Village lamb moussaka- Turkish recipe

I write “Village” moussaka, but I mean “cheap & simple”, quite different from the online recipes I see.

mint, salje, rosemary, thyme, fried eggplant, onion, garlic

mint, salje, rosemary, thyme, fried eggplant, onion, garlic


You need:

olive oil
2 eggplants
minced lamb
generous 1/2 cup of salje (see recipe)
1 onion
garlic- a whole bulb
rosemary in any form
thyme
optional- mint

Slice eggplants into discs, sprinkle with salt, dab with paper towel once they become wet, then fry both sides in generous amount of olive oil. Set aside.

Fry onion & lamb together, then add sliced garlic and salje.

add garlic & salje to lamb & onion

add garlic & salje to lamb & onion


Turn down heat and add rosemary to taste (careful- it can be strong- if you’re using ground rosemary, start with 1/2 teaspoon and taste). Add 2 teaspoons thyme and if desired, a bit of mint. Simmer.

Taste & adjust seasoning. Remember the salje is full of salt and chili, but you may want to add these…

Using an oven dish, layer meat sauce alternating with eggplant slices. The first layer will be meat sauce, the top layer will be eggplant.

layer eggplant & lamb

layer eggplant & lamb

In Turkey we didn’t have an oven, so the eggplant was stirred into the meat sauce and they simmered together on the stovetop. Delicious and one less dish to clean.

Serve with rice or crusty baguette.

Anniversary song

Winter poppies

Winter poppies

The best moments
this long winter
have been indoors-
sunlight
armchair
woodstove.
It’s a lonely peace.

Music drops me
a decade ago-
cold sunny days,
adventure-fresh.

You were so alive.

Laughing big-
our coats open
unafraid
under a turquoise sky.

Even without the music
I would cry for you today.

Cappadocia turquoise sky

Cappadocia turquoise sky

BBC News report from 1991: Kurdish Exodus

In The Word Not Spoken Leigh recalls Ahmet’s account of the events of 1991.

To bring that account to life, click on the link below. The news report posted to Youtube is astonishing.

After Iraq was defeated in the Gulf War, Kurds (in the north) and Arabs (in the south) overthrew the Ba’ath regime in many towns- disabling government and local military. Their success lasted only a few weeks and the uprising was brutally and quickly ended by loyalist forces led by the Iraqi Republican Guard.

The U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees called the Kurdish Exodus the largest in its 40–year history. Two million people were displaced and in March 1991, an estimated 2,000 Kurds were dying every day.

Faleh Jaber writes: Despite the calls made during the war by Western leaders for Iraqis to rise up and dispose of Saddam Hussein, these dramatic and tragic events were the last thing any outside powers anticipated. (read more)

click here to watch a news report from 1991- astonishing footage.

crocus- the most courageous of flowers

crocus- the most courageous of flowers