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Turkish meatballs wrapped in eggplant (aubergine) slices – Patlican Dilimli Uskup Kofte

Turkish meatballs wrapped in eggplant slices – Patlican Dilimli Uskup Kofte

How wonderful it is to be able to post recipes again; my laptop was broken and I couldn’t post for quite a while, sincere apologies for that. So lovely to share food and recipes again!

This is a very special dish that I make when I have a little extra time; it is very delicious and looks lovely, so it’s worth every effort. You can bake ahead of time and the leftovers can be frozen successfully. The succulent slices of eggplant around the meatballs are just heavenly. Served with plain rice and cucumber&yoghurt; dip, it makes a very special dinner to share.

Patlican, (eggplant or aubergine) is our national vegetable – it is actually fruit, as it has seeds- and one can argue we Turks have over 200 recipes featuring the beloved eggplant! They have high water content (and very low in fat), so the trick is to generously salt the eggplant slices and drain all the bitter juices before cooking, otherwise the eggplant gets soggy.

I hope you give this special dish a try sometime and could share with family and friends.

Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 50 minutes Cooking time: 40-45 minutes

For the meatballs:
450gr/1lb lean ground beef, lamb or mixture
1 medium onion, grated
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 medium eggs
3-4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
5ml/1teaspoon ground cumin
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

3-4 medium eggplants
1 medium potato, skinned and sliced
Green or red pointy (or bell) peppers, coarsely sliced
1 onion, coarsely chopped
400gr/14oz can of chopped tomatoes
5m/1 teaspoon Turkish red pepper flakes (or chili flakes)
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
8fl oz/1 cup water

Preheat the oven to 180C/350 F

Sunflower or canola oil for shallow frying of eggplants

In order to make the meatballs, combine all the items in a large bowl and knead with your hands until all combined well. Grease a baking tray with a little olive oil (or sunflower oil). Take a walnut size of the meatball mixture and roll like an oval shape, carry on with making the meatballs until all the mixture is finished, and place them on the greased tray. Bake the meatballs for about 15-20 minutes, until they are partially cooked and firm enough to be wrapped with the eggplant slices.

Using a vegetable peeler, peel the eggplants (aubergines) lengthways in stripes like a zebra. Slice the eggplants lengthways, about ½ inch thick. Sprinkle some salt over them and leave for about 15 minutes. Squeeze out their moisture with paper towel. Then shallow fry them in the canola oil for 2-3 minutes until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on the paper towel to absorb the excess oil.

On a board, put an eggplant slice and place one meatball the middle and roll like a cigar. Repeat with the rest of the eggplant slices. Place the eggplant&meatball; roll seamide down, in a baking tray.

Place the sliced potatoes, onions and peppers amongst the eggplant rolls in the tray. Add the canned tomatoes and water, season with salt and pepper and sprinkle the red pepper flakes. Bake the dish in the oven for about 35-40 minutes. Please check towards the end if more water is needed and add some to the baking tray.

Serve the eggplant &meatball; rolls and the vegetables hot with plain rice by the side. Cucumber, garlic and yoghurt (Cacik, under Mezes and Appetizers in this blog) meze also would complement this delicious dish well.

Afiyet Olsun!

Antakya’s Savory Kaytaz Pastry with ground meat & onion in fillo sheets – Yufkali Kaytaz Boregi

By Ozlem Warren on June 27, 2011 in Savory Pastries 8

My parents were with us in late April, and as always, it was a joy to cook together with my mother. This time, 3 generations – my mother, my daughter and myself- made Antakya’s famous kaytaz borek – savory pastry filled with ground meat and onion -, with using fillo pastry sheets. Traditionally we would prepare the dough for this borek, put the filling on top and take it to the local bakery to bake – heavenly. This time, mum showed us how to recreate this treat using fillo pastry sheets and it worked wonderfully. The crunchy texture of the fillo sheets work so well with the juicy filling; and once you squeeze lemon juice over it, I am in heaven, so as the children – and I hope you would be too. It is a great party food, starter or a wonderful snack for all the family to indulge.

It is very special to be able to cook and share food together, bind generations, family and friends in different levels. I am sure that sweet cooking experience will be sealed in our memories forever.

Antakya’s kaytaz borek, savory pastry with ground meat, onions and tomato paste; a very delicious snack.

