Pressure Cooker Steak (Düdüklüde Biftek)

Another family favorite. Growing up I wasn't an enthusiastic red meat eater but I would never resist pressure cooker steak. It is always tender delicious with green pepper and oregano flavor. Usually my mom prepares the dish according to the ingredients I list below. However, once in a while she uses grated tomatoes in stead of sliced ones and adds 1 tbsp of tomato paste.

for four
4 steaks, cut ~1/4 inch thick
3 potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
3-4 tomatoes, thickly sliced
4-6 green chilies, banana peppers (I used anaheims), seeded
1 tsp oregano leaf
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
salt


























-Place steaks at the bottom of the pressure cooker; it's ok if they overlap.
-Place potato slices on steaks.
-Cover all with tomato slices.
-Put green peppers on top.
-Sprinkle salt, oregano leaf and black pepper.
-Pour 1 tbsp olive oil.
-Pour water to barely cover steaks and vegetables.
-Cover and pressure cook on meat or high setting on medium to low heat for 20-25 minutes. If you have not-so-good-cut of steak, cook for 30 minutes.
-Serve with rice and/or crusty bread.


Do not let the simplicity of pressure cooker steak mislead you; oregano is the key ingredient.
This recipe is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging founded by Kalyn. WHB is hosted by Ahn of Food Lover's Journey.

Stuffed Grape Leaves with Groundmeat (Etli Yaprak Sarması)

Sarma refers to a dish that can be prepared with grape, cabbage, or chard leaves. The term sarma derives from Turkish verb "sarmak," which means to wrap or to roll. It can be prepared with rice and spices (vegetarian) or with rice and ground meat. Both are delicious. Sometimes sarma is called dolma, too, yet on the western part of Turkey, rolled leaves are always called sarma.


























makes 50-60 stuffed grape leaves
1/2 lb ground meat
1/3 cup white rice
2 medium size onions, grated or chopped finely in a processor
1 tsp black pepper
salt
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup dill
1 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp olive oil or 1,5 tbsp olive oil + 2 tbsp butter
juice of 1/2 lemon

grape leaves

























-If you have fresh grape leaves, boil water in a pot. Cook grape leaves ~1 minute in boiling water. Take out and let cool.
-If you are using jarred grape leaves, soak them in cold water for an hour; they tend to be salty.
-Put ground meat, rice, onion, black pepper, salt, parsley, dill, and 1,5 tbsp olive oil in a bowl.
-Dissolve 1 tbsp tomato paste with 3 tbsp hot water and pour this into the bowl.
-Mix all the ingredients.
-Save the broken, faulty leaves. Use them to cover the bottom of a pot with grape leaves to prevent them from burning.
-Take one leaf. Place it on a smooth surface the vein side up/shiny side down. Place a spoonful of stuffing at the bottom center of the leaf close to the stem. Fold in two sides first and then the bottom. Then roll it neatly like a cigar. Keep rolling until all the leaves are gone. If you still have stuffing, you can use it to stuff small bell peppers.
-Stack stuffed grape leaves in the pot tightly layer by layer.
-Add 1,5 tbsp olive oil or butter, juice of half lemon and water to barely cover the sarmas.
-Place a flat-ish plate on top of stuffed grape leaves so that they won't move around. Cover and cook on low for 35-45 minutes.
-Serve with crusty bread and yogurt.

Zucchini Mousakka with Garbanzo Beans (Nohutlu Kabak Musakka)

There is something special about musakka recipes; they always turn out great. Although musakka, the term Arabic in origin, does not resemble the Arabic dish which is a kind of cold eggplant appetizer; although musakka means a different dish in a lot of countries such as Bulgaria, Greece, Romania, and Turkey; and although the musakka dish has numerous versions even in one country, a musakka dish is always delicious. In Turkish cuisine musakka is usually prepared with fried eggplant, tomato, peppers, and ground meat.

This zucchini musakka recipe comes from Musa Dağdeviren, the owner and chef of Çiya Restaurant in İstanbul. I had also tried his mualle recipe before. As you can see it is not a traditional recipe; it uses garbanzo beans. To make it even less traditional, I replaced ground meat with TVP and it is delicious. If you want to try it with ground lamb, you can find the original recipe here.


























4 medium zucchinis, halved lengthwise and sliced 1/4 inch thick
1/2 cup TVP
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic, minced
3-4 tomatoes, diced or 1 can of petite diced tomato
1 cup of canned garbanzo beans
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 1/2 tbsp red pepper paste or chile sauce
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh mint or 1 tbsp dried mint flakes
salt
ground pepper

-Prepare a bowl of salty water and soak sliced zucchini for half an hour.
-Soak 1/2 cup of TVP with almost 1/2 cup of boiling hot water.
-Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a broad deep pan.
-Add garlic and onion, cook for approximately 5 minutes.
-Stir in TVP and cook for 3 minutes.
-Add tomato paste and pepper paste (or chile sauce). Let simmer for 2 to 3 minutes.
-Stir in diced tomato. Cook for 5 minutes.
-Add zucchini slices. Cook on medium heat, stirring, until tender.
-Stir in garbanzo beans. Cook for a couple of minutes.
-Season with salt and pepper. Transfer zucchini musakka into a bowl. Sprinkle with mint and parsley.
-Musakkas are always good with white rice and yogurt.

Although there are many variations on musakka recipe, one thing that cannot be changed or omitted is parsley. This recipe is my contribution to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Jugalbandi this week.