The Hungry Turk

Fishy Business

Here is the dilemma I face a few times per week: I get so hungry that I could eat a whole cow but at the same time I am too lazy to open the fridge door, let alone cook. Add to this the fact that a simple green salad or some pasta topped with yogurt (yes, the combination is actually palatable) just seems too mundane to provide enough pleasure and enjoyment to my senses to keep them quiet until the next meal. The outcome of this  poisonous concoction is that I find myself sitting at our kitchen table staring into the void, getting only hungrier and hungrier.

Frankly, this is a far from ideal situation. As my beloved soon-to-be-husband would attest, during such intense moments of decision making, I get cranky, unreceptive, borderline rude... not quite the woman you would like to marry, really.

It does take some effort and strong will to snap out of such a grim mood, but once those shameful moments are over, I’m on fire again! Well somewhat. I still have to satisfy the time pressure caused by the hunger issue and the strong demands pressed upon by my taste buds.

Solution? Some aluminum foil.

And some fish (preferably a white fleshed fish - not too bland, like cod, nor too fishy, like salmon).

Fish and vegetables, augmented with a nutty mushroom flavour and a hint of white wine, all packed in a little aluminum steam chamber...

I sound like a menu from a restaurant with way too many Michelin stars but, this recipe will outshine anything on that menu, I promise!

Try it, love it and then thank my mom!

No more dilemmas...

 
Tilapia with Dried Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes and Baby Spinach

Serves 2


2 tilapia fillets (about ½lb. each)
Handful of dried mushrooms (any type, even better if you find a mix)
¾ cup packed baby spinach
8 cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
3 tablespoons dry white wine (can be replaced with the mushroom soaking water)
Olive oil
Ground black pepper
Salt

Transfer the dried mushrooms in a small bowl and cover with boiling hot water. Soak until the mushrooms are tender (the time depends on the type of dried mushrooms you  are using). Strain the water and set the mushrooms aside. If not using wine, don’t discard the water, it’s a very flavourful substitute. Heat your oven to 350°F (180°C). Cut out two sheets of aluminum foil, about one foot (30cm) each. Lightly brush the middle of one of the sheets with olive oil and place the fish on top. Layer half of the spinach, half the of the soaked mushrooms and half of the cherry tomatoes. Sprinkle with half of the chopped chives. Drizzle with half of the wine (or the soaking water of the mushrooms), some olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. To package your fish, bring the long ends of your aluminum together and roll/fold them together like a paper bag, leaving enough space for the steam to do its magic. Finally roll/fold the open ends of the foil towards the middle to seal off your package.

Repeat this for the second fish fillet using the rest of the ingredients and aluminum foil.

Place the two packages on a baking tray and bake in the heated oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with a simple green salad and the most versatile potato salad.

Pumpkin Challenge - Part 1

In a few days it’s Canadian Thanksgiving, a holiday that traditionally celebrates the end of a bountiful harvest. This day also brings families together around a table honoured by a stuffed turkey, mashed potatoes and loads of pumpkin pie. Over the next ten days The Hungry Turk will participate in the celebrations with two dessert recipes, which will give the good old pumpkin pie a run for its money.

The first recipe is a traditional Turkish one. As a kid, I didn’t have a sweet tooth and wasn’t a huge fan of pumpkin. But I eventually grew up, and my appreciation of this humble vegetable emerged as the years passed. As long as you have a big sharp knife and some muscle power, you will enjoy this recipe more than anything as it doesn’t involve any labouring over a pie crust.

In Turkey, pumpkin is sold fresh, usually by a vendor who stations his cart at a street corner. He cuts, de-seeds and peels the orange monsters so that you don’t have to do it yourself and risk major injury.

Unfortunately for my poor little self, there are no pumpkin vendors at my street corner here in Montreal. I live in the West, remember, and who in these modern days struggles with a whole pumpkin when you can go to the store and buy it in a can!

So I had to resort to my own resources. But to limit the risk of injury and avoid eating pumpkin everyday for the next month, I bought a small, almost miniature, pumpkin (see picture from previous blog entry). I have never seen such small pumpkins in Turkey and I have to admit that I wasn’t quite sure whether they were ornamental or for cooking.

First, with the help of a sharp chef’s knife, I cut the stem off. I then stabbed the pumpkin   from the top with my big knife and worked my way down on one side. I repeated the same procedure for the other side (starting at the same point on the top) and split open my pumpkin. I used a spoon to de-seed the pumpkin and kept the seeds (see note below). I then quartered each half, and cut each quarter in half (ending up with 16 small pumpkin pieces).

The part that I thought was going to be the most difficult to execute turned out to be the easiest: peeling. I’m useless when it comes to peeling vegetables with a knife and almost always resort to the use of a peeler. This time, however, I thought that my peeler couldn’t handle the tough pumpkin skin, so I started off with a knife. After 5 minutes of desperate battle, I decided to try the peeler. And it worked like a wonder!! So my advice: Don’t try to be a hero, use a peeler!

Turkish Style Poached Pumpkin Dessert (Kabak Tatlısı)

Serves 5


1 small pumpkin (about 3 lb), cut, de-seeded and peeled
1 cup sugar
2 cloves   
Squeeze of lemon juice
½ cup crushed walnuts

Transfer the pumpkin pieces in a large pot and cover with sugar. Cover the top and set it  aside for at least 3 hours, until the juices from the pumpkin come out. Add the cloves and a quick squeeze of lemon juice. Turn the heat to medium and simmer, covered, until the pumpkins turn a darker shade of orange and the juice thickens into a syrup, about 30 minutes. Do check the pot frequently to avoid the pumpkins from sticking to the bottom.

Transfer the pumpkins into a serving plate and pour the syrup on top. To finish off, sprinkle with the crushed walnuts.

