When you look at the photo, you may think that I'll be telling you about some meat dish today. But no, the whole story is in fact about the light-colored puree that's under the meat. This is called Hunkar Begendi in Turkish, which literally means 'the sultan liked it' - I think you'll agree with him if you make this. Hunkar begendi (or shortly begendi) is a real Ottoman Palace dish, created possibly in the 17th century. It's not difficult to make at all, and will accompany most meat or chicken dishes very well, although it's traditionally served with a lamb stew (which is not what I did, as you can see in the photo). As in most simple dishes, the tirck is to get good ingredients, in this case aubergines. I usually don't have so much luck in this in Holland, but I can manage by taking away seeds and dark parts once they are grilled. Another thing you must make sure is not using any really sharp cheese. In case you can not find kasar or kashkaval cheese, use a mild cheese such as young Gouda cheese. Don't use for instance parmiggiano or old Dutch cheeses. The cheese should be young and mild, the main idea here is to make the bechamel sauce compensate for the slight sharpness of the aubergines, and still let aubergines to play the main role.

Hunkar Begendi

4 eggplants, whole
25 grams butter
1 tablespoon flour
350 milliliters milk
2 tablespoons cheese, grated
salt

Grill aubergines whole, with the skin over the flame, turning a few times, until the outside is black and the inside feeld soft to the touch. Optionally, you can prick a few holes in the skin and put them in the oven (the flame method yield a very nice subtle smoke taste). While still warm, peel the skin off and cut the aubergines in very small pieces. If there are large seeds try to remove them as much as possible. After this crush the aubergines into a puree with the back of a wooden spoon.

Melt the butter in a pan. Add the flour and cook stirring for 3-4 minutes.

Add the milk in small portions, stirring continuously. Cook until a thick bechamel sauce is formed.

Add the aubergines and cheese. Cook over low heat, stirring for 5-6 minutes.

Season with salt and serve warm, with a lamb or beef stew, grilled chicken or any other meat dish.

For a while now, I have been wanting to try out a main dish with pumpkins. I figured out that a vegetable with a sweet taste should fit well with a hot sauce so made this Thai curry. Matsaman curry is usually made with potatoes, carrots and read meat, as far as I know. I used pumpkin and added some peas. Like many stew kind of dishes, this was even better the day after. We really liked the combination, although I have no pretences at all of having made an otantic Thai dish. If you want to try it, look for Matsaman curry paste in Asian shops. If you can not get it, the red or green curry paste can also be worth a try.

Matsaman Curry with Pumpkin

500 gr. beef in cubes
600 gr. pumkin, peeled and cut in small cubes
600 gr. peas
3 onions, cut in small pieces
50 gr matsaman curry paste
3 tbsp vegetable oil
750 ml coconut milk
1 tbsp tamarind paste
brown sugar to taste
Thai fish sauce to taste
coriander and spring onions to sprinkle on top (optional)

Wash and shell the peas (if you are using canned or frozen peas, use less, around 450 gr). Stir the curry paste and vegetable oil on medium heat for a few minutes, until the paste starts to dissolve. Add the meat, increase the heat and cook stirring until the outside of the meat pieces is brown. Add the onion and stir-cook for a minute. Pour the coconut milk, bring to cook, and cook at low heat until the meat pieces become soft. Add tamarind paste, 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, 1 tablespoon fish sauce and the pumpkin pieces. After a few minutes, add the peas. Cook until the peas and pumpkin are soft. Taste before taking off the heat and add fish sauce and brown sugar if needed (if it's too hot you can add a little extra sugar and if you like it saltier add a little fish sauce). Sprinkle with coriander and spring onion pieces, and serve with steamed jasmin rice.

Before everyone starts to think we are only eating desserts over here, let me explain: quince dessert one of my favorites and now is again that happy time of the year when you can get them in the shops. So last weekend I paid a visit to the local Turkish shop to buy quinces (as well as other favorite autumn things such as chestnuts) and here's the result. Simple but delicious...

Quince Dessert (Ayva Tatlisi)

1 kg quinces
300 gr sugar
150 ml water

1. Peel the quinces and divide in half or quarters. Cut out the cores. Arrange in a shallow saucepan. Take out 7-8 quince seeds out of the cores and sprinkle over the quinces. These will help give the quinces a golden color and also make the syrup a little thicker.
2. Sprinkle the sugar over and add the water.
3. Bring to boil and cook over low heat until the quinces are tender.
4. When cooled put in the fridge.
5. Serve cold with kaymak or mascarpone.... and enjoy!

For non-Turks: kaymak is a very thick cream served mostly with desserts in Turkey. The closest I find here is mascarpone, which also fits very well with other, dough-based Turkish desserts.

P.S. When this dessert was finished, I was left with some syrup which I didn't want to throw away. So I cooked it with the quince seeds still in it, and it became this delicious jam-like thing you see in the picture below. The pectine in the seeds makes it thick, but not too jelly-like. We really liked the taste as well as the color, so I'm planning to make the quince dessert with more syrup from now on ;-)