FCG: Turkish Recipes 05/30/05

Hi Gang! Happy (belated) Memorial Day to everyone! Hope it was safe and pleasant for all. I was at the Library recently (okay, that's a safe statement since you all know me and know I'm ALWAYS at one Library or another it seems), and while down in the Children's section I noticed that they had a display of cookbooks for foods from various lands. Just for a switch I picked up the "Cooking the Turkish Way" one, and was delited by both of the recipes I tried from it. The first recipe is for Chicken with Rice, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Tarragon, and now you know all the ingredients. The second one is for Eggplant with Onion and Tomatoes. The Turkish name for the chicken dish is "Domatesli Prinicli Pilic" where the Cs in those last two words have the little tail sticking down. I assume that makes an "s" sound like in facade where it has the little tail on the c--Abby and Emily who speak French are cringing at my linguistic abuse--but that also assumes that that diacritical mark (see: I know some words--apparently it's letters that throw me) makes it do the same thing in Turkish as it does in French. I liked the dish because it was kind of spicy so I felt like I was eating really exotic food (even if it came out of a children's cookbook). The Turkish name for the Eggplant one is Imam Bayildi. From the cookbook, "The Turkish name for this dish means 'The Imam Swooned,' and that is just what an imam, a religious leader, did when he first tasted this delightful concoction." I won't guarantee swooning, but it was mighty darn tasty if you ask me. With summer coming in, I'm excited about a more vegetable-heavy diet, and this is a dish that includes roasted tomatoes and onions and garlic--hard to go wrong with that. :) As always, enjoy! -Devon

Chicken with Rice, Tomatoes, Peppers, and Tarragon
Domatesli Pirincli Pilic

3 TBSP olive oil
2 large onions, chopped fine
1 whole chicken in pieces (or if you're me, some chicken breast. What am I going to do with a whole chicken?)
2 red or green bell peppers, seeded and chopped
1 or 2 jalapeno peppers, chopped fine
3 TBSP fresh tarragon, chopped (I used dry and thought it worked well, but by all means use fresh if you've got it!)
2 medium tomatoes, peeled, seeded, and chopped (I didn't peel mine, but if you're so inclined, go get 'em tiger!)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
3 8-oz cans low-fat chicken broth (or some water and a boullion cube)
2 cups short-grain rice, rinsed and drained (or not rinsed and drained: whatever you prefer)

Heat the oil in a large skillet and saute the onions for about 10 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove the onions from the oil and set aside. Brown the chicken on all sides in the oil and then push it to the side of the pan. Add your bell peppers, jalapeno and tarragon and saute for a minute. Add the tomatoes and put your browned onions back in. Stir it all up really well so that it's saucy and then cover and simmer for 20 minutes. (You might want to move your chicken around a bit to make sure it doesn't burn or stick.) "Meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, heat chicken stock." Yeah. If you want to dirty more pans, go right ahead. "Transfer chicken to a clean plate and set aside. (Leave tomato mixture in skillet.") Again, yeah. If you want to. Stir your rice into your tomato mix and add your chicken stock. Raise heat to high and boil for 1 minute (says recipe). Then the recipe says you need to put your chicken back into the pot (there seems to be a lot of in and out of the pot in this recipe), reduce the heat simmer for 15 minutes until your rice is done and the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let sit, covered, for 10 minutes. Stir and serve hot.

********

Eggplant with Onion and Tomatoes
Imam Bayildi

2 medium eggplants
1 tsp salt
1 large onion, finely chopped
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped (I skipped the peeling my ownself, but it's probably a good idea.)
6 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 c fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 c fresh basil, chopped (I used dry, but fresh would be wonderful)
1/4 c fresh dill, chopped (see above)
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 TBSP sugar
1 lemon, cut in wedges

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Wash your eggplants, cut off the tops, and slice in half the long way. Put these halvs (cut side up) in a roasting pan. Line the pan with foil. Trust me on that. If you do not line the pan with foil, you will spend a whole lot more time scrubbing said roaster with a scouring pad and some baking soda than you want to. Trust me: line the pan. I will never lie to you about when to line a pan. Okay. So, tirade aside, I'll get back to the recipe. Your eggplants are sitting cut-up in your foil-lined pan. In a large bowl, combine your salt, onion, tomatoes, garlic, parsley, dill, and basil. Stir in 2 TBSP of the olive oil and then spoon all this yummy mix over your eggplant halves. Combine the remaining olive oil, water and sugar and drizzle that over the top of your tomato-topped eggplants. Bake for 1 1/2 hours (mine was done in 1, but then I had a pretty small eggplant and I halved the recipe. Use your judgement: I trust you), pressing the tomato mixture into eggplant flesh once or twice as the thing bakes. The eggplant is done when it is very soft. Serve this (and make sure you scoop up the oily tomato mix that has slid off your eggplant in the cooking process) with your cut up lemon and you and whoever you serve it to will be very happy. I do think that if your kitchen gets too hot in the summertime, you could probably wrap the eggplant halves with stuff on top in foil and throw them on a grill outside if you're so inclined. Anyone want to experiment with that and let us know if it works? :)