Excuse my absence please, between work, my cutie pie and home I’ve ignored this blog my mine.  Looking back I’ve been doing this for sometime, I apologize, but I really am busy.  Especially the last seven months I’ve been sleep deprived which makes me very unproductive at home.  Since the weather has been changing and since I’ve being shopping at this tiny farmer market on 52nd street, between 8th and 9th ave in New York City. A lot of changes have been happening - I’m cooking for us and my daughter. 

Last Wednesday morning before work, I popped in and purchased a large bag of small Italian eggplants and small stuffing green peppers.  Oh how delightful they looked, made me want to skip work and head home and start cooking.  I knew I wanted to cook them during the weekend, so Friday night after work, I stopped by the Three Guys from Brooklyn and picked up these delicious tomatoes.  I wish I could do all my shopping at Stiles, but I can only carry so much on public transportation.

I’ve made this dish once before but I forget, so opened by copy of  The Sultan’s Kitchen - A Turkish Cookbook by Ozcan Ozan, my only English written, Turkish cookbook.  I love this cook book – the cover is bent, the pages are stained – I need a new copy but I can’t let this one go, that’s how much I love it.

TURKISH STYLE STUFFED EGGPLANT ~ PATLICAN KARNIYARIK
                  adapted from The Sultan’s Kitchen – A Turkish Cookbook by Ozcan Ozan

Ingredients:
        Note: Recipe used 6 eggplants & 1lb of chopped meat – I used 10 eggplants and 2.5 lb of chopped meat.
                      Increased other ingredients amounts as well.

• 6 small Italian eggplants ( 6-7 inches long) about 2 1/2 – 3 lb.)
• 1/2 cup of olive oil or vegetable oil
• 3 small Italian green peppers of frying peppers
• 3 tablespoons of olive oil (instead of butter)
• 1 medium onion – grated 3/4 cup
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 4 medium tomatoes – 2 peeled & chopped – 2 cut into quarters
                      (I used a can of Contadina - diced tomatoes 14.5 oz)
• 1.5 pound ground lean lamb or beef 
                      (I had my father make it a light marble ground for flavor)
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped fresh Italian parsley - 
                       (I used 1 tbsp of dry parsley & 1 tbsp of dry oregano)
• 1/2 cup of finely chopped dill* – I opted the dill out.
• 1 cup of lamb stock – water is fine
• salt & pepper as per your taste

Preparation:
Note:

1. 1. Peel the eggplants lengthwise – I peeled them to look like PJs with stripes. Peel around the stems and leaving them intact.
2. Make a deep incision along the length of each eggplant, making sure not to cut all the way through it or the the ends.
3. Place the eggplants in a large bowl of generously salted water and set a side for 20 minutes.
4. Slice the green peppers length wise – as they will be used for garnish.
5. Slice the tomatoes in to quarter  – as they will be used for garnish.

Meat & Stuffing:

1. In a large sauce pan, heat up the olive oil over a medium heat, add the onion and garlic and cook gently for about 2 minutes or until soft – not brown.
2. Add the tomato paste and 1/2 of of chopped tomatoes and continue to cooking and stirring for 1 more minute.
3. Add in the ground meat, parsley, oregano or dill and stock or water.  Season well with salt and black peppers. Stir well, cover the saucepan and simmer for 15 min.
4. Once cooked, set the stuffing aside to cool.
5. Rinse and drain the eggplants, then gently squeeze out the excess water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel.
6. Heat the oil in a deep skillet over high heat and fry the eggplants until they’re lightly brown all over, about 2 min. (use more frying oil if not enough – eggplants love oil)
7. Remove the eggplants from the skillet and let them drain on paper towels.
8. Mr. Ozan fries the green peppers – I do not – I cut them length wise and use them as garnish and let them cook in the oven. (see instructions below)
9. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
10. Assembly:  In to a baking dish – I used my large Pyrex – lay the eggplants side by side, the cut side up.  Season with salt.
11. Using a tablespoon stuff them with the meat mixture until the cut opening are filled.  Fill each of the eggplants.
12. Arrange the quartered tomatoes on top and arrange the cut peppers either on top of the tomato or next to it.
13. Pour over the remaining cooking liquid from the stuffing.
14. Pour the remainder of the chopped tomatoes over the top and sides of the dish (this is optional)
15. Cover with wet parchment paper or with foil paper – as I did.
16. Bake for 40 minutes, until the eggplants are tender – you can make using fork to lightly poke or pull the eggplant from the center.
17. Serve warm with the pan juices spooned on top.

