Nearly a year's worth of hard work summarized into 36x40 inches. In less than 48 hours time.

Within the hour's wait for printing, I spawned an ingenuous idea to hop over to Kith cafe for dinner. Torned between the choice of pasta or sandwich, I choose the latter - Grilled eggplant sandwich with spinach, brie, white truffle oil on multigrain bread. While I enjoyed the sandwich at that moment, on hindsight I now think it was a seriously overpriced and underwhelming sandwich. giant steaks of eggplant had so much potential; unfortunately it was undergrilled and tough. One of my two slices of bread was beyond toasted and thus dry. They could be more generous with the spinach and tomato slices too, although they were generous with chunks of creamy brie. This is the reason why I seldom eat out. Maybe I should have stuck with the king prawn linguine and be less angsty about the less than worthy meal.

0 A much welcomed break

I had a mini respite from the 12-hour intensive lab work over the course of last week. We marked granny's 83rd birthday at Ming Kee seafood restaurant, which meant I had an excuse to complete my work earlier. The dishes were lip-smackingly good from start to finish: signature homemade beancurd with shitake and broccoli, bamboo (razor) clams, triple cooked crab bee hoon, soft and silky smooth steamed tiger grouper, sea cucumber with more shitake and broccoli, and chinese spinach in superior stock. Everything was flavorful without being too rich, salty, or having that MSG taste that so often plagues cze char eateries. The crab bee hoon was Shiok with a capital 'S' - thin rice vermicelli coated in its sweet & robust crab stock, with more crabtastic goodness from the chunks of fresh Sri Lanka crab pincers. The fish was also very good (flavoured in the classic soy sauce/spring onion way), albeit a tad pricey. I loved the plump shitake shrooms featured in the bean curd and sea cucumber dishes too. Unfortunately, I didn't take to the bamboo clams, and the broccoli and sea cucumber could have been more well-cooked as they were slightly hard to the bite.

Before that I had a jaunt at Marketplace@Tanglin Mall, where I stocked up my supplies. Exciting new buys included Mullers coconut greek yogurt, cappuccino Larabar and a tabbouleh salad mix (Fantasic Foods). Also bought Israeli couscous, Pacific soy and cage-free eggs (to test if there's a difference between that and normal eggs).

For lunch today I decided to have the egg yolk, instead of throwing it away. Lunch was tri-colored fusili pasta with purple sweet potatoes and the last of my soaked and roasted crunchy buckwheat groats, salmon, aforementioned egg done sunny-sideup, cucumber and lettuce, and pesto and goat's cheese. I thought the egg yolk would make a "sauce" for the pasta since I don't fancy Pappy's pasta sauce, which is the bottled creamed version. Although I couldn't really make out the taste of the yolk, I did have the thrill of poking into the yolk and seeing the golden liquid ooze out. I was eating in the dark (in confocal room), and sometimes I like it that way.

0 All the good eats in a [klutz] day

Breakfast - banana cinnamon oat-muffin-bagel porridge topped with Justin's chocolate almond butter, a chunk of Theo & Philo green mango and sea salt dark chocolate and cocoa mole hot chocolate sauce made with Delamere's skimmed goat's milk, and a scattering of pomegranate seeds. Lunch - Italian salad leaves, roasted vine-ripened cherry tomatoes and uber-ripe mushy avocado slices, purple potatoes & carrots roasted in avocado oil, seasoned with black pepper, cumin, paprika and dill, two whites-one-yolk creamy scrambled eggs, crumbled goats cheese, and half an Ambrosia apple afterwards. Dinner - lup cheong, shitake shroom and scallion soy sauce fried rice, sea bass, slow cooker chicken wolfberry herbal soup with si shen powder, papaya slices.

On the other hand, something was wrong with me today. 1. Spilled gooey egg whites all over the kitchen counter when I cracked the egg (NOT fun cleaning up). 2. Splashed egg mixture onto stove top when stirring the eggs in the non-stick pan. 3. Prepared my secondary antibody mixture wrongly three times before I got it correct. 4. This included fixing the dissected brains in the secondary antibody mix instead of fixing buffer! 5. Almost incubated the in situ brain samples with a secondary antibody mix with mouse Cy3 (red is Tyramide Cy3!) 6. spilled rice all over the floor when scooping rice for dinner.

