A New Year and new hopes, dreams, ideas, invites and cooking adventures.  To start of the New Year right, I invited my aunt Havva’s family along with my parents to host a traditional Turkish sit down dinner.  Since my aunts father in law is visiting and he visits so rarely I took upon this opportunity to host a graceful dinner.  In rare occasions like this,  I love our Turkish hospitality.  When great friends and/or immediate families are visiting we take the opportunity to invite them to our homes and show our respects.  If anyone of you have visited Turkey, I am sure you have experienced this first hand.  It is such a warm, humble and welcoming feeling.  For me this dinner was a special one because Grandfather Haci Muzaffer, resembles my own late grandfather in more then one way.  As he sat, chatted and played with daughter I thought about my own grandfather and how delighted I would have been to have him here with us.

Since it the New Year and we are all weight and health continuous, I opted to keep the menu light and yet still delicious. The above picture is Meat Dolma made by mom.

Middle Eastern aka Gray Squash – Stuffed with chopped meat, onions, pine nuts

Oven Roasted Yukon Gold Potatoes with Rosemary 

Brussels sprouts with onions & carrots

Oven roasted, Yellow & Green Zucchinis and Oven roasted Eggplant

Not Pictured but served along with:

Turkish Peasant Soup
Turkish Style Lamb Chops
Jasmine Rice cooked Turkish Style
Which recipes would you like first? Please leave a comment below.

Last Friday for Iftar, I made a simple and quick lamb chop dish. Baked the lambs chops right under the broiler with light and simple seasoning and severed it with pea and rice pilav.

Keep in mind this a great quick meal any day of the week or weekend. Serve warm and devour right away. Note: no fork or knife required, hold from the tip and bite in.

Oil the bottom of the baking dish, align the chops, season and broil.

TURKISH STYLE LAMB RIB CHOPS

Ingredients:

• 1 rack of lamb chops – makes about 8 to 10 pieces depending on the size (ask the butch for French Style – as mine are Turkish Style)** NOTE: 6- 8 thinly sliced loin chops are a great substitute
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of oregano
• 1 tablespoon of Herbes de Provence* can be left out – this is optional
• kosher salt
• black pepper

Preparation:

Preheat broiler. Arrange oven rack accordingly.

Oil the bottom of your cooking pan with a brush. With the same brush, brush both sides of the lamb chops with the olive oil. Season both sides generously with salt and black pepper, season one side with oregano and one side with Herbes de Provence.

Align and arrange that the lamb chops on to your cooking pan.

Place under the broiler, cook one side for 4-7 minutes, until well browned. Once one side is cooked, using a pair of thongs turn over lamb chops and cook for 4 – 5 minutes. Until well browned. *

Note 1: Depending on the thickness cooking time might be less or more.

Note 2: French lamb chop, Frenched lamb chop or Turkish lamb chop means the meat at the tip is cut away to expose the bone.

This is the simplest & quickest recipe ever! Chop, saute and let cook! Cooks in less then 20 minutes and it tasted incredibly delicious.  It can be considered a quick pantry dish – now thats an idea.  I originally did not intend on making a meat dish for the breakfast.  See, I had a box of  mushroom in the fridge that needed to be used and I just quickly threw this together.  It would go great with a side of pasta or pilav, serve for lunch or dinner.

CHOPPED MEAT, POTATO & MUSHROOM DISH

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion chopped finely
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 box of mushroom – sliced thin or cut in quarters
• 2 potatoes – peeled and chopped into thin slices
• less then a 1lb. of ground chopped meat (beef or lamb – mix is fine)
• salt
• blackpepper
• 1 teaspoon of oregano – oregano compliments any meat dish very well.
• 1 teaspoon of sweet smoked paprika (optional)

Preparation:

1. In a medium skillet (with a cover) over medium heat, saute the chopped onion with the olive oil.  about 2-3 minutes
2. Add in the thinly sliced potatoes, mix and continue to saute. about 3-5 minutes.
3. Add in the chop meat – mix and continue to cook.  Breaking down the chop meat with your wooden spoon so you have small pieces of chopped meat. Not Chunks!
4. Once the chopped meat is half way cooked, add in your sliced mushroom and give it a nice stir.
5. Add in your salt, black pepper, oregano and paprika.  Mix well and cover the skilled let cook until the mushrooms and potatoes are soft. 

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!