The Hungry Turk

Rise and Shine

Huh, what? Did I miss something?

Huh? Oh, yeah... that. The winter...

No entries in six months?

My dog ate my computer...

Not good enough?

What about... I forgot my password as well as the answer to the super tricky security question (what’s your name?)... aaaand my dog ate my computer.

Ok fine! I don’t have a dog! I have an imagination that goes into overdrive, so what?! 

Hmmm...

No! I will not admit that I was plain lazy. I can’t. Reality is harsh.

But maybe I have no other option...

Winter in Montreal has been very long this year.

Way too long...

And that’s what winter does to you in this part of the world... you get lazy.

And please hush now! Don’t remind of thousands of other bloggers who also live in this part of the world and who were not deterred by the ever falling temperatures, never ending snow storms and freezing rain in mid-May... don’t remind me of those who were dedicated and who just typed away their winter blues.

Anyways, I should really teach that dog some manners now.

The Mother of All Scones (with lime and coconut)

The base recipe for these amazing scones belongs to Molly Wizenberg, the creator of Orangette and the author of A Homemade Life (well, the recipe actually belongs to her sister but that you can learn about in more detail by reading the book). Despite our diverging stories, I couldn’t but feel a very strong connection with Molly Wizenberg. Endless were the times I thought she read my mind and, sensing my laziness, decided to write about it herself (I totally second her on plums!). Check out her blog and her book, they are both worth the read!

Back to the recipe... I kept all of Winzeberg’s measurements but changed most of the ingredients. So far, apart from the below recipe, I have tried the original Wizenberg recipe with lemon zest and ginger, as well as my own little invention with bacon, parmesan and corn flour (and yogurt)! This is a great recipe to play around, have fun!

Makes 8 scones

2 cups flours
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted cold butter, cut into small pieces
3 tablespoons sugar
Zest of 1 lime
½ cup shredded unsweetened coconut
½ cup coconut milk plus more for glazing (you can use low fat coconut milk)
1 large egg

Preheat your oven to 425°F (220 °C).

Stir the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and mix with your fingers until the mixture looks like coarse meal (you have to work pretty fast as you don’t want the butter to start melting from the heat of your fingers). Stir in the sugar, lime zest and coconut. In a small bowl, whisk together the coconut milk and egg and pour it in to the flour mixture. Gently fold the mixture using your fingers as blender mixers (do not knead). The dough will start sticking together pretty fast. As soon as you can lift it as one whole dough ball (with a lot of itsy bitsy pieces falling off), transfer it on to a dry surface and knead it into a 1 inch thick disk. Do not knead it too much (Wizenberg says no more than 12 times, and I have stuck to that recommendation like religion). It’s OK if your dough looks a little flaky and cracked. It’s all a charm! Cut your disk shaped dough into 8 wedges and place those on a baking tray covered with parchment paper. Glaze the scones with the remaining coconut milk and pop them in the over for about 15 minutes, or until they become golden.

Easy Does It

22.4 kilometers.

Three hours.

Have you ever wondered what 22.4km looks or feels like? Let me explain it to you…

In Montreal, 22.4km is the distance between the corner of Sherbrooke and St-Laurent - where on a Saturday night you will see girls with mind blowing short skirts and boys with outrageously pointy shoes - and Bout-de-l’Île, which is literally the eastern tip of the island of Montreal. Cool people don’t hang out there.

In Istanbul, you’ll have to drive (no fool would walk it, let alone run it), 22.4km to get from Emirgan to Rumeli Feneri.

In Brussels… well, I should really say Belgium, 22.4km is just shy of the distance between Brussels and Leuven. Two separate cities.

If you wanted to avoid paying the taxi ride between Hyde Park and Heathrow Airport in London, you would have to trot about 22.4km to catch the next flight.

I think you get the point.

For me, 22.4km is the longest distance I have ever run. Unfortunately, it will keep its privileged status only until next Saturday, when 25km will take over the gold position.

That’s what I do on Saturday mornings… I go for leisurely jogs.

Spaghetti with Fresh Tomatoes and Zucchini

Food to Live By: The Earthbound Farm Organic Cookbook is the first cookbook I purchased when I moved to Montreal three years ago. The move was a turning point in my life as, in addition to many other things, it was also the first time I was going to live completely on my own. No family, no roommate… just me and the three square foot kitchen. So I had to take things in my own hands and cook for my own survival. This spaghetti recipe is one of my personal favourites. It’s so easy to prepare yet looks so beautiful and tastes so fresh that you can easily fool crowds about how much you laboured over it.