I believe He was trying to impart a message about having quiet quality time today. The topic in Our Daily Bread today was "Time Out," a reminder to take time out and pray in the midst of hard work. Incidentally Luke 10 (I'm still through Luke 10) also talks about Jesus' teaching on Prayer.

So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.

0 Sleigh bells ring-a-ling

Sunday project: Santa hat cheesecake bites, from Cooking Classy. I'd never thought of such a creative use for strawberries. Adorable!

P.S. Starting the past few days with s'nog oatmeals in different variations. The s'nog gets creamier and thicker by the day, meaning the oatmeal gets doughier and doughier! Today's version was cherries+cranberries, vanilla+cinnamon, chia+protein but/seed blend+Justin's PB/Artisana tahini. Nogged my socks off!

0 Dysregulation

I think am self-destructive, or at least immune to stress, or maybe, have a damaged amygdala. Knowing very well that I have an assignment which deadline is imminent, exam in two freakin' weeks time, and untouched revision, yet I still am surfing the web like it's the holidays. Why can't I regulate my behaviour properly???

But I haven't been that relaxed and happy in such a long while. After church (7.30 AM service - a convert to early bird :)) I headed to Cold Storage at Takashimaya for grocery shopping. Unfortunately at just past 9 the shops were still closed. What [bad] luck. As such, it called for a detour to United Square's branch instead. But it proved a blessing in disguise because I scored a few discounted items and exotic buys. Like:

• Kashi cinnamon harvest (blame it on Amanda's influence! In fact I still have an unopened box of Dr. Oz's buckwheat flakes)
• 71% Ecuador dark chocolate block (Montezuma)
• Swiss farmer rolls (Swiss Bake) - 1/2 price!
• Pacific Almond milk (unsweetened) [couldn't bring myself to splurge on Silk's almond milk]
• Flavour Fall pluots - 1/2 price and in rather good condition still!
• Wild sockeye salmon [omegas yum!]

I think what put in a such a good mood was really today's breakfast: (last of) rolled oats (Binda Valley) cooked in unsweetened soy milk (Natura), sweetened with 1/2 mashed nana and raisins, upped with protein powder (Lifetime Life's Basic protein - the most neutral flavour thus far, compared to Sunwarrior and Vega Health Optimizer) and protein blend (real good food), spiced with cinnamon and chocolate chili and dressed with chocolate hazelnut butter (Justin's). A double whammy of chocolate would be bound to deliver a double whammy of endorphins and it sure did!

And then it was home sweet home. Managed to be a good girl and squeeze in a bit of work before spending ~2 hours (!) cooking and eating lunch, which was a ooey gooey curry & cumin bean stew (BRM whole grains and beans soup mix) with torned tortilla pieces, avocado, sardines (Boiromar), curly lettuce, cucumber, tomato, honey goat's cheese (Delamere) and beetroot relish.

A Jaffa sweetie (pomelo x grapefuruit) to end the meal. Guess what was found on Pubmed:

All applied methods showed that sweeties had higher antioxidative activity than grapefruit. Experiments on laboratory animals show that diets supplemented with sweeties, and to a lesser extent with grapefruit, increased the plasma antioxidative potential and improved the lipid metabolism, especially in the rats fed with added cholesterol.

Apparently a sweetie has more antioxidants than a grapefruit!

Lately people's been asking what I plan to do after I graduate. My PI is persuading me to consider PhD at TLL. For once, I really don't know what should my next step in life; so far it's been pretty straightforward: pri > sec > jc > uni, with the choice of school's quite [re-determined too. Pray for God's guidance in this.

0 Pollen pleases with much pleasures

We had an amazing afternoon at Gardens by the Bay, starting with a fancy lunch at Pollen. The Mediterranean-European restaurant, helmed by British Michelin-starred chef Jason Atherton, was a perfect match to my dining preferences; it joined my radar list the moment I read about its opening a few months ago. I'm really thankful that the family could have a nice lunch together, a rare event these days, in the comforts of the majestic Flower Dome. The food was nothing short of awesome. Every dish was not only perfect balance of flavours, textures, but beautifully plated. The set lunch at 55 pax is quite a good steal, considering you'd get free entry into the Flower Dome, which would otherwise cost 12 bucks.

Rye sourdough with codiments: cod-potato dip and green olives

Roasted beetroot, goats cheese and beet leaves. Beets and goats cheese are a classic pairing but they are paired for a reason. The earthy tones of the roasted beets (which came in purple, golden and orange) accentuated the creamy sweets notes of the goats cheese. Simple yet satisfying.

