Sometimes it’s made with vegetables and legumes. Sometimes it’s made with vegetables and meat. Sometimes it’s made vegan, while other times it’s made with cheese and/or yogurt. It also ... [read more]]]>

Sometimes it’s made with vegetables and legumes. Sometimes it’s made with vegetables and meat. Sometimes it’s made vegan, while other times it’s made with cheese and/or yogurt. It also can be made gluten-free. If you’re on a low carb diet, you can make it without the bread crumbs and you can make the sauce without the flour.

Moussaka is such a versatile dish, and the way Kemal prepared last night is very similar to how he prepared it the first time he made it for me. (Although the first time he made it I don’t believe he used butter or flour in the sauce.)

Of all the way’s Kemal has made moussaka, I think this is my favorite moussaka recipe, although I must admit it would be perfect with some fresh mint in the casserole. I just love mint in moussaka!

Anyway, this is comfort food for us.

It tastes wonderful, and I hope you’ll give it a try some day.

Vegetable Moussaka with Bechamel Sauce

Bechamel Sauce Adapted from: about.com Greek food

Ingredients for the Moussaka:

• 8 small potatoes, peeled and sliced
• 2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced
• 2 medium zucchini, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 16 garlic cloves, sliced in half
• 3 oz. freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• olive oil for greasing the pan
• Panko bread crumbs for sprinkling on the greased pan

Ingredients for the Bechamel Sauce:

• 7 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. pepper
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tsp. allspice

Instructions:

Step One:  Prep Work and Layering the Moussaka

• Grease a 9 inch x 14 inch pan with olive oil.
• Sprinkle some Panko bread crumbs evenly over the oiled pan. Set aside.
• Peel and slice the potatoes.
• Place the potato slices on the bottom of the pan.
• Peel the garlic, and then slice in half.
• Scatter the garlic on top of the potato slices.
• Peel and slice eggplant.
• Place the eggplant slices on top of the potatoes and garlic.
• Wash and slice the zucchini and both of the peppers.
• Then place the zucchini and pepper slices on top of the eggplant.
• Peel and slice the onion, and then place the onion slices on top of the zucchini and peppers.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step Two:  Making the Bechamel Sauce

• Melt the butter in a medium-sized pot.
• While the butter is melting, beat the eggs.
• Add the flour to the eggs and whisk until the flour is mixed into the eggs.
• Add the melted butter, milk, salt, pepper, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice to the egg/flour mixture.
• Whisk the mixture until all the ingredients are incorporated.

Step Three:  Adding Bechamel Sauce to the Moussaka and Baking

• Pour the Bechamel sauce over the moussaka, making the sauce goes all the way to the bottom layer.
• Bake uncovered for about an hour. The potatoes will be soft and the top will be browned.
• Let it cool, then cut into slices.
• Enjoy warm or cold.

I’ve read a lot of excellent reviews about this restaurant, and we finally went there today for lunch. The food was incredibly delicious and the service was over-the-top.  After reading so many positive reviews about the restaurant, I was eager to try it.

The lady who waited on us said they make everything from scratch, including ... [read more]]]> I’ve read a lot of excellent reviews about this restaurant, and we finally went there today for lunch. The food was incredibly delicious and the service was over-the-top.  After reading so many positive reviews about the restaurant, I was eager to try it.

The lady who waited on us said they make everything from scratch, including the yogurt. She said they cook with their homemade yogurt instead of heavy cream, and she even brought us out a small bowl of the yogurt to sample. It was wonderful!!!

In fact, all the food we tried off the buffet was really good…better than the other Indian restaurants we’ve been to.

The cafe is tucked away in the Hikes Point Plaza.

You can’t see it from the road, the building is nothing fancy, and the decor is simple and homey. The prices are quite reasonable, the staff is friendly and helpful, and food is awesome! I sampled a little bit of many of the dishes on the buffet.

Our favorite was the chana masala, which is garbanzo beans cooked with spices and onions. It’s a bit on the hot side which we liked. The yogurt made it creamy and added a beautiful flavor.

The chicken curry was really good, and the tandoori chicken was the best I ever had. I couldn’t believe how moist it was.

The dal…lentils with spices and yogurt, was out-of-this-world incredible! It was perfectly hot and spicy and oh-so-creamy. I so much enjoyed dipping my naan in it!

Speaking of the naan bread, it was a little different from most other naan breads I’ve tried. The lady who waited on us said they put yogurt in the dough, which is what I do when I make it home. The naan was thicker than the naan bread I’ve tried at other Indian Restaurants, but it was fantastic!

I also tried the chicken sagwala which is chicken breast cooked with creamy spinach. The cream sauce is made with the homemade yogurt (not cream), and it’s a very tasty dish.