Note: Don’t waste the pumpkin seeds, they are great in nut mixes or on their own. Separate the seeds them from the pulp, rinse them well and spread on a kitchen towel to dry completely (takes about a 2 hours). Transfer the seeds into a small container, mix in half a teaspoon of vegetable oil and half a teaspoon of salt. Close the container and shake it untill all the seeds are covered with the salt and oil mixture. Pre-heat your over at 250°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment and bake/toast your pumpkin seeds for about 1 hour.

The Harvest Disco Party

Oh pretty little pumpkins, don't let those sly frogs seduce you into a pot during the afterparty!!!

Pasta Night - Again?

As I started my marathon training about five months ago I never thought that I’d get bored of having to eat pasta at least a few times a week. The prospect of getting to try out different pasta recipes was definitely exciting, especially at a time when I had just started my own food blog. Little did I know!

I did get to try many different recipes but as I was making most of them for the first time, they needed adjustment before they were blog worthy. Don’t get me wrong, they were very tasty, it’s just that they weren’t always, erm, photogenic. And the thought of cooking the same food over and over again for the sake of its photographic quality was not appealing.

And in all honesty, I did get bored of eating pasta every Friday night to load up on carbs before my Saturday morning long runs. At times, I got so uninspired and bored of it that I could no longer bother to come up with a new recipe and resorted to the Turkish national fail-safe sauce: yogurt. I know that it sounds bizarre to mix pasta and yogurt, but believe me with a little drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt, it’s enough to make any plain pasta (or as a matter of fact rice) palatable.

Having said all this, I still have two weeks of training before my marathon in San Francisco and whether I like it or not, I have to gulp down all the pasta I can. As I was pondering how to break the monotony of my Friday nights, a very unexpected source of inspiration came to my help. A good friend of mine and a fan of the now defunct Gourmet Magazine brought to my attention that the publishers (Condé Nast) were issuing a special edition of the famous foodie magazine on quick meal fixes. I bought the magazine without a second thought, and there it was, my personal light at the end of the tunnel: Rigatoni with Marinara Sauce and Ricotta!!

We all know how well tomatoes and pasta go together (especially if you add some garlic and a few basil leaves). I do sometimes find, however, that the tomato sauce can  be slightly too acidic, especially when using canned tomatoes (and I have no intentions of using fresh tomatoes in sauces past August). So adding ricotta cheese to the ensemble sounded like a great idea.

It sure was as delicious as it was simple to make. Now, I just have to keep my inspiration going for two more weeks, after which I can tell “see ya later” to pasta dishes for a little while.

And please, Condé Nast, I promise I will renew my subscription every year and, if necessary, get additional subscriptions for all my extended family. Please bring the Gourmet Magazine back!

Rigatoni with Marinara Sauce and Ricotta (from Gourmet Quick Kitchen Fall 2010 edition)

Serves 4


1 28-oz can of whole tomatoes in juice, chopped and half the juice from the can reserved
2 garlic cloves, crushed
Pinch of hot red-pepper flakes (more to the taste)
5 - 6 fresh basil leaves, torn
1 pack (1lb or 450gr) rigatoni
1 cup ricotta
Grated Pecorino Romano to taste
Olive oil
Salt according to taste

Cook the garlic and red-pepper flakes in about one table spoon of olive oil until garlic starts turning golden. Add the chopped tomatoes and reserved juice and cook until the sauce starts thickening, about 20 minutes.

In the meantime, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your pasta and cook until it’s “al dante”. At this point stir the basil leaves into the tomato sauce and in a large bowl mix together the pasta and the sauce. Serve with ricotta cheese and grated Pecorino Romano.

Red-delicious

For a change the picture comes before the story in this post, simply because the picture is the story. I really don’t need to say much, except that you’d better hurry if you want to try out this delicious berry-blasting pie before the summer is over!

The Berry-Blaster

6 cups strawberries, halved (or quartered if too big)
2 cups raspberries
3 tablespoons corn starch, sifted
6 tablespoons butter, divided
1 tablespoon sugar (if desired)
2 cups Graham cracker crumbs
Pinch of cinnamon powder
Pinch of nutmeg
Pinch of ginger powder


Heat your oven at 350°F (180°C). Melt 5 tablespoons butter in a small saucepan (or in the microwave oven). To make graham cracker crumbs, place about 36 Graham crackers in a large freezer bag, seal and roll with a rolling pin until finely crushed. Mix the crumbs, melted butter and the spices in a medium bowl. Using your hands press the Graham cracker mixture into a 9in. (23cm) pie plate (don’t forget the sides). Bake the crust for 10 minutes at 350°F (180°C). Let cool down.

In the meantime place the strawberries in a food processor and whiz until they turn into a smooth puree. Transfer the strawberry puree into a medium size saucepan. Add corn starch, sugar (if desired but not necessary) and 1 tablespoon butter and cook over medium heat until the mixture starts thickening, about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool down a little.

Place the raspberries on top of the crust and pour over the strawberry mixture. Let it cool down completely at room temperature and then refrigerate. You can serve this pie with cream, thick yogurt, or quark (as pictured here), which is a type of fresh cheese.

Note: For those who prefer a plain tasting crust, you can use bread crumbs instead of Graham cracker crumbs and take out all the spices. However, you will have to add about 1/4 cup of brown sugar.

And God Created Corn (And Quinoa)

I’m The Hungry Turk, and I am addicted to quinoa.

I can’t do without it. Its intriguing looks, its fluffy texture and its versatile flavour keeps me asking for more. Now, this post is supposed to be all about corn (and it is really) but I do have to put some emphasis on this mystery seed. I know that there are quite a few of you who are still skeptical about it but when cooked properly, this little Andean gem is delightful (and extremely nutritious), I promise.