Smoked salmon with wasabi-like accompainment. Have you ever seen such a hunk of smoked salmon? I'd imagine thin slices of salty salmon a la carpaccio-style, but this meaty slab delivered a pleasant surprise. I had a slice of Mum's salmon; lightly smoked and not too heavy-handed on the salt (my pet peeve of smoked salmon), the flesh was between a raw and flaky texture. This would definitely provide the daily recommended dose of omega-3.

Pan-seard John Dory, prawn minestrone, baby courgettes, coco beans and edamame. Although slightly disappointed the cod was not on the menu, the pan-seared John Dory did not disappoint. The execution of the searing could not be more perfectly done; it yielded a skin so crisp you could feel it crackle at the slightest pressure, unveiling smooth tender flaky white flesh. It's so easy to overcook white fish, but as mentioned, the timing here couldn't be better (I'd imagine the chef had a ticking timer beside him!). The foamed sauce of prawn minestrone was poured over the fish upon serving; it looks deceptively light, but was potent with the umami taste of the crustaceans. I loved the beans and edamame that came with it. Overall, a stunning fish dish.

Most awesome risotto ever: turffle & sorrel risotto. It was creamy but not heavy (no jer lak aftermath) and bursting with mushrooms and truffle jus! I shared this and the John Dory with my sister, so we could enjoy the best of both worlds :)

All good things must come to an end, and the divine desserts helped to end it right, leaving us with sweet memories (pun intended).

Peanut butter and cherry yuzu sorbet. It was my first time having desserts in a deconstructed form, so I wasn't sure if the different components were meant to be enjoyed separately or combined into a mess. So I sampled the them individually first: the cherry yuzu sorbet was tart but refreshing. The "peanut" part of the dessert was delivered in multifarious forms - as a peanut mousse, peanut parfait, peanut crocante and crunchy peanut butter - which resulted in a complex but complementary play of tart and sweet, smooth and crunchy.

You may need an acquired taste to enjoy the goats cheese ice cream, but I'm sure no one can deny on the artistic appeal of this dessert. So pretty and pink!

Chocolate roast cocoa nib ice cream, lavender parfait and cherry. Again I had a bit of Mum's dessert; the crushed cocoa nibs with ice cream reminded me of oreos atas style. This was on the sweeter side compared to other desserts, but still oh-so-good.

Overall, this was one of the most memorable meals I had, for the food, company and ambience. Delivering fresh and clean flavours amid a modern flowery setting, I look forward to many more returns - if only I had the money. (Total bill racked up to approx 300 for 4, thanks to the charges for the bottled water.)

Some pictures of the setting:

After that we had a walk around the Flower Dome and Cloud Forest, which will be featured in the next post!

1 What stole my weekend

It was a whirlwind of a weekend that ended much to quickly. In the name of saving time, I'll let the photos tell the bulk of the story.

1. The Amazing Spiderman! Although it boasted a typical storyline, it was nevertheless an enjoyable film with bits of humour and lots of swinging action. Andrew Garfield (who I prefer to Tobey Maguire as Spidey) and Emma Stone freshens up the blockbuster series with their younger personalities. James Horner is now added to my favorite list of composers, with his grandiose take on the main theme, filled with the fanfare of trumpets doling out a soulful tune. Just listen!
2. Crab bee hoon soup from Hong Kong Street Chun Tat Kee at Balestier Road. This cze char place is known to dish out a mean bowl of XO slice fish bee hoon and san lo hor fun. Wanting to venture out of our usual orders, we had the crab bee hoon this time round. This is my first time handling crabs in their fully shelled form and it was certainly an experience with the shelling and extraction of the meat. A very tedious and painful (literally) process but the reward was sweet, succulent and robust fresh crab meat. The stock was superbly flavorful with the crabby taste, with notes of hua diao rice wine dancing on the palate. It bordered on being excessively salty towards the end though. Our other orders were sambal kangkong and cereal prawns. After the tasty meal the bill came as shock though: $59 for two people!
3. Pizzeria Mozza.My sis and I had lunch here before the Harry Potter exhibition (see below). It's her first visit and my second, 10 months after celebrating my birthday here.
   

