My cookie-sheet collection had been reduced to single pan, a vintage model stamped “Free 49 pan with your initial purchase of new Py-O-My Pastry Mix.” As artifact, it’s a delight. As kitchen tool, not. It’s rusted, bent and small.
At the cookshop, I learned a lot has changed since Py-O-My. Pans are stronger, slicker and — best of all — big. I chose a vast plane of silicone-coated steel and lugged it home. Finally, I had room for capishee.
I got the recipe from Aunt Lita, who learned it from her son-in-law Ray, who remembers it from his grandmother’s Syrian kitchen. Ray used to call it eggplant with hamburger. After a mishap involving the words “cookie” and “sheet,” Lita inadvertently renamed it capishee.
(Happens. Until age 20, I thought Aunt Lita, from Ohio, was named Ann-Toledo.)
It stuck. Not the eggplant, but capishee. My version, with lamb, comes closer to the Syrian staple mnazaleh be aswad. Under any name, it’s a delight.
Capishee
Prep: 40 minutes
Bake: 20 minutes
Serves: 4
2 large eggplants
Olive oil
Butter
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
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1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 cups diced tomatoes (canned or fresh)
1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted
2 fresh tomatoes, thinly sliced
1. Slice: Use a vegetable peeler to peel away long strips of purple skin from the eggplants, creating stripes. Slice eggplants crosswise into 1/2-inch thick rounds. Select the 12 widest slices.
2. Bake: Rub eggplant slices with a little oil or butter. Season with salt and pepper. Set in a single layer on cookie sheets (slur “cookie sheet” to arrive at “capishee.”) Slide into a 400-degree oven and bake until soft, about 15 minutes.
3. Brown: Heat a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Drop in lamb and cook, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, until pink vanishes, about 5 minutes. Drain in a colander.
4. Brown: Heat 1 tablespoon oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a heavy pot set over medium heat. Tumble in onions, and cook, stirring regularly, until caramel-brown, about 10 minutes. Drop in garlic and stir 1 minute. Season with 3/4 teaspoon salt, the cinnamon, coriander and cayenne.
5. Thicken: Stir in cooked lamb and chopped tomatoes. Simmer until thickened, about 8 minutes. Stir in pine nuts.
6. Build: Scoop about 1/4 cup lamb mixture onto each eggplant round. Top each with 1 tomato slice. Drizzle with a little oil. Sprinkle with a little salt. Slide cookie sheets into a 350-degree oven and bake 20 minutes. Serve warm.
Provenance: Thanks to Chadwan Al Yaghchi for stripe-peeling inspiration. Check out syrianfoodie.blogspot.co.uk.