Afiyet olsun!

This post is long over due, way too many things are going I just don’t know where to catch up from.  At least for now I have sometime, in the coming months I am guessing I will be all over the place.

Last night I was watching the Food Network, a new show called Extreme Cuisine: Jeff Corwin and for this episode the host Jeff was in Morocco.  It was beautiful to see the different regions of Morocco and the different regional foods they were able to catch, prepare, cook and eat with their hands.  Aside from the sight seeing and food cooking, I must say he is one brave man, at one point in the program he drank camels milk, straight from the camel.  It was one of those way too awesome moments, for Jeff and “Jacqueline the camel”.  Honestly his enthusiam motivated me to get up and post this recipe.  Sometimes we all need that bit of motivation.

FRESH LAMB LOIN CHOPS – 1 inch thick – from the butcher at A&D Food Market

MOROCCAN COUSCOUS

Ingredients:

• 8 pieces of lamb loin chops
• 2 white Spanish onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 2 jalapeno peppers
• 2 cans of chick peas (garbanzo beans)
• 4 large carrots
• 6 Mediterranean squash (regular green squash – zucchini works great as well)
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of pepper paste
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 5 - 6 cups of water or vegetable broth

Spice Mixture:

• 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon of cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of all spice
• 1 teaspoon of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• pinch of Saffron
• 3 bay leaves dry
• salt (as per your taste)

Preparation:

1. In a deep cooking pot, heat up the olive oil and slowly add in the lamb chops, covering the bottom of the pan completely.  Letting one side cook for about 3-5 minutes. Using a pair of thongs, lift up the lamb chop, it should lift up easily and have formed a nice golden brown crust.  Turn the lamb chop on to the other side and let it continue to cook for 3-5 minutes.  This side should also form a nice golden crust. 
   Cook the lamb chops in batches, do not over load the bottom of your pan at once. Once the first batch is cooked, add in the second batch.
   Place each cooked piece of lamb chop on a separate dish and set a side.
2. In the mean time, begin dicing your onions, garlic and jalapenos.  Completely remove the seeds of the jalapeno.
   To remove the seeds of the jalapenos without burning yourself, either wear gloves or completely cover your hands with cooking oil.  Once you have done this, you can easily remove the hot seeds.  Once done, wash your hands thoroughly with soap.
3. Once all the pieces of the lamb chops are braised, add in the chopped onions into the pot, letting the onions saute until they become nice and translucent.
4. Then add in your diced jalapeno peppers and garlic and saute for a couple of minutes.  Then add in your tomato and red pepper paste and continue to saute until everything is nicely blended.
5. In the mean time, in a small bowl, mix in all the spices and set aside.
6. Once the onions and jalapenos have become translucent, add in the braised lamb chops that you had set aside, into the bottom of the pan. (see pic below)
7. Add in the first 5 cups of your water, along with the spice mixture and give the pot a nice stir.  Let this begin to cook and in the mean time start to prepare your vegetables.
   The meat will take longer to cook then the fresh vegetables, this means we will let the meat cook first. I cooked the meat for about 1.5 to 2 hours at a medium to high heat.  Once the meat cooks through completely, we will add in the rest of the ingredients.
8. Wash and peel the carrots and cut into 3 even sizes.  Wash and cut the heads of the Mediterranean squash only, leaving them in one whole piece.  Drain the cans of chick peas and set everything side. 
9. An hour in the cooking add in the carrots, because carrots need to tenderize and will take longer to cook then the rest of the ingredients.
10. An 1.5 to 2 hours into cooking, poke the lamb chops with a fork and if the meat is soft and tender and should be easily falling of the bone, this means the meat is cooked and we can add in the remaining ingredients.
11. Add in the drained chick peas and the squash and stir everything well and let this cook for another half hour. (Taste the water to see if the needs a bit more salt.  If the water is low, add in the extra cup of water)
12. To double check everything is cooked through, using a fork, poke into the meat, the squash and carrots the fork should insert easily in and out.  The chick peas do not take long to cook, as they are precooked.
13. Serve hot and enjoy!

Couscous Recipe 
                     Simple and quick

Ingredients

1. 2 cups of fine couscous – I used Tria brand
2. 2 cups of water
3. salt
4. 1/4 teaspoon of unsalted butter

Preparation

1. Bring the 2 cups of water to a boil, add in the salt and butter.
2. Once the water has begun boiling add in the couscous. Close the pot with its cover and remove from heat.  Let the couscous absorb all the water and let it sit for approx 5 minutes.
3. Once the couscous has absorbed all the water, using a fork fluff and mix the couscous.

