As you all know, I love cooking foods that I think my daughter, Stella will love. She has been on a kick where she really does not like to eat a lot of meat anymore. With this in mind, I started thinking about making a rice dish with a side salad for dinner. For some reason, what popped into my head was this rice we used to order at one of my favorite restaurants in Istanbul called Gelik. It is by the marina in Atakoy and they have the most amazing Tandir, Lamb Chops, and Köfte. If you are ever in Istanbul, it is a place I insist you try. You will not regret it. Well, to make the rice, I looked at a couple of recipes on the web but most of them were not very detailed (measurements). So I had to rely on my memory to try and re-create this dish. It turned out amazing and it got the thumbs up from Stella. Try this out and by all means, serve it with some MEAT! It would go really great with my Şiş Kebap or Shish Kebab or Kofte.
- 2 Tablespoons Butter (*For the whole recipe, you will need 7 tablespoons of butter see below)
- 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1 Onion, chopped
- 1 Pint Mushrooms, sliced
- 1 Cup Early Peas (I used Le Sueur® Very Young Small Sweet Peas)
- 1½ Cups Jasmine Rice
- 3 Cups Chicken Stock or Water
- 1½ Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Teaspoons Dill
- 4 Tablespoons Butter
- 2 Medium or 4 small Potatoes
- ½ Cup Milk
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 2 Cups Quesadilla Cheese or Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 Tablespoon Butter to grease the casserole dish with
- Place the potatoes in a pot with salt and water. Bring to a boil.
- Cook until the potatoes are tender.
- In the meantime, saute the onion in the 2 tablespoons butter and the olive oil until soft.
- Add the mushrooms and saute 2-3 minutes.
- Add the rice and stir until well coated about 2 minutes.
- Add the chicken stock or water and the salt.
- Bring to a boil then lower heat to medium and cover the pot.
- Cook for 15 minutes then remove from heat and stir in the dill.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
- While the rice is cooking, peel the potatoes, add the butter and milk and puree. You could also peel the potatoes before boiling and chop them - either method works fine.
- Stir in ¾ cups of the cheese.
- Grease the casserole dish with one tablespoons butter.
- Pour the rice mixture into the casserole.
- Top with the potato puree.
- Cover with the cheese.
- Bake until cheese is golden and bubbly about 15-20 minutes. Afiyet Olsun!
