Karnıyarık- "Stuffed Eggplant"

Like I mentioned before, my Kaynana lived with us for a while and cooked for us very often. Another regular on her repertoire was this Eggplant dish, that I ended up loving, although I thought I didn't even like eggplant. This recipe is based on one from Bade Jackson's Turkish Cooking cookbook and our own memories of how we've seen it prepared.

  3 small eggplants (will be cut in half to make 6 "boats")
  olive oil (to fry the eggplant)
  1 Tbsp. butter
  1/2 lb. ground beef (you can use lamb, too)
  1 onion, chopped
  1 Tbsp. fresh chopped parsely
  1 tsp. tomato paste ( I used 1 Tbsp.)
  salt and black pepper
  1 tomato, sliced

  First, cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and peel the outer skin into strips. 

  Scoop out a small amount of the insides- do not break through the skin or leave edges too thin.

  You will have 6 hollowed out boats.

  Heat a small amount of olive oil in a skillet (I used cast iron- I do not recommend it though- see below) and fry until all sides are lightly browned and softened. Place them hollow sides up in a roasting dish (preferably not glass)

 Preheat oven to 375 . Meanwhile, toss the butter in a frying pan and cook up the beef or lamp with the onion and parsley and tomato paste.

Spoon the cooked meat mixture evenly into the eggplant boats and place a tomato slice on each. Pour 1 1/4 c. water in the bottom of the dish, cover with tinfoil and bake 30 minutes. Let it go longer if the eggplant is too rubbery.

 We served this with a rice pilaf (recipe still to follow)

Seeing as our basis of comparison was a tough act to follow, Aziz gave this 8 out of 10 stars. He said that the filling was great (although I had forgotten to put the onion and fresh parsley) but that the eggplant was not cooked enough. This being said, we figure that the cast iron skillet I used was either not hot enough to brown the eggplant evenly (my mother-in-law usually used a stainless steel frying pan that I will use next time) or that the glass Pyrex baking dish I used was an issue. Also, the recipe did not call for the dish to be covered, so we think that this may have also affected the tenderness.



 I do know that I will be looking for a different recipe for this (hopefully straight from said Kaynana), since it did not live up to our, albeit high, expectations. I will post when I find an alternative. Despite our dissatisfaction with some parts of the dish, we still enjoyed it and I think that people will find it a nice variation to Spaghetti night :)



*** You can find this cookbook on  www.betterworldbooks.com.

 Jackson, Bade."Karniyarik/Stuffed Eggplant."  Turkish Cooking: Authentic Culinary Traditions from Turkey. Ed. Rosie Hankin. New Jersey: Chartwell, 1998. 53. Print.

Fırında Tavuk - "Chicken in the Oven"

 My first entry, and one of the first things I learned, is this yummy chicken dish that I learned from my Kaynana (Mother-in-law). When she came to New Jersey to stay with us for a few months, I was glad to have a live-in cook. At the time, I thought "traditional" Turkish cooking was very complicated and time-consuming and was very surprised by the seemingly quick and simple meals we had when she was here. This is one of the meals we requested very often, and something we forgot about until recently. It's a favorite in my house.

This recipe is modified because I can not remember exactly how she made it, and when I ask her, she makes rough measurements of everything anyways, so keep this in mind when trying it yourself. We also prefer a lot of "sauce" so feel free to adjust the liquid to your personal preferences.

   1-2 lbs. chicken (we use drumsticks, but you can do thighs/breasts, or even a whole chicken, cut-up)
   Salt and Pepper, to taste
   1 tbsp. tomato paste
   1/4 tsp. red pepper paste (I have only been able to find this in ethnic markets in my area, it can be             omitted, especially if you would like to keep it mild)
   1 tbsp. olive oil
   2-3 medium potatoes,peeled and sliced

   1 medium onion,peeled/ sliced
    1 cup water
   *optional- long, hot green peppers                                     
                 - seasoning salt


Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease an oven-safe casserole dish with cooking spray. Place sliced poatatoes and onions into dish. Mix tomato paste, pepper paste(optional),olive oil, pinch of salt and water in a small dish. Pour over the potato and onions.
Brush the chicken with seasoning salt(optional), salt/pepper and brown all sides in a cast-iron skillet (my personal favorite). Place the chicken on top of the potato/onion mixture, and arrange hot peppers (if using). Cover with tin foil and bake for 1 hour.
   *the cooking time may vary- I cooked it about another 10 minutes to get it just right for us-it was "done" at 1 hour but keep checking to be sure.

Serve with Rice or Bulgur pilav (I will update with a recipe soon)

You can also use broth to kick up the flavor, and adjust the salt to your personal preferences. One thing I've learned from cooking for my Turk is that I never use enough salt- and adding it to the cooked product is frowned upon.