American Iskender

Iskender is a famous Turkish Dish, but it can be a dish which is high in fat, low on flavor and lacking in quality protein.

Traditionally Iskender is a plate with cubed pita bread, topped with thin slices of lamb, then topped with tomato paste and butter and served with a side of yogurt.

Here is a photo of traditional Iskender:

In this weeks recipe I have created an American's take on traditional Iskender.

Ingredients

• Half Pound Tenderloin
• Navajo Fry Bread (Recipe Follows)
• Tomato Relish (Recipe Follows)
• Yogurt with lemon
  

Tenderloin

Explanation: Traditional iskender uses lamb, but it is often of poor quality. This recipe offers a protein which is more tender and can be cooked rare.

Directions: Trim tenderloin and make sure that there is no silver skin on it. Season it with salt and pepper and pan fry until brown on all sides. After the outside has been browned, place the entire tenderloin in an oven at 350 degrees F until it is pink in the inside, but not gelatinous. Take the tenderloin out of the oven, let it rest for a few minutes, and then cut it into thin medallions, about 1/4 to a 1/3 of an inch in thickness.

Tomato Relish

Explanation: The traditional Iskender uses a thin tomato sauce with little flavor. Sometimes Iskender is prepared solely with tomato paste. To compensate for the lack of flavor, a lot of butter is then added to the dish (it is literally splashed on top). Rather than relying on rich butter and a weak tomato sauce for flavor, I have created a sauce/ relish with more influence on the flavor.

Ingredients
3 Tomatoes
1 Tsp Lemon Juice
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 tsp Garlic Powder
dash Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1 tbsp Sugar
1/2 cup water

Directions: First, cut tomatoes into small pieces (1/2 cm by 1/2 cm) and seed them. Next, place olive oil in a frying pan and let it heat up. Once the pan is hot, add the tomatoes and let them sautee. Add the spices, lemon juice, and water and allow the tomatoes to become tender. The consistancy should be almost that of a tomato sauce, but that tomatoes should still retain some of their form.

Navajo Fry Bread
Explanation: Iskender normally utilizes traditional pita bread on the bottom. I find it to be a lot of extra filler that requires assistance from the sauce, yogurt, meat and butter to have a flavor. Thus, this recipe uses a navajo fry bread, which is a richer and denser bread. It also has more taste. I also have chosen this bread as my recipe removes the melted butter normally included in Iskender. So, this bread is meant to ensure that the dish maintains a certain level of richness.

Ingredients
2 cups flour
1/8 cup sugar
tsp salt
3/4 cup warm milk
1 packet yeast
1 "glug" olive oil
Oil for pan frying

Mix ingredients and allow to rise for 30 minutes. After rising has taken place, separate into separate pieces (appx 7 pieces) and flatten them one by one into "tortillas" on a floured surface. They should be appx 4-5 inches in diameter and about 1/4 inch thick. To cook the fry breads, place them in a frying pan with heated oil. There should be enough oil in the pan so that the breads do not touch the bottom. When, the edges of the bread become brown in the pan, flip the bread over. The breads will take about 2 to 3 minutes each to cook. After each bread is cooked, place it on a cooling rack.

Plating

Place 2 tablespoons of tomato relish in the center of the plate as a bed for the meat and bread. On top of the tomato relish, place (vertically or on an angle) a half of fry bread (cut the fry bread circles in half and place the flat edge down into the tomato) and then a slice of tenderloin three times. On the outside of the plate add a couple of spoonfuls (do this artistically) of lemon with yogurt for tasting.