Jennifer Fontaine

[Food Series] Turkish Style Stuffed Eggplant (Karnıyarık)

Posted on August 29, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

Karnıyarık (Stuffed Eggplant) was one of the first Turkish dishes I mastered (after Cacık), mainly because it is one of my husband’s favorite foods. As I’ve mentioned before, I never really ate eggplant before I met my hubby, but this dish will have you begging for more! There are a few more steps than most of my recipes, but trust me when I say it’s WORTH it! Enjoy!

Ingredients

6 small Japanese Eggplants

1 pound of Ground Beef

4 Green Onions

1 medium size Tomato

2 cloves of Garlic

1/2 cup fresh Parsley

2 tablespoons Turkish/Mediterranean Tomato Paste

1 cup of water

2 cups of Olive Oil

Salt

Pepper

To prepare your eggplant, cut off the top right at the base of its cap, cut off a sliver at the very bottom, then peel the skin off in quarters, length-wise, leaving four strips of skin all the way around. Submerge eggplant in very salty water and let them sit for at least 10 minutes. While the eggplants are soaking, chop your green onions, garlic, parsley and half of the tomato (reserve the other half of the tomato. you’ll use that later.) In a pan, saute the onions for a minute, then add the garlic for a minute. Add the ground beef to the pan and brown, making sure to break up the beef into fairly small pieces. Add the chopped tomato and parsley and saute for another 5 minutes. Don’t saute on too high of a heat. You want the ground beef mixture to be juicy, not dry. In a deep pot pour your 2 cups of olive oil and let it get hot. Meanwhile, remove your eggplant from the salt bath and pat dry with a paper towel. When the oil is hot (check by dipping the end of the eggplant in the oil. If it bubbles up vigorously, it’s ready.), gently place eggplant into oil. Rotate eggplant a quarter turn every 3 minutes. When they are done, place them in a baking dish. Choose a place on each eggplant, between strips of skin and make a cut down the middle, making sure not to cut all the way through end to end. Leave about half an inch on each end. Split each eggplant open, like you would a baked potato and fill with the ground beef mixture. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Thinly slice the remain half of tomato and place a slice on top of each stuffed eggplant. Mix 2 tablespoons of tomato paste in 1 cup of water (and pour in any remaining juice you may have in the pan from the ground beef mixture) and slowly pour over each eggplant, then pours the rest into the baking dish. Place baking dish into the oven for 25 minutes. Serve with rice and plain yogurt!

Instilling Leadership in Kids With Help From Mother Nature Guest Post for Tales of A Mountain Mama

Posted on August 26, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

Placing a focus on instilling in our kids the positive pillars that mark a great leader, is a just and noble endeavor we, as parents embark upon each and every day. These lessons can be taught any where, any time and what better classroom is there than the one Mother Nature built from the ground up with her own two loving hands.

The Four Pillars of Leadership consist of Integrity, Respect, Determination and Confidence and our dear Mother Nature has got them all in spades. With a little observation, stillness and connection we can seek to show our children just how perfect they truly are.

Integrity

Mother Nature is nothing, if not integrous. She is consistent and honest, although at times seemingly harsh, simply doing what needs to be done to maintain balance. She reflects her mirror of integrity back to us as we watch her conduct her symphony.

Integrity is deeply rooted in our every fiber, its core planted in the silence of our soul. It is connected to every word we speak, every action we take. Sitting with your babe by a stream, marvel as the leaves on the ridge of the mountain always change from green to yellow to gold and finally to brown and you will have learned that she is connected to you and you to her.

Click here to read my entire article at Amelia’s amazing blog Tales of A Mountain Mama!

[Food Series] How NOT to make Turkish Meat Pie (Kıymalı Börek)

Posted on August 22, 2013February 24, 2016 by Jennifer Fontaine

So I have been trying for the last few weeks to get a family recipe from our cousin for Kıymalı Börek, otherwise known as Turkish Meat Pie. He is, understandably preoccupied with the imminent arrival of their first child, so I emailed his wife. I knew they each have their own recipe. One is a variation of my mother-in-law’s and the other is a quicker stove top version preferred by my almost 9-month-pregnant cousin-in-law.

Mistake #1: I allowed my “chef” ego to reassure me that I could simply adapt the stove top recipe to the oven. Easy Peasy! Not.

Mistake #2: I forgot to buy eggs. Brain Fart.

Mistake #3: I haphazardly plopped down the yogurt mixture instead of separating the layers of phyllo and carefully brushing the mixture through all of the layers. Doofus.

Mistake #4: I didn’t consider the size of the pan I would be using, so the amount of ground beef filling that I had on hand to spread throughout was very sparse. Seriously.

Mistake #5: I decided, above all, to make this, for the first time, on an evening when we had to get out of the house by 6:30 pm to make it to a summer concert. Really. REALLY? Yes. Really.

The good news is: It was edible!

The good(er) news is: I will try it again, learning from my silly mistakes and I’ll share it with you all then!