   Rucola, funghi and piave salad came as a mound of fresh rocket leaves with (raw) white button shrooms and shaven piave (an Italian cow's milk cheese similar to Parmigiano-Reggiano) layered in-between. The vinegary dressing did well to highlight the peppery tones of rocket, although it somewhat overwhelmed the less ostentatious shroom profile.

   

   Long-cooked broccoli, caviocavallo and chiles pizza. Another first for having broccoli on pizza. The long-cooked broccoli was tender and tasty on its own but I felt it didn't pair too well as a pizza topping. Caviocavallo is another type of cheese but I'm not an avid fan of cheese and especially when melted on pizzas, all the cheeses taste the same to me. On the whole this pizza okay, if not a tad salty.

   

   Of the Tomato, Sicilian oregano and extra virgin olive oil pizza and Broccoli pizza today, and the Margherita pizza the previous visit, the former is my favorite of the lot. If you're a tomato lover, you'll be most delighted. Intense tomato sauce topped with oregano, this upheld the adage of beauty in simplicity. You'll get your lycopene dose filled with this one!

4. Harry Potter exhibition.
   

   We breezed through the exhibition in 45 mins. It mainly featured the actual costumes and props used in the film. It was quite surreal to actually see the exact items used in the film right before your very eyes. The Marauder's Map and Potions book were some of the cooler items on display, filled with scribbles of wizardry language. I also enjoyed the display of the Yule Ball costumes; Hermione's lilac dress was so pretty! The souvenir shop of a cash-milking machine though. $50 for a wand?

5. Hacking open a young coconut. Yet another first this weekend. Much skills and strength is called for!

6. Church talk on Biomedical Ethics. An interesting and informative insight on biomedical ethics from a theological perspetive

There goes my weekend. It's past the 6-month mark of 2012. Scary how June whizzed past in a flash.Time to start relooking at monthly resolutions again.

6 100% Spelt

As promised, here is the 100% wholemeal spelt bread I made last Saturday.

First all, let's get to the low-down on spelt. Google will provide you with much more information, so I will just briefly highlight the key aspects.

What is spelt?
Spelt is an ancient variety of wheat (specifically, Triticum spelta) that may have originated in the region of present-day Iran or southeastern Europe from a crossbreeding of emmer with other other local wild grasses. Compared to modern wheat, its seeds are covered and thus not easy to thresh. However thanks to modern machinery, spelt is now easier to mill and is making a comeback to our 21st century kitchen tables.

Properties (and benefits) of spelt
Spelt is higher in protein, but not specifically gluten, than red and white wheat. As such, some people with gluten intolerance (e.g. celiac disease) don't react to spelt. Gliadin is the portion of gluten that people with celiac disease can't digest. One theory is that spelt contains a different, more tolerable, type of gliadin. Moreover, unlike regular wheat whose nutrients are concentrated in its outer layers, the nutrients are more evenly distributed throughout the whole kernel. As such, if you're not yet accustomized to wholegrains food (containing bran, germ, endosperm), even using white spelt flour (endosprem only) can offer more benefits than normal wheat flour.

Cooking with spelt

Tastewise, there is hardly any difference between spelt and wheat, at least to my tastebuds. However, in terms of baking, there is much to tweak from conventional recipes, because the gluten in spelt is more fragile than the gluten in wheat or whole wheat.

• Amount of water. Too much water and you will have a sticky and weak dough; too little water the dough will be dry and dense
• Mixing. Undermix and the dough will not be properly hydrated leading to poor expansion; overmix and the protein strands holding the dough will break down. Experts set a 4 min maximum threshold for mixing the dough, from the time water is added.
• The best way to baking with spelt, especially wholegrain spelt, is by using a soaker/starter, to activate the enzymes which will in turn convert the complex carbohydrates into simpler sugars. This provides instant "food" for the yeast when both the soaker and starter are combined into a final dough. (Based on Peter Reinhart's delayed fermentation method)

I find the sciency stuff behind bread making highly interesting. I mean there is so many factors at play - yeast activity, enzyme activity, bacteria, humidity, temperature, sugars, salt... - that can make or break your dough.

Now for the lengthy recipe. Feel free to scroll down to skip this part and see the final outcome.

Whole Spelt Sandwich Bread (adapted from Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads)
Makes 1 large loaf

This recipe takes two days. Day one for the soaker and biga (starter), day two for the final dough and baking. Do plan in advance because yeast and enzymes wait for no man!

