The Cellar - View Single Post - Okay, this is the most recent Recipe Thread

Urbane Guerrilla · 02-10-2007, 05:12 AM

Am I right in remembering that "Imam" is a specifically Shi'ite title?

Turkish food is Middle Eastern food, plus frequent garlic and hot peppers. A good zingy pastirma is not to be passed up; it's got zowie with fried eggs and fresh bread for breakfast. But I digress.

No one's sure if the Imam fainted at the richness of the dish or at his wife's extravagance with the olive oil used making it!

Eggplant with Oil and Garlic or Imam Bayildi

6 long Eggplants (aubergines)
3 large Onions
6 large Tomatoes for the stuffing, plus some tomato sliced
6 to 10 cloves Garlic, the essence and backbone of this dish
Juice of 1 Lemon
Sprigs fresh Parsley
1 tsp Sugar
1/2 pint (yes) Olive Oil, optionally, less than that
1/2 pint mild Stock, like chicken broth
Salt and Pepper to taste

Long eggplants suit this dish best. Step 1) Wash eggplants and slit lengthwise deeply but not completely and not cutting open the ends; you're making canoes of the eggplants to hold the stuffing in. Open eggplants by pushing inwards at the closed ends. If eggplants need salting to draw bitterness, salt down the insides well and let sit 15 minutes.

2) Slice onions very thin, fry in tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Chop tomatoes and parsley, crush garlic; mix all together in a mixing bowl. Reserve any remaining oil in skillet for the next step.

3) If you salted the eggplants, rinse out and pat them dry. Heating some more of the olive oil in a large skillet, fry eggplants carefully all over, medium heat, taking care not to spoil their shape; you want them still stuffing-tight. Reserve oil, it'll be used a bit later. Arrange eggplants in a baking dish and fill the slits up with the tomato/parsley/garlic mixture, using the sliced tomatoes to cover the stuffing over. Pour over them all the remaining oil and all the oil you'd fried them in also, and enough stock to come halfway up the sides of the eggplants. Pour on the lemon juice, sprinkle the sugar and the salt and pepper.

4) Bake in moderate oven, 350F, about one hour, leave to cool. It's usually eaten cold, and makes a fine vegetable meal-starter. If this is too oily, simply use less in the dish.

02-10-2007, 05:12 AM	#98
Urbane Guerrilla Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Southern California Posts: 6,674	Eggplants and the Fainting Imam Am I right in remembering that "Imam" is a specifically Shi'ite title? Turkish food is Middle Eastern food, plus frequent garlic and hot peppers. A good zingy pastirma is not to be passed up; it's got zowie with fried eggs and fresh bread for breakfast. But I digress. No one's sure if the Imam fainted at the richness of the dish or at his wife's extravagance with the olive oil used making it! Eggplant with Oil and Garlic or *Imam Bayildi* 6 long Eggplants (aubergines) 3 large Onions 6 large Tomatoes for the stuffing, plus some tomato sliced 6 to 10 cloves Garlic, the essence and backbone of this dish Juice of 1 Lemon Sprigs fresh Parsley 1 tsp Sugar 1/2 pint (yes) Olive Oil, optionally, less than that 1/2 pint mild Stock, like chicken broth Salt and Pepper to taste Long eggplants suit this dish best. Step 1) Wash eggplants and slit lengthwise deeply but not completely and not cutting open the ends; you're making canoes of the eggplants to hold the stuffing in. Open eggplants by pushing inwards at the closed ends. If eggplants need salting to draw bitterness, salt down the insides well and let sit 15 minutes. 2) Slice onions very thin, fry in tablespoon of olive oil until soft. Chop tomatoes and parsley, crush garlic; mix all together in a mixing bowl. Reserve any remaining oil in skillet for the next step. 3) If you salted the eggplants, rinse out and pat them dry. Heating some more of the olive oil in a large skillet, fry eggplants carefully all over, medium heat, taking care not to spoil their shape; you want them still stuffing-tight. Reserve oil, it'll be used a bit later. Arrange eggplants in a baking dish and fill the slits up with the tomato/parsley/garlic mixture, using the sliced tomatoes to cover the stuffing over. Pour over them all the remaining oil and all the oil you'd fried them in also, and enough stock to come halfway up the sides of the eggplants. Pour on the lemon juice, sprinkle the sugar and the salt and pepper. 4) Bake in moderate oven, 350F, about one hour, leave to cool. It's usually eaten cold, and makes a fine vegetable meal-starter. If this is too oily, simply use less in the dish. __________________ Wanna stop school shootings? End Gun-Free Zones, of course. Last edited by Urbane Guerrilla; 02-10-2007 at 05:49 AM.