Plating:
        If you wish to plate everything all at once, choose to use a wide and large dish.  Plate the cooked couscous on the bottom first creating a whole in the center.  Then start to plate around the meat and vegetables and chick peas around the couscous and in the center as well.  Using ladle the water from the pot, all around the dish. Serve hot and enjoy! 

BRAISE THE LAMB CHOPS IN YOUR BIG COOKING POT

BRAISED LAMB CHOPS TAKING OUT OF THE POT

SAUTEE THE WHITE ONIONS UNTIL TRANSLUCENT

ADD IN THE DICED JALAPONE WITH THE TOMATO & PEPPER PASTE

ADD BACK IN THE BRAISED LAMB CHOPS

LAMB LOIN CHOPS IN WATER WITH SPICE MIXTURE

COOKING LAMB CHOPS WITH VEGETABLES

I must admit this was one of my favorite Iftar meals to make, it turned into one of the most delicious meals I could possibly make and explain.  Lets say a picture is worth a 1000 words!  This past Sunday, I found myself in the kitchen at 8:30am in the morning, looking for something to do.  I started off with baking a Turkish dessert for my husband and by noon I had completed all my dished for the friends we were having for Iftar Sunday night.

I had planned on making Moroccon couscous and went shopping on Saturday for the ingredients.  I purchased the meat from my dad and started cooking the dish around 5pm in the afternoon and served it hot of the pot.   I kept the recipe simple and fresh.  Aside from all the cooking, we are packing and since we no longer have a dinning room table, we had to settle for my kitchens island.

Ever since last Ramadan, I have been wanting to make this dish but just could not find the perfect timing.  I also wanted to make this dish for my good friend Noha and her husband,  they currently reside in North Carolina making it hard for them to visit us during Ramadan.  It also would be impossible for her to leave the hospital even for a day, so I would like to dedicate this dish to her and her husband.  Once they are back in New York permanently, I hope to recreate this dish for them.

Moroccan Iftar Menu

Green lentil soup

Moroccan Couscous

Side dishes of:
           Boston leaf green salad
           Mixed pickled vegetables
           Lemon wedges for soup
           Olives
           Brick oven bread
           Medjool Dates
           Home made rose hip tea
*All available for sale at A&D Turkish Halal Meat & Grocery Market*

Dessert:

Homemade Sugarbit – Sekerpare

Chocolate cheesecake & mini fruit tarts served with Turkish tea

So last week was a pretty busy week for us, which is all good when you are fasting, the day goes by much faster and easier when the schedule is full.  We started off the week by going to an If-tar dinner at my cousins house and we had a great time.

On Saturday, we had If-tar at my aunt Meleks house, as always her dishes are beyond delicious and leaves you wanting more. 

A side from the dinners, we celebrated the birthdays of my brother and cousin which fell on Ramadan.  They are both August babies of the same year only a week apart.

Duriye’s menu as follows:

Tomatoe & Vermicelli Soup

Mozzarella cheese & parmesan stuffted – oven baked – red plum tomatoes

Baby portobello mushrooms sauteed with sun-dried tomatoes

Mixed vegetables served with bulgur pilaf

Mixed green salad – with arugula & avocado
Dessert – Thick vanilla pudding poured over toast that was soaked in simple syrup.

My Aunt Melek’s Menu

Roasted green & red Holland peppers
          Served with light olive oil & lemon dressing with walnuts and fresh mint

Tarhana soup with pastirma

Green salad w/ tomatoes, peppers & cilantro

Adana kofte with peas and potatoes served with white pilaf

Dessert – Caramel Birthday Cake & Vanilla pudding served with cooked green apples

All the pictures were taken by my husband, as I was preparing the soup at the last minute.

This weekend was the official start of Ramadan and that means making and baking away for if-tar and sahuur.  Saturdays if-tar dinner was spend at the store with the family, of course I was the chef, but because we were so crowded I could not snap pictures.  Sunday night my husband and I were home and I took advantage of the day and spend hours in the kitchen just preparing simple dished that I had previously shared with you all. 

During Ramadan, we spend countless hours thinking what should I make, what should I prepare?  I fall into this syndrome as well, the best thing is to keep it simple because after all  sometimes a bowl of soup is more than enough.