DAY 1
Ingredients
Soaker

• 1 3/4 cups wholegrain spelt flour (Bob's Red Mill brand)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 cup plus 2 tbsp soymilk (or milk, buttermilk, yogurt, or other non-dairy milk)

Biga

• 1 3/4 cups wholegrain spelt flour (Bob's Red Mill brand)
• 1/4 tsp instant yeast (or rehydrated dry active yeast or wild yeast
• 3/4 cup filtered water at room temp

Directions

1. Mix all of the soaker ingredients together in a bowl for about 1 min, until the flour is hydrated and the ingredients form a ball of dough.
2. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and leave at room temp for 12-24 h. (If more than 24 h, place the soaker in the refrigerator and remove it 2 h before mixing the final dough).
3. Mix all of the biga ingredients together in a bowl to form a ball of dough. Using wet hands, knead dough for 2 min so that all ingredients are evenly distributed and flour is fully hydrated. The dough should feel very tacky (sticky). Let dough rest for 5 min, then knead again with wet hands for 1 min. The dough will become smoother but still be tacky.
4. Transfer the dough to a clean bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours and up to 3 days.
5. About 2 h before mixing the final dough, remove biga from refrigerator. It will have risen slightly but need not have risen significantly in order to use it in the final dough.

DAY 2
Ingredients

• Soaker from Day 1
• Biga from Day 1
• 7 tbsp wholegrain spelt flour
• 5/8 tsp salt
• 2 1/4 tsp instant yeast (or the equivalent of rehydrated dry active yeast or wild starter)
• 3 tbsp sugar (or 2 1/4 tbsp honey)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil (or butter)

Directions

1. Using a pastry scraper (or any other tool; I used a kitchen knife), chop the soaker and biga into 12 smaller pieces each. Sprinkle some extra flour to keep the pieces from sticking back to one another.
2. Combine soaker and biga pieces in a bowl with all of the other ingredients except the extra flour and stir vigorously with a mixing spoon or knead with wet hands until all the ingredients are evenly integrated and distributed into the dough. If should be soft and slightly sticky; if not add more flour or water as needed.
3. Dust work surface with flour, then toss the dough in the flour to coat. Knead by hand for 3-4 min,incorporating only as much extra flour as needed, until dough feels soft and tacky, but not sticky. Form dough into ball and let rest for 5 min. Meanwhile, prepare a clean, lightly oiled bowl.
4. Resume kneading dough for 1 min to strengthen gluten and make any final flour or water adjustments. Form dough into ball and place it into the prepared bowl, rolling to coat with oil. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp for 45-60 min, until 1 1/2 times original size.
5. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and form it into loaf pan shape (or freestanding batard). Place dough into greased bread pan. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rise at room temp for 45-60 min, until 1 1/2 times original size.
6. Preheat oven to 425F (218C). When dough is ready to bake, place it in the oven and lower temp to 350F (177C). Bake for 20 min, rotate loaf 180 degrees, and continue to bake for another 20-30 min, until load is rich brown. If using thermometer (which I don't have), the internal temp should be 195F (91C).
7. Transfer bread to cooling rack. Cool for at least 1 h before serving.

A side-by-side comparison of the crumb of the ideal wholewheat bread (taken from the recipe book) and the one that I made. Well...ain't too shabby for a first-timer eh? Of course, my crumbs are slightly denser, especially around the base and the edges, and the holes are much more uneven. As I mentioned in my previous post, it was slightly gummy on the first day, but by yesterday (day 2) and today (day 3), the texture was juuust right! The crumb is still dense, as expected from using wholegrain flour, but it has dried out a bit, probably because I also toasted the bread.

I've been enjoying it in all sorts of forms: slathered with PB&J (Hediard's fig jam) for breakfast; cheesy mozzaerlla & salmon for lunch. In truth the bread is rather tasteless, but somehow it's so lovely! I think it all boils down to the right texture. Being tasteless has its own advantage too: it's versatile and soaks up the flavour of any topping you put on it!

Next up: Spelt Cinnamon Raisin Bread. It looks so good in the book! Oh yes, if you're a new baker or are interested in the science behind bread, I highly recommend Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads. Very detailed, science explained but still very accessible and easy to understand.

1 Pizza patrol

Pizza making session today! Specifically, a spelt crust pizza.

