Sohbet

Herb Rice with Slivered Almonds / Yeşil Pilav

2012-02-11T15:18:00.000-05:00

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.

Black-Eyed Peas and Swiss Chard

2012-01-25T13:13:00.000-05:00

Writer's Note: This is my go-to dish for the week. Make a giant pot and take it to work for lunch or heat it up when you get home from a long day. Healthy, no nonsense, and easy to make. Also, it tastes damn good. Some may find the garam masala too strong for this dish -- a simple blend of cumin and coriander may be a softer alternative. You can substitute chickpeas if black-eyed peas aren't your favorite.

Ingredients:

1 cup dried black-eyed peas, soaked in water overnight
1 large bunch rainbow or red chard
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup chicken or vegetable broth
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. garam masala or 1/2 tsp. cumin & 1/2 tsp. coriander
1/4 tsp. turmeric
1/3 - 1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper or cayenne (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut the stems off the chard and dice the same size as the onion. Cut the chard leaves into 2 inch thick strips.

Saute onion and chard stems in olive oil over medium-high heat in a deep skillet for a few minutes. Add the spices so they brown a little with the onions. Continue to saute for 7-8 minutes until the stems are soft.

Add the chard leaves and black-eyed peas and saute for another 3-4 minutes, stirring constantly until the leaves are a bit wilted.

Add the broth and cover the skillet, stirring ocassionally, until the beans are cooked through and the chard is soft. Add a few tbsp. of water if the beans are still hard and there is no liquid left in the skillet. Serve with garlic yogurt or plain.

Afghan Squash and Beef Dish / Afgan Etli Kabak

2011-11-15T15:52:00.000-05:00

Writer's Note: I've moved to DC! In the process of moving and settling in the blog has fallen to the wayside, but I have decided to resuscitate it with a tasty Afghan dish adopted for Turkish palates. There is an amazing Afghan restaurant called The Helmand in Boston (it has a twin in San Francisco). The food is amazing, and I have been hooked ever since. A version of this dish is served there. It is completely addictive and keeps for days in the fridge. I promise you won't regret the effort.

Ingredients:

Squash:

2 lbs butternut squash or acorn squash, cut into 1 inch cubes (don't need to peel the acorn squash)
1/3 cup brown sugar

2-3 tbsp. Garam Masala

1-2 tsp. Aleppo Pepper
3-4 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. kosher salt
fresh pepper to taste

Beef:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 lb. ground beef
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. ground coriander
1 tsp minced fresh ginger (or garlic)
1 cup diced canned tomatoes
2 tbsp. tomato paste
1 cup hot water
1 tsp. salt

Yogurt:
2 cups plan full-fat Greek yogurt
1-2 tsp. dried mint
1/2 tsp. salt
2-3 garlic cloves, mashed in mortar and pestle (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In large baking dish, toss the squash with the other squash ingredients and bake for 40 minutes until bubbly and a little browned, stirring once after 25 minutes.

While the squash are baking, saute the onions in olive oil until soft, then add the cumin, coriander, salt and ginger/garlic and saute until fragrant (3 minutes). Add the beef and saute until brown. Add the green pepper and saute 2-3 more minutes. Add tomatoes and cook for 7 minutes or until tomato juice is absorbed. Finally, add the tomato paste and the water and simmer over medium heat until the water evaporates and the flavors have blended. Taste and adjust seasonings for your taste.

Combine yogurt ingredients except for the mint. Serve beef mixture over the squash with yogurt on top. Sprinkle dried mint on top of each bowl.

Turkish Meatballs on the Grill / Izgara Köfte

2011-05-18T08:34:00.000-04:00

Writer's Note: In Turkey the relationship with your butcher is as important as the one with your doctor. Turks develop relationships with their butchers over years, even generations. When I told my aunt that I wanted to include a recipe for meatballs on this blog, she told me that the only factor that mattered was the quality of the ground beef. "Can Americans go to their butchers and request specific cuts? Because the recipe is simple, it's all in the beef." For Turkish meatballs you want to ask your butcher for ground beef from the rib area of the back of the cow (kaburga), as close to the bone as possible. After that, the recipe is easy. You can also use a combination of 25% ground lamb with the beef. Lean beef will dry on the grill and leave you with dry, tasteless meatballs. This is not a recipe for health fanatics.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef, from the rib area
2 medium sized onion, diced finely
2-3 slices crustless bread, dried thoroughly
3 tbsp cumin
2-3 tsp. salt
1 tbsp. ground black pepper
2 tbsp. Aleppo pepper and/or 1 tsp. dried thyme, 2 tbsp. olive oil (optional)

Directions:

Heat your barbecue. Pulse the dry bread and onions in a food processor just until ground. Be careful not to turn them into a paste. Knead all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl for at least 10-15 minutes until incorporated (this tenderizes the meat). If the mixture feels dry, you can add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Fashion the mixture into patties 1 inch thick and 3 inches wide (they will shrink as they cook). Grill until cooked through and serve with a tomato salad. You can also grill cut onions or green peppers and serve them along with the meatballs.

Purslane Salad with Garlic-Yogurt Dressing (Semizotu Salatası)

2011-05-18T06:51:00.000-04:00

Writer's Note: Most American cooks do not know about purslane, and American farmers often treat it as a weed to be eradicated. But according to Michael Pollan, author of In Defense of Food and The Omnivore's Dilemma, it is one of the two most nutritious greens in the world (the other being lamb's quarter). I searched high and low for purslane until I located it at the Hollywood Farmer's Market. It's likely to pop up at markets and specialty food stores as it becomes more popular. This is a traditional salad made from purslane in Turkey. It is also lovely cooked with onions and olive oil as a spinach replacement. Purslane is a rather delicate green so be gentle with it and cook it within 2-3 days.

