Guest Post: Matters of the Belly

I enjoy connecting with other Egyptian food bloggers, maybe it's because there aren't many of us; maybe because I can't seem to find enough Egyptian ladies interested in the kitchen the way I am.  I recently found another kindred spirit and thought I'd share. Noha Serageldin is new on the scene. Starting in August, she's already got a bunch of posts for you to consume and her pleasant, friendly voice comes through -  genuine, honest with a constant urge to learn. Support her on her journey and connect with her directly on her blog Matters of the Belly, on Facebook, on Instagram, on Twitter & on Pinterest. Here's Noha below. Make sure to try out her recipe. 

I have a borderline obsessive love for eggplants. So much so, that I seriously contemplated calling my blog ‘The Anxious Aubergine’ before settling for ‘Matters of the Belly’. I kid you not. There is something quite magical, I find, about how its spongy and seemingly inedible interior in the raw state transforms into this incredibly creamy, sweet and earthy flesh once cooked correctly. As I mentioned before on my blog, I was one of those weird kids who always loved  vegetables... growing up, just the mention of Moussaka or Fattah for lunch always got me excited. 

Not much has changed since then… if anything, my love for vegetables has continued to grow as I have… and now, I am always on the lookout for new ways to enjoy them. Especially eggplants. Technically, the eggplant is a fruit from the berry family. I know, shocking right? However, I refuse to call anything a fruit if it cannot be part of a fruit salad (you heard me, tomatoes), so I shall proceed to refer to it as a vegetable. Go ahead, tell the veggie police… I like to live on the edge.

This recipe is inspired by a classic Turkish dish called ‘Imam Bayildi’, which translates to ‘the Priest fainted’. Legend has it that a Turkish Imam fainted when his new wife prepared him this dish; some say it was because of how delicious it was, others claim that what caused him to faint was the fact that the dish used up all the olive oil in his dowry. You see, traditionally, the eggplants are meant to be fried, and anyone who has ever cooked with eggplant before knows that it is a SPONGE for oil, and sucks up obscene amounts if you allow it. As tempting as that sounds, I choose not to fry them, for the sake of my expanding waistline. Also, the original recipe is vegetarian, whereas in my version I add minced beef to the stuffing, which is how we have always made it in our household.

As it always is with family recipes, this one has evolved and changed each time I make it, resulting in a version I can proudly call my own, yet still reminds me of the Imam Bayildis of my childhood. Our family cook of over 30 years, whose name is Iman, liked to joke that this dish was named after her, and called it Iman Bayildi. I still call it that, and it never fails to give me a warm, fuzzy tingle in my heart each time I do.

Iman Bayildi (stuffed Eggplant)

Prep time: 20 min          

Cook time: 25-30

Servings: 2-3

Ingredients:

2 medium/4 small eggplants

250g minced beef

3 tbsp olive oil plus extra for drizzling

1 medium onion, finely chopped 

3 cloves garlic, minced

2/3 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

¼ tsp cardamom

½ tsp sumak

3 tbsp pomegranate molasses

¼ cup raisins or sultanas

Salt & pepper to taste

250ml tomato puree (I use store bought passata, but any tomato sauce will do)

2 tbsp pine nuts

½ tsp ghee (optional)

Fresh basil or mint leaves for serving

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C.

Wash & dry the eggplants, then slice each lengthwise in half. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin, leaving a 2cm border along the edge (as shown in photo). If you are using smaller eggplants, you may leave the skin on if you like, but mine were on the larger side so the skin could be too tough and bitter. 

Using a spoon, scoop out about a third of the flesh of each eggplant half, then set aside. Chop up the scooped up flesh into small pieces (to be used in the filling).

In a large non-stick pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and onions. Cook until softened, about 5min. Add garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1min. Add the minced beef and cook until colour changes. 

Add the chopped up eggplant flesh and the spices, cook until the beef begins to brown. Add the pomegranate molasses & raisins, season to taste and remove from the heat.

Using a spoon, stuff the eggplant halves with the mixture. In a baking tray, pour in the tomato puree/sauce, and arrange the stuffed eggplants on top. Drizzle liberally with olive oil and bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the eggplant is soft and slightly golden. 

If the stuffing is browning too fast, you may cover the dish loosely with some foil.

Meanwhile, in a small non-stick pan over low heat, melt the ghee if using and add the pine nuts. Cook, stirring continuously until golden. You may do the same without the ghee (dry toasting) if you wish, but the ghee just gives it the most amazing flavour. 

When the eggplant is ready, remove from the oven and sprinkle with the toasted pine nuts and basil/mint leaves. Serve immediately.

LadyBrille's Woman of the Month

Hello, hello. Dropping in quickly to let you guys know that I've been chosen as LadyBrille's Woman of the Month October 2011 for this blog that started as a self-improvement project and continues to be. Here's the full interview. Thank you, LadyBrille. I'm honored to be a part of this growing list of inspirational women. 

