Weekend recap and Turkish eggplant

A sunny Sunday just makes a weekend so nice, doesn't it? Hope you all had a great weekend! I unplugged for a good part of the weekend which felt fantastic.

Friday night I had a quiet night, popped into Ikea and did some groceries...fortunately for me, the Ikea trip was swift and successful and I picked up Arholma chairs for our front porch. They are so much more comfortable than what we had before! The Mr. put them together on Saturday:

Saturday we did the majority of our errands, which meant Sunday was free! We hit the gym, washed the car, did some more gardening and enjoyed the day. It ended up being really nice out on Sunday and I hope the good weather keeps on coming.

I also cooked one of my favourite dishes on Sunday - from my favourite cookbook that I've mentioned many times - The Cook's Book of Everything. Imam bayildi is a turkish eggplant dish, with tomato, parsley, currant, onions, and garlic. It is best cool or at room temperature, and totally delicious. I have not been to Turkey but I am sure that I would love love love the food there.

 

 

Served with asparagus and grilled chicken thigs (marinated in lemon juice, olive oil, yogurt and some herbs). Such a fresh and light dinner to end the weekend.

Here's the recipe:

Imam Bayildi (serves 4-6), from The Cook's Book of Everything. INGREDIENTS: 185 ml (3/4 cup) olive oil 1kg eggplants, cut in half lengthways 3 onions, thinly sliced 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped 400g (14oz) roma/plum tomatoes, peeled and chopped, or 400g (14oz) tin chopped tomatoes (drained; save the juice) 2 tsp dried oregano 4 Tbsp chopped parsley 35g (1/4 cup) currants 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 2 Tbsp lemon juice pinch of sugar 125ml (1/2 cup) tomato juice METHOD: 1. Preheat oven to 350F. 2. Heat half the olive oil in a large, heavy based frying pay and cook the eggplants on all sides for 8-10 minutes, until the cut sides are golden. Remove from pan and scoop out some of the flesh, leaving the skins intact and some flesh lining the skins. Finely chop the scooped-out flesh and set aside. 3. Heat the remaining olive oil in the same frying pan and cook the onion over med. heat for 8-10 minutes, until transparent. 4. Add the garlic, cook for another minute. 5. Add the tomoatoes, oregano, parsley, currants, cinnamon, reserved eggplant flesh, and season with salt and pepper. 6. Place the eggplant shells in a large ovenproof dish and fill each with the tomato mixture. 7. Mix the lemon juice, sugar, tomato juice, and some salt and pour over the eggplants. 8. Cover and bake for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 10 min. 9. To servie, place the eggplants on a serving platter and lightly drizzle with any remaining juice. **This disk is usually served cold (recommended), but it can be served warm. It's delicious! Happy cooking.