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.

Well-Mannered Sour Meatball Soup / Ekşili Kofte

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.