Ingredients:

2 large bunches purslane

3-4 garlic cloves, peeled
2-3 cups yogurt

5-6 tbsp. olive oil

1/3 teaspoon salt and salt to taste

Directions:

Using a mortar and pestle, mash the garlic cloves and 1/3 teaspoon salt to a fine paste. This is an excellent way to work out your daily aggressions in a productive fashion. There should be no chunks of garlic left in the paste. Whisk the garlic paste and yogurt together to make the dressing for the purslane. Wash the purslane carefully and pull off the individual leaves from the stalks. Mix the dressing with the purslane leaves, drizzle olive oil over it, season to taste with salt, and serve. You can decorate the salad with black olives or a few sprigs of dill.

Strawberry Raspberry Balsamic Jam / Çilek Frambuaz Balsamic Reçeli

2011-03-17T09:39:00.001-04:00

Writer's Note: Berlin is refusing to acknowledge spring. We have a few warm days and then, pow, like a slap upside the head, the cold and rain come pouring out of the sky like the wrath of a thousand Prussian soldiers. I am in serious denial about the weather so spring jam seemed like a properly defiant act.

Ingredients:

1 lb. strawberries
pint of raspberries
juice from 2 lemons
1/4 - 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
2 1/2 cups sugar

Directions:

Clean strawberries and raspberries and cut off strawberry stems. If the strawberries are really big, cut them into two or three. Macerate the strawberries and raspberries in the lemon juice and sugar overnight in the fridge.

Heat the stove to medium and cook the berries for about 20-30 minutes in a teflon or copper saucepan. Jam can really ruin your pots so teflon is a must unless you have a copper saucepan. After about 15 minutes pour 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar into the jam. Taste after 5 minutes and continue adding until you have a balance of sweet and acidic that is to your liking. Jam is ready when you spread a small amount on a plate and it has a thickened jammy consistency.

You can store the jam in pre-sterilized jars. Sterilize the jars by boiling them for 5 minutes.

Ginger Whiskey Pear Preserves / Armut Reçeli

2011-02-19T20:46:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-11T09:36:00.000-05:00

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

2011-02-11T09:08:00.000-05:00

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.

Well-Mannered Sour Meatball Soup / Ekşili Kofte

2011-01-16T15:21:00.000-05:00

Writer's Note: The lemon and egg mixture that is used in this soup is called terbiye which literally translated means "manner" (of the Emily Post variety) -- you literally manner your soup. This soup is perfect on a winter evening, especially if you have a cold. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

300 grams ground beef
1/3 cup basmatic or jasmine rice
1 tsp. dried mint
1 tsp. Aleppo pepper
1 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. salt
freshly ground pepper to taste
2 slices old bread, crusts removed and torn into small pieces
1 medium onion, grated

2 eggs
2 lemons, juiced
salt to taste

Directions:

Heat your oven to broil or the highest temperature. Fill a medium-sized pot with water 3/4 full and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Knead the first 10 ingredients (for the meatballs) for at least 5 minutes until well combined. Make small meatballs no larger than the size of a quarter (or a 2 Euro coin for those on this side of the Atlantic). Lay the meatballs evenly spaced apart on the foiled baking sheet. Broil the meatballs for 7-8 minutes until just a little browned on top.

Drop the meatballs into the boiling water and continue to boil over medium heat for 30 minutes. The meatballs will turn the water into a nice beef broth for the soup. Turn off the heat under the soup. You can skim off the oil from the top of the broth or leave it to flavor the soup, as you like.

While the meatballs are cooking, whisk the two eggs with a fork until well combined. Add the lemon juice and continue to whisk until the color has lightened and it is frothy (at least 3-4 minutes). This is the terbiye for the soup. The trick is to add it to the soup without cooking the eggs. By adding only small amounts of the broth (a tablespoon at a time) you can slowly raise the temperature of the terbiye without cooking the eggs. Add a tablespoon at a time, continuously stirring, until you have about two cups of broth mixed into the terbiye. Slowly pour the terbiye into the soup. Add salt to taste, and a little extra lemon juice if you like, and serve.

Lemony Mushrooms / Limonlu Mantar

2010-12-04T08:32:00.000-05:00

Writer's Note: I love these lemony mushrooms. My roommate in Cambridge, MA, made them for me once about a decade ago and they are still my go-to mushroom dish. Something about the butter and lemon combination imparts a tangy flavor that is both bright and earthy. Thanks, Cory.

Ingredients:

1 lb brown or white button mushrooms, or other varieties, cut into 1/2 inch slices

2 tbsp. olive oil

2-3 tbsp. butter

1/2 tsp. Herbs de Provence

1/4 cup white wine

1 lemon, squeezed

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat olive oil and butter over medium-high heat in a large skillet until butter is melted. Add mushrooms, Herbs de Provence, salt and pepper, and saute until the mushrooms begin to sweat. Add white wine and saute until wine is absorbed. Add lemon juice and saute until the mushrooms are tender and lemon juice is absorbed, about 10 more minutes.

Orange Fennel Chicken with Black Olives / Zeytinli Portakalı Tavuk ve Rezene

2010-12-04T07:13:00.008-05:00

Writer's Note: It is really cold in Berlin. There is snow on the ground, my heaters are cranked to high, and yet, I am still freezing here in my new apartment in Kreuzberg. In honor of sunnier places and a yearning for the Mediterranean, here is a new recipe.

Ingredients:

2-3 large chicken legs, or other chicken parts

1 navel orange, half squeezed, half sliced into thick slices

1/3 cup olive oil

2-3 fennel bulbs, peeled and quartered

1/2 cup black olives

1 tsp. Aleppo pepper

1 tsp. dried mint or Herbs de Provence

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. fresh pepper

Directions: Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Mix olive oil, spices, and orange juice as marinade. Rub the marinade on the chicken and fennel pieces. Line the bottom of a deep baking rack with aluminum foil and lay the chicken pieces and fennel pieces in the bottom. (If using chicken breasts, lay them breast side down for the first 50 minutes of baking.) Surround with the orange slices. Pour the remaining marinade over the chicken and fennel. Bake chicken for 10 minutes at 500 degrees and then lower temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 50 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Ten minutes before the chicken is finished, add the olives to the bottom of the pan. If the chicken skin has not crisped, turn the broiler on for 5-10 minutes until skin is crisp. Serve with drippings spooned over the chicken and fennel.

