The Imam fainted!

Today’s dish, Imam bayildi (Turkish stuffed aubergines), was prepared at the special request of my number one follower, Annika @anysroad. I have made this dish from vague guidelines received from my mother but never from an original recipe. So after Annika made her request I set about doing a little research.

This aubergine dish is one of the most famous dishes of Turkish cuisine. İmam bayıldı roughly translated means "the Imam fainted" and has been traced back right into the middle ages. Some legends say the Imam fainted at the extravagant use of olive oil (which was very expensive), others say he swooned with delight at the delicate flavor of the dish. I’m going to go with the delightful flavor story as I have cut the olive oil used down to a third of the original quantity and added various complimentary spices which I feel improve on the original recipe.

All the recipes I have read have mentioned that the flavor of the dish improves with time and I fully support that theory. I earnestly advise you, if you plan on making this dish, to make it a day or even two in advance. The subtle flavors develop taking it from a lovely dish to extraordinary dish.

I naturally have changed the recipe to suit my taste (as I pretty much always do), so if you want to follow the original just google it, you’ll find dozens of recipes.

My version of Imam Bayildi

Serves 4 mains, 6 sides or 8 tapas

4 medium sized aubergines, peeled and sliced in about 1cm thick slices

½ cup of pouring salt

3 Tbsp good quality olive oil

2 medium onions, halved and sliced

8 medium sized cloves of garlic, chopped (trust me it’s not too much)

1 tsp of ground coriander

1 tsp of ground cumin

½ tsp of turmeric

4 large ripe tomatoes, eye removed and finely chopped

½ cup of chopped tender herbs, I used a combo of parsley, dill and basil

1 Tbsp of brown sugar

½ tsp of salt (or to taste)

½ cup of boiling water

2 Tbsp of good quality olive oil

Rub the aubergine slices with salt and leave them for 30 mins – 1 hour. Wash and drain them and lay them into a casserole dish.

While the aubergines are salting heat the oil in a pan and fry the onions, garlic and spices until they turn glassy, then add the tomatoes. My mother adds a handful of currents at this point too which makes a nice addition.

Simmer the tomatoes on medium heat until they turn into a thick sauce (about 10 minutes) then add the sugar, salt and herbs and simmer for a few more minutes before setting aside until ready to use.

Preheat you oven to 180C˚ and place the wrack in the middle of the oven.

Pour the boiling water over the aubergines in the casserole dish, top them with the tomato sauce and drizzle with the remaining olive oil. Cover the dish with foil and bake until the aubergines are soft and the water has cooked away (about 30 minutes). I uncovered the dish and then baked it for about 10 minutes longer until the tomato had caramelized a little on top.

I couldn’t resist eating some right away but the dish improved remarkably the next day and we ate it reheated as a main course with steamed rice. I imagine though that it would be an amazing side for roast lamb or to add cold to a mezze selection.

I love the Pioneer Woman

I have a long standing love affair with Western movies and Ree Drumond’s life on a ranch in Oklahoma with a chap wearing husband, massive farm kitchen, four unruly kids and lots of great cooking make me feel all gushy with a weird kind of envy (the kind where I’m not really sure I would want it for myself but she makes it look so cool and fun I wish I could be her - part time).

She is a food and life style blogger whose recipes are awe inspiring (if not just because of how rich they are), her photographs are sublime her writing style personal and real. And I love it. I have referred some friends to it and I have gotten mixed feedback and some feel it’s overwhelming but it makes me HAPPY.

Tell me what you think?

PS - You have to watch True Grit

I went on a seafood buying mission

I went on a seafood buying mission yesterday to Breco’s Factory Shop, with my aunt and fellow foodie and came home with a bag of prawns, calamari, smoked salmon trout, butter fish, haddock and tuna all for R200! So I set to work immediately and made a low fat low GI fish pie for lunch.

I poached an assortment of fish and prawns in low fat milk, thickened the sauce with corn flour and made mash with half sweet potato half regular potato and didn’t add butter to the mash. I added lots of fresh steamed veggies and chopped herbs to the fish and voila I had a healthy tasty comfort food lunch.

In my opinion nothing ever tastes better than when you have added cream and butter to it. But all considered it was a very satisfying pie which I think would be a winner with kids too. I also felt full for the rest of the day and didn’t have any mid afternoon cravings (which usually plague me).

My kittens were beside themselves from the sea food smells so I had to share a little bit with them once I finished taking the pictures. They loved it too!

If you have any sensational low fat sea food recipes to send me, that would be great – am on sea food mission now!

