Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Karniyarik - stuffed eggplant

Karnıyarık (lit. 'riven belly' in Turkish) is best made with Turkish eggplant. A Turkish eggplant is much thinner as a 'normal' eggplant.



To prepare the filling:

Fry 250 gram ground veal (kalfsgehakt).



Add one onion, garlic a red pepper and a green pepper (see photo, I'm not sure which variety of Capsicum this is).







Add a can of tomato puree, one tomato and fresh parsley. Fry. Add 1 teaspoon paprika powder, 1 teaspoon black pepper and salt.



To prepare the eggplant slice lengthwise and heat in an oven until soft.



Put the eggplant in an oven dish and fill them with the meat filling.



Add half a green pepper on top of each eggplant and pour a thin layer of tomato sauce in the oven dish. You can easily make the tomato sauce by mixing some tomato puree with a glass of water.



Bake in the oven for 20 - 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius.

Turkish Red Lentil Soup

A simple recipe, which can be made to perfection if you use the right stock. Due to time restrictions I used a stock cube. Home made chicken stock is preferable.

Cut 3 onions and 6 cloves of garlic very finely.



Wash and soak 300 grams red lentils.



Fry the onions and garlic in olive oil for a couple of minutes and add the following: 4 teaspoons cumin, 2 teaspoons chili flakes, 2 cans of tomato puree.



Add 1,6 liter of water and boil until the lentils are soft. Add a stock cube. If you have home made chicken stock, use the stock instead of water. Add (more) cumin, salt and black pepper.



Puree the soup and garnish with fresh mint and paprika powder. Add lemon juice according to taste.



Sunday, March 4, 2012

Heiße Oma

I have never been on a ski holiday and certainly not in the Italian Alpine region. Heiße Oma is a hot alcoholic drink which is only known in the Italian Alps (as far as I know). The alcohol is provided by bombardino an Italian liquor which consists of eggnog and brandy (or rum).

To make Heiße Oma (2 mugs) heat 500 ml milk (don't boil).



Add a package of vanilla sugar.



Add 125 ml bombardino (or a bit more).



Heat and mix.



Friday, March 2, 2012

Canederli agli spinaci

This recipe is typical of the Italian Alpine region.

Canederli agli spinaci are small spinach balls served in a creamy vegetable broth. Canederli is Italian for Knödel (German) of knoedel (Dutch).

To make the balls mix the following ingredients:

- 500 gram diced yesterday's bread.
- half an onion, diced.
- 4 eggs
- 100 gram flour
- 50 gram grated Parmesan
- 1 cup of milk
- 400 gram spinach

Make small balls (golf ball sized) and cook in water for 10 minutes.

To make the sauce:

Make a vegetable broth (half a liter), and mix the broth together with the vegetables, some saffron and 3 tablespoons cream. Use a mixer.

Pour the sauce on a plate and set the canederli on it.