The vegetable curry and the fried onions were fantastic. I’m not sure what kind of batter the onions were fried in (perhaps a lentil batter?) but it was incredibly good!

The lady who waited on us said they cook everything the way they cook at home, and they certainly do seem to take a lot of pride in their meals and using high quality ingredients. They use only certified halal meat, and rice was perfectly cooked.

We definitely plan to return, and the next time we go we’ll eat at dinner time so we can try some other items that weren’t on the buffet. If you go at dinner time and order off the menu, they will season your food to your likeness. It’s really nice that if you want your meal hotter and spicier, they’ll fix it to order that way for you. Or if you prefer your food milder, they’ll season it that way as well. I just love how everything is made just the way you like it.

When we go at dinner, we’re interested in trying the baigan bharta which is eggplant sauteed with tomatoes, onions, and spices. And we also want to try masala dosa, which is rice and lentil crepes with sicy potatoes. I’m also interested in trying the lamb curry, lamb korma (lamb simmered in mild yogurt sauce), and the lamb vindaloo (lamb simmered with spicy potatoes).

If you like India food or have also wanted to try it but haven’t, we highly recommend the Little India Cafe at the Hikes Point Plaza in Louisville, Ky, right off Breckinridge Lane.

They’re closed on Mondays. On weekdays, the buffet is 7.95 and weekends it’s $9.95. I believe they serve the buffet until 3 p.m. If you want to call them to be sure, their phone number is 502-479-3353.

Update: We’ve back to the Little India Cafe several times since I wrote this review, and every time we’ve been, the food has continued to be outstanding.

While the food on the buffet is quite good, we prefer the dinner menu because the food is even better!

The vegetable samosas make for a wonderful appetizer! They’re crisp on the outside and filled with soft vegetables and spices on the inside. The tamarind chutney and cilantro chutney they’re served with make excellent dipping sauces!

We also ordered chicken saagwala (served with rice and a piece of naan bread) which features soft, tender chicken in creamy, pureed spinach. You order it mild, hot, or Indian hot, and we ordered our Indian hot. It was perfect, and we enjoyed ours with garlic naan bread which was scrumptious! Without a doubt we’ll be ordering this again!

The lentil rice crepes (masala dosa) that we ordered off the menu were also quite tasty, and the inside is filled with soft vegetables and spices. It’s served with a chutney that contains coconut and mustard (among other things), and it was also very good. The lentil rice crepes come with a small bowl of lentil soup which was light yet full of flavor, and both the saagwala and the lentil rice crepes are big portion sizes so it’s a definite value for your money.

The owner stopped by again to chat with us to make sure everything was to our liking, and one of the ladies in the kitchen cooking brought us a sample of lamb biryani (a fragrant rice dish with lamb). It was so incredibly delicious! The owner said that a group of people living in Lexington come to the cafe every Friday just to order this dish.

While we were much too full to order dessert, the thick, pulpy mango juice was our sweet treat to finish off the meal. It’s the best mango juice I’ve every had! We’re hardly waiting to go back and sample more of their excellent home-cooked meals!

Last week, Kemal made us a wonderful sweet and spicy stir fry with with chorizo chicken sausages, but unfortunately, I failed to photograph ... [read more]]]>

Last week, Kemal made us a wonderful sweet and spicy stir fry with with chorizo chicken sausages, but unfortunately, I failed to photograph it so you can see what it looked like.

Anyway, we enjoyed that sweet and spicy stir fry so much that we both wanted it again, but this time Kemal made it with beef.

It’s a wonderful meal, and I’m not sure if I prefer it with chicken or beef. It’s wonderful either way.

All I know is the eggplant is a must! If you’ve never had eggplant in your stir-fry, give it a try. It’s really good!

I’m hardly waiting for some leftovers tonight!!

Sweet and Spicy Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 lb. lean chuck stew beef, cubed
• 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 medium zucchinis, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 1 bunch green onions, sliced
• 16 whole garlic cloves
• 2 small yellow onions, diced
• 1/2 cup sesame oil (you can substitute with canola or olive oil if you prefer)
• 3 tbsp. + 1 tsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. chili powder
• 4 oz. sweet and spicy sauce (we used The Ginger People’s sweet ginger chili sauce)
• 12 oz. noodles (we used Ho Fan which is a flat Asian noodle, but you can use regular spaghetti, linguine, or whatever kind of noodle you like)
• soy sauce to taste
• salt and pepper to taste

Step One:  Prep Work

• Peel the garlic cloves.
• Peel and dice the yellow onions.
• Wash the green onions and then slice them into 1-inch pieces.
• Wash the peppers, and then cut them in half, removing the seeds. Then cut the peppers into 1-inch pieces.
• Wash the zucchinis and then cut them half lengthwise. Then slice the halves into 1-inch pieces.
• Peel the eggplant, and then dice it into 1-inch pieces.
• Cut the beef into 1-inch cubes.

