there -- Moussaka -- and lo and behold, one day in the mail in an offer for a cookbook (although for the life of me I can't remember which or what type of cookbook it was) was a recipe for moussaka.

I made it (being a new bride and wanted to please her new husband) -- he pronounced it just like what he had had over there.

I've made it a lot over the years. I've made it for dinner parties and I've made it with lamb and hamburger and even (when we had a guest with a heart condition) with turkey.

We had one fun "Tacky Tourist" party where guests dressed as tacky tourists and our destination was the Greek Isles -- with moussaka as the main course!

Although because it is a casserole, I think of it as more a fall/winter dish, it is great in summer when you can find eggplants at the Farmer's Market. I even found a recipe for zucchini moussaka in an old Williams Sonoma cookbook and when zucchini are plentiful . . .

I fixed my moussaka for 25 years before I ever ate at a Greek restaurant. And I was very surprised tasting my first "real" Greek moussaka that my recipe hit the nail on the head!!!! (And, of course, that is what I had to order when I "ate Greek" the first time!)

I love recipes with stories. Do you have any?

Martha

Well my story is about a food that I just love. LOBSTER! My DH and I went to a restaurant advertising A Maine lobster special for the week. Living here in FL. the lobster is good but nothing like the Maine lobster so I begged DH who hates it to take me. The special was two one pound lobsters for $24.99. That was a good price for two. The young man took the order and delivered the steamed lobster that I devoured.The bill came and it was for $54.99 for my meal alone.XXXLLOOXXX!! Is this? The waiters answer, we were out of the one pounders and gave you two pounders! I did laugh later and I did inform the restaurant that the waiters should always inform the paying customer of any bill increase because of no stock in item that is advertised.

Linderhof - I've substituted zucchini or potatoes when eggplant isn't in season. Course I can't call it Moussaka or they'd never come to the table.

A local restaurant has a signature dessert that everyone loves. I found a similar and even better recipe and began preparing it at home on a regular basis. But then I returned to the restaurant and ordered the dessert after a couple years absence, their's had "changed."
I summoned a wait staff and asked if they were doing something different with the pie? The response was no, same as it's always been.

A couple weeks later it dawned on me - I'd become accustomed to mine, preferred it and dined out expecting my own version. Faux pas me!

DH has shared with friends "it's pretty hard to find a good restaurant in town because in some cases my wife is a better cook."

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Lurah,

My story isn't to do with a recipe but with eggplant. On our recent cruise, the maitre d' was esp kind to me. One night they had an eggplant dish that was the best thing I ate on the cruise (DH won't eat it). Each night the M.d made the rounds to see how people liked their meals so once I said that my current meal was good but not as good as that eggplant meal. . . he said that is going to be on the menu again. . . He instructed the cook the cook to make just me that meal again! I'm not sure if it was the exact same recipe but since I love eggplant it didn't matter.

BTW when I was a small child we had neighbors who were Greek and my mom said that as a toddler I could speak some Greek. DD's best college friend was Greek and we have a standing invitation to visit Greece. Maybe someday!

Emily -- that's a great story and yes, on cruises they will often make you a special meal if you ask. That was kind of him to do that!

Martha

Martha, would you be willing to share your moussaka recipe with us? I already saved your recipe using zucchini posted on your great blog. THX

It's amazing how many eggplants you can get off one plant. Needless to say, I've made moussaka a few times. Great flavor!

Some years ago, my work mates and I went to a new Italian restaurant that served family style. We ordered several dishes. After the meal, I asked one of my mates how she liked the meal. She told me that she liked everything except the mushroom dish. I didn't quite know how to tell her that the dish was eggplant not mushroom.

Unlike the rest of you, I'm not a fan of eggplant.

Oh my, I would k.ill for some moussaka right now.
I love all kinds of Greek food, and the following recipe is one of the best I've ever tried: the real deal. ETA: I make the moussaka with ground beef or ground lamb, if available.

http://greekgourmand.blogspot....earch/label/moussaka

This message has been edited. Last edited by: aychihuahua,

I love Greek and middle eastern food. Moussaka, Baba ganoush, baklavas, spanakopita, kibbeh, tabouleh....and I love strong Greek coffee! I have Feta and kalamata olives in my pantry year'round.

Wannaquilt2 -- I've been up to my eyebrows in cutout cookies -- 600 (for a fundraiser) and as soon as I've got them all iced, decorated and bagged, I'll post the recipe!

Martha

When we were in Las Vegas a while back having a late dinner we decided to order a bottle of wine... not being able to pronounce it we just pointed to it on the menu so the waiter could see what we wanted. When the bill came, it was well over $700.00!!! We called the waiter over to tell him he gave us the wrong bottle of wine, he said, well that's the one you pointed out! It wasn't even that great!! We didn't argue as we figured it was our fault, but when he came back he said the manager decided to only charge us for the $35.00 bottle we thought we ordered!

Spanish Revival - quite a story, glad it worked out!

Martha - no problem and thank you. Great things are worth waiting for. :-)