cook-food

Before the summer is completely over (I know it’s already over in some places), I wanted to publish one of my favorite eggplant recipes, the ‘Karnıyarık’ which literally means ‘Slit belly’. This Ottoman dish truly tastes delectable, not to mention its attractive looks. The day I was shopping for eggplants, I did not find the regular long and thick eggplants that are usually used in Turkey for this dish at my grocery store, so I substituted with Chinese eggplants. The ideal eggplant is not the Chinese eggplant, but still works well. The short eggplants can also be used for this recipe; however I prefer the long eggplants. 6 long eggplants 1 cup olive oil 2-3 green long peppers (cut lengthwise) 2 tsp salt For the Stuffing: 1 lb ground beef (96% lean) 3 ripe tomatoes (peeled and diced) 1 green long pepper (chopped) ½ onion (chopped finely) 2 cloves garlic (chopped finely) ¼ cup parsley (chopped finely) 1 tbsp olive oil ½ tbsp red pepper flakes ½ tsp ground black pepper 2 tsp salt For the ...

For the longest time, I have been thinking about introducing various fruits that grow in Turkey in my blog. Procrastination can no longer continue and I am going to start with one of my favorite fruits, figs. Figs come in variety of skin colors such as green, yellow, brown or red. The inner part of the fruit is full of tiny seeds that are sitting in a pink or red flesh. The size of this fruit can also vary. I have seen figs that are as small as a small apricot and as big as a peach. Figs grow all over the Mediterranean region. Culinary usage of figs is pretty common in some Mediterranean countries. The fruit are hard with a dark green skin color when they are immature and become soft when they are harvested around late July, August and early September. Ripe figs are soft when touched, although when they are extremely ripe, their skin will break just with a single touch due to their fragility. Select figs that are soft, but not mushy. The firm ones are usually not ripe, hence will not b...