With mashed banana and strawberries, cherries or other fruit, this is an extremely easy and light ice cream that needs no churning.
Serves 6 (more…)
Mediterranean Food
Creamy Eggplant Puree (Hünkar Beğendi)
This is my take on Hünkar, which is traditionally prepared with sheep’s milk butter; but I find that this olive oil variation can be equally sumptuous. Cheese plays a very important role in my version and can alter the taste dramatically: Gruyere and cheddar make a richly sweet dish, but smoked cheddar or provolone combined with Feta adds a spicier note.
An Ottoman Sultan, a French Princess…and Hünkar Beğendi – all the necessary ingredients for romance, intrigue, and culinary invention. According to legend this rich and creamy eggplant puree was created in the 18th century by one of the Sultan’s cooks. The occasion was a dinner given in honor of a French Princess visiting the palace of the Ottoman ruler in Istanbul. The French were known for their love of vegetable purees, so the cook paid homage to the Princess by presenting an Oriental version, using the Empire’s most admired vegetable. The dish was a great success. We know less about the Sultan’s pursuit of the Princess…
In Turkey and in Greece hünkar traditionally accompanies a tomato lamb or beef stew. I love it on its own, or topped with my Basic Tomato Sauce. You can also serve it with braised kale or other hearty greens. Hünkar makes a great appetizer: serve it with toasted pita triangles to scoop-up the creamy puree or spread it on toasted, garlic-rubbed multi-grain bread.
Adapted from my Mediterranean Vegetarian Feasts
Serves 4 as a main dish, or 8-10 as an appetizer (more…)
Oven-cooked Eggplants and Peppers in Tomato Sauce
A kind of Greek, rustic ratatouille that can be made with any combination of summer vegetables. I particularly like it with just eggplants and green bell peppers plus plenty of onions and garlic, all baked slowly in my fragrant tomato sauce.
We can find all kinds of delicious eggplants here and choose whichever we want for our summer dishes. For this I prefer the long ones –which are similar to the Chinese and Japanese– because they better retain their shape. But any kind of eggplant is fine, and I strongly suggest you use the fresher you find in your farmer’s market —Molly Stevens explains beautifully the flavor variations between the various eggplants, which make little difference for this particular dish.
Serves 4-6 (more…)
Oriental Orange ‘Cream’
With no eggs or cream, this light fruity dessert is based on Portocal Peltesi, a Turkish recipe I tasted in Istanbul. You can make it with any fruit juice –lemon, tangerine, grape, pomegranate etc. You can also use the fruit ‘cream’ as filling for a pre-baked tart shell. I like to serve it with cakes, as well as with Sweet Orange and Pistachio Couscous
Photo by Anastasios Mentis from my ‘Mediterranean Hot and Spicy’
Serves 6 (more…)
Yogurt Bread Stuffed with Cheese or Chocolate
This is a delicious, moist and very easy bread dough.
I describe here how you can make it into savory or sweets treats.
No need to make them both the same day, though. Just keep half the dough in the fridge to stuff and bake within the next 2-3 days making the sweet or savory version.
You also can form into loaves or small buns and eat instead of any other bread; it makes wonderful sandwiches.
The cheese-stuffed bread is a lovely accompaniment to soups and vegetable dishes, or served as meze with drinks. The chocolate bread can be part of breakfast or accompany soft cheese or served with tea, and coffee.
Yields 2 round loaves
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