Stuffed Eggplants (Karni Yarik) with Tomato Rice

 

I've been too lazy on the blog front recently, but I was too busy cooking for the bachelor viewing party this week (and then cleaning up after it). Have you guys seen it? SPOILER ALERT...I can tell you right now that I was in complete shock that Catherine won! I have been rooting for Lindsay all along. Despite her squeaky voice, I thought she was a great fit for Sean. Oh well, another reality show over, off to find a new one!

I'm not here to talk about the Asian feast I cooked up Monday night, since I was running around like a crazy person trying to get everything done and had no time to take pictures, but I’ll give you a quick run down of the menu. There were miso glazed sea bass with eggplant, ginger fried rice, beef negimaki, thai larb lettuce wraps, and crab cakes. I'm sure all of those recipes will find their way around to the blog pretty soon.

Today I want to talk about one of my favorite dishes from home: eggplants stuffed with ground meat. This is a traditional Turkish recipe, karni yarik actually means split belly. The eggplant gets really tender and creamy from baking slowly, and develops an amazing sauce. The tomato rice is the perfect accompaniment to soak up the sauce and balance the heaviness of the meat. Enjoy!

 

Stuffed Eggplants (Karni Yarik)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, diced
1/2 pound ground beef (you can substitute ground chicken or turkey)
4 baby eggplants (Japanese or any other small variety)
Salt and pepper for seasoning
1 tomato, sliced
1 tbsp tomato paste
Canola oil, for frying, around 2 cups depending on the size and shape of your pot

Directions

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet. Cook the onions until they are translucent. Add the ground beef, and saute until the meat is no longer pink. As you are cooking it, make sure you are breaking the meat apart with a wooden spoon. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.

Peel the eggplants in stripes lenghtwise (peel one long line with a vegetable peeler, leave the skin on the next section, peel the other, etc. You should be leaving stripes of skin). Wash and dry the eggplant well. Pierce with a fork in a few places so that the eggplant doesn't explode during cooking. Heat canola oil in a deep pot until it's very hot. Eggplants are like sponges, and they soak up any excess liquid, so make sure the oil is really hot. Fry the eggplants, about 1-2 minutes per side, until they are nicely browned. Remove and place on paper towels to drain.

Preheat your oven to 375 F. Place the eggplants on a baking dish. Make a slit in the eggplant lenghtwise, leaving the ends intact. You can use the back of a spoon to do this. Stuff with the ground beef mixture. Place one slice of tomato on top.

Bring 1 cup of water to a boil in a small saucepan. Whisk in 1 tablespoon tomato paste until it is incorporated. Pour over the eggplants, and cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, and then remove the foil. Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes until the top is browned. Make sure there is still enough liquid in the pan so that the eggplants don't burn.

Tomato Rice

Ingredients:

1 cup long grain rice (such as basmati)
1 tablespoon olive oil or canola oil
Salt to taste
4 medium tomatoes
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:

Place rice in a bowl. Add 1 teaspoon salt and cover with warm water (bring water to a boil in a kettle and wait for 1 min until it is no longer bubbling). Stir and allow to cool for about 30 minutes. Drain and wash throughly.

Grate the tomatoes with a box grater. Heat the olive oil in a large pot. Saute the tomatoes until most of the liquid has evoparted.
Add one cup of water to the pot with the tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Once the water is boil, add rice, salt, and 1 tablespoon of butter. Cover and simmer over low heat for about 15 minutes, until all the liquid has evoparted.  Turn down to heat to very low, and leave on the stove for an additonal 5 minutes to toast the rice. Serve warm. If you are feeling fancy, and want to mold the rice like I did, place in small bowls for a few minutes and invert onto a plate.