Henri

or as I like to think of him, Gobbolino, the French philosopher's cat.

Apparently the French in this is bad - but the idea is rather good. An experimental short film for the cat-video generation(s).

Etsiz Turlu Rich Vegetable Stew

We've got slightly colder nights now and that, combined with a surprising lack of enthusiasm for cooking this past week had me turning to this stew from 'Vegetarian Dishes from Across the Middle East".

I've made it before so know how simple yet flavoursome and satisfying it is. Just a couple of spices and some butter serve to enrich, not suffocate, the flavours of the vegetables which, especially if they're organic, develop nicely with simmering. I didn't use the water he suggests in this recipe as I thought the tomatoes and zucchini provided sufficient liquid.


Etsiz Turlu Rich Vegetable Stew

The vegetables vary with the seasons and also with your own preferences. In this stew anything goes! It makes a filling meal on a cold winter's day when served with a pilaff of your choice.
This recipe makes a lot but I use it more as a reminder of the types of vegetables that suit stewing and the spices he suggests. I just looked in the fridge for what we had - a nice selection of seasonal veges from our organic delivery - apparently blue carrots are in season so this and lots of our recipes are a bit on the purplish-side at the moment. I made an easy pilaf in our rice cooker while this was simmering. Recipe for that below.



Serves 6-8.

2 large eggplants
1/2 c (4 oz) butter
1 green pepper, seeded and cut into 8 pieces
2 zucchini, sliced into 1 1/2 inch pieces crosswise
2 large potatoes, peeled and each cut into 8 pieces
2 large tomatoes, blanched, peeled and quartered.
2 large onions, quartered
4 oz okra, stems trimmed
4 oz french beans, trimmed and halved
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 T coarsely chopped fresh parsley
2 turnips, peeled and quartered
2 sticks of celery, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 bay leaves
1/4 t dried basil
1/4 t dried dill weed
1/2 t sumac (optional)
1/4 t ground cumin
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1 1/2 t salt
1/2 t or more of black pepper
2 T butter

Slice the eggplants crosswise, arrange on a large plate, sprinkle with salt and leave for 30 minutes.Meanwhile, prepare all the other vegetables as suggested.

Melt the butter in a very large saucepan or casserole, add all the vegetables apart from the eggplants, and stir well for a minute or two until coated with the butter. Add about 3 3/4 cups of water, the bay leaves and the remaining herbs and spices and stir thoroughly.

Rinse the eggplants under cold running water and dry on water towels.

In a frying pan, melt the 2 T butter, add the eggplant slices and fry for a few minutes, turning occasionally. Add them to the other vegetables, bring to a boil, cover the saucepan tightly and simmer about an hour - carefully turning the vegetables a few times - or until the vegetables are tender.



Rose's pilaf
Serves 4

In a rice cooker, melt 1-2 T butter and add 1-2 finely chopped spring onions. Saute, with a pinch of saffron threads. Thoroughly wash 1 c rice, add this into the rice cooker and stir to coat with butter and spring onion. Let this heat a little while you grind the spices: In a mortar and pestle/spice grinder, smash 4 cardamom pods to open. Shake seeds in mortar bowl and discard shells. Add 3 or 4 allspice nuts and 1 whole clove. Grind these three spices together and add to rice mix. Cover with water to about 1 inch above level of top of rice. Put lid back on rice cooker and go do something else while stew and rice cook! Even if you leave this a bit too long the rice cooker will have switched to 'keep warm' and if you leave it on that for a while the bottom can go a nice golden brown and a bit crispy - I love that!