White Asparagus / Beyaz Kuşkonmaz

2010-06-22T17:35:00.003-04:00

Writer's Note: The move to Germany has unfortunately taken a bit of time so I am only just getting to updating the blog. In honor of white asparagus season (that is weiss spargel for those of you in the know), here is a new recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb. white or green asparagus, peeled and cut into 2-3 in. pieces

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. dried mint

salt to taste

Directions:

Heat the oil over medium heat until hot and add mint and salt. Add asparagus and saute until a little wilted, about 4-7 minutes depending on the thickness of your spargel. Add 2-3 tbsp. hot water and cover to steam. Remove lid and saute a little longer until just tender. Serve hot as a main course with a nice white wine.

Stuffed Eggplant Deconstructed / Tembel Patlıcan Dolması

2010-05-15T12:01:00.000-04:00

Writer's Note: In Damascus there is a street corner called Lazy Housewives' Corner. The grocers there have pre-cored eggplants for stuffing, shelled peas, and carrots cut into decorative sticks. It's a lazy chef's paradise. Also apparently a good place to pick up a hooker since I saw my one and only prostitution transaction on that street corner. I guess it's a good place to go if you're too lazy to even go through the hassle of getting a housewife.

Since Damascus is a bit far to travel, I'm stuck as my own sous chef. For days I have been wanting to make stuffed eggplants. I had all of the ingredients ready but the time never presented itself. Yesterday I got home from a long day and decided stuffing the eggplants was an unnecessary step better suited to housewives in Damascus. So here's Lazy Cantabrigians Stuffed Eggplant.

Ingredients:

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, diced

1/2 lb. ground beef

2-3 small eggplants, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes

2-3 tbsp. pomegranate molasses

2 cups full-fat traditional yogurt

4-6 garlic cloves

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. Aleppo pepper

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Optional: Aleppo pepper and dried mint

Optional: 1/4 cup pine nuts

Directions: Saute the onions in the olive oil over low-medium heat until they are translucent and soft. Add the pine nuts, ground beef, pomegranate molasses, cumin, 1 tsp. salt, and Aleppo pepper and saute until the beef is just cooked through. Add the eggplants and cook for 4-5 minutes until the eggplant is a little soft. Cover and lower heat and continue to cook until the eggplant is cooked through, stirring occasionally. Add the parsley and stir for an additional minute until it wilts. Turn off heat.

Make a paste from the garlic cloves and 1 tsp. salt using a mortar and pestle. Serve the eggplant dish with the garlic yogurt and sprinkle with the Aleppo pepper and dried mint if you desire.

Cauliflower and Potatoes with Turmeric, Fennel Seeds and Mustard Seeds

2010-04-01T21:11:00.008-04:00

Writer's Note: OK, I admit it. This is an Indian dish I adopted from Madhur Jaffrey. But I think it would appeal to the Turkish palate. And it is a comfort dish I turn to when the weather's cold and I'm feeling a bit sorry for myself.

Ingredients:

4 tbsp. clarified butter, or 2 tbsp. olive oil and 2 tbsp. butter

1 small cauliflower, cut into florets

3-4 small potatoes, peeled and diced
1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 tsp. brown mustards seeds

1/4 tsp. turmeric

1 tsp. Aleppo pepper

salt and pepper to taste

Directions: Melt the butter or olive oil and butter in a wide deep skillet. Add the mustard seeds and fennel seeds and let them cook for 2-3 minutes until the sizzle. Add the potatoes and saute for 5-7 minutes. Add the cauliflower and saute for another 5-7 minutes. Add the turmeric and stir so it coats the vegetables.

Add 3 tbsp. of hot water and cover the skillet, shaking the skillet to both coat the vegetables with the turmeric and steam the vegetables so they cook faster. Remove the cover and add the Aleppo pepper, salt and pepper to taste. Continue to cook, stirring, until the vegetables are cooked through and a little browned. Serve hot plain or with garlic yogurt.

Green Beans with Tomatoes and Olive Oil / Zeytinyağlı Taze Fasulye

2010-03-28T21:30:00.004-04:00

Writer's Note: Most Americans like their vegetables crunchy. Fair point. No need to cook them to death. But this particular dish is lovely when the beans are soft and melt in your mouth. Best served with crunchy bread and a cold glass of rakı.

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, diced

1 lb. frozen or fresh flat Italian green beans, defrosted

1 tsp. salt

pinch of sugar

1 lb. can or fresh peeled whole tomatoes, crushed with your hands

Directions:

Heat the olive oil over low-medium heat and add onions. Cook onions until they are translucent. Add green beans, sugar, salt, and tomatoes and cook over very low heat for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes and green beans are soft. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Tomato Bulgur Pilaf / Domatesli Bulgur Pilav

2010-03-28T21:02:00.001-04:00

Writer's Note: I've neglected this site for way too long. Excuse? Ten-day trip to Turkey with classmates. No earthquake, no coup, no lost students. Entirely a success. The food was, as always, amazing. Before I left I made a Turkish dinner for a small group of friends with this bulgur pilav. Serve it with any meat dish.

Ingredients:

2 cups course-grained bulgur, washed

3 cups onions, diced

1-2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped

3-4 small peeled tomatoes, canned or fresh, diced

6 tbsp. butter or 2 tbsp. olive oil and 1 tbsp. butter

2 cups beef broth

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Melt the butter over medium heat and add the onions and stir until translucent. Add the green pepper, jalapeños, and tomatoes and cook down until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add the bulgur, salt, and pepper and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the beef broth, bring to a boil, and simmer over very low heat for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to sit for 15 minutes until the bulgur has absorbed the liquid.