So corn. Yes. When I was growing up in Turkey grilled corn sold by street vendors was a treat that my dad and I would go bananas for (we still do). My grandfather also used to boil them at home time to time and I would nibble on those rather coarse kernels with great pleasure. But corn has never been part of the culinary culture that surrounded me. Until recently, that is.

As I landed in North America three years ago, I realised that corn pulled a few more strings here than it did in Turkey. First of all, there is a lot of it! And when in season (now), corn is dirt cheap. So much so that these days I find myself eating corn everyday and trying to figure out what do make out of those stalks  that are still stacked on the kitchen counter. Also, corn in North America is sweet. Very sweet and tender. A few days ago I was telling my mom how I cooked my corn: “just drop them in boiling water, cover, turn off the heat and set aside for 10 minutes”. She couldn’t believe it. The corn I know from Turkey is, how shall I put it, rather stubborn and requires a long cooking time. I didn’t quite dare telling her that I had seen recipes that called for uncooked fresh corn.

So here is to quinoa and corn, my two new BFF.

Quinoa Salad with Corn and Loads of Other Things

I got the inspiration for this recipe from Gourmet Magazine’s encyclopedic cookbook. However, I had a slight grocery list mishap and forgot to get half of the ingredients that were required by the recipe. At the end, my salad turned out to be very different from the one in the book, except for the basic combination of quinoa, corn and cumin.

Serves 2 as a main dish


1 cup mixed coloured quinoa, rinsed thoroughly under cold water
2 ears corn, shucked
3 scallions, thinly chopped
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 large pieces of canned roasted red peppers, rinced and diced
4 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
⅓ cup (hulled) sunflower seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
½ teaspoon mustard seeds
½ fennel seeds
¼ pound (about 125gr.) feta cheese, crumbled
Juice of 1½ limes
2 tablespoons olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper to season

Place quinoa in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes drain it in a sieve and rinse under cold running water. In the same pot, bring a few inches of water to a boil. Set the sieve with quinoa over the pot and covered it with a kitchen towel (or paper towel) and a lid. Steam quinoa until fluffy and dry (about 10 to 15 minutes). Transfer to into a bowl and let cool down.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and add corn. Cover with a lid and turn off the heat. Set aside for 10 minutes. Transfer corn to a cutting board and cut off the kernels (your knife should be at a 45° angle).

While your corn is cooking, mix all the seeds (including the sunflower seeds) and roast  at 400° degrees for 10 minutes.

Assemble your salad by mixing together all the ingredients in a large bowl (including the corn kernels and quinoa), and seasoning with lime juice, olive oil and black pepper. Mix well and serve.

The Most Versatile Potato Salad

There is a reason why potato is the perfect answer to the following absurd job interview question: “If you were to be a vegetable, what would you be?” A potato of course! What else is more versatile? And until like the onion, which also tends to multitask, the potato won’t make anyone at the office cry…

And it gets better. This Most Versatile Potato Salad accompanies pretty much everything from fish to chicken to red meat. It has no mayonnaise in it and once your potatoes are boiled it takes about five minutes to put together. What else do you want?

Oh I should also mention that this is a true Hungry Turk family recipe, so please cherish it, love it and pass it on! I have seen my grandfather make it, I have seen my mom make it and I am looking forward to pass the recipe onto the next generations!

The Most Versatile Potato Salad

Serves 6 as a side

 

5 large yellow-fleshed potatoes

½ bunch fresh Italian parsley, chopped

½ bunch fresh dill, chopped

4 scallions, finely chopped

2 tablespoons paprika (and more according to taste)

Juice of 1 lemon

1/3 cup olive oil

Salt to season

Wash and poke the potatoes a few times. Place them in a large pot of cold salted water and bring to a boil. Cook until the potatoes are tender, about 35 to 40 minutes. While your potatoes are cooking, prepare all your herbs.

Peel the potatoes while still hot. Be careful not to burn yourself but don’t let the potatoes get cold either (do not boil the potatoes peeled). Using a knife, roughly puree the potatoes and add the olive oil. You want “crumbled” potatoes not a silky puree consistency. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. Season with salt and more paprika according to taste and serve lukewarm. The salad is also good served cold.

Note: Be generous with the amounts of herbs you use, they really make the difference.

Ode to Eggplant

Oh Eggplant Eggplant,

Your purple makes me chant.

But why are you so bitter?

Don’t you like my descant?

 

You know I’ve always loved you,

Like a panda chewing bamboo,

So where is all that bitterness coming from?

Did I forget the corkscrew?

 

Is it because I ate all that sauerkraut?

If that’s so please don’t freak out,

Because I will have to lay you down in salt

To make all that bitter dark juice flow out.

 

Isn’t great, isn’t grand?

Don’t you just feel like in a dreamland?

Oh I love you Eggplant,

Even when you are so bland!

Eggplant Salad

Serves 4 to 6 as a side dish

 

4 medium size eggplants

2 large pieces of canned roasted red peppers, rinsed and diced

1 Roma tomato, deseeded and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

Juice of 1 lemon

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup Italian parsley, chopped

Poke a few wholes in the eggplants and roast them at 425°F (220°C) in the oven for about 40 minutes, until they collapse. If you can do this on a grill with real fire, it’s even better. Peel the skins off and puree them roughly with the help of a knife. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix well to combine. Serve chilled.

Note: If you have fresh red peppers available where you live roast/grill them as well. Unfortunately for me, the fresh ones are very hard to find in Montreal. That’s why I use the ones that come in jars.

Quino... What?

Quinoa.

Huh?

Ki-noh-ah

Come again?

