Eggplant are producing heavily, more than we can eat immediately. This
week we have put up two moussaka in ten inch by ten inch pans, roughly
half the ordinary recipe. We fry the thick sliced eggplant in a skillet
and let it cool well. Then the ground meat with onions is fried, a
tablespoon of tomato paste dissolved in two tablespoons water and a
tablespoon of ground cinnamon go into meat/onion mix and we're ready to
fill up the pan. Layer of eggplant, layer of meat mixture, put grated
Parmesan or Italian shredded cheese mix on top of meat. Do the same
thing over until pan is full. Let it cool to room temperature then it
gets put into a vacuum seal bag with a sheet of waxed paper on top of
the pan and vacuum sealed and labeled. Pop into freezer until needed.

We generally let it thaw in the refrigerator, then mix up and cook the
bechamel sauce, pour over top, bake for desired time and ready to eat.
Sort of a home food preservers frozen meal with all the prep time
already done.

Anyway, we now have some nice dinners for later in the fall or winter.
Eggplant are still producing well but they're not getting big, probably
due to not enough rain but some of the very cool nights we're having
could be doing the job.

Also put up several bags of chopped sweet chiles today. We chop them
into the size we want, put them on a bun pan, freeze for one hour, then
into vacuum bags, label, into the freezer. They mostly last for at least
a year even with everything we cook loaded with chopped chiles.
A nice bit of vitamin's A and C in most of our meals. I use the used vac
bags for chiles. Of course they are rinsed well, turned inside out and
run through the dishwasher before being reused. Means I only have to buy
bag material every three to five years as I buy in bulk, 200 foot rolls
of both the wide and the narrow width bags.

Unfortunately now both freezers are almost completely filled, may have
to get a larger freezer some time soon, the fifteen-cubic foot, upright
freezer is just not big enough for everything. The freezer on the
refrigerator/freezer combo (two-doors) is reserved for meat. Local
supermarket has been running some excellent sales on chicken, pork, and
beef. Bought several one-pound boneless ribeye steaks just recently plus
goodly amounts of boneless skinless thighs and breasts of chicken. I
think I had better stop buying meat for awhile.

George

On Thu, 10 Oct 2013 13:06:53 -0500, George Shirley >
wrote:

>Eggplant are producing heavily, more than we can eat immediately. This
>week we have put up two moussaka in ten inch by ten inch pans, roughly
>half the ordinary recipe. We fry the thick sliced eggplant in a skillet
>and let it cool well. Then the ground meat with onions is fried, a
>tablespoon of tomato paste dissolved in two tablespoons water and a
>tablespoon of ground cinnamon go into meat/onion mix and we're ready to
>fill up the pan. Layer of eggplant, layer of meat mixture, put grated
>Parmesan or Italian shredded cheese mix on top of meat. Do the same
>thing over until pan is full. Let it cool to room temperature then it
>gets put into a vacuum seal bag with a sheet of waxed paper on top of
>the pan and vacuum sealed and labeled. Pop into freezer until needed.
>
>We generally let it thaw in the refrigerator, then mix up and cook the
>bechamel sauce, pour over top, bake for desired time and ready to eat.
>Sort of a home food preservers frozen meal with all the prep time
>already done.
>
>Anyway, we now have some nice dinners for later in the fall or winter.
>Eggplant are still producing well but they're not getting big, probably
>due to not enough rain but some of the very cool nights we're having
>could be doing the job.
>
>Also put up several bags of chopped sweet chiles today. We chop them
>into the size we want, put them on a bun pan, freeze for one hour, then
>into vacuum bags, label, into the freezer. They mostly last for at least
>a year even with everything we cook loaded with chopped chiles.
>A nice bit of vitamin's A and C in most of our meals. I use the used vac
>bags for chiles. Of course they are rinsed well, turned inside out and
>run through the dishwasher before being reused. Means I only have to buy
>bag material every three to five years as I buy in bulk, 200 foot rolls
>of both the wide and the narrow width bags.
>
>Unfortunately now both freezers are almost completely filled, may have
>to get a larger freezer some time soon, the fifteen-cubic foot, upright
>freezer is just not big enough for everything. The freezer on the
>refrigerator/freezer combo (two-doors) is reserved for meat. Local
>supermarket has been running some excellent sales on chicken, pork, and
>beef. Bought several one-pound boneless ribeye steaks just recently plus
>goodly amounts of boneless skinless thighs and breasts of chicken. I
>think I had better stop buying meat for awhile.
>
>George

Thanks for the reminder. I grow the long skinny eggplant and will
soon have enough for a recipe. I still have your recipe. I will dig
it out and make sure I have everything.
--
Susan N.

"Moral indignation is in most cases two percent moral,
48 percent indignation, and 50 percent envy."
Vittorio De Sica, Italian movie director (1901-1974)