Turkish Braised Eggplant (Engin's Imam Bayildi)
Ingredients
This is an easy-to-make crust that is flaky and tender and tastes like butter. The butter is pared down to what I consider to be the minimum amount possible. The flour/butter mixture is chilled midway through the process so that when the dough is rolled, the hard butter forms flat sheets, increasing the flakiness of the dough. Some of the usual butter is replaced with sour cream, which has less fat and calories but adds to the tenderness and richness of the crust. A pinch of baking powder adds a degree of lightening.
I first made this coarse olive paste as a way of using some olives that had been languishing in my refrigerator and were a little past their prime. Warmed and spooned onto peasant bread as an hors d'oeuvre, it was a revelation: The flavor of olives changes when they are heated, somehow becoming milder.
Betty Crocker was never a real person. "Born" in 1921, Betty Crocker was at first only a signature and a voice on a radio program created to answer consumer questions about Gold Medal flour. She didn't have a face until a portrait was commissioned in the mid-1930s. Betty Crocker represented one twenties ideal, the perfect happy homemaker, while the flapper represented the decade's "other woman."
This is a summer classic. Make large batches for lunch, supper or any time a refreshing, low-fat pick-me-up or a one-dish meal is needed. You can snack on this soup all day, especially when it’s hot, humid, and the idea of actually cooking is enough to drive you to the drive-thru.
I've made this appetizer a million times, but I never get tired of it. The spicy smokiness of the Piquillos is a fantastic foil for the creaminess of the goat cheese. Because they arrive already roasted and peeled, the Piquillos are exceptionally easy to work with.
Here winter carrots, cut into thick strips, are slow-cooked in their own moisture until swollen, succulent, and flavorful. The vivid taste of the carrots, the aroma of the olives, and the pungency of the thyme make this a great accompaniment to meat or poultry.
This method is used all around the Mediterranean to cook winter and spring vegetables such as leeks in this recipe, artichokes, cardoons, celery, celery root, fat green beans, favas, and white turnips. The vegetables turn creamy within while remaining firm enough to hold their shape. The method also sweetens slightly bitter vegetables, such as cardoons, by caramelizing them ever so slightly.
I gotta confess: I find this sprightly, tingly mixture ever so much more interesting than cranberry goop out of the can.