…

That was pretty much my reaction the first time I heard about quinoa about three years ago. Native to the Andean region in South America, quinoa started showing up on the shelves of healthy food stores only a few years ago. And it’s healthy, alright. This tiny winy seed is one of the rare plant-based sources of complete protein, it is gluten free and it is loaded with fibres, magnesium and phosphorus. Despite, its grainy looks, quinoa is indeed a seed and belongs to the same family as the good old spinach and beet. During the period of the colonisation of South America, the Spanish favoured the cultivation of maize and potatoes over quinoa (due mostly to the seed’s spiritual stature among the natives and its bitter taste coming from the saponin coating) and that’s why quinoa didn’t make its world premier sooner.

I discovered quinoa right at the time when I was starting to get tired of my inability to cook rice. Now, don’t get me wrong. I know how to boil rice. But for some reason I haven’t quite mastered the art of cooking rice the Turkish way. And to be honest I’d rather not eat rice if it comes down to eating boiled rice. But more on that in a later post.

Back to quinoa.

It’s pretty fuss free to cook quinoa. The only important part is to rinse it well before cooking it to get rid of that bitter-tasting saponin coating (I invite you to Wikipedia what saponin is because my understanding of bio-chemistry is not quite up to the challenge of explaining it here). Then all you need to do is to boil it for about 20 minutes, or until the little seeds start opening up. If you want to be more fancy, you can first boil it for 10 minutes, rinse it under cold water and then steam it for another 10 minutes. This two-part method makes quinoa very fluffy.

I personally like quinoa served along with a stew or in a salad. Also, I tend to purchase both red and white quinoa and mix them together at home for a colourful combination. Here is a bon appétit recipe I made using black quinoa, which, because of its coarser texture, added a nice crunch to this summer salad!

Quinoa, Chickpea and Spinach salad

Serves 6 to 8 as a main dish

 

1½ black quinoa, rinsed (feel free to use any other type of quinoa if you can’t find the black one)

4 cups baby spinach leaves

1 19 oz (540ml) can of chickpeas, rinsed (those cans are packed with a lot of salt that you really don’t need)

1¾ cups English cucumber (the long ones) or 2 small cucumbers, cut into small cubes

1 1-pint container of cherry tomatoes, halved

1 cup fresh mint leaves, torn

1½ cup feta cheese, crumbled

¼ cup sherry vinegar

3 teaspoons smoked paprika

½ olive oil

Place the quinoa in a large pot of salted boiling water and cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes drain it in a sieve and rinse under cold running water. In the same pot, bring a few inches of water to a boil. Set the sieve with quinoa over the pot and covered it with a kitchen towel (or paper towel) and a lid. Steam quinoa until fluffy and dry (about 10 to 15 minutes). Transfer to into a bowl and let cool down.

In the mean time place the spinach, chickpeas, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, fresh mint and half of the feta cheese in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl combine the paprika, sherry vinegar and olive oil. Add the cooled down quinoa into the spinach mixture and pour the vinaigrette over. Mix until well combined (the salad should have a red hue). Place the remaining feta cheese on top and serve.

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!

Memories of Summers Past

Sometimes I envy Captain Kirk. Just a few words, “Beam me up, Scotty”, and he’s back in his comfort zone, the USS Enterprise. I do not possess the technology available to Captain Kirk, as a matter of fact not even a plane ticket, but I do have my very own transporter: food!

Last week, I made a dish called batırık, which instantaneously beamed me to Anamur, where I spent most of my summers as a child.

Each morning, after breakfast I would head to the beach to meet my friends. We’d play in the water until either our lips turned purple and our fingertips wrinkled, or I saw my grandmother hanging off her balcony calling me in for lunch. After lunch, I would either help my grandmother with household chores (I loved doing laundry, don't ask why) or take a nap. Besides, you had to be out of your mind to be on the beach or anywhere outdoors between 1pm and 4pm (unless you were a tourist keen to work on that lobster tan).

Around 5pm my grandfather would make his way to the kitchen to prepare tea. No day went by without the 5 o’clock tea. My grandmother would usually fix something to eat, sometimes a cake, sometimes a cheese roll, and sometimes the famed batırık! I always knew that batırık was in the works when I heard my grandfather pounding the walnuts in the brass mortar. The whole front part of the apartment would resonate… bam bam bam!

After teatime I would go out again to play. My friends and I would usually hang out at a playground near the apartment building or cause trouble in its close vicinity. Some days I would head back to the beach with my grandmother around 7pm. By that time the waves would have calmed down and the beach would be pretty much deserted.  A few days a week we would go for a digestive walk after dinner and get the Kahramanmaraş style sticky ice cream. I loved it (and still do). Because of the salep (flour made out of the root of Early Purple Orchid) and mastic used in its preparation, this ice cream is much harder in texture and stickier than the conventional ice cream. The best way to eat it is to bite it. Of course, those with sensitive teeth should not try this at home!

My days in Anamur were pretty monotone… eat, play and sleep. But Anamur was also the place where I was let loose completely and where I was as happy as I could be. Thanks to this low-key coastal town, I had an extended childhood, using the word “play” without hesitation past the age of 12.

Batırık

Batırık is native of the eastern Mediterranean region of Turkey where both my maternal grandparents come from. In Anamur, my grandmother’s hometown, the dish is made with sesame seeds and peanuts, while in Ermenek, where my grandfather is from, walnuts are used instead. My grandparents almost always made it with walnuts but I do have a vague memory of sesame and peanut taste in my head as well. Batırık is more a teatime dish and is especially popular at women’s gatherings. Some people squeeze the water out of it and serve it in bite-sized pieces, but I personally prefer it as almost a soup, served with a few ice cubes, blanched white cabbage and chopped cucumbers. It’s very refreshing and surprisingly filling because of the main ingredient, couscous. The key part in batırık’s preparation is to use a mortar and pestle. I’ve seen some recipes that instruct to use a robot to turn the walnuts (or the sesame seeds and peanuts) into a paste. But this method doesn't let the oil from the nuts to develop and mix into the dish. Also, a lot of people use pepper paste to add a bit of spice and extra colour. I have never seen my grandparents use it, as they were not very keen on heat in food, so I have not used it here. For the extra colour, just use loads of tomatoes.

