Ginger Whiskey Pear Preserves / Armut Reçeli

Writer's Note: Turks make their own preserves.  Strawberry, sour cherry, fig, green walnut, quince, unripe pistachio, orange . . . you name it, they will turn it into a sweet, sticky beautiful spread.  Rarely, however, do you see pear preserves.  Since there aren't that many fruits in season right now, pear is an obvious choice in Berlin (always available here in the Arctic tundra). Turkish preserves are not like American jams, they are bits of lovely fruit swimming in a viscous pond, less jammy, more fluid.  And if you want the mother lode of jam recipes, I suggest picking up a copy of Christine Ferber's Mes Confitures, which is the only book on jam making you will ever need.  These preserves make an excellent peanut butter and jelly sandwich -- gingery and less sweet than your usual fare.

Ingredients:

3-4 ripe pears,* peeled and diced into 1/2 inch pieces
3 cups sugar
1/2 cup whiskey
1 inch ginger, minced
juice from 2 fresh lemons (the lemons have pectin, and allow the preserves to thicken properly)

Directions:

Macerate the pears in the other ingredients for at least two hours on the counter, or overnight in the fridge.  Pour ingredients into a non-stick saucepan or skillet (I use a copper saucepan which evenly distributes heat and prevents scorching but they are expensive and, frankly, unnecessary for this recipe).

Heat over medium heat for 20-30 minutes until the sugar bubbles and has thickened.  To check doneness, take a small spoon of the liquid and spread it on a small plate.  When the liquid is viscous and jammy, it is done.  Preserves that have been boiled too long will harden into a rock after they cool so it is best to start testing after 20 minutes.

If you are going to use the jam right away, you can put it in a jar in the fridge without sterilizing the jar.  This recipe makes one medium jar of preserves.  However, if you want to put some away for later use, it is best to boil the jar and lid for 5 minutes and then pour the jam in while it is hot so that the jar reseals.

*To ripen pears:  put the pears in a dark paper bag somewhere warm for 3-4 days.  Even hard as rock pears will ripen.  I used to use the laundry closet, which really confused my roommate but accelerated the ripening process.

Apple and Endive Winter Salad / Kış Salatası

Writer's Note: Finding fresh vegetables in Berlin is a bit of a challenge.  Somehow Germans seem to subsist solely on bread, cheese and sausage for nine months out of the year.  On occasion, however, in Turkish markets and upscale grocery stores, you can at least scrounge together a few elements for a nice winter salad.  Tangy green apples with sweet dried cranberries and tart pomegranate syrup work really well together.  You can easily make the dressing without the syrup, but you'll miss out on the awesome double tartness of the fresh pomegranate and the syrup.  Kind of like I am missing out on the awesome variety of vegetables available anywhere else in the civilized world.

Ingredients:

2-3 endives, sliced into 1/2 inch slices
1 large bunch mâche (field salad) or watercress, washed and dried
1 cup pomegranate seeds
1-2 green apples, diced
1/3 cup dried cranberries
sunflower or pumpkin (or other) seeds

For dressing:
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp. dijon mustard
1/2 tsp. dried mint
1/2 tsp. salt
pinch of sugar
3 tbsp. pomegranate syrup

Directions:


Emulsify the dressing ingredients with an immersion blender and drizzle over the salad ingredients.

Potatoes with Scrambled Eggs / Yumurtalı Patates

Writer's Note: My mother made this dish for us on Sunday mornings. It was certainly a family favorite. Clearly not only my family's favorite because there are several Turkish Facebook pages devoted to the dish.  Facebook has gotten out of hand. I'm happy to be a fan of a band or writer, but a breakfast dish? People have way too much time to dither around. Soon they'll be fans of the avatars of their favorite breakfast dishes.

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil 

3-5 medium-sized young potatoes, red or white, boiled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes (peeled or not, your choice)

4 eggs

4 tbsp. milk

salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

1 cup yogurt

2-3 garlic cloves

1/4 tsp. salt
Aleppo pepper and dried mint

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a frying pan.  When hot, put in the potatoes and allow them to brown a little, only stirring occasionally.

In the interim, while the potatoes are cooking, whisk the eggs with the milk and salt until they are well combined and frothy. Once the potatoes are cooked, pour the eggs into the frying pan and allow them to sit for at least 30 seconds.  In order to get large curds of fluffy eggs, slowly scrape swaths of egg across the pan once every 20-30 seconds, without stirring the eggs.  When they are just set, turn off the heat under the pan.  Serve with fresh ground pepper.

Optional: If you want to top with garlic yogurt, mash the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle and then combine with the yogurt. Sprinkle mint and Aleppo pepper on top if you like.

*For this dish I would use a red or yellow-skinned potato, not a russet potato. The potato will have a cleaner, lighter taste that will balance well with the eggs. But if russet is all you have, by all means, you can use those too.