Zucchini Pie / Fırında Mücver

2010-03-28T21:00:00.002-04:00

Writer's Note: Hello men, see that spread? That's the way ladies brunch when you aren't around. A few weeks ago I was invited to ladies' brunch with a group of amazing women -- lawyers, development specialists, human rights activists. They were candy for my brain. And the food was phenomenal. Sorry, boys, we were perfectly content without you.

Ingredients:

2 eggs

2 tbsp. cottage cheese

2-4 tbsp. fresh dill, chopped

500 grams feta cheese

1 large red onion, diced

3 tbsp. olive oil

2 zucchinis, grated on coarse grater, salted and drained after 20 minutes

1-3 tsp. Urfa or Aleppo pepper

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. dried mint

3/4 cup flour

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook red onion in olive oil until soft and translucent. Squeeze the water out of the grated zucchini with your hands so they are as dry as possible. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Grease a small square pyrex dish with olive oil or butter. Pour ingredients in dish and bake for 25-35 minutes until it is firm and a toothpick comes out clean.

Baked Broccoli Pie / Fırında Brokoli Mücver

2010-02-13T12:07:00.006-05:00

Writer's Note: The broccoli in the fridge was mocking me. Hello, yes, I am still here. And I will be here for the rest of eternity if you don't think of something to do with me. Seriously, it's bad when your produce can make you feel guilty. So here's a fun brunch dish to help you escape its judgmental stare.

Ingredients:

12 oz. broccoli florets, cut small

5 oz feta, crumbled

2 eggs

1/2 cup flour

3 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 tbsp. full-fat traditional thick yogurt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dried mint

1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a small square pyrex baking dish.

If you like, you can blanch or steam the broccoli for a minute or two to soften it, but it is likely unnecessary. Saute the onion with the olive oil over low-medium heat until the onions are soft and have taken on the hue of the olive oil.

Mix all of the ingredients in a mixing bowl and then pour into the pre-greased baking dish.

Bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the top is slightly browned. Cool on the counter before cutting into serving pieces -- careful, the pie is very soft.

Serve warm.

Broccoli Potato Leek Soup / Pırasa Patates Brokoli Çorbası

2010-02-08T13:05:00.011-05:00

Writer's Note: A guy I used to date once said my kitchen was where fruits and vegetables went to die. No, he wasn't one of those crazy people who believe plants have souls, he just meant that invariably there was a bunch of spinach at the bottom of my fridge that had long out-lasted its usefulness. I admit it, I hoard spinach and eggplant and bananas in my kitchen in case a group of traveling carpenters knocks on the door and demands to be fed. (I once met a group of German traveling carpenters who belonged to a 16th century guild, wore top hats and carried walking sticks, and only listened to death metal. They were working in a hostel I stayed in off the western coast of Ireland. So it could happen.)

In my fridge now is an odd assortment of vegetables, courtesy of Boston Organics. I got some beautiful broccoli with freakishly long stalks. I like broccoli stalks, they taste better than their alien heads. Given that the leeks in the fridge were looking like they should be playing shuffleboard and wearing dentures, I thought a broccoli stalk leek potato soup was in order.

Ingredients:

stalks from 2-3 large stalks of broccoli, peeled and chopped

2 small potatoes, peeled and chopped

3 leeks, white and light green parts only, chopped or 2 small onions, diced

2 tbsp. butter

2 tbsp. olive oil

4 cups chicken or vegetable broth

salt to taste

optional: Aleppo pepper

Directions:

Melt the olive oil and butter over low-medium heat and saute the leeks or onions until they are soft. Add the broccoli stalks and potatoes and saute for a few minutes. Then add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Simmer over low heat until all of the vegetables are tender. Blend until smooth. If you're a fussy soup person, you can strain the soup, but I'm not running the The French Laundry so bits of potato don't bother me. Add salt to taste and sprinkle some Aleppo pepper on top if you want to add some kick.

Red Lentil Soup / Mercimek Çorbası

2010-01-28T22:27:00.001-05:00

Writer's Note: Today I read the first 50 pages of Russell Brand's memoirs, "My Booky Wook." (I should be writing my paper on civil-military relations in Turkey but I cannot resist Russell--he's candy for my brain.) Russell, you over-sexed madcap weirdo, you made me laugh like a psych ward banshee on the cross-trainer. If you haven't heard of Russell Brand immediately stop reading this blog and go youtube him. Don't worry about your hungry family, Russell will make the hunger pangs go away. This soup is so easy you can watch Russell and make dinner at the same time.

Ingredients:

4 cups beef or chicken or vegetable stock*

1 cup red lentils

1 onion, diced small

2 tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. Aleppo pepper

1/2 tsp. of butter for each bowl of soup

1/2 tsp. dried mint for each bowl of soup

1/2 tsp. cayenne or Aleppo pepper total (optional)

quartered lemons for each bowl of soup

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a pot over low heat and add the onions. Saute them until they are very soft, about 6 minutes, it's ok if they brown a little bit.

Add the lentils and saute for 2-3 minutes. Add the beef broth, salt, and Aleppo pepper and bring to a boil. Simmer for 20 minutes until the lentils are very soft (try them to make sure there is no "bite" left in them). They will swell and absorb most of the liquid in the pot after about 15 minutes. You can make the soup thinner by adding water if you find it too thick.

Using a hand-held blender or a regular blender, blend the soup until it is a creamy consistency.

Serve the bowls of soup with the quartered lemons and pour the sizzling butter over each bowl at the table. To make the sizzling butter, melt it in a small saucepan with the dried mint and the cayenne or Aleppo pepper if you so desire. Once it froths, pour it over the soup.

Watch Russell, eat soup, and cry tears of joy.