Serves 6-8 as a teatime snack or 4-6 as a light meal

1 cup medium couscous (called düğürcük in Turkish)

6-8 ripe tomatoes, grated

1 medium onion, grated

1 ½ cup Italian parsley, finely chopped

1 ½ tablespoon mild paprika

1 tablespoon red pepper paste (optional)

2 cups walnuts, lightly roasted and turned into a paste with a mortar and pestle

1 medium white cabbage, roughly chopped and blanched

½ English cucumber, cut into ½ inch pieces

Lemon juice

Mix all the ingredients except the cabbage and cucumber in a large bowl. Combine well (use your hands  to lightly knead it) and set aside for at least 30 minutes. The couscous will absorb the juices from the grated vegetables, swell and soften. Add more paprika if so desired (don’t salt the batırık until it is served individually). Put 4 or 5 spoonfuls in individual serving bowls and add just enough cold water to obtain a very thick soup. Top up with a few ice cubes, and serve with the blanched cabbage, cucumbers and lemon juice as desired.

Sugar Daddy

Ah, it’s June; summer is here! If you haven’t done so yet, it’s time to put your winter coat away and sweep the dirt off your patio (if you live in Belgium, you’re lucky: the constant rain doesn’t let the dust settle in). Once your chores are done, you find yourself rushing out of the door to get your hands on this season’s latest creation, the one that you have been waiting for the whole winter: the venti caramel Frappuccino topped with cream, chocolate chips and fudge.

Isn’t it grand? Isn’t it great?

Not quite, really. 

When did all this happen? Did we always need our hourly sugar rush? Maybe it’s a cultural thing. Or maybe it isn’t (Starbucks and similar joints are popping up at every street corner in major Turkish cities). The Frappuccino is an extreme example, as all that caramel, chocolate and fudge automatically translate into sugar (and a lot of fat!), but what about all these drinks? Isn’t a green tea supposed to be somewhat healthy? And besides, isn’t green tea traditionally drunk without sugar?

Maybe we just got lazy. We no longer bother read labels on products, let alone make our own tea. Because something is liquid, it doesn’t mean that it is not harmful.

Growing up in Turkey, the fanciest thing I got to drink during summer was my grandma’s iced tea. Pretty simple: black tea, lemon, mint, ice and a little bit of sugar, if you so desire.  

Are you a caffeine-junky? Then go for a home made iced-coffee. It’s not rocket science. All you need is coffee, ice and milk (optional). You barely need any sugar. You can serve it on the rocks (as pictured here) or buzz everything in a blender for a creamier texture.

If you really need sugar circulating in your blood stream, go for fruits. They are packed with sugar. At least this way, you will also get some fibres and vitamins. Last week I made three different combinations:

- pineapple, lime, mint and ice;

- frozen strawberries and watermelon; and

- kiwifruit and honeydew melon.

I don’t use measurements for these, so go with the flow. Befriend a blender and try different fruit combinations. Don’t hesitate to use fresh herbs and a refreshing squish of limejuice here and there... 

And if you are keen on having a drink on the go… buy a thermos!! 

Pasta Day - Ciao da Bruxelles!

I moved to Brussels with my mom in 1996, at the tender age of 14. Landing in this small, slow and quiet city was not the easiest, especially coming from Istanbul. On our first day, a Sunday, my mom and I went out to explore the city, trying to calm ourselves down after such a huge change in our lives. We saw a total of 10 people on the streets on our way to the nearest metro station (which was a good 15 minutes walk away). In our total ignorance, we got off the metro at Maelbeek, in the middle of all the European institutions. When we got out of the station we were in shock. There was no one, absolutely no one… anywhere. We were on  Rue de la Loi, the second grimmest boulevard in Brussels after Rue Belliard (which happens to be parallel to Rue de la Loi). Everything was so grey. The sky (no surprise there), the boulevard, the buildings… We for sure did not get a pompous welcoming procession that day.

After that initial trauma, my mom really pushed for the two of us to explore our new city as much as possible and learn to appreciate it. On one such outing, we decided to visit the renowned Belgian Comic Strip Center. After all, some of the most famous comic strip characters had Belgian passports: Tintin, Lucky Luke, the Smurfs, Asterix etc.

However, our journey didn’t turn out to be what we expected. We had some directional problems. In Turkey, when you need directions to go from point A to point B, you’re not simply given an address and look it up on a map (I’m speaking of the pre-Google maps era, though with constantly changing street names and new neighbourhoods popping up everywhere, I don’t think much has changed). You’re given very thorough directions, which include groceries stores, street sellers, building sites and even big rocks. So my mom and I weren’t quite used to the idea of using a map. We knew more or less the direction in which we were supposed to go and set off.

Bad idea.

After an hour circling in Brussels city center area, we gave up and decided to satisfy our hunger first. We dived into a small restaurant located next to the Opera House (La Monnaie) called L'Intermezzo. It had one big central table that could sit about 10 to 12 people, and another 10 or so tables along the walls.  You could see into the kitchen through a little opening on the back wall. An Italian family ran the restaurant. Apart from a few appetizers, including Parma ham and bruschetta, the whole menu consisted of about 10 different kinds of pasta. I ordered the “rigatoni ai funghi”. I was in heaven. I had never not eaten anything like that before that day and I haven’t since. The mushrooms were hidden in a cream of tomato sauce that was subtly flavoured by fresh tarragon leaves and the rigatoni was cooked perfectly al dante.