It didn't turn out too bad, considering this is my first attempt at homemade pizza. I was aiming for slightly crispy, thin-crust pizza but the base turned out to be more bread-like than pizza-like, or to put it crudely, soggy pizza. This was especially so in the areas where there were toppings, and I attribute it to uneven cooking/too much "wet" toppings. Nevertheless, the edges of the pizza were exactly what I was after - crisy and slightly chewy. Delish!

For all first-timers in pizza-making, a useful pizza guide can be found here.

8 Boo to moo: vegetarian moussaka

When you are carte blanche, what will you do? For me, cooking is a form of relaxation, a practice of science, and an expression of creativity all at the same time. Even before the exams ended, my hands have been itching to cook up a storm. I set out to conquer the moussaka today, my most ambitious culinary endevour to date. It is a Mediterranean (Greek?) dish and typically consists of eggplants, ground meat, tomatoes & vegetables and topped with a white sauce. Although I knew moussaka is time-consuming, still, I totally underestimated the the recipe. But the toil and effort is absolutely worth every vegetable peel. And to set another record, I have incorporated real butter and cheese into the recipe, and not the vegan forms, for the richness of 'authentic' moussaka. A little goes a long way, although I doubt they'll become staples in my diet anytime soon.

Be prepared for a wealth of ingredients and instructions.

Vegetarian Moussaka (serves 4-6)

A colorful mix of golden potatoes, purple sweet potatoes and orange chickpeas take the place of meat. The bechamel sauce is lightened with the use of soy milk, but with the complexity of flavours going on, you won't miss the richness!

Ingredients

"The Layers"

1 tbsp salt

1 eggplant (globe), peeled and thinly sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 small potato, peeled and thinly sliced

1 purple sweet potato, peeled and thinly sliced

"The Sauce"

1/2 yellow onion, diced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar (I subbed with raspberry balsamic vinegar)

1/2 tbsp lemon juice

1 cup chopped tomatoes (Waitrose chopped tomatoes with chopped herbs)

1 cup cooked chickpeas, skins removed and roughly chopped (Waitrose chickpeas in water)

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder (I subbed 1 tsp chicken seasoning for the onion & garlic powder)

1/4 tsp cumin

2 tbsp black olives, minced

1 cup fresh arugula

2 tbsp fresh basil

"Bechamel topping"

2 tbsp butter (Lurpak)

3/4 cup non-dairy milk (Silk soy, unsweetened)

1 tbsp flour (Bob's Red Mill spelt flour)

Generous sprinkle of nutmeg

1 egg white, beatened

Ground black pepper

1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded

Directions
"Pre-preparations"
1. Preheat oven to 375 F (180 C).
2. Grease a baking dish (6.75" x 10") with olive oil.
3. Place eggplant slices on kitchen tissues and generously rub with salt to draw out moisture. Let sit for 30 min.
4. Glaze potatoes & sweet potato slices with 1/2 tbsp olive oil. Bake for 10 min.

"The Sauce"
5. Heat 1/2 tbsp oilive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Saute onion for 3-5 min until translucent. 6. Add in garlic and cook 30s until fragrant.
7. Add red wine vinegar, lemon juice, tomatoes, chickpeas, oregano, onion & garlic powder and cumin.
8. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 15 min.

9. Meanwhile, heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Brown eggplant slices, about 2-3 min each side. Set aside.

"Assembly"
10. Line casserole according to the following layers: 1/2 of eggplant, 1/2 potato mixture, 1/2 basil, arugula & olives, 1/2 sauce. Repeat (it should be enough to make two of such layers).
11. Bake for 25 min.

"Bechamel Topping"
11. Melt butter in saucepan over medium heat.
12. Add milk & flour. Whisk well to combine. 13. Bring to slow boil until thickened and reduced.
13. Season with nutmeg and black pepper.
14. Cool 5 min, then whisk in egg whites.
15. After moussaka has baked 25 min, remove, pour cream mix on top.
16. Top with mozzarella and bake another 15-20 min.

This seemingly endless recipe left me all sweaty and hungry after 3 hours, yes 3 hours in the oven-like kitchen. I started at 12 and ended about 3+. After quickly snapping some (mandatory) photos, I couldn't wait to see how it turned out.... it was a flavour bomb! I can't really tease out the taste of each ingredients; no one flavor dominated, but they melded to form a harmonious new blend of je nai se quoi. I believe the only other time I had moussaka was at Whole Foods in London, and this is quite comparable, if not better, since I get mine piping hot (at Whole Foods it was served chilled I think).