*I prefer beef stock but you can make it lighter with chicken stock, or vegan with vegetable stock.

Spinach or Purslane in Olive Oil with Garlic Yogurt / Yoğurtlu Ispanak

2010-01-27T14:22:00.001-05:00

Writer's Note: My parents cook everything in bulk. On any given day there is enough food to feed the Turkish army squirreled away in their three fridges and pantry, useful if the apocalypse hits when I happen to be visiting. This dish can be made in bulk and kept in the fridge for days. Lie about in your pajamas and spoon up bowls of spinach at your leisure.

While I personally don't like to corrupt the pure taste of spinach by adding onions, the dish is traditionally made with sauteed onions, so I have both options here. Sprinkling a little Aleppo pepper and dried mint on the garlic yogurt adds a bit of color and depth to the dish.

Ingredients:

2 bunches of purslane or spinach, washed, dried and roughly chopped

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 small yellow or white onion, diced (optional)

1 cupsfull fat traditional thick yogurt

1-2 garlic cloves

pinch of sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt and salt to taste

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper (optional)

1/2 teaspoon dried mint, crumbled (optional)

Directions:

If using onions: Heat a medium-sized pot or deep skillet over medium heat and add olive oil. After two minutes, add the onions and saute until soft and translucent.

If not using onions: Heat a medium-sized pot or deep skillet over medium heat and add olive oil and heat for two minutes.

For both recipes: Add the spinach or purslane and the sugar and saute until wilted but do not overcook! Taste it after 3-4 minutes. Everyone likes their greens cooked to varying degrees but I think the less cooking the better when it comes to this dish.

To make the garlic yogurt: make paste of the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a mortar and pestle. Mix into the yogurt. Taste the yogurt to make sure that the taste of garlic is not overwhelming -- you can always moderate by adding extra yogurt.

Spoon the spinach into a bowl, drizzle the garlic yogurt on top, and then sprinkle with Aleppo pepper and dried mint, if you like. Add salt to taste.

A Note on the Mortar and Pestle: Garlic Paste

2010-01-24T13:49:00.000-05:00

I am gutted that Gourmet Magazine has closed its doors (despite a million person membership) -- for shame, Conde Nast! At least the recipes are available on its website and epicurious, but still, it was a lovely surprise in the mail once a month, and the articles were well-written and informative. (A few weeks ago I had a Gourmet Magazine tribute dinner to celebrate its years of providing us with unbelievable food).

Last night I was reading the Gourmet Today cookbook, a fantastic collection of 1000 recipes -- I think it is our consolation prize to make up for the loss of the magazine. Several times in the book, the writers recommend creating garlic paste "using side of a large heavy knife." Honestly, that is the last possible way I would consider creating a garlic paste. If you want a true garlic paste for garlic yogurt or various dressings, a mortar and pestle is the only way to proceed. Adding a bit of salt helps to create friction with the garlic and then a good 5-6 minute pounding is required to create the correct consistency. This is also an excellent way to work out your aggressions -- your cheating ex gave you the clap, childhood home burned down to the ground, best friend married your soul mate -- the mortar and pestle can take it all.

A mortar and pestle is also useful for grinding spices (although I prefer an electric coffee grinder that I have devoted to that purpose). I recommend a marble mortar and pestle, available from several on-line sources. No need to spend more than $20, and you will use it forever. I don't recommend the fancy porcelain mortar and pestle and I bought my parents from Williams-Sonoma. It makes a horrid racket and isn't worth the heavy price tag.

Traditional Fried Eggplant with Tomato Sauce and Garlic Yogurt Sauce / Patlıcan Kızartması

2010-01-22T15:42:00.000-05:00

Writer's Note: Last night I went to Andrew and Bonnie's house for dinner and board games. I brought this dish, and the börek. Both were a hit. Playing board games with graduate students is a bit like negotiating the Treaty of Versailles. You spend half your time refining and defining and quibbling over the rules, and the other half playing the game. Our team beat the other team, 3 to 0, yes, riding that high all day today. Thanks, A&B, for an evening of hilarity.

Fried eggplant with tomato sauce and garlic yogurt may be the quintessential Turkish side dish. Unfortunately, the amount of oil used to fry the eggplant will generally scare off the health conscious cook. I have adapted the recipe to make it more healthy, but equally satisfying, by broiling the eggplant instead of frying it.

Ingredients:

4 small-medium eggplants

1 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tsp. plus 1/4 tsp. plus 1/4 tsp. salt

10 fresh, ripe tomatoes, blanched and peeled, or 1 28 oz. can whole tomatoes without basil

2 tbsp. salted butter

3 cups thick traditional full-fat yogurt

pinch of sugar

3 garlic cloves

1/3 tsp. dried mint (optional)

1/3 tsp dried Aleppo pepper or paprika (optional)

Directions: Heat your broiler in your oven. If the broiler is part of your main oven unit, move the rack to the middle of the oven.

Cut the eggplants in 1/4 - 1/2 inch discs, you can also cut them in half if the eggplants are particularly large, but they will shrink as they broil. I like to use small eggplants so the discs are small and attractive, and also they don't fall apart easily. Line some pans with aluminum foil and generously brush the foil with olive oil.

Lay the eggplant in a single layer on the foil. Brush the tops of the eggplants sparingly with a marinade of 1 cup of olive oil and 1 teaspoon of salt. Broil the eggplants until they are brown and a little crispy, about 5-6 minutes. Turn them over halfway through and broil the other side for about 3-4 minutes. Some of they may stick -- if they break a bit don't worry, you can cover those with the tomato sauce. Discard any of the eggplant slices that are too browned or blackened. You may need to broil the eggplants in rounds if they do not fit in the oven at the same time. Do not put the eggplants on more than 1 rack in the oven at the same time, they will not cook properly. Also, do not bake them -- they will dry before they brown.

