Local Cracker
Farm Goods & Services

Ingredients
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2-4 Eggplants of any kind (I prefer the big purple guys), sliced into thickish rounds
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6 tablespoons Butter, Olive Oil, and/or Animal Fat (choice one or two types for a total of 3 tablespoons)
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1-2 lbs. Ground Beef, Lamb, Mutton or Goat (I strongly suggest the non Beef choices because it’s more authentic)
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1 medium Onion, diced
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4 cloves Garlic, minced
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3-4 cans Diced Tomatoes with juices
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1 can Tomato Paste
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1-2 blocks Cream Cheese
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1-2 cups Sour Cream
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1 Egg
Directions
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Place Diced Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, and Cinnamon, along with Salt and Pepper in blender or food processor. Process until the consistency of Tomato Sauce.
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In a heavy cast iron dutch oven or in a heavy casserole heat 2 tablespoons of oil/fat/butter, when bubbly and golden add diced Onions. Saute until golden. Add Garlic and Ground Meat of choice. Saute until well browned.
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Drain any excess browning liquid/grease in dutch oven/casserole. Now add the Tomato Sauce combination into dutch oven/casserole along with meat, stir well.
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Place in oven at 250 for 4 hrs. (if you want to move this along more quickly you can skip this long slow cooking of the sauce but, it won’t be as flavorful).
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When the time has passed, remove sauce from oven and move on to next step:
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Pre heat oven to 375 and grease 2-3 baking sheets. Place sliced Eggplant on baking sheets and brush with fat/oil/butter.
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Place in the oven until soft and browned (about 10-15 min.) Set aside.
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In a small/medium sauce pan combine 2 tablespoons Butter, the Sour Cream and the Cream Cheese and heat on med. low heat until well melted, stirring occasionally to combine into a thick white sauce. Remove from heat, stir in Egg and Salt to taste and set aside.
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In a large pyrex casserole dish place enough sauce to just line bottom of dish. Now place cooked Eggplant in a layer on top of this. Next, add more sauce to cover Eggplant. Then Sauce until dish is ¾ full or you run out of Eggplant/Sauce. You should end with Sauce.
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Carefully pour White Sauce on top of last layer and carefully smooth (try not to mix with last layer of Tomato Sauce).
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Place in oven at 350 for 45 min. and/or until top slightly toasted. This can be made ahead of time and placed in the fridge until ready to cook through and serve, but it will probably need a little longer in the oven.
