Cold White Bean Salad / Fasulye Piyazı

Writer's Note: I was recently in San Francisco and went to Pera, a new Turkish restaurant, for lunch. We ordered an assortment of mezes (appetizers) and the cold white bean salad was, in a word, phenomenal. If you live in San Francisco and you want a nice meze lunch, I highly recommend a visit to Pera: www.perasf.com. I called them and the head chef gave me their recipe, which I include below. For those of us who don't live in SF, we have to make do with the dishes that come out of our own kitchens.  I decorated the dish with hard-boiled eggs and lemon slices which is the traditional serving style in Turkey.  Quite 1950s-esque.  Don't worry, Pera serves a much more modern version of the dish.

Ingredients:

1 cup white beans, soaked overnight in lightly salted water

6 scallions, using only the middle light green sections, cut into 1/4 inch dice

1 cup whole parsley leaves

1 cup cherry tomatoes, split in half

good extra virgin olive oil, Pera uses Dafni brand, which they highly recommend

3-4 tbsp. red wine vinegar

3 hard-boiled eggs, optional

slices of lemon

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Boil the white beans in salted water until they are just tender. Do not let them get mushy or the dish will turn to bean mash.

Cool outside of the fridge for a few hours in a large pan or on a large tray, and then put in the fridge until they are completely cooled.

At least an hour before serving, toss with the olive oil, vinegar, scallions, parsley leaves, salt and pepper and allow the flavors to marry.

Decorate with cherry tomatoes or halved hard-boiled eggs, if you like, and serve with lemon slices.

Hot Turkish Breakfast Skillet / Sıcak Kahvaltı Tavası

Writer's Note: A twist on the classic Turkish breakfast of potatoes and eggs -- I've incorporated traditional Turkish flavors including feta, mint, and sucuk, the ubiqutious Turkish sausage, into a simple single skillet breakfast feast for your brunch party.  Serves 4. 

Ingredients:

2-3 tbsp. olive oil, split
6 eggs
splash of milk
3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch dice
Handful of fresh mint, basil, and/or Thai basil, chopped
5-6 stalks asparagus, cut into two inch pieces
5-6 large sundried tomatoes
3-4 oz. good quality feta cheese
1 jalepeno, seeded, minced
3 inches of Turkish sujuk sausage, sliced thin and cut into half moons
Handful of grated kasar peynir (Turkish medium hard cheese) or mozzarella
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat the broiler to High.  Locate a large skillet that can be placed under the broiler. 

Saute the potatoes in half of the olive oil in a small skillet until cooked through.  In the large skillet, heat the olive oil and saute the asparagus until just cooked through.  Add the sundried tomatoes, jalapeno and sucuk and saute until the sucuk is sizzling and the tomatoes are a touch browned. 

Add the cooked potatoes to the large skillet.  Season with salt and pepper.  Whisk the eggs with a splash of milk until frothy.  Turn the heat to medium low and add the eggs quickly followed by the feta and fresh herbs on top.  Push the eggs apart to allow the raw eggs to reach the bottom of the skillet.  Cook for 4-5 minutes until the bottom is set. 

Sprinkle the handful of grated cheese on top and place under the broil.  Broil for 5-7 minutes until the top is browned.  Check the eggs by cutting into the mixture to make sure it is cooked through.  Serve with hot crusty bread and fresh fruit.

Herb Rice with Slivered Almonds / Yeşil Pilav

Writer's Note: There is nothing I miss more than the rice in Turkey.  For some reason, no matter how many pots of rice I cook in the States, it never has the same flavor as the pots my grandmother cooked up for every meal (it may have to do with the fact that I will never be able to justify dropping a whole stick of butter in the pan).  I found this recipe for spinach rice in Greg and Lucy Malouf's Turquoise and made it over the holidays.  I had to adapt the recipe for almonds instead of pistachios, and the amount of liquid listed was too much, but the recipe is a pretty good facsimile of my grandmother's rice.  You can even replace most of the butter with olive oil, but for a real authentic flavor the nuts should be browned in butter (you only live once).  Now if I only had a balcony overlooking the Bosphorus and a nice breeze . . .

Ingredients:

7 oz. basmati or jasmine rice
1 3/4 cups chicken or vegetable broth
6 tbsp. butter or 4 tbsp. olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
1 1/4 lbs. spinach, washed and shredded
3 oz. slivered almonds
1/2 cup shredded fresh mint leaves
1/2 cup shredded fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions:

Bring the stock to a boil and then lower the heat and keep at a simmer.

Melt 4 tbsp. butter or heat the olive oil in a heavy saucepan.  Add the onion and saute over low-medium heat until translucent.  Add the spinach and fresh herbs and cook, stirring, until the liquid has evaporated.

Add the rice, season with salt and pepper, and add the stock.  Boil and then simmer covered over very low heat for 12 minutes.

In a small saucepan, melt 2 tbsp. butter and add almonds and stir continuously over medium heat until the almonds start to color; remove immediately from the heat.  Do not let them burn!

Add the nuts to the rice, without stirring, and replace the lid for an additional 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and use a fork to fluff the rice just enough to combine the nuts and rice.  Check the moisture level in the rice -- if it seems too wet, leave it uncovered for about 5-10 minutes.

Cover the pan with a clean folded towel, replace the lid, and let it sit until you serve it.