In the interim, dice the tomatoes and simmer with the butter and sugar and 1/4 tsp. salt for 20-30 minutes until the sauce is thick, a little thicker than pasta sauce. Make the garlic yogurt by pounding the garlic with salt in a mortar and pestle and adding to the yogurt.

Take the eggplants out of the oven and arrange on a platter with relatively curved sides (so the sauces don't run off) in an overlapping fashion. Spoon the tomato sauce over the eggplants and the garlic yogurt over the tomato sauce.

The three-layer appearance of the dish lovely! Do not stir to mix the ingredients. Finally, sprinkle the Aleppo pepper or paprika and dried mint on top, if you so desire.

Strained Yogurt Spread / Süzme Yoğurt / Haydari

2010-01-18T21:39:00.005-05:00

Writer's Note: You don't need my fancy set-up to do this (notice I am using a flower vase as the base for my rigged contraption, sometimes I feel like kitchen MacGyver), but cheesecloth or a linen bag is recommended. Have you recently seen an episode of MacGyver? Uh, excuse me, since when did he have a mullet? Was I completely blind as a child? There's another hero of my adolescence shattered against the judgmental boulders of adulthood.

Ingredients:

1 32 oz. container full-fat traditional thick yogurt
2 garlic cloves
1/4 tsp. salt
6-7 sprigs of fresh dill, chopped
Aleppo pepper
dried mint
1 tsp. plus some amount good quality extra virgin
oil
Optional: grated cucumber (salted and drained) or purslane

Directions:

Drain the container of yogurt overnight in the fridge using a cheesecloth or linen bag. You will be left with a very small ball of drained yogurt.

Mash the garlic cloves with the yogurt to make a paste. Incorporate the paste into the yogurt. Add 1 tsp. olive oil and the chopped dill. You could also add some purslane or grated cucumber for the dish to make it brighter. Decorate with dried mint and Aleppo pepper and drizzle olive oil on top.

Spinach and Feta Pie / Tepsi Boregı

2010-01-18T14:00:00.003-05:00

Writer's Note: Filling filo dough with tasty cheeses and vegetables is a Turkish pastime. I know you think this is difficult, but it's not. You can do all the prep work in an hour to an hour and a half.

The real issue is the amount of butter. You need to brush each sheet with butter or a butter mixture to get the right flavor for the dish. My parents, who as far as I am concerned have gone off the health kick deep end, have replaced the butter with a safflower oil and yogurt blend. They also wash the cottage cheese to remove the salt and soak their feta in water to make it less salty. At that level, the trade off between extra years on this Earth and my standard of living weighs heavily in favor of salt and butter.

But if you are health conscious you can make the dish healthier with those measures, it just won't taste as sinful. And sin tastes good.

This is a difficult dish to get wrong. It looks complicated but it's really not. You just need to conceptualize the dish as follows: layers of dough brushed with butter, a cheese and spinach filling, popped in the oven for 45 minutes. That's it. I will walk you through it.

Good with a drizzle of garlic yogurt or a small side salad. Once you get the hang of the dish you can start experimenting with the filling -- replacing the spinach and feta with a cheese combination, or ground beef with onions, or one of my all-time favorites, sauteed eggplant.

Ingredients:

1 frozen packet of filo dough, see note on defrosting*

9 oz. crumbled feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped fresh dill

2 large bunches of fresh spinach or 2 bags of frozen chopped spinach**

1 cup cottage cheese

8 oz. of unsalted butter***

1 cup full fat traditional thick yogurt

1 large yellow or white onions, diced small

2 tbsp. olive oil

fresh ground black pepper and salt to taste

2 eggs

1 tsp. Aleppo pepper or 1/2 tsp. cayenne, optional

Directions:

Put the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Saute the onions in the olive oil over very low heat for 10 minutes until the onions taste sweet and have taken on the hue of the olive oil. Do not let them brown.

To make the filling: combine the cottage cheese, feta, dill, and onions in a bowl. Defrost the spinach and squeeze out the water from the spinach. This is really where you can take a wrong turn -- if the spinach is too watery it will ruin the dish. Add the spinach to the filling. At this point you should taste the filling and add salt and pepper and Aleppo pepper or cayenne to taste. Depending on the saltiness of the cheese you may need more or less salt. Once the filling is to your liking, add and incorporate two eggs. Now the filling is done.

To put together the pie: Melt the butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave on low heat. Put aside about 1 - 2 tbsp. for the top. The rest of the butter mix with the yogurt. This is what you will use between the layers of filo dough. Prepare your work station so that you have a pan that will fit the filo sheets in it. If they don't fit, you can cut them down to fit. Check the box and figure out how many sheets are in the box. If you have 20 sheets, you are going to work on a 8-4-8 system. That means 8 sheets of filo, then half the filling, then 4 more sheets of filo, and then the last 8 sheets of filo. If the box has a different number of sheets, figure out a system roughly similar and make sure you keep rough count of where you are in the pile of filo sheets as you go through.

All of this should be done before you open the plastic packaging. You want to keep the filo in the packaging until the last minute. Line the pan with aluminum foil. Using a pastry brush, brush the foil generously with the butter/yogurt mixture. Now open the filo packaging and cut it down if necessary. Place one sheet of filo in the pan and brush it sparingly with the yogurt butter -- this is really a issue of practice but you will get the hang of it by sheet 3 or 4. You want to be sparing as possible so the dish is not drowning in butter. Repeat with the next 7 sheets. Spoon half the filling on the sheets, keeping a 1/2 inch border of filo dough where you do not spread the filling (this helps to create an edge of filo dough so the filling does not leak out of the sides of the pie). Use the next 4 sheets and then add the other half of the filling. Finish with the last 8 sheets and for the top sheet brush it with the reserved butter that does not have the yogurt in it. This will help the top brown better.

