Musaka

This is a traditional Serbian beef and potato dish I found many variations on. I went with one off of allrecipes.com and it turned out pretty good. I'd probably try to tweak it next time like seasoning the potato slices. I used a mandolin slicer to get the potatoes thin and uniform; worked like a charm. I also removed the foil the last 10 minutes to let the potato tops brown up. Sorry, not a great picture.

Serbian Ground Beef, Veggie, and Potato Bake (aka Musaka)

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 pinch ground cinnamon
• 1 pinch ground cloves
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/8 cup red wine
• 1 cube beef bouillon
• 2 tablespoons half-and-half
• 3 potatoes, peeled and sliced

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a casserole dish.
2. In a skillet over medium heat, cook the beef until evenly brown. Remove beef from skillet, reserving juices, and set aside. Mix in the olive oil, and saute the green pepper, onion, carrot, and celery until tender.
3. Return beef to the skillet, and season with paprika, salt, black pepper, red pepper, cinnamon, and cloves. Stir in the water and red wine until heated through. Dissolve the beef bouillon cube into the mixture. Remove skillet from heat, and mix in the half-and-half.
4. Layer the bottom of the prepared casserole dish with enough potato slices to cover. Place the beef and vegetable mixture over the potatoes, and top with remaining potatoes.
5. Cook, covered, 45 minutes in the preheated oven, or until the potatoes are tender.