Recipe - Guvec Or Turlu - Vegetable Casserole

2 Long eggplants; OR
1 md Oval eggplant
Salt
4 small Zucchini
3 small Sweet green peppers
250 g Okra; optional
250 g Green beans
4 small Tomatoes, ripe, peeled
One half cup Olive oil
3 small Onions; cut or sliced up
2 Garlic cloves; crushed
One fourth cup Chopped parsley
Freshly ground black pepper
One half cup Water

There is some confusion about the name of this dish. To the Turks, Turlu is
a lamb or chicken and vegetable casserole. Yet in other countries of the
region Turlu is prepared as an allvegetable casserole, with cooks
admitting to it being a Turkish dish. Guvec on the other hand is a
casserole of meat or poultry and vegetables, or vegetables on their own.

Oven temperature: 180 C (350 F) Cooking time: 1One half to 2 hours

Remove stem from eggplant, wash well then peel off 1 cm (One half inch) strips
of skin lengthwise at intervals giving a striped effect. Cut long eggplants
in 1 cm (One half inch) slices; oval eggplant should be quartered lengthwise,
then cut into chunky pieces. Spread eggplant on a tray and sprinkle
liberally with salt. Leave for 30 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels.

Trim zucchini and cut into 4 cm (1One half inch) pieces. Remove stem and seeds
from peppers and quarter. Wash, trim and (if desired) defuzz okra. Soak
in vinegar to remove slime. Drain.

String beans if necessary and slit in half (French cut). Slice tomatoes.

Heat half the oil in a frying pan and fry eggplant until lightly browned.
Remove to a plate do not drain.

Add remaining oil to a pan, add cut or sliced up onions and fry gently until
transparent. Stir in garlic, cook 1 minute, then remove pan from heat.

Place a layer of eggplant in the base of a casserole dish. Top with some of
the zucchini, peppers and beans. Spread some onion mixture on top and cover
with tomato slices. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and some of the parsley.
Repeat until all ingredients are used, reserving some tomato slices and
parsley.

Place prepared okra on top if used and cover with last of tomato. Sprinkle
with parsley, salt and pepper and add water and oil drained from eggplant.

Cover casserole and cook in a moderate oven for 1 to 1One half hours until
vegetables are tender. Serve from casserole as an accompaniment to roast
or grilled meats or poultry. Often this is served as a light meal on its
own; bread and peynir (feta) cheese are then served with it.

Source: The Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos
: ISBN: 1 86302 069 1

From Gemini's MASSIVE MealMaster collection at www.synapse.com/~gemini