Low fat low GI fish and veggie pie

Serves 4 – 6

For the potato topping

300g regular potato, peeled and diced

300g sweet potato, peeled and diced

½ - 1 cup of skim or low fat milk

Salt to taste

¼ tsp of mild curry powder (optional)

1 Tbsp of grated parmesan (optional)

For the fish filling

1 Tbsp of oil

1 medium onion, peeled and chopped

1 clove of garlic, peeled and chopped

1 tsp of ginger, finely chopped

600g of assorted fish and sea food – I used a combination of haddock, butterfish, smoked salmon trout and shelled prawns

1 cup of fat free or low fat milk

Salt to taste

¼ tsp of lemon pepper

Zest of half a lemon or lime

1 tsp of whole grain mustard

1 Tbsp of butter

1 Tbsp of corn flour

1 cups of steamed veggies – I used butternut, baby marrow and sweet corn

1 Tbsp of fresh herbs – dill, mint, parsley, coriander would be good

1 Tbsp of lemon or lime juice

Set your potatoes boiling in a pot of salted water. While the potatoes are boiling fry the onions, garlic and ginger for a few minutes. Add the fish and fry for a few minutes. Add the milk and spices and poach for a few minutes and set aside.

In medium pot on medium high heat whisk together the butter and cornflower and fry for a minute or two. Add the liquid from the fish and whisk until it has thickened. Turn down the heat and add the fish, steamed veggies and herbs and finish with a squeeze of lime or lemon juice. Combine and heat through. Spoon into a casserole dish or individual ramekins.

Pre heat your oven on grill.

Once the potato has cooked through, drain and mash. Add milk until you get a stiff but creamy mash, add the spices and cheese if using. Spoon the mash over the fish filling and grill in the oven until the potato is golden brown.

Okay, I’ve gained a few kilos

Okay, I’ve gained a few kilos over the last few months and they have been well deserved kilos. I’ve always eaten allot and gratefully have a steam train of a metabolism as a result. But I have been breaking my own rules and am bearing the consequences. So I am apologising in advance, I am going to be on a bit of health mission for the next few months. That said there is no reason to eat sadly when watching what you eat. There are so many fabulous tricks and substitutions and only a few bad habits one needs to watch.

Knowing yourself is key, in my opinion, and how I start my day is the key for me. If I can steer clear of sugar and bread and rather start my day with a glass of fresh fruit and veggie juice and a bowl of oats my day is set.

I have been holding off talking about juicing as it is such a love it or hate it topic. But it’s something I do every day and it’s what keeps me eating whatever I want for the rest of the day. I have been juicing for about 4 years now and it has revolutionised my weight control. I am not really hungry first thing in the morning and would often skip breakfast or eat toast with cheese which is a big weakness of mine. If I start my day eating sugar or bready foods by 10h00 my cravings start and I just can’t stop eating for the rest of the day.

When I started juicing I would drink about 300 – 400mls of fresh vegetable and fruit juice in the morning and bam, no cravings. The boost of super nutrients seem to give my body all it needs and the rest of the day I seem to be topping up rather than feeding the furnace.

Adam loves toast though and it is sooooo hard for me to say no to a slice of my own home baked bread with melting butter, mature cheddar and sundried tomatoes in favour of butternut, carrot, beetroot and pear juice first thing in the morning. But it has to be done, I have to pull myself together and return to my tried and tested formula!

The key to successful juicing is your juicer. There are two brands of juicer I would highly recommend and they are Oscar and Kempo. There is much debate between centrifugal and macerating juicers. I am in the macerating camp. Okay, okay – I can go on for ages on juicers… if you are interested in knowing more, contact me, don’t want to bore all of you who couldn’t care less!

I promise not to bore you in the next few weeks but will be making seriously yummy albeit healthy meals.

For some interesting reading on juicing take a look at these links:

http://www.bestofjuicing.com/

http://www.juicing-for-health.com/green-power-juicer.html

http://www.healingdaily.com/juicing-for-health.htm

One plus one equals - mushroom soup

I love mushrooms, I love soup - one plus one equals - mushroom soup. I have been making a particular mushroom soup for at least a decade and a half but haven’t looked at the original recipe in at least as long.

A few things I know I’ve changed are the seasoning, which are flavours I personally enjoy. I also substituted the bread which the recipe used to thicken the soup with white beans as they are way more nutritious. If you hate beans (and you really don’t taste them in the recipe) substitute them with about 5 slices of white bread.

What sets this recipe apart for me is that it is reasonably light and nutritious. Whereas most mushrooms soups recipes are basically mushroom flavoured cream and should be eaten sparingly if one is to avoid looking like the Michelin man half way through winter.