Mechoui Style Roasted Lamb for DNE

My latest column for The Daily News Egypt featuring an interview with Jean Michel Fraisse.

Mechoui-Style Roasted Lamb Leg
(The indicated measurements for the ingredients are set per kilo)

1 Lamb leg
20 grams of butter
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons of ground coriander
2 teaspoons of ground cumin
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1 teaspoons of paprika
¼ teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon of saffron threads, crushed
50 grams of butter, softened
2 tablespoons of salt
1 tablespoon of freshly ground black pepper


Mix all the ingredients, except for the lamb, together and blend into a find paste. Coat the lamb leg with the mixture and place in a roasting pan. Allow to marinate for 1-2 hours in the refrigerator. Remove from the refrigerator and allow to return to room temperature. Preheat your oven to 220 to 240 degrees Celsius. Put your lamb into the oven and lower the heat to 180 degrees Celsius. Roast the lamb, uncovered, for 2 hours for a 2 kg lamb leg. Baste the lamb every 15-20 minutes until it is browned and evenly colored. Transfer the lamb to a serving platter and allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. If desired, the juices can be poured over and around the lamb.

Puffins, revisited. (For The Daily News Egypt)

Okay, so here's my most recent column for The Daily News Egypt. Some of you might have seen the Puffins recipe before but you might not have read my opinion on the booming cupcake trend in Cairo and how we can benefit from it. Check it out if you're interested and let me know what you think instead of hiding behind that screen. :) 

Thank you, Cairo360.

Cairo 360 graciously featured me a while back and it completely slipped my mind to post it here. Sorry, Cairo360. Forgive and forget. Btw, really awesome of you to feature me. So thanks, again and again and again. 

A Letter to a Mother, Mine.

I wish I had something good enough to say to you but I seem to clam up every time I try because I cannot find the words to prove to you, year after year, that you are a force to be reckoned with. So, as always, I'll write and hope that everything I can't seem to express verbally will come pouring out onto my screen. I think it's funny how I just said that I can't seem to express things verbally when most people I know would think that I am the farthest thing away from that; but you, my mother, know very well that many of those words that come gushing out are a reflex, an eternal shield that hides the many faces of myself that have manifested over the years. 


So I've crossed my mid-20s and "grown up"; although I don't necessarily believe that to be 100% true, I'll accept it because that's what everyone expects of me. While growing up, I've been exposed to a handful of friends with bad mothers or should we say, neglectful mothers. Now, as an adult, watching new generations of children, the increase in the number of those neglectful mothers frightens me. It frightens me because I am scared to be hypocritical. It scares me because there's a selfish part inside of me and I'm scared of it dying and giving itself up for a child. I am scared that I will never measure up to you. 


You've been through so much and have emerged a triumphant hero. It's not easy to come close to that. In my eyes, you've always been a hero though. As a kid, you were my towering wall of strength - thank you for allowing me to hide behind your dress and your strong spirit. As a teenager, you were my unbreakable conscience and my voice of reason that didn't exist at the time - thank you for holding onto my wrist and pulling for your life through out my volatile teenage tug of war even when my arm hurt like hell and I told you to let me be. As an adult, you are my inspiration and that is a much bigger word than it seems - thank you for pushing through to make me believe that I, too, am stronger than I think. I, too, can fight for my family and what is right and that I, too, will never shun my responsibilities because they are hard or because I am lazy. 


You, singlehandedly, have taught me what it is to be a woman - pretty in pink and smelling perfumey alternating with a barefoot, messy-haired, flour-dusted wild child bursting out every day to hone her skills in whatever, whenever she can. I cannot thank you enough because what I see around me, more often than not, are women who have been conditioned to believe that being a woman involves replicating Sex and the City - with or without the sex - and continuing with the charade or parade, if you'd like to call it. I feel really special to have a mother who could shuffle both fulfilling the accepted expectation of keeping up appearances and looking good because it makes you feel good all the while really, honestly, wholeheartedly, being a mom who insists on doing everything herself to ensure that we would turn out to be respectable and achieving members of society. Thank you for never hiring a nanny and for never hiring live-in help. All I can say is: Yuck!


Oh, and for having my sister. Thank you so much. She's been really fun to have around. It's nice hearing her voice in my head when I'm reaching out for chips instead of raisins and it's nice to visualize her finger pointing upwards in protest.


So what I'm trying to say is this: I could never have wished to have a better mother. I could never have dreamed to have a smarter mother-in-law to my husband. I might have never gotten involved in the kitchen if it hadn't been for your spirit cheering me on from Egypt. I can't say enough. I really am truly blessed to have you and to have you bring us together as a family, always. Happy Mother's Day. I love you and I miss you tremendously. See you soon. Xx.