Fırında Kağıt Kebabı
Oven-baked kebab in paper

Ingredients:

½ kg small-cubed lamb
(preferably leg or shoulder meat)
200 gr peas
1 tomato, finely chopped
2 “sivri” peppers, finely chopped
1 onion, cut into rings
8 pieces of parchment or 4 small oven bags
Chopped parsley and/or dill
2 T olive oil
Salt, black pepper, thyme

Mix all the ingredients and allow to rest for ½ hour. Distribute the mixture among 4 oven bags or four doubled piece of parchment paper, add 1 T water. Close bags (if using parchment, bring two ends together and fold over, rolling and folding, until you have come to the meat, then fold the ends into the center to make a square packet) and invert onto a baking dish. Bake in a medium oven until meat is tender.

Fırında Patlıcanlı Köfte
Baked Croquettes with Eggplant

Ingredients:

Eggplant and croquettes:
3 eggplants (long narrow type)
½ c vegetable oil for cooking
400 gr ground meat
2 slices stale bread, crusts removed
1 onion, coarsely grated
Salt, pepper, cumin

For top:

6-7 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes, sliced
2 “sivri” peppers, cut into strips
1t tomato or pepper paste
½ c water
1 T butter

Wet bread and squeeze out excess water, then knead together with meat, onion, salt, pepper and cumin, and make round flat croquettes. Peel strips off eggplants lengthwise, leaving them striped, then cut into thick slices. Salt, allow to stand for 15 minutes. Wash, pat dry and fry in hot oil, turning once. Arrange on the bottom of a baking dish, and place the croquettes on top. Arrange the sliced tomatoes, peppers and garlic any way you like over the croquettes. Mix 1t tomato or pepper paste with ½ c warm water and pour evenly over top. Dot the top with butter, and bake at 200C until the croquettes are brown.

Çardak Kebab

Ingredients:

½ kg lamb, cut into small pieces
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
2 tomatoes
3 “sivri” peppers
(substitute 1 large green bell pepper or two anaheims)
2/3 c milk
5 T flour
1 egg
1 T butter
100gr kashar cheese
1 t pepper paste
Salt, black pepper, thyme

Saute onion and garlic in a little oil till onion is transparent, add meat, then tomatoes and peppers.Add salt and butter. When all water has been absorbed, add black pepper and thyme to taste. In a bowl, mix flour, egg and milk and whisk into a smooth batter, add salt to taste. Pour enough into 15 cm nonstick pan to make a crepe, brown both sides. Continue with the rest of the batter. Take a crepe, and line a bowl with it, and put in 2-3 T of the meat mixture. Fold over the edges of the crepe, and invert into an oiled baking pan. Repeat with all the crepes, and top each bundle with a slice of kashar cheese. Mix pepper paste in ½ c water and pour over crepes, then bake at 180 C until the cheese has melted and begins to brown. Serve hot.

Patlıcan Salatası
Eggplant Salad

Ingredients

1 kg eggplant
1 onion
5-6 “sivri” peppers (fresh red pepper may also be used)
2-3 tomatoes
2-3 T olive oil
Salt
1 bunch parsley
Juice of one lemon

Cooke peppers over hot coals or on a gas flame till soft and the skin is burned and blistered, remove skins and place in a sieve to drain. Cook the peppers and tomatoes in the same way, peel. Chop the eggplant finely without mashing it. Chop the tomatoes and peppers and place in a deep bowl. Cut the onions in half lengthwise, then cut into thin half rings, knead with salt, then wash well. Wash parsley and chop finely. Mix all the ingredients, and serve with a squeeze of lemon. If you like it spicy, you may use Maraş pepper flakes.

Şakşuka
Cold Eggplant with Olive Oil and Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

2 eggplants (long type)
2-3 “sivri” peppers, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, peeled and cubed
1 t tomato paste
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2 T olive oil

Peel strips off of eggplants to leave half the skin in stripes, cut into fourths longwise, then cut into 2-cm lengths. Sprinkle with salt, let sit 15 minutes, wash and pat dry, then fry in hot oil, drain and put into a broad salad plate.

As it is cooling, sautee the finely chopped peppers in a frying pan in 2 T olive oil. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring until they disintegrate. Add tomato paste and garlic, and cook a bit more but before too much of the tomatoes’ liquid is evaporated. Pour over the eggplants in the plate and let cool. Serve cold.

İzmir-style Köfte

Ingredients

500 gr kg ground meat
1 onion, finely chopped
1 egg
¾ c bread crumbs
Salt and pepper to taste
2 potatoes, peeled and sliced and placed in salted water
2 large tomatoes, grated or 1 T tomato paste
4-5 “sivri” peppers or 1-2 bell peppers cut into strips, or 3 anaheim peppers cut in half.

Combine meat, onion, egg, bread crumbs, salt and pepper, knead well and shape into finger-length meatballs.

Saute potatoes lightly in a bit of oil and spread around the outer edge of a baking pan, preferably round. Fry the meatballs in the same oil and arrange in a sunburst shape in the pan. The sauté the peppers in the same oil and arrange over the meatballs.

Add a bit of water to the grated tomatoes, or mix tomato paste with 1 c water, and pour evenly over the meatballs in the pan. Bake at medium heat for ½ hour until the sauce has thickened.

These and more recipes at www.Turkish-Cuisine.org