Mushroom soup

Makes 2 litres

1 Tbsp of olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

500g of mushrooms, chopped

2 Tbsp soya sauce

1 ½ tsp of ground cumin

1 tsp of ground coriander

½ tsp of mixed spice

½ tsp of salt

1 tsp of black pepper

1 litre of vegetable stock

1 ½ cups of haricot, cannellini or butter beans, tinned or pre cooked if dry

2 Tbsp chopped basil or parsley

125ml of cream (totally optional)

Heat the oil in a large pot. Fry the onion, garlic and mushrooms until they reduce in size to about half. Add a little water if they start to stick. Add the soya and spice and fry a little until the flavours have released. Add the stock and allow this to simmer for 5 minutes. Gently blend with a stick blender but don’t over blend, some texture is nice. Add the herbs and cream if using and serve.

This soup freezes beautifully, so make extra and keep it for a quick meal.

Super Satisfying Substitutions

I have a salmon pasta dish I love to make, but smoked salmon even salmon trout can be hellishly expensive and I tend to reserve it for special occasions. But I love this dish so I decided to try substituting tuna into the recipe, and it was simply delicious. I then also tried to take the calories down a notch and substituted the crème fraiche with feta and milk, which give it a creamy texture and a cheesy taste which is a winner all round.

Only problem was I just couldn’t stop eating it… will only make this pasta when I have team of people to help me eat it… I ate the whole recipe for four people all by myself (okay, it took me two days but still!). No wonder my thighs are rapidly expanding.

I don’t often eat baby marrows as I find over cooked marrows get a funny taste I really don’t enjoy, but raw in a salad or lightly sautéed like in the below recipe, they are delicious.

Creamy tuna baby marrow pasta

Serves 4

500g of your favourite pasta, cooked and drained

2 Tbsp. of oil

1 small onion, thinly sliced

1 can of tuna chunks, in brine (salt and water)

250g courgettes, halved and thinly sliced into ribbons

Freshly ground black pepper

1 cup (250ml) of crumbled Feta

½ cup (125ml) of milk

Heat the oil on high heat in a large pan and fry the onion until it turn glass. Add tuna with the brine and the ribboned courgettes and fry gently for a few minutes. Crumble the feta over the mixture, add the milk and gently stir until the feta has melted and the sauce has slightly thickened. Season with black pepper and extra salt if you think it needs it. Pour the sauce over the cooked pasta. Top with parmesan if you want to.

Roast tomato and lentil soup

If you live in Cape Town I’m sure you will agree that it is officially soup weather. I LOVE soup. I could eat soup every day and often do. I also find it handy to make a big pot of soup and freeze it into single portions which are easy to defrost and heat for week day lunches or dinners.

I also find soups an easy way to create a low fat, low GI great tasting meal without having to compromise too much on the tastes I like. The soup I’m writing about today has exactly that great combination I love. The lentils add that robust meaty flavour while being low fat, high fibre and high protein. The roasted tomatoes are also a great savoury taste and the roasting intensifies the flavour.

I have trained this recipe many times already and it has always become a firm household favourite. You can vary the colour and texture of the soup as well by choosing different types of lentils. The pink lentils are sweeter and give the soup a pretty colour but you lose out on allot of fibre. I like brown or green lentils as they have a more robust flavour and texture, but the colour of the soup can become brownish.

You can easily add bacon, ham, chorizo or beef to this soup adding to the flavour, but also adding to the fat content.

If you want to garnish the soup nicely, save a few of the roasted tomatoes before blending them and garnish the soup with roasted tomatoes and bit of pesto.

Roast tomato and lentil soup

Makes about 2.5 litres of soup

8 large ripe tomatoes

Salt and pepper to taste

2 Tbsp of brown sugar

2 Tbsp of olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

2 ribs of celery, finely sliced (optional)

2 large carrots, grated (optional)

1 leek, finely sliced (optional)

2 tins of lentils or (250g of dry lentils - just cook soup longer, until tender)

2 Litres of vegetable stock

1 tsp of salt

Pre-heat your oven to full heat and grill. Place the wire rack in the middle of the oven. Slice the tomatoes thickly and lay them in a roasting pan. Grind salt and pepper over them. Roast the tomatoes with the oven door a crack open to let out the steam. They will lose allot of water and need to have almost halved in size and should be browning on the top. Half way through the grilling process you can sprinkle them with a little sugar. Once roasted, set aside for use later.

In a large pot fry the onion, celery, carrots, garlic and leeks. You can leave out the celery, carrots and leeks for a purer soup. Add the lentils and stock and simmer until the lentils are soft and soup has thickened slightly. Add the tomatoes and using a hand blender puree the mixture lightly. Try not to over puree as some texture is nice.

Taste the soup and adjust the flavour where needed. If the acid of the tomatoes is strong add sugar. If the soup needs depth, add more stock concentrate or salt and you can add a little cumin, turmeric and garam marsala, if desired, which in my opinion improves most things.

If you can ever find mung beans (or green lentils as they are sometime called) they are what I would ideally use instead of regular lentils. They are far more robust in texture and meaty in flavour.