Turkish appetizers: Eggplants stuffed with vegetables

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This blog post is presented by Elaine Paperman, our guest food blogger.
Visit Elaine's web site to get various restaurants' reviews and very delicious food recipes.
http://homecookingwithflair.com

I read about this dish that it’s originated from Turkey and is called “Imam Baylidi” meaning “the priest fainted”. The story tells that a holy man fainted after smelling the aroma of this dish. I can assure you that nobody has yet fainted trying this dish in my house. It is fragrant and very appetizing, so go ahead and make it bravely.

4 small Japanese eggplants (substitute with small regular eggplants)
1 zucchini
1 onion
2 garlic cloves
1 red pepper
2 tomatoes
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ cup toasted put nuts
½ teaspoon sugar
¼ teaspoon dried oregano
Salt, pepper

Place eggplants on a large pot and cover then with boiling water. (To avoid bruising them, you may need to cook the eggplants one at a time.) Cook them, uncovered on high heat for five minutes. Turn them with a wooden spoon to prevent puncturing the skin. Transfer eggplants to cold water to stop cooking and cool them down. Meanwhile, roast a pepper over a gas burner until its skin is charred and black. Place the pepper in a plastic bag and tie the bag. Let the pepper cool in the bag. With a sharp knife, cut the eggplants lengthwise in half. Remove the pulp leaving about ½ inch of shell. Using a serrated grapefruit knife is very helpful. Chop the eggplant’s flesh into about ¼ inch pieces. Do not peel your zucchini; chop it into the same size pieces. Remove roasted pepper from plastic bag and peel it (the skin will come off easily). Remove seeds from the pepper and chop it, as well. Place the eggplants shells, skin side up, on a tray lined with paper towels, and refrigerate them until they are ready to be served.

Chop onion and mince garlic. Heat oil in a skillet and sauté onion until it is translucent. The original recipe calls for garlic being sautéed at this point. However, I like the aroma and taste of the fresh garlic and added it at the point when I put all the vegetables in the fridge to marinating. So, follow you preferences. Add chopped eggplant and zucchini and sauté until veggies are cooked and tender, about 7-8 minutes. Add salt, sugar, oregano, black pepper, stir and sauté for a couple minutes more.
Transfer mixture to a glass bowl. Remove seeds from tomatoes and chop them roughly. Add tomatoes to the veggies in a bowl. I added raw finely minced garlic at this point. Add lemon juice and gently stir all the vegetables. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
Just before serving, add chopped cilantro to the vegetable mixture. Pat the inside of the eggplants shells with paper towel and fill them with the vegetables. Sprinkle with pine nuts.

Enjoy!