Serves 8-10
Preparation time: 25 minutes Cooking time: 30 minutes

For the filling:
225gr/8oz lean ground beef
1 onion, finely grated
15ml/1tablespoon tomato paste
5ml/1teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Salt to taste

24 sheets of fillo pastry (24cmx25cm/about 9″x10″), thawed or yufka sheets
Small bowl of cold water
15ml/1 tablespoon olive oil
A little more olive oil to brush the pastry

Lemon wedges to serve

Preheat the oven to 180 C / 350 F/ Gas Mark 4

For best results, thaw the frozen fillo pastry sheets in the fridge overnight and bring it to the room temperature 2 hours before using. That enables the fillo thaw completely. If it is sold fresh as in the UK, you only need to bring the fillo to the room temperature 30 minutes before using.

In a bowl, mix the grated onion, ground beef, tomato paste, season with salt and ground black pepper. Really knead well with your hands, until all the ingredients combined.

Add the olive oil to a small bowl of water and mix well. Set by the side of the fillo pastry sheets. Take one fillo pastry sheet out (and cover the rest with damp towel so that they won’t dry out). Fold the pastry sheet lengthwise and cut them as 5cmx8cm (about 2″x3 1/2″) strips.

Put a spoonful of meat mixture in the middle of each 5cmx8cm pastry sheet (some filo sheets are thinner than others; you can put two filo sheets on top each other if it’s too thin. If you are using yufka, just one sheet should be sufficient). Wet your fingers from the bowl of olive oil & water mixture. Seal both ends of the pastry with your wet fingers. You should now have a shape of a small boat with the mixture in the middle. Repeat this for the rest of the mixture and pastry sheets.

Grease the baking tray with olive oil and place the stuffed pastries on it. Brush the pastries with a little olive oil and bake for about 30 minutes or until the pastry turns to golden color.

Serve hot with wedges of lemon to squeeze over. You can serve these wonderful treats for lunch with a green salad by the side, or just enjoy them as a snack/starter.

Antakya’s kaytaz borek with filo sheets, ground meat and onion; a deliciosu treat with a squeeze of lemon over.

Original kaytaz boregi, with its traditional dough made from scratch is at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, if you like to have a go. Signed copies available here

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Lamb Kebab with Peas, Carrots and Onions, Wrapped In Puff Pastry – Talas Boregi

By Ozlem Warren on May 31, 2011 in Appetizers and Mezes, Savory Pastries 5

Talas borek; lamb chunks with vegetables, wrapped in puff pastry

The spread of the Ottoman Empire into Europe resulted in influences from different cuisines. For instance, the use of puff pastry in this kebab reflects a French influence in the Ottoman and today’s Turkish cuisine.

These delicious pastry parcels are lovely served as an appetizer (the miniature versions would also make great finger food for dinner parties, like the little one made by my daughter :). You can also serve them as a main course with some steamed vegetables by the side. (I like Ghillie Basan’s way of serving the cooking liquid of as a sauce by the side too). The cucumber & yoghurt dip with mint, Cacik, would be also a great accompaniment.I hope you have a go at them sometime; they are easy to make, impressive and delicious!

Serves 4-6
Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 35 minutes

225gr/1/2lb lamb, cut into small cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
1 small carrot, finely diced
60gr/2oz peas
10ml/2teaspoons tomato paste
15ml/1 tablespoon olive oil
5ml/1teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
4fl oz/ 1/2 cup water

345gr/12oz puff pastry, thawed
1 egg yolk, beaten

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan. Add the onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, until they are softened. Add the lamb and cook for further 3-4 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Stir in the carrots, peas and tomato paste, mix well. Season with salt and pepper and add the red pepper flakes. Pour in the water and give it a good mix. Reduce the heat, cover and cook for about 20 minutes. Drain and reserve the liquid of the meat mixture to be used as a sauce later. Leave the meat mixture to cool.

If the puff pastry is frozen, please take out of the freezer 2 hours before using and bring it to the room temperature. If it is kept in the fridge, take out the puff pastry 20 minutes before using and remove its carton. Just before using, take off the outer plastic wrap and unroll the pastry sheet on a lightly floured surface. Roll out the pastry into a thin sheet of a rectangle. Cut out squares, about 13cmx13cm (4x4in).

Place a little of the meat mixture in the center of each square and fold over the edges to form a packet.

Place the packets, seam-side down, in the baking tray. Brush the egg yolk over the pastries and bake them in the oven for about 35 minutes or until puffed up and golden brown.

Warm up the reserved liquid of the meat mixture and serve as a sauce by the side of the kebabs in puff pastry. You can also serve them with steamed vegetables and some Cacik (yoghurt, cucumber and mint dip) as a main course.