On Friday, I went to visit my friend at her dad's home by Iznik Lake. Iznik is a small town with a lot of history so, here is a link for anyone who who would like to know more.
My friend preapared a picnic basket as I chatted away with her two daughters and her dad. It was a very windy and cloudy day so, swimming in the lake was not possible. We tried and got ourselves wet anyway.
It was a fun visit and I came home by 10 p.m.
Today, I went to the grocery store and came back with four 2 liter bottles of EVOO. I am all set for a whole year I think. The young lady at the cash register told me I could buy six 2 liter bottles of EVOO because it was a real good price. I bought only four because I already had a 2 liter tin can at home. I cook exclusively with EVOO. I use butter only in rice and some sauces. Never use margarin or any other oils. May be I will take one of the bottles to Ankara on my next trip. I had used the last of it while I was there.
I found perfect marbled steaks and bought some to freeze. I also bought about 3 pounds of chopped meat.
When I came home, I first stuffed most of the peppers with a rice mixture (rice, EVOO, chopped onions, pine nuts, currants, dried mint leaves, cinnamon). While that was cooking, I stuffed the leftover peppers, tomatoes and zucchini with a meat mixture (chopped meat, rice, chopped onions, parsley) and cooked them in a tomato sauce.
I sauteed odd peppers and insides of the tomatoes and zucchini for tomorrow. I will have that with garlic yogurt. It is more of a meze than dinner dish. Besides, it helped me waste nothing.
Some of the chopped meat became meat patties cooked in tomato sauce. I had a few of those over a bed of eggplant mash. There is another portion for tomorrow. I cheated and used canned grilled eggplants for the mash but hey, who cares?
I sauteed the rest of the chopped meat with onions for later use. Soft tacos
I will be freezing most of what I cooked so, whenever I feel lazy, I will know I have food in the freezer.
This was a productive day so, I am happy.
I love the prepared food in the freezer when I am having a lazy day__which is happening more and more lately!
ReplyDeleteThinking of food every day is tiring. My sister told me she froze half cooked meals for later too.
DeleteHi Tpol,
ReplyDeleteLove your post.
I make the same kind of dolma with courgette but we cook it it in a white sauce made of lamb pieces and onions, at the end we thicken the sauce with a mixture of egg yolks, parsley, and lemon. This recipe is probably from the time the Ottoman Empire was in Algeria. As for the peppers, I use my mother’s recipe from Tunisia. You stuff the pepper with a mixture of cooked meat and onions, eggs, bread crumbs, parsley, and cheese. You bake it, and serve it with a marinara type of sauce.it.s so good! In the old time, my mother used to fry them, remove the skin, and put them to cook further with the tomato sauce. We use only the Italian peppers for this. Eggplants are one of my favorite vegetables.
I know the thickening sauce you use. It is very tasty. I make mini meatballs and cook them in this sauce. It is not exactly a soup or a meal but, it is delicious. I like anything lemony really. I think, I will try your kind of stuffed peppers next time. Thank you for sharing.
DeleteCan you tell I am a foodie. I went crazy during the first 5 months of the pandemic.
DeleteI baked and ate so much bread and pastries, gained so much weight ( was already overweight). Now, I stopped baking( unhappy husband) altogether.
I am eating low carb( not Keto). I Have to have some fruits. I am doing it mostly for health reasons. I am trying to walk 10’000 steps a day split between morning and evenings walks. It makes it so much easier now that the weather is nicer.
I need to cook meals for the freezer again. The weather seems to be getting cooler so it's easier to spend more time in the kitchen.
ReplyDeleteThe cool weather also makes me think of preparing for the winter such as making jams and pickles and stuffing the freezer with fresh veggies. I do not make jams but I made a jar of pepper pickles. The freezer is not quiet stuffed but, it will soon be. I do not have an extra freezer. What I have on top of my fridge will have to do.
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