Kadınbudu Köfte “A Favourite Turkish Meatball”

Merhaba! I have to admit I have no luck with the favourite recipes’ names. But if you can find an explanation why you call an insect “butterfly” I promise to try to translate these meatballs’ name;) It is one of everyone’s favourite but like almost all delicious things they are much better homemade. They are easy to prepare so let’s do it;))

Ingredients (for 4 people)

600 grams of ground beef (~1.3 pounds)

3 tbsp corn meal

1 onion

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp red pepper

1/4 cup rice

1 egg

For frying:

Sunflower oil

2 tbsp cornmeal

1 eggwash (1 egg+2 tbsp water)

First of all cook the rice in a skillet till it will all dry out, let it cool till mixture is ready. Chop the onion and get them together with half of the ground beef in a pan with 2 tbsp olive oil. Cook them at medium heat, constantly stirring till they smell very nice(it takes usually 15 minutes) after it is cooled too, get them all together with remaining raw ground beef, cooked rice, spices,egg and cornmeal and shape them like half size of a hamburger even thicker ( have a look at the photo above, it is the classic shape) so roll them in cornmeal first shake the excess then roll in eggwash and put in hot oil to fry.It shouldn’t be deep frying, the contrast actually it must be shallow frying. If you want to complete the menu as it is always, make sure you have some french fries and green salad to go with it. Afiyet Olsun!

Karniyarik: A Turkish Cuisine Classic

Merhaba! I  didn’t think of translating this wonderful Turkish Cuisine’s meal name into English! Wouldn’t sound correct anyhow;)) They say Karniyarik was an Ottoman Empire Cuisine star at the beginning, I think we Turks love stuffed foods in some different ways. As I wrote at my Turkish blog, when I was a child every season had its own vegetables and fruits, we didn’t have everything whole year around. When we noticed eggplants at greengrocer’s  we realised the summer was coming! Which one is better which world was healthier I guess it is an environmental blogger’s subject so let’s move on this practical recipe;))

Ingredients (for 4 people)

5 regular size eggplants

300 grams ground beef

2 green peppers

2 tomatoes

1 onion

A handful of parsley leaves

2 tbsp olive oil

2 cups of sunflower oil for frying.

1 tbsp salt, 1/2 tbsp black pepper, 1 tsp red pepper

1 tbsp of tomato paste

Wash and dry the eggplants and peel all the skin off and if they are too long (say they are more than 25 cm”~10 inches) you may cut them in halves. Fry them in heated sunflower oil till just golden color and take them on a paper layed plate. In another pan put olive oil finely chopped onion and  thinly sliced green peppers and stir them for few minutes then add ground beef continue stirring till it gets juicy then turns to be a nice color and smells like almost bbq 😉 Never leave unattended because it must be all small pieces, we don’t want tiny meatballs. Add diced tomatoes and salt and spices and turn the heat off. Leave some parsley for decoration, slice the remaining and add to the mixture. Now, take the fried eggplants in a wide oven pan and slice them in the middle leaving an inch each at the both ends then fill with the mixture generously. In a small bowl mash the tomato paste with a cup of  hot water and put on the eggplants with a help of spoon. Last thing carefully salt the eggplants, slightly because the mixture has salt but vegetables don’t. If you have a lid for the oven pan you can use it, otherwise you can make a tent from baking paper with a hole at the middle so steam can get out.In a 150 C (~300 F ) heated oven cook for 45 minutes. When they are cooked carefully remove the lid or paper , use the remaining tomato as sliced for decoration with a help of parsleys. Serve with another classic, pilav and even with cacik( yoghurt and cucumber served cold in a bowl with a touch of dill) Afiyet Olsun!