I started off with a few simple cold appetizers:

Red lentil & bulgur Kofte - recipe can be found at this link

Fried Zucchini – recipe here

Green lettuce & carrot salad

Tarhana Soup – Recipe to follow

Okra & basmati rice

Home made Plum juice compote

Make your meals as special, healthy and most of all as satisfying it is to you and your family.  Wishing you all wonderful dishes. 

Frozen okra, basmati rice, red lentil, whole wheat cracked bulgur, tarhana, Mejdool dates & chopped meat can be easily found and at A&D Turkish Halal Meat & Grocery Market. 

Hah! The recipe for this dish disappeared and all I did was hit save.  Smart, great, uhh I must roll up my sleeves and start typing away.  I’m still not used to this new layout from WordPress!!!  I apologize for the delay in posting this – I’ve had a hard time with my accessing my wordpress this week.

So, last week was a busy and a rainy week in New York.  I hate does rainy days especially when I have walk home from the train station.  I don’t mind the walk, it is a great workout, but in the rain it just gets to me.  On days like that I love to escape into the kitchen and just make something comforting.

Remember, when I made the chicken salad and told you to keep the chicken stock water, the one where I boiled the chicken legs in, well in this recipe we get to use that chicken stock and then sum.

 Ingredients

• 1 packet of Turkish couscous
• 3 chicken legs (+ 5 cups of water for broiling)
• 5 cups of chicken stock + 1 cup of water
• 3 carrots – peeled and grated
• 4 tablespoons of olive oil
• 1 whole lemon – the zest & the juice
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper

Preparation:

1.  Since I had the chicken stock from my previous recipe, I removed the stock from the fridge, removed the access fat that had become frozen on top and brought the stock up to a boil.  Flow previous recipe for cooking the chicken legs.
2. Add in the additional cup of water along with the chicken legs.  Here I also added in the salt and zest of the lemon and half of the lemon’s juice. ( the zest of the lemon kills that extra odor of the chicken )
   Continue to cook, until the chicken legs have completely cooked about 40-45 minutes.
3. Once the chicken legs are cooked, remove from the pot and set a side to cool.  Into the broiling stock add in your pack of couscous and bring to a boil.  Cook for about 20-25, cook it just like you would any pasta.  See picture below. The couscous will double in size and absorb most of the liquid.
4. In the mean time, while the couscous is cooking, grate your carrots and set a side.
5. Also at this time start to tear the chicken meat of bone.  The pieces should be bite size and meat should easy rip from the bone.  Finish picking the rest of the meat of the bone and set a side.
6. Once the couscous is cooked, drain in a colander and set a side while you sautee your carrots.
7. In the same cooking pot, heat up the olive oil add in your grated carrots and saute for a couple minutes, add in salt, black pepper and the remaining lemon juice.  The juice of the lemon will allow the carrots to release its color.
8. Add back in the chicken, stir for a couple of minutes and then add in your couscous and give it a nice stir, mixing everything well.
9. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy!

Turkish Coucous - it is more like a pasta rather then the known traditional cous cous  which is much finer

 Couscous boiling in the chicken stock.

 The couscous will become twice its original size, absorbing all the liquid. 

Grated carrots sauteed in olive oil and lemon juice. 

Serve cold or hot! Great with yogurt on the side!

Continuation of my recipes from the Saturday night dinner! Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 1 box of any kind of shaped pasta
• 1 box of 10 oz frozen cut spinach – defrosted
• 1 medium onion
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese (skim or whole is fine)
• 1 to 1 1/2 cups of grated mozzarella cheese
• little bit of grated nutmeg
• 4 – 5 tablespoons of olive oil
• salt & b pepper as per your taste buds
• Non-stick spray

Preparation

1. Cook the pasta as you wish – well done or aldante – drain water and set a side while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. Dice the onion and saute with olive oil in the deep pot.  Let the onions become soft and translucent.
3. In the mean time squeeze the excess water out of the spinach and add it in with the sauting onions.
4. Continue to saute for a couple minutes.
5. Add salt, black pepper & a bit of grated nutmeg for taste.
6. Add back the pasta back into you pot, along with the cup of ricotta cheese stir everything well.
7. Set your oven to the BROILER.
8. Grease the bottom of an oven baking pan – I sprayed the bottom with PAM – works like magic everytime – does not allow anything to stick and the wash up is easy.
9. Grate your mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the top.
10. Place the pan into the oven right underneath the broil.  Cook until cheese has completely melted and top has brown.  About 8-12 minutes depending on your oven.
11. Enjoy! 

I’ve made this several times – it is a really nice weekday easy dinner! You may also use any kind of vegetable you might like.