Tepsi Baytinjan #EattheWorld

This traditional Iraqi casserole is cooked up in a skillet before transferring to a casserole. Layer fried eggplant, potatoes, and onions.  Top with tomatoes and sauce then nestle meatballs on top and in between before moving it to the oven for a final bake. Serve it with steamed rice.

Join us as we travel to Iraq and Eat the World........

Each month a group of us join Evelyne of CulturEatz as she travels to different countries to Eat the World.  Today she invited us to visit the foods of Iraq.

Check out all the wonderful Iraqi dishes by fellow Eat the World members and share with #eattheworld. Click here to find out how to join and have fun exploring a country a month in the kitchen with us!

• Culinary Adventures with Camilla: Hadgi Badah (Iraqi Cardamom Cookies) 
• The Schizo Chef: Iraqi Parda Pulao 
• Amy’s Cooking Adventures: T’Bit (Iraqi Slow Cooked Chicken & Brown Rice) 
• Sneha’s Recipe: Potato Kubbi/Potato Chap 
• CulturEatz: Kahi with Gaymar Breakfast 
• Kitchen Frau: Tepsi Baytinijan (Meatball & Eggplant Dish) 
• Pandemonium Noshery: Iraqi Lamb Stew 
• A Day in the Life on the Farm: Tepsi Baytinijan 
• Making Miracles: Iraqi Rice & Potato Balls 
• Dinner By Dennis: Pomegranate Soup

I don't know that I have ever had Iraqi food before.  I do eat a lot of Middle Eastern food but I think it is mostly from Iran, Lebanon, Turkey and Greece.   The biggest difference that I noted between this recipe and other Middle Eastern recipe I have enjoyed is that this recipe calls only for salt and pepper as seasonings while the other recipes I have made call for lots of warm spices like cinnamon, turmeric, and cumin.

This recipe reminded me more of the type of cooking with which I was raised.  I don't recall my mother ever using any spices other than salt and pepper.  Perhaps some paprika once in a while to sprinkle on top of a casserole but warm spices were reserved for baking.

I found this recipe on Food.com.  It was written Um Safia.  The author of this recipe cracked me up.

We were instructed to "peel the garlic and crush it using one of those little garlic contraptions".  After each step we were told to set aside.  After about the 4th time the author said and----you guessed it---set aside.  This recipe made me laugh.

The only problem that I had with this recipe was that I was instructed to make small meatballs, with no further description.   I made my meatballs way too small so they dried out during the baking portion of the dish.  I suggest making meatballs at least an inch or inch in a half circumference.  I halved the original recipe as I was only cooking for 3 of us. The only other change that I will make the next time, and there will be a next time, is to use canned tomato sauce instead of the tomato paste/water mixture which didn't thicken up as much as I would have liked.

#Iraqi, #MiddleEastern, #casseroles, #groundmeat, #Eggplant,

Entrees, Casseroles, Beef

Iraqi

Yield: 4 servings

Author: Wendy Klik

Tepsi Baytinijan

This traditional Iraqi casserole is cooked up in a skillet before transferring to a casserole. Layer fried eggplant, potatoes, and onions. Top with tomatoes and sauce then nestle meatballs on top and in between before moving it to the oven for a final bake. Serve it with steamed rice.

prep time: 20 Mcook time: 45 Mtotal time: 65 M

ingredients:

• 1 eggplant, stem removed, peeled and sliced 1" thick
• 1 lg. vidalia onion, peeled and sliced
• 2 med. tomatoes, sliced
• 6 cloves garlic,minced and divided
• 1/2 lb ground beef
• 1 lg potato, peeled and sliced 1" thick
• olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 (8 oz) can tomato sauce

instructions:

How to cook Tepsi Baytinijan

1. Heat about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet over med high heat.  Season the eggplant with salt and pepper.  Brown on both sides in the skillet.  Remove and place, slightly overlapping, into the bottom of a 9" square baking pan.
2. Season the potato slices with salt and pepper and brown in the same skillet on each side until golden but not necessarily cooked through.   Layer on top of the eggplant.
3. Place the onion into the skillet and cook until softened and browned.  Layer over the potatoes.  Layer the tomato slices over the top.  Combine half of the garlic with the tomato sauce and pour over the casserole. 
4. Mix the remaining garlic, salt and pepper into the ground beef.   Form into meatballs 1-2" round.  Add more oil to the same skillet and brown the meatballs all over.   Nestle the meatballs in and around the tomato slices. 
5. Bake in a 350* oven for about 35-45 minutes.  Serve over steamed rice.

NOTES:

Adapted from a recipe found at Food.com

https://adayinthelifeonthefarm.blogspot.com/2020/02/tepsi-baytinjan-eattheworld.html

Property of A Day in the Life on the Farm

Created using The Recipes Generator