‘Komşu!’
Neighbour! The garden gate creaked and I knew immediately that the arrival of Leyla from next door was imminent. It was the first day of bayram and we were back in our village. The tradition is to visit family and friends after the testing time of the long fast. Children will look spick and span in their brand new clothes. The atmosphere is all rather Christmas-like actually. Leyla came with her university-educated daughter Emine bearing small dishes of village delicacies made in her outdoor oven: pişi, basically a deep-fried pastry, and baklava, made with olive oil and not butter as in the cities. A true bayram visit is not long: just enough to share a glass of tea and to offer something sweet to eat.
Barbecue to go:The weather was delightful, so the idea of a barbecue that evening was tempting. We decided to keep it simple : some lovely little pirzola/lamb chops with fresh vegetable kebabs, and a salad with more of that wonderful bread.
1. First we marinated the baby lamb chops: olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, fresh thyme. We covered them with clingfilm and put them in the fridge.
2. We looked to see what vegetables we had. The markets didn’t happen because it was holiday time so we were limited to what we could find in the one and only grocer’s: a few eggplants, tomatoes, red onions, green and red peppers (the big ones, not the hot ones). We washed, cut and sliced a selection and threaded them on some metal skewers. Colour is always important to me so I was careful to balance the reds and purples, not forgetting to peel the eggplants in strips rather than leaving the peel whole. We also added bay leaves and sprigs of rosemary from the garden in between the slices. We treated the kebabs to a drizzle of olive oil too, seasoned them and put to one side.
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If you don’t have metal skewers, you can buy the wooden ones BUT remember to soak them in water for 30 minutes beforehand otherwise they will go up in flames! Not a good thing.
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Marinating overnight is best to get the full flavours and to tenderise. Take the food out of the fridge early enough as it will cook better at room temperature.
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Eggplant takes longer than the other veggies to soften up. Courgettes would be quicker. These kebabs take about 30 mins. At least.
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If you are not barbecuing, I suggest grilled vegetables in the oven. (200C/ 180C fan). The same thing with or without the skewers. It makes a great sight: a full aluminium foil-lined tray of colourful veggies.Take them to the table like that. A real crowd -pleaser. Recipes always say about 30 mins but in my experience, a good 40 – 45 mins works better.
Make sure you have one last BBQ before the colder weather sets in!
Dearest Claudia,
what a delight this blog is…mouthwatering turkish goodies make me want to pop in for a bayram visit too. Baklava..yummy, I wish I was there.
We are planning to visit Istanbul in the spring.
Hugs from Wales x
Claudia – i think you will be planning your cookbook next!
Thanks so much for your comments! Heike, is that you??
It is me :-)))all the way from windy Wales. Thanks to T. for pointing me to your blog..now I can try some Turkish cooking.
Thank you for sharing
Tons of hugs xx
How wonderful to hear from you all the way from Wales to Istanbul! Make sure you let us when you come here next year! And I see you have a blog too – I will check it out!!
much love, Claudia