Step Two:  Fry the Beef

• Heat 2 tbsp. olive oil in medium-sized pan, and when the oil gets hot, add the cubed beef.
• Season the beef with chili seasoning, stirring frequently until the outside of the beef is browned but the inside is still rare. (This is called searing the meat.)
• Remove from heat and set aside.

Step Three:  Cook the Noodles

• Bring 3 quarts of water to a boil over high heat.
• Add the noodles, 1 tbsp of olive oil, and 1 tsp. of salt to the boiling water. Stir gently.
• Reduce the heat to medium and cook the noodles until they’re soft the still firm.
• Drain the water off the noodles, and then run warm water off them.
• Toss the noodles in 1 tsp of olive oil, cover, and set aside.

Step Four:  Fry the Vegetables

• In a large pan, fry the peppers over medium-high heat in 1/2 cup of sesame oil for about 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Then add the garlic. After the garlic has cooked for about 2 minutes, add the yellow and green onions. Stir occasionally.
• After the onions have cooked for 2 minutes, add the zucchini to the frying pan. Stir occasionally.
• After the zucchinis have cooked for 2 minutes, add the eggplant and fry the eggplant for about 2 minutes.

Step Five:  Add Beef and Sweet & Spicy Sauce to Vegetables

• Add the beef and sweet & spicy sauce to the vegetable mixture, frying it for a minute or two until the beef is cooked inside to your liking.
• Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• If you prefer to skip the salt, season with soy sauce to taste.

Step Six:  Add the Beef and Vegetables to the Noodles

• Place the noodles in a serving bowl/dish.
• Top with the beef/vegetable mixture.
• Serve warm.

The sweet peppers and tomatoes combined with the roasted garlic, rosemary, and aromatic sweet basil is a pasta lover’s heaven, and the butter sauce enhances the flavors instead of ... [read more]]]>

The sweet peppers and tomatoes combined with the roasted garlic, rosemary, and aromatic sweet basil is a pasta lover’s heaven, and the butter sauce enhances the flavors instead of covering them up. The freshly grated Parmesan cheese on top is the icing on the cake!

Foccacia or rosemary bread is will go perfectly with this scrumptious meal.

Roasted Vegetable Pasta

Adapted from: Recipe Adapted from: “Simply Pasta and Italian” by Parragon Publishing, Queen Street House, 4 Queen Street, Bath, BAI, IHE, UK. Published in 2001. The recipe (“roasted tomato farfalle”) was found on page 293.

Whenever there’s veggies in the fridge that need to be eaten, a great way to fix them is to combine them with eggs and cheese and make a quiche or a casserole. That’s what Kemal did tonight. It’s fairly quick to make, and it’s filling, yet still light on your stomach. It’s also very ... [read more]]]> Whenever there’s veggies in the fridge that need to be eaten, a great way to fix them is to combine them with eggs and cheese and make a quiche or a casserole. That’s what Kemal did tonight. It’s fairly quick to make, and it’s filling, yet still light on your stomach. It’s also very tasty! My taste buds go into overdrive with this quiche! Hopefully you’ll love it as much as we do!

Kemal’s Potato and Vegetable Quiche

Ingredients:

• 6-7 small potatoes
• 2 small zuchini
• 1 small head cauliflower
• 6 extra large eggs
• panko bread crumbs
• 14 oz. Swiss cheese
• olive oil
• 2/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• salt to taste
• pepper to taste

Instructions:

• Clean, peel, and slice the potatoes and zucchini into thin rounds, leaving the skins on, keeping the potatoes separate from the potatoes.
• Clean the cauliflower and remove the heads, setting them aside in a bowl.
• Grate the cheese.
• Beat the eggs.
• Fry the potatoes in olive oil until they’re soft.
• Place the potatoes in a large casserole dish when they’re done.
• Sprinkle half the Swiss cheese over the potatoes.
• Now fry the zucchini in the olive oil that’s left in the pan that the fried the potatoes in.
• The zucchini only needs to be fried for a few minutes, just until it’s a little soft but still firm. When the zucchini is done, place the rounds in the baking dish on top of the cheese.
• Add the milk to the eggs and beat.
• Now add some panko bread crumbs to the eggs and milk so the egg mixture is thicker and beat.
• Mix in the salt, pepper, and chili powder to the egg mixture.
• Pour the egg mixture over the potatoes, cheese, and zucchini.
• Place the cauliflower florets on top of the casserole.
• Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the cauliflower.
• Cover and bake on 350 degrees about 30-40 minutes.
• Uncover and continue baking until the eggs are done and the cheese is melted.