Bake the pie for 45-55 minutes until it is browned. If it looks like it is going to burn you can cover it with foil for the last 15-20 minutes. Make sure the bottom is cooked by lifting it carefully by the foil and making sure the bottom sheets are cooked. Let the pie cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting it into squares or triangles. Serve with garlic butter or haydari.

*Filo/phylo dough can be difficult to work with if it is not properly defrosted. I use the Athens brand filo dough, and if I have planned ahead, defrost it in the fridge for about 5 hours, and then on the counter for up to an hour. Or you can defrost on the counter for about 2-3 hours, but

that may lead to the layers sticking to one another (sticky or dry layers are your nemesis for this recipe). You will need to work relatively quickly once you open the plastic sheathing because the layers have a penchant for drying out -- be purposeful, but don't rush! Some recommend laying a damp paper towel or towel on the layers as you work with them -- I have never found this necessary.

**This is the one recipe where I would say frozen spinach may be easier to work with then fresh spinach, and the difference in flavor is undetectable. Which also means that you can keep the ingredients for this dish around for emergency rations in the fridge for weeks at a time.

***Do not use salted butter! It will make the filo pastry burn in the oven. All that work to waste . . .

Poached Eggs over Garlic Yogurt with Sizzling Butter / Çılbır

2010-01-15T04:33:00.009-05:00

Writer's Note: There is no culinary subject more discussed on the
inter-web than poaching eggs. It's overwhelming, really, especially for a novice like me. The are gadgets galore, and videos, and heated arguments, even name-calling. For shame, culinary community, such disagreements should be held behind closed doors.

A few nights ago I couldn't sleep -- I woke up at 2:30 for no good reason and thought, well, if I'm up I might as well poach some eggs. I padded downstairs and boiled some water with vinegar and salt and started poaching eggs. One after another. My spinning vortex did nothing to keep those white jellyfish strings from forming around the yolk. Neither did using a small coffee cup. I tried everything I had read about the traditional method for poaching eggs to no avail. Oh fair reader, it was disheartening. After four I gave up and laid in bed listening to the New Yorker Fiction podcast. Junot Diaz read a fabulous short story by Edwidge Danticat. That cheered me up a bit.

Yesterday, having recovered from the earlier debacle, I decided to try one of the gimmicky methods I read about on another blog. Tie the egg in a piece of cling wrap and poach the egg in the plastic. It seemed too easy -- and it was. The white came off the yolk with the plastic, and it looked wrinkled and old, nothing like a poached egg should. Back to square one. Today, armed with a new carton of eggs I tried again. Vinegar, salt, boiling water, lower temperature to a simmer, create a vortex, and slowly, spinning spinning toward freedom . . . uh, no, that's a Simpsons episode. I slowly lowered the dish into the vortex and Yes! Success! One poached egg. Always mindful to quit while I am ahead, I stopped and called it a day. For hours I have been reveling in my perfectly poached egg. Ah, revelry.

Ingredients:

4 fresh eggs

1/2 cup thick traditional full-fat yogurt

1/2 garlic clove

1 tbsp. white vinegar of any variety

1 tsp. and 1/4 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. dried mint

1 tsp. cayenne pepper or Aleppo pepper (optional)

Directions:

Beat the garlic with the salt in a mortar and pestle until it is a creamy paste. Mix the garlic into the yogurt. Divide the yogurt into two bowls.

Boil water, vinegar, and 1 tsp. salt in a small saucepan at least 2-3 inches deep. Crack egg into a small dish or saucer. After it boils turn the heat down so the water is simmering. Create a vortex by stirring a spoon in the same direction for 20-30 seconds. Gently pour the egg into the water from a close distance. Use the spoon to stir the egg white closer to the yolk. Cook for at least 3 minutes, longer for a slightly more solid yolk.

Fish the eggs out of the water using a flat strainer and lay the eggs in the bowls over the yogurt (for some the hot of the egg and cold of the yogurt may be odd -- you can always put a piece of buttered toast between the two to "American-ize" the dish. Although, let's be honest, salty yogurt and eggs for breakfast is about as un-American as cassoulet and universal health care.

Heat the butter with the dried mint and cayenne pepper or Aleppo pepper in a small skillet until it foams and sizzles (this can be done concurrently with the egg poaching). Pour the butter over the eggs and revel in your own competence.

Oven-Roasted Beets / Fırında Pancar

2010-01-13T20:03:00.010-05:00

Writer's Note: Today I walked into my kitchen and turned around in circles in despair. The fridge is full of food, cooked and uncooked, and I just hung my head. Le sigh. And then I spotted the beets. Two, huge brilliant beets. Right. I'm going to roast some beets. I have never seen roasted beets in Turkey but I figure a few Turkish spices and I can throw them under imaginative Turkish cuisine. Better than throwing myself under a bus.

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 medium beets

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Urfa pepper

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. ground cumin

2 tbsp. pomegranate molasses

juice from half a lemon

Directions: Preheat oven to 4o0 degrees. Peel the beets and cut them into large chunks -- 1/8 chunks for large beets. Mix with the other ingredients. Cover a baking pan with a large piece of aluminum foil and lay beets in the middle. Fold over the edges and scrunch over the beets. A small opening in the top is ok. Roast for 1 1/2 hours. Serve with the bubbling sauce spooned over the beets. Eat to dispel morosity.

Artichoke Hearts and Fava Beans with Dill

2010-01-11T21:10:00.013-05:00

Writer's Note: Usually this dish is cooked for a full 30-45 minutes. I wanted to see if I could reduce the cooking time to 10-15 minutes so the vegetables would be slightly firmer and fresher tasting. This is one of my mom's recipes but also a classic Turkish dish. The convenience of frozen vegetables should not be underestimated -- they retain a significant amount of their nutrition and it means you can make this dish on an off night if you keep the main ingredients in the freezer.

