tobias cooks! » Turky

Imam Baildi – Imam Bayildi – Ιμάμ Μπαϊλντί

Tobias — Mon, 27 Sep 2010 14:50:13 +0000

A classic Turkish dish that the Greeks also love to eat. Imam Bayildi or Imam Baildi as it is often written can be prepared as a vegetarian dish as well as with meat. I have prepared a version with minced meat. You can also leave the meat out and serve it with a nice tomato and onion sauce as you can see here at my friend Peter’s blog.

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

difficulty> easy

Ingredients:

4 eggplants
250 gram of minced beef
1 red onion
3 cloves of garlic
4 large tomato
some thyme
a sip of red wine
olive oil
salt and pepper

Preparation:

For the meat sauce dice the onion and the tomatoes. Fry the onion in a pan with some oil for a couple of minutes, then add the meat. Now add the tomatoes, a sip of wine the thyme, salt and pepper. Let the sauce simmer for a bit.

Wash then dry off the eggplant. Use a vegetable peeler or knife to stripe the eggplants length wise.

Fry the eggplant in some olive oil form all asides, so they take some color. Remove them form the pan and place them on some kitchen paper to set aside.

Then cut them open along one of the stripes. Be careful to just slice them open but not to cut them through. Use a spoon to remove a little bit of the meat of the eggplant, so you create some space for the sauce.

Fill the eggplant with the meat sauce and place in the oven for 40 minutes at 360 degrees Fahrenheit.

Eggs Kagiana – Strapazzada – Αυγά Καγιανά – Στραπατσάδα

Tobias — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 16:51:01 +0000

This dish of egg and vegetable can be found under two different names here in Greece. Eggs Kagiana or Strapazzada. This fact made me research a bit. I consulted Mariana from the History of Greek Food blog and here are some of the findings.

Kagiana (which is pronounced: Kayana) is an egg dish known to every Greek. The name though derives from the Persian “Khâgine” which means omelet. The dish was known throughout the Ottoman Empire which explains how it is spread nowadays. In the East Roman Empire (Byzantium) the dish was call “Sfungaton”- sponge which again describes the omelet.

Strappazada however derives from the Greek word στραπάτσο which equals the Italian strapazzo , to beat. Uova strapazzate are scrambled eggs. Strapazzada is known mainly along the Ionian coast and the west coast of the Peloponnese. In the rest of the country the dish is called Kagiana.

As a friend from Serbia told me this dish is there known as Kajgana.

Preparation time: 5 minutes

cooking time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Ingredients:

1 large tomato
2 fresh eggs
Feta cheese
1 bell pepper
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preparation

Heat the oil in a pan. Meanwhile dice the bell pepper and add it to the pan. Fry for a couple of minutes on medium heat.

Dice the tomato and add it. Let it cook for a minute or two. Beat the eggs in a bowl, season them with salt and pepper. Add the eggs to the pan and let them cook in the juices of the tomato.

Stir occasionally.

Serve with crumbled feta cheese on top of it.

Tzatziki, Tsaziki, Tζατζίκι – Cacık

Tobias — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 18:23:29 +0000

The weather is getting warmer and it is time to come up with some light dishes. Besides that I discovered that I had left out one of the Greek classics. The Tzaziki. Many of you will say now “well that just sounds like the Turkish Cacik!” And I would agree.
This Yogurt sauce is the perfect dip but also is perfect for barbecue. It also goes well with fried food like calamari.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

difficulty: easy

Ingredients:

a cup of Greek yogurt (Olympos)
2 cloves of garlic
half a cucumber
some dill
some olive oil
Salt an pepper

Preparation:

Peel the cucumber, then remove the soft inside with a spoon. Shred the cucumber into a bowl.

Chop up the garlic then crush ist with the flat side of a big kitchen knife. Use some sea salt to turn it into a paste while crushing it.Put it into a bowl and bix it with olive oil and some pepper.

Now add the chopped dill and the yogurt. Now mix this sauce with the cucumber.

Fridge and serve chilled.

Cooking event – Mediterranean food

Tobias — Sat, 10 Oct 2009 06:42:36 +0000

Mediterranean food is a vast field and my big passion that I would like to share with you. Spain, Greece, Turkey, Croatia, France, Italy and many more countrys border the Mediterranean sea and are home of unique flavours and tastes like citrus, rosemary, cumin, garlic and thyme.

In order to foster the exchange and research about Mediterranean food I am announcing the Mediterranean cooking event. Every month I will select a country of the Mediterranean that will be the focus topic of the month’s event. Participate and win a great cook book!

The 1st Mediterranean cookingevent

is about
TURKEY

Start date is the 10th of October 2009.
End date is the 10th of November 2009.

The winner receives this great cookbook on Turkish cooking:
“Turkish Cooking: Classic traditions, Fresh ingredients, Authentic flavours, Aromatic recipes”
by Ghillie Basan

These are the RULES:

Who can participate?
Everyone that blogs and loves food.

What do I have to do to participate?

1. Cook a dish from the actual country of focus.
2. Post the recipe on your blog. Mention the event with a backlink and include one of the banners in the recipe post or on your blog in general.
3. Leave a comment with a trackback (backlink) to your recipe here (below), so we all can find it.

How is the winner chosen?

After the event has finished I will put up a poll on the blog that includes all participants. You will have 2 weeks time to vote for your favourite dish.

Can I participate with more than 1 recipe?

Yes, you can. All recipes participate the poll.

Banners you can take along:

(just copy the HTML code and paste it into your blog)

Banner 130 x 130

Banner 130 x 250

Banner 500 x 112