Serves 4

 

2 ripe medium-sized tomatoes, grated

1½ cups cherry tomatoes, cut in half

½ bunch Italian parsley, chopped

Handful of fresh basil, chopped

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Pinch of salt

Pinch of red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

1 pack of dried spaghetti (about 500gr/1 pound)

1 garlic clove, minced

2 medium-size zucchini, cut into ¼-inch cubes

 

Place the tomatoes, parsley, basil, olive oil, salt, red pepper flakes and ground black pepper in a medium bowl and let it sit at room temperature until all the flavours mix and develop, at least 30 minutes.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook your spaghetti until al dante. While the pasta is cooking, heat some olive oil on a large pan and add the minced garlic. After one minute, add the zucchini and cook for about 5 minutes, until the zucchini have sweated but still have a bite.

Drain the spaghetti and transfer to a large serving bowl. Add the zucchini and the tomato mixture and toss to combine.

Easy does it!

Go Team!

Until recently, I was not a runner. I did not enjoy it. The few times I went out for a run I came back with the frustration caused by pain and boredom rather than the satisfaction induced by physical exercise.

Then one day everything changed. About this time last year, I received a Team in Training flier in the mail. They were offering to fully train me, the helpless runner, to become a marathoner. In return I was to fundraise for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada. This came at a time when I was looking for a personal project and a way to give back to the community. So I decided to give it a chance. I went to an information session, and since then I have been hooked.

I started off slowly. Last September I ran the half marathon in Montreal and fundraised for the Society. Then I continued my involvement with Team in Training as a fundraising mentor for the spring 2010 season, where participants were training for the BMO Vancouver Marathon and the Paris Marathon. In two weeks time I will start my training for the Nike Women’s Marathon which will take place in October in San Francisco.

Yep, the whole thing.

42.2 km.

26.2 miles.

A few hills.

In order to supply my body with the necessary nutrients during the training period I will have to tweak my diet a little. Carbohydrates (a.k.a. pasta), for instance, will be an important component of it. I will make sure to keep you updated on my dietary adventures and supply you with different runner friendly recipes.

In the meantime, here is a Team in Training related savory muffin recipe. Last weekend was the final group training session for those going to Vancouver and a potluck was organised after the long run. I brought these muffins. The corn flour, feta cheese, dill and parsley bring in a nice little Mediterranean twist to the everyday breakfast muffin.

Savory Muffins with Feta Cheese, Parsley and Dill

Makes 12

1 cup plain white flour

2 cups corn flour

1 heaped teaspoon baking powder

4 eggs

½ cup vegetable oil (this time I used grape seed oil but other vegetable oils will be fine too. If you want a more accentuated taste substitute ¼ cup vegetable oil with olive oil)

2 cups yogurt (could be low fat)

200 gr. feta cheese, crumbled (get the hard type)

½ a bunch parsley, picked and finely chopped

½ a bunch dill, picked and finely chopped

1 tablespoon sweet paprika (more according to taste)

2 tablespoons ground dried tomatoes (more according to taste - see note at the end)

1 teaspoon white vinegar

1 teaspoon baking soda

 

Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Unless you are using paper cases, grease your muffin tins very lightly with vegetable oil.

Whisk the white flour, corn flour, baking powder, paprika and ground dried tomatoes in a medium size bowl. In a large bowl, beat the eggs by hand, and blend in the oil and yogurt. Mix until well combined.

Slowly add the flour mixture into the eggs. It’s pretty easy to this by hand. The batter is supposed to be slightly less liquid than a normal muffin batter. If you think your batter is too dry, add in more yogurt. Add in the feta, dill and parsley. In a small bowl, combine the vinegar and baking soda. Wait until it fizzes out and add it to the batter. Mix until everything is well combined, but try not to overmix the batter, otherwise your muffins will come out too hard.

Spoon out the batter in the muffin tins, filling them almost to the rim. Bake in the preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes. They are ready when a wooden tooth pick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Voila!!!

Note: I am not a big fan of dried tomatoes, especially the kind sold in oil. I find that they have too strong of a taste that overwhelms everything else in a dish. But last year my aunt gave me a bag of dried ground tomatoes that she had purchased from a farmers market in Anamur on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, where my maternal grandmother is from. They are a nice addition to any Mediterranean inspired dish. You can recreate them at home simply by grounding roughly dried tomatoes (not the ones sold in oil) in your food processor.