Recipe: Turkey Shish on Roasted, Minced Vegetables

FOODS OF TURKEY

This dish (Patlıcan Söğürmeli Hindi Şiş) is an interesting variation to a shish kebab and traditionally roasted and minced vegetables, especially eggplant, commonly seen in the Turkish cuisine.

Instructions:

1.Chop the turkey breast into medium sized cubes appropriate for a shish kebab or skewer. (Make sure they are not too big because if they are, it will be harder to ensure they are cooked well inside when grilling) In a large bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, fresh oregano, half of the garlic and half of the olive oil and leave the turkey cubes in this marinade for 6 hours.
2.Make some cuts on the surface of the washed eggplants and broil them in the oven or on the grill, until they are charred on the outside and soft on the inside. Roast the tomatoes, and the long green peppers. Remove all the skins from all the roasted vegetables and mince them all into a paste.
3.In a separate pan, melt the butter. Add the red pepper paste, red pepper flakes, cook for a few minutes mixing them all. Then add the roasted vegetables, the remaining minced garlic, with salt and pepper, and mix well.
4.Using rosemary stems as your skewers, start placing a cube of turkey, a leaf of basil, cherry tomato, green pepper piece, shallot and then red pepper piece in that order. (Your rosemary branches may not be strong enough. Alternatively, you can use standard wooden skewers and place the rosemary leaves between pieces you put through.)
5.Grill the skewers of meat and vegetables on high heat for about 4 minutes on each side. Take a piece, cut and ensure that each piece of meat is cooked all the way through.
6.To serve, place a few spoonfuls of the mix of the roasted vegetables on a serving plate, then the skewers on top with a side of purslane or baby spinach flavored with olive oil and salt.

As a possible variation to this dish and to give it more of a Turkish edge, Chef Metin suggests replacing soy sauce and honey with grape molasses. Thank you Chef Metin!

Recipe: Turkey Shish on Roasted, Minced Vegetables

Mar 8, 2010

Interestingly enough, Turkey is not a country known for its turkeys or turkey dishes although one may expect an association with the English name of this country. Turkey, the bird, was introduced to the European culture only after the 15th century, following the Spanish inquisition and the discovery of this bird in the American continent. It also didn’t make a place for itself on the Ottoman menus until the 19th century. Here is a dish from Chef Bulent Metin, a chef instructor at the Istanbul Culinary Institute, turning this bird into a tasty shish kebab served over a bed of roasted and minced vegetables.

Chef Metin is a third generation chef in a family of chefs from the village of Mengen, in Bolu, a city famous for its heritage of chefs and recipes of the Ottoman Palace. The village of Mengen calls itself “the capital of chefs” and has an annual cooking competition and festival for professional cooks. Chef Metin joined IstCI in 2007.

Ingredients:

Turkey Breast (800 gr/1.5-1.7 pounds)

Oregano (Fresh, 1/2 pckg, 1 tbsp)

Honey (1 tbsp, 50 gr)

Garlic (7 cloves)

Soy sauce (1/4 cup, 200 ml)

Olive oil (1/4 cup, 200 ml)

Eggplants (4 small, or 2 large)

Tomatoes (4 medium)

Long green peppers (Anaheim/Çarliston, 7)

Red Pepper paste (1 tbsp, 50 gr)

Red Pepper flakes to taste