Moussaka #5

Ingredients

4 tb butter
1 c onion
1 1/2 lb chuck
1 clove garlic
1 ts oregano
1 ts basil
3/4 ts cinnamon
1 1/8 ts salt
16 oz tomato sauce
2 tb dry bread crumbs
2 eggplants
1/2 c melted butter
2 tb flour

Instructions

MEAT SAUCE Melt butter, saute onion, meat & garlic, stirring until brown. Add herbs & spices and tomato sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, about 30 min. Just before assembling casserole, mix bread crumbs into sauce. EGGPLANT Halve eggplants lengthwise. Cut each half across into 1/2" slices. Place slices in bottom of broiler pan. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and brush with butter. Broil 4 inches from heat four minute on each side. CREAM SAUCE -Melt butter & stir in flour, salt & pepper. Add millk gradually. Bring to a boil, stirring until thick. Remove from heat. Beat a small amount of cream mixture into eggs. Blend egg mixture into remaining sauce. Mix well and set aside. TO ASSEMBLE In a 2 qt. shallow baking dish, layer half of the eggplant, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle w/2 tb of the combined cheeses. Pour meat sauce of eggplant. Sprinkle w/2 more tb of cheese. Layer remaining eggplant over top. Pour cream sauce over all. Sprinkle w/remaining cheeses. Bake @350 until brown and top is set, approx. 35-40 min. This sounds more complicated than it is, and makes a great party dish, as it is very "forgiving" eggplant haters won't even know what they're eating!