Cooking with Luka Doncic, Baking with Boban Marjoanovic

The two Mavs have been starring in the kitchen during the NBA hiatus.

DALLAS – Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic cooks up triple doubles on the court; a league-high 14 triple-doubles so far this season, to be exact. In the kitchen, the second-year guard sticks to his roots. In a Sports Illustrated “NBA Cookbook”, Doncic and Mavs center Boban Marjoanovic share their favorite recipes to cook in their extra time during the Coronavirus-induced NBA hiatus.

[Although the players will have less extra time now as the Mavs are back to work at the practice facility in preparation for a highly-anticipated return to play]

Doncic’s ‘Potato Moussaka’ is a Slovenian dish he cooks when he is homesick and Boban’s Cherry Pie is an instant classic!

From the NBA Cookbook:

Luka Doncic — Dallas Mavericks

Name of dish: Potato Moussaka

"It's been one of my favorite dishes since I was a kid. When I first left home (Slovenia) and my mom would come and visit I would always ask her to make it. I'd eat it the whole time she was visiting. This dish is one my great grandmother, grandmother and mother all can make. Even today I ask for it whenever I'm feeling homesick." – Luka Doncic

“This has been one of Luka's favorite dishes since he was little. This recipe is a tradition in our family, as it was once prepared by my mother and grandmother." - Mirjam Poterbin (Luka’s Mom)

For four people

Ingredients:

· 500 g minced meat

· 6–7 large potatoes

· 1 medium sized onion

· 2 cloves of garlic

· A pinch parsley

· A pinch basil

· A pinch salt

· A pinch pepper

· 5 spoons olive oil

· 4 eggs

· 200 ml cooking cream

· 0.5 dcl milk

· 2–3 handfuls grated mozzarella

Cooking instructions:

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/430°F and oil the baking pan.

2. Boil the potatoes, peel them and cool them down.

3. Add a pinch of salt and pepper to the meat and whisk it. Chop onion and garlic.

4. Heat the pan and add olive oil, add the onion and fry until golden brown.

5. Add the meat and garlic and sauté until the water evaporates from the meat.

6. Add parsley and more salt if necessary. It is important that the meat is sufficiently salted, as the potato will not be salty.

7. Beat the eggs, cooking cream, milk, salt, pepper and grated mozzarella (we add more salt to the sauce, because if it is not salty enough, moussaka will not be tasty).

8. Once the potato is cooked and cooled down, cut it into 0.5 cm thick slices and start preparing the moussaka.

9. Layer the potato and pour half of the meat sauce over it.

10. Add the second layer of potatoes and the rest of the meat.

11. Finish with the third layer of potatoes, top it with egg and cooking cream sauce and sprinkle with a handful of cheese.

12. You can add a spoon of the sauce to each layer.

13. Bake it for 45-50 minutes.

Boban Marjoanovic — Dallas Mavericks

Name of dish: Boban’s Cherry Pie

"I love cherry pie. It is my favorite dessert!"

Ingredients:

· 4 eggs

· 1 cup sugar

· 1 cup milk or yogurt

· 1 cup sunflower or canola oil

· 1 1/2 cup flour

· 1 tablespoon baking soda

· 1 pound pitted cherries

Cooking instructions

1. Start by placing frozen cherries in a bowl, add one spoon of sugar and one spoon of flour, mixing occasionally (just to cover cherries).

2. Mix eggs, add sugar, mix, and continue to add all the other ingredients, mixing well and finally adding flour so the mixture is not too thick!

3. Add half of the mixture of cherries, cover with the other half.

4. Bake around 40 minutes at 380°F.

Fingers crossed that soon the Mavs will get back to cooking on the court. In the mean time, I'm trying both of these recipes!