The dish is vegan -- my friend, Chloe, who is an amazing person, is a vegan who doesn't eat wheat products. Talk about hard core. I've been having trouble coming up with vegan dishes that would meet Chloe's high culinary standards, but I think this one fits the bill.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen artichoke hearts, 12 oz.*

half a yellow onion, diced

1/2 - 1 cup frozen peas

1/2 - 1 cup frozen young fava beans

leaves from 5-6 small stalks of fresh dill, coarsely chopped

juice from 1/2 a lemon and 1/2 a lemon to decorate

4 tbsp. olive oil

2 pinches sugar

1/2 tsp. salt

Directions:

Defrost the frozen vegetables by running them under hot water for a minute or two. You can defrost the peas and fava beans together but defrost the artichoke hearts separately since they will be cooked at different times.

Heat 2 tbsp. of the olive oil in a small pot for a minute over medium heat and then add the onions, sugar and salt. Turn the heat down to low and saute the onions for 5 minutes until they are soft -- stir often so they don't brown.

Add the artichoke hearts and saute for about 5 minutes and then add the peas and fava beans and a small squeeze of lemon from the half you are going to use. Cook over low heat for an additional five minutes and then turn off the heat.

Cool the vegetables in the pot or a small bowl, covered, on the counter for 30 minutes. Continue to cool in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. When you are ready to serve, whisk the rest of the juice from the 1/2 lemon with the remaining 2 tbsp. of olive oil and stir into the dish. Stir in the dill, keeping a little to decorate the top of the dish.

Serve chilled or at room temperature with quartered lemon.

*I used the frozen artichoke hearts from Trader Joe's.

Pomegranate and Arugula Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

2010-01-11T18:16:00.011-05:00

Writer's Note: This is certainly not a traditional Turkish salad but given that it is winter and impossible to get good, fresh tomatoes here in the chilly arctic tundra (also known as Cambridge, MA), I thought I would post one of my favorite winter salads. If nothing else, pomegranate seeds are very popular in Turkey and used in several dishes, especially sprinkled on desserts.

Over the holidays I was visiting Napa and picked up a lovely bottle of pomegranate balsamic vinegar, perfect for this salad. No need to run out and buy it -- this dressing works just as well with regular balsamic vinegar. Peeling a pomegranate may seem daunting but it is actually easy: cut off the top just a little into the body of the pomegranate. Score the outside of the fruit in two intersecting circles just deep enough to go through the skin (you will be cutting a little into the seeds but that is unavoidable) and then break the body into four quarters and pull the seeds out with your fingers. One for me, one for the bowl, two for me . . .

Ingredients:

seeds from 1 ripe pomegranate

1 bunch of baby Arugula

1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup pomegranate or regular balsamic vinegar

pinch of sugar

pinch of salt

1/4 tsp. dried mint (optional)

Directions:

Wash the arugula thoroughly and then dry. Put the arugula in a shallow bowl or on a platter and sprinkle the seeds on top.

For the vinaigrette, whisk the the olive oil into the vinegar with a fork, adding the vinegar in a slow drizzle so that it emulsifies. Continue to whisk and add the sugar, salt, and dried mint, if you want. A little sugar and salt is sufficient, and should be added according to your taste. My measurements on the vinegar to oil ratio are pretty generous with the vinegar but I really don't like oily dressing. You can reduce the ratio to 1:3 if you want a more traditional vinaigrette.

Serve the salad with the dressing drizzled on top and some on the side for those who want extra.

A Note on Aleppo Pepper and Other Peppers

2010-01-10T17:39:00.010-05:00

I am obsessed with Aleppo pepper. I put it on everything -- yogurt, soup, pizza, pasta, almost anything that comes out of my kitchen. Its dark, earthy tones make it a fantastic addition to almost any dish -- it adds a bit of kick and complexity to Turkish cuisine.

Of course, Aleppo pepper is from Aleppo, Syria, not from Turkey. I spent a month in Syria this summer and finally made it to Aleppo -- I wandered around the various souks staring at the pepper collections. It was a historic occasion in my cooking career -- I finally got up the nerve to approach one of the vendors and asked him in my halting Arabic which one of his 17 peppers was a traditional Aleppo pepper -- the man looked at me puzzled and replied, "Aleppo pepper? This is Aleppo. It's all Aleppo pepper." Right. I bought half a kilo laughing at my inanity. If you want to use a traditional Turkish pepper instead, try Maraş Pepper. It has about the same taste and complexity. Or if you want something smokier, Urfa pepper is an excellent alternative and is a deep purple (see the photo on the right). If you can't find any of the above, you can substitute 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper for about 1 tbsp. of Aleppo pepper. It won't have the same smoky quality but will at least give you a bit of kick. One website recommends four parts paprika to one part cayenne as a good substitute. Crushed red pepper flakes are a substitute of last resort.

Turkish Street Food: Pickle Juice / Turşu Suyu . . . yes, you read that right.

2010-01-10T14:56:00.012-05:00

Pickle juice is an amazing concoction sold by street vendors in Turkey. I wish I could find a recipe but sadly, I think you need to travel to Turkey to really experience this wonder.

Photos are of a pickle juice cart on
Buyukada (the Big Island), one of the Princess Islands off the coast in Istanbul. A day trip to one of the Princess Islands is a must during the summer, especially the horse-drawn carriage ride around the island. Intrepid travelers may opt for a bike rental instead.

Pickle juice tastes like sour, lemony pickles - you can opt for a glass or a plastic bag, tied at the top, accompanied by a straw. I always go for "bol acili" -- very hot -- yes, that's right, hot sauce in your pickle juice. On the right is a photo of the man who has been selling me pickle juice since the 1980s. He used to troll the beach I frequented in Ilica, Cesme when I was a kid. He's since moved to another neighborhood -- I wish I could recount the bizarre conversation I had with him about why he moved -- something about the city government and joining the European Union. I love this man because he was there throughout my entire childhood -- visits to his cart punctuated my every summer in Turkey. Pickle juice is best in heat of summer at the beach.