14 years have passed since our first visit there and L'Intermezzo has seen me grow up. Over the years the friendly service and the delicious food have not changed a bit. The restaurant had a big face lift a few years ago, but the set up, with the big central table, remains the same. I still devour a Parma ham appetizer and the rigatoni ai funghi all on my own. But I do have to negotiate my right to a tiramisu with Massimo, the waiter and the unofficial sommelier (the wines at Intermezzo are worth the try).

That day, in 1996, we left L'Intermezzo with complete satisfaction, and even managed to get some directions to the Comic Strip Center. But I guess the Comic Strip Center was never really our priority. To date, my mom still hasn’t been there!!

Rigatoni ai Funghi

Serves 4

This is my version of my favourite Intermezzo dish. I can never even pretend to beat the perfection of the ladies in the L'Intermezzo kitchen, but this turned out to be pretty good as well.

 

1 pack rigatoni (500gr)

5 ripe tomatoes, grated

1 ½ cup cooking cream (I used 15% but you can use a lighter version)

A handful of fresh tarragon leaves, torn

15 or so white button mushrooms, bottoms removed and sliced

Extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese, finely grated

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to season

Mash the grated tomatoes through a fine strainer and discard the solids. In a medium bowl mix the cream, tomato juice and tarragon leaves. Add some freshly ground black pepper. Set aside.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add your rigatoni and cook until al dante. In the mean time heat some olive oil in a large skillet (it should be large enough to contain your pasta) and cook the mushrooms for about 5 minutes. Pay attention not to brown the mushrooms. Add the tomato and cream mixture and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the Parmesan cheese, mix well. Increase the heat to high and cook for another minute. This will reduce the sauce. Season it according to your taste with salt and black pepper. By this time your pasta should be cooked as well. Drain the pasta and add it to your sauce. Mix everything on the skillet and serve, making sure to drizzle a few extra spoonfuls of sauce on everyone’s pasta!

Buon appetito!

Runner's Delight

I may be a novice runner but I learned pretty fast that I have to load myself with carbohydrates before my long runs to have enough energy. And what a better way to do it than with pasta? Apart from staying in shape, meeting new people and contributing to a great cause, this whole running experience has encouraged me to try out different pasta recipes. A win-win situation really!

This past weekend was a perfect example of my pasta binging: Pasta on Thursday, pasta on Friday, pasta on Saturday and on Sunday… half-marathon in Ottawa. All that pasta must have done its magic because I ran like the wind. Well, my own little breeze. I beat my personal record and it was all smiles for two hours and twenty minutes.

In honour of the wonder food that got me to the finish line, every weekend The Hungry Turk will feature a new pasta recipe. All comments are welcome and if you have your own favourite pasta recipe that you would like to share please let me know. I’m sure I will need fresh ideas pretty soon.

I’ll start off with this simple yet delicious recipe that my mom used to make. To be honest my memories of it were quite blurry at the start. All I could remember was the intense olive taste. So here is what I came up with. Loaded with green olives and tomatoes, this recipe is perfect for a casual summer dinner party among friends.

Enjoy!!!

 

Pasta Bake with Olives and Tomatoes

Serves 6

 

1 pack of spaghetti (500gr)

1 cup green olives, washed, pitted and sliced (I use olives that are already pitted and sliced, which makes this recipe very easy to prepare. Make sure to wash them to get rid of the extra salt.)

1 garlic clove, sliced thinly

6-7 ripe Roma tomatoes, sliced thickly

1½ cup grated cheese (e.g. mild cheddar, gruyere, aged mozzarella)

Extra-virgin olive oil

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and add your pasta to cook. For this recipe you’re allowed to cook your pasta a little more than al dente. In the mean time, heat some olive oil on a medium pan and add the garlic. Cook the garlic until golden and add the olives. Stir for 4 to 5 minutes, and put aside. Once your spaghetti is cooked, drain it, transfer it back to the pot and toss is it with some more olive oil. Transfer half of the pasta to an appropriately sized baking tray. Layer half of the sliced tomatoes and top it up with all the olives. Add the remaining past. Layer the rest of the tomatoes and cover with grated cheese. Bake in an oven heated at 400°F (200°C) for about 20 minutes, until the top is golden.

I can’t wait until next weekend!!

Easy Pea-sy

With mercury hovering above seasonal averages, all I want to eat are cool light meals. Of course eating a Caesar salad every day is not the healthiest option, though I seem to have developed an addiction for it lately.

A great alternative is to make legume salads. They are low maintenance, usually don’t take too long to prepare and can be served cold. They are also packed with all sorts of nutrients from proteins to fibres.

Here is a very easy chickpea salad recipe for your hot summer day dinner. Enjoy!!!

 

Chickpea salad with tomatoes and feta cheese

Serves 6

 

1 28oz (or two 19oz) canned chickpeas, drained and washed under running water

2 ripe Roma tomatoes, diced

1 shallot, cut in two and sliced lengthwise

1 cup feta cheese, roughly chopped

Handful of fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

Extra virgin olive oil (I use it very abundantly, about 5 tablespoons, adjust it according to your taste)

In a large bowl, mash about a quarter of the chickpeas. Add the lemon juice and olive oil. Add the tomatoes, shallots, mint, feta cheese and the remaining chickpeas. Combine well. Taste and adjust the olive oil and lemon according to your taste. Chill for at least 30 minutes to let the flavours to develop. Transfer to a clean bowl before serving.

Yum yum!!!

PS: I should mention that this is a Jamie Oliver recipe. I saw my mom make it and assumed it was hers. My bad.

Silence is Golden

If you're wondering why The Hungry Turk has been silent for the past week, it's because I have been busy in test kitchen. I do have quality standards, you know, I can't just put any odd recipe out there. I can guarantee you, however, that the wait will be well worth it!

Patience, patience, great stories are brewing up for your hungry eyes.

Çikın Pay

When I was in first year of undergraduate, there were many reasons why I looked forward to going back home. Sleeping in my own bed (my comfortable bed), not having to sanitize the whole bathroom before I went in, having clean dishes when I needed them and knowing that they were not used in some nasty dorm experiment, and the chicken pie. Yes, the chicken pie.

There was a set menu. It never failed. The first night was unmistakably chicken noodle soup and a steak. (I don’t know how I did without eating red meat in the UK for over a year. After a while I gave up, in defeat, and dug in. If mad cow were to get me, I’d get it back).

The chicken noodle soup was the precursor for next day’s meal: the chicken pie.

My mom knew. They all do.

 

Chicken pie is actually an oxymoron, because it has no pie in it. It’s more like a chicken hot pot. The only difference from the usual chicken hot pot is that this one is the mother of all chicken hot pots. No jokes.

Now, I know that there are some people out there who are already smiling because the chicken pie goes way back, and they were there when it all started. Those two words were the first English words that my childhood partner-in-crime and myself learned: Çikın pay.

According to family gossip, my mom got this recipe from my grandfather, who had spent time in the US as a student from the mid-1940s to early 1950s. As a young and hungry man, he had to provide for himself and learned how to cook the American way. Along with stuffed roast turkey, his pool of recipes included a dish called “chicken à la king”, which actually has pieces of white bread in it. I think chicken pie is my mom’s interpretation of this famous “chicken à la king”. But in my books, chicken pie remains the king.

It’s a foolproof way of making kids eat their peas, literally. It has chicken (duh), peas, carrots, potatoes, mushrooms and béchamel sauce. Topped with cheese, it’s every kid’s dream. At least, it was ours.

Here is the famed chicken pie recipe for your Mothers’ Day lunch.

 

Oh I forgot the most important reason: I missed my mom.

Happy Mothers’ Day!

 

Chicken Pie

Serves 8

 

1 whole happy chicken, poached & stock reserved

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

4 tablespoons plain flour

1½  cups hot milk

2 medium potatoes, diced

1 big or two medium carrots, diced

1½ cup green peas

10 button mushrooms, diced

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

1½ cup grated cheese (e.g. mild cheddar, gruyere, aged mozzarella)

Wash and pat dry your chicken (make sure to take the giblets out). Put it in a large stockpot and cover with cold water up to two-thirds. Cover and bring to a boil. Once the water starts boiling, turn the heat down to low and let simmer for about 30 minutes. Turn the heat off completely and let the chicken cool down in the pot while you’re preparing the rest.

Make the béchamel. This is the part that requires strong will and muscle power. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Once the butter is melted, add the flour and keep stirring (preferably with a wooden spoon) until well combined. It’s ok if the mixture crumbles. Add the first ladle of hot milk and keep stirring. Add the next ladle of milk once the first one has been absorbed completely. Keep adding ladlefuls of milk, stirring continuously and allowing each ladleful to be absorbed completely. By now you should have a very thick sauce. The aim is to have a creamy sauce. This requires about 2 cups of liquid. Make up the rest of the liquid with the chicken stock that you reserved from your poached chicken (you can freeze the rest of the chicken stock for a later use). Season with salt and pepper and keep your béchamel warm on very low hit.

Boil/steam your veggies. First put the potatoes and the carrots. A few minutes later add the mushrooms and finally the peas. Let the vegetables cook until the potatoes and carrots are tender and set aside. I personally use frozen peas and carrots (there is actually a very handy carrot and pea mix in stores).

Now, the dirty part. Shred your chicken to the bone. I know it sounds cruel, but that’s the way it’s done. Use your hands, because you want every piece of meat, no skin. From a medium size chicken you should be able to get about 3 cups of meat, if not more

Add the veggies and chicken pieces into the béchamel sauce and give it a good stir. Taste, and season if necessary. Pour the mixture in a large glass or ceramic dish and top with grated cheese. Put the pan in the oven and cook at 400°F (200°C) until the cheese turns golden, about 20 minutes.

The chicken pies goes very well with rice.

Aaaah…

Growing Pains: Olive Oil

When I got the idea for this post, I pictured rivers of olive oil running throughout Turkey with nymphs bathing in them. After all, not only everyone I knew in Turkey used olive oil for cooking, but our men, the bravest among all men, rubbed it all over themselves before practicing Turkey’s national sport: oil wrestling. 

After some research, however, I discovered that there were neither nymphs nor mystical rivers.

And I guess I didn’t know that many people in Turkey.

All that I was left with were the manly men drenched in olive oil.

According to the Cambridge World History of Food, the domestic cultivation of olive trees started 5,000 to 6,000 years ago on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean basin. Olives quickly gained a reputation as the most productive source of oil and their cultivation spread throughout the region during the Bronze Age. It is also during this period that the island of Crete became the most important center of olive oil production.

During the Iron Age it was the Estruscans who imported olive oil production techniques into Italy, and the Phoenicians transferred their know-how towards North Africa and the Iberian Peninsula. Fast-forward to the Roman Empire, and you could find olive oil in Gaul (France). And thanks to first the Portuguese in the 15^th century and then to the Spanish in the 16^th, olive oil became a global commodity, from India to South America.

What did the Turks do during all this commotion? Zilch!

Now I am going to bore you with some statistics but my economist brain cannot do without them (and besides, they are pretty interesting). According to the latest estimates from the International Olive Oil Council (IOOC), with 5% of world’s olive oil production, Turkey ranks fifth after Syria (Spaniards bring home the trophy with 42% of world’s olive oil production). So Turkey produces olive oil alright.

This is the excruciating part. Turks consume about 3% of world’s olive oil. With Turkey’s relatively large population in mind, this corresponds to a bare 1.2 kg of olive oil per capita. Compare this to the world’s biggest olive oil junkies, the Greeks, who, I don’t know how, “drink” almost 25 kg of the liquid gold per year.

Lamentable!

Considering that Turks are originally from the steppes of Central Asia and that they started settling in Asia Minor (present day Turkey) only at the end of the 11^th century AD, this should not come as a huge surprise. As nomadic peoples, they had to rely on butter and mutton fat for their cooking. This is also why, according to Stephane Yerasimos, olive oil (along with fish) didn’t feature much in the classical Ottoman cuisine.

Influenced by the indigenous Greek and Roman populations, much of Turkey’s present day olive oil tradition is concentrated in the Aegean and Marmara regions (86% of total production). The most renowned type of Turkish olive oil also comes from this region, from the olive groves surrounding the village of Ayvalık. There is some olive oil produced in the Mediterranean region as well, but competition for land from other agricultural products such as citrus fruit and bananas is fierce in this part of Turkey, and the poor olive tree is not given first priority (IOOC report on Turkey).

In western Turkey the group of dishes called zeytinyağlılar constitutes an everyday staple. These are vegetables cooked in olive oil. As they are served cold, they are very refreshing, especially in hot summer days. Also they offer a great alternative to those who have had enough of eating steamed greens. The onions and tomatoes that are at the base of most of these dishes give the good old veggies a more palatable taste. Many vegetables and legumes are cooked in this manner, from fava beans to eggplants. The Hungry Turk aims to feature as many as these dishes as possible. To start off the olive oil saga, here are two dishes that I cook often at home.

 

Zeytinyağlı fasulye (Green beans in olive oil)

Serves 4 as a side (or if you’re my boyfriend serves one as a main dish)

 

500 gr green beans, extremities cut off (In Turkey mostly runner beans are use for this dish, but they are harder to find abroad, especially in North America. If you are using runner beans you should also take off the strings otherwise they will get stuck in your throat).

1 medium size onion, diced

4 ripe tomatoes, diced (Those in North America, use Roma tomatoes. They are meatier and ripen well off the vine.)

1 carrot (optional), diced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

½ cup hot water

Italian parsley, roughly chopped, to decorate

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-based medium pot. Add the diced onions and cook them until they turn yellowish (do not brown them). Add the carrots, if using, and cook for a few minutes. Add tomatoes and green beans. Pour in the hot water and add the salt. Lower heat to medium-low and cook, with the lid closed, until the beans are tender (but not mushy). Turn off the heat and pour your beans in a ceramic or glass serving dish. Wait until they cool off completely and place the dish in the fridge, covered. Chill for an hour or so. Once chilled, drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on the beans and decorate with parsley.

Zeytinyağlı kabak (Zucchinis in olive oil)

Serves 4 as a side (the above boyfriend note applies here too)

 

2 or 3 zucchinis, peeled zebra-like and cut into round slices (not too thin)

1 medium size onion, halved and sliced thinly lengthwise

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and cut into quarters

4 ripe tomatoes, diced (Those in North America, use Roma tomatoes. They are meatier and ripen well off the vine.)

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon sugar

½ cup hot water

Dill, roughly chopped, to decorate

Heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy-based medium pot. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes (pay attention not to brown them). Add the sliced onions and cook them until they turn yellowish. Add tomatoes and zucchinis. Pour in the hot water and add salt and sugar. Lower heat to medium-low and cook, with the lid closed, until the zucchinis are tender (but not mushy). Turn off the heat and pour your zucchinis in a ceramic or glass serving dish. Wait until they cool off completely and place the dish in the fridge, covered. Chill for an hour or so. Once chilled, drizzle the remaining tablespoon of olive oil on the zucchinis and decorate with dill.

Enjoy!

Happy Birthday!

I have been living abroad since 1996. First in Belgium, then in the UK, back again in Belgium, and now in Canada, after a little detour via South Africa. Throughout this journey I have met many wonderful people, seen places as exotic as Honolulu and Coventry (I dare you to challenge Coventry’s exoticism) and eaten a lot. If I were given another chance to start it all over again, I don’t think I would change much, except for adding a few more destinations.

But living abroad comes with a price tag: being away from my family. Over the past 14 years I have missed numerous family celebrations and some not so pleasant moments where my family needed my support.

This weekend is yet another example: birthdays, two of them! And even if I were in Turkey, I would still be missing one! Global trotting is not making my life easy.

So I decided to throw a double birthday party here on The Hungry Turk for my dad and my uncle who lives in Chicago!

Happy Birthday to you both! Here is to many more happy and healthy years...

  


Amazing Chocolate Mosaic Cake for My Dad

I got this recipe a few years ago from a friend of my mom’s in exchange for a lemon cheesecake recipe. It combines two of my childhood (and present day) favourites: dark chocolate and petit beurre biscuits (also called social tea biscuits). My grandma always had a stack of these biscuits stored in her cabinet and I would tear through them like a little monster, dunking them in tea.

The cake is easy to prepare and stores well in the freezer, making it a great solution for unexpected guest raids. My skill level only allows for a round shape. If you feel craftier, you can make a triangle, or even go for a star (I would love to see that!). Also you can add some colours by adding pistachios and dried fruits (cranberries would be great) to the mixture. However, you should take out some of the biscuit out (about a quarter) to make space for the additional ingredients.

Makes for 3 x 4 people

2 sticks (225 gr.) unsalted butter

½ cup (125 gr.) icing sugar

3 tablespoons cacao powder (more if you like a denser chocolate taste)

3 eggs at room temperature

2 cups (500 gr.) roughly cut petit beurre biscuits (don’t over crumble them)

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan on low heat. Add the icing sugar and cacao, and cook until thoroughly dissolved. Beat the