TIME TO COOK

[Note from your editor: We use the Japanese eggplantshere on the West Coast of the United States. They are excellent in taste.Since they are very small, there is usually nothing to take from the insideof this variety. So skip Vic's recommendation if you use the Japanese variety.

By the way, any more recipes out there? May be we should collectsome and publish the "TRKNWS-L Weekend Cooker" ... ("Cooker" is the worda friend of mine used to use for a "cook" when he was learning English)

Here is the recipe that I use for one of my favorite Turkish dishes:

TURKISH IMAM BAYILDI

(The Imam Fainted)

Here is a receipe which I have scanned into my computer from one ofour cookbooks. I have been making this one at least ten years. Try it.The beginning text gives the origins of the dish. Try the modificationthat I included at the end of the receipe.

"There are many stories about the origin of the name of this dish. Oneof them we heard while visiting Ankara, Turkey's capital. A long time agoa Turkish Imam (Mohammedan priest ), known for his love of good food, surprisedhis friends by announcing his engagement to the young daughter of a wealthyolive-oil merchant. The friends did not know about her ability to cook.But they presumed part of her dowry would include olive oil.
They were right. For her father gave the groom twelve jars, each onelarge enough to hold a person, of the precious oil. After her marriagethe bride proved to be an excellent cook and each day prepared a specialdish for her epicurean husband. One of them, eggplant cooked in olive oil,became his favorite. And he ordered that his wife prepare it each nightfor dinner. This she did for twelve consecutive days. On the thirteenth,however, the dish was missing from the meal. Queried about its absence,the bride replied, "Dear husband, I do not have any more olive oil. Youwill have to purchase some more for me." The lmam was so shocked that hefainted. And since that day, according to the story, his favorite dishhas been known as Imam Bayildi, The Imam Fainted."

IMAM BAYILDI

2 medium onions, chopped
Olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
2 medium eggplants
2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Saute the onions in a little oil. Add the garlic, tomatoes, parsley, salt,and pep per. Cook until mushy. Cut the stem ends from each eggplant. Make3 lengthwise slits, almost from end to end. With and hold each slit apartand spoon the onion mixture into each cavity. Arrange eggplants in a bakingdish. Sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup oil. Bake, covered,in preheated moderate oven (350 F.) for 40 minutes, or until tender.
Serve hot. or as they do in Turkey, cold with yogurt. Makes 4 to 6servings.

One modification. Instead of making three slits in the eggplants, etc.hollow the eggplants out, but leave a firm outer edge . Take the insidesof the eggplants, chop them up, toss them into the pan with the other sautedingredients. Saute the new mixture.
Then stuff the eggplants with that mixture. I f you want to microwave,I found that 15 to 20 minutes on medium works well . Actually, I microwavefor 15 minutes then I baste the eggplants with the liquid at the bottomof the dish. I then cook for the remaining 5 minutes at high. You can tellby looking when the outer edge is done. We slice it for serving.

23 Jul 94