All About Food
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and anything else an epicurean might dream up!
and anything else an epicurean might dream up!
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
My Big Fat Greek Turkish Meal
There is a meal I make called Tagen. Let me give you a bit of background first. When I was stationed in Italy, I had to go to Turkey for surgery on my wrist (a cyst). The Air Force didn't have a hospital to do the surgery in Italy, so I was medivac'd to Turkey for the pre-op, surgery & post-op stuff on base at a very nice hospital. Once at the hospital, I was also given free time to go wander around & do some shopping off-base. GREAT shopping, if you ever get the chance! Cheap & very good quality stuff. I wish I had bought more. In the local economy, I would go to this one restaurant across the street from the base to eat & they had this meal called Tagen. I have searched on every search engine for years on how to make this meal, even gotten on a chat room to find out if anyone can help me figure out how to make this recipe. Well, for years, I have not been able to make this meal. Finally, one day about a year ago, I knew in my head I could try to re-create it best I could based off of what I remember when I was there in 1995. I know, it's a stretch, but I thought I would give it a try anyway! Based off of my feeble memory off of a meal I had MAYBE 5 times max, this is what I came up with. I hope you like it. You can make it as spicy or as mild as you like it, depending on how much of the spices you put in it.
I use milanesa steak. It's a thin cut (VERY THIN) steak that I cut up into very small cubes ~ I'm talking 1/2 inch pieces. In the meantime I put some extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan (and while I'm at it, dab a bit behind my ear... lol.. kidding!) & set the stove on a medium heat. I add the following seasonings to the meat that's been cut up: season salt, paprika & chili powder. And I'm not easy on the last 2. I like mine spicy! When the oil is hot, I add the cut up pieces of meat & keep swirling it around until it's all cooked. At this point, add 1 can of diced tomatoes & 3/4 can of water & bring temperature down to a low-medium heat. While this simmers, I add MORE seasonings (the same ones from above)... again, I like mine spicy, so I tend to add a bit more paprika & chili powder. I also add 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. This takes away the tartness of the tomatoes & gives it a slightly sweet taste. Just another taste!
Finally, while all this is cooking, I also make some instant rice ~ usually brown rice because I like the healthy benefits of it & after a few more minutes of letting the sauce & spices "marry" together, I put the rice in a pasta bowl & pour some of the meat mixture on top! Voila! Enjoy!
I use milanesa steak. It's a thin cut (VERY THIN) steak that I cut up into very small cubes ~ I'm talking 1/2 inch pieces. In the meantime I put some extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan (and while I'm at it, dab a bit behind my ear... lol.. kidding!) & set the stove on a medium heat. I add the following seasonings to the meat that's been cut up: season salt, paprika & chili powder. And I'm not easy on the last 2. I like mine spicy! When the oil is hot, I add the cut up pieces of meat & keep swirling it around until it's all cooked. At this point, add 1 can of diced tomatoes & 3/4 can of water & bring temperature down to a low-medium heat. While this simmers, I add MORE seasonings (the same ones from above)... again, I like mine spicy, so I tend to add a bit more paprika & chili powder. I also add 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar. This takes away the tartness of the tomatoes & gives it a slightly sweet taste. Just another taste!
Finally, while all this is cooking, I also make some instant rice ~ usually brown rice because I like the healthy benefits of it & after a few more minutes of letting the sauce & spices "marry" together, I put the rice in a pasta bowl & pour some of the meat mixture on top! Voila! Enjoy!
1 Comments:
Leesa said...
Sounds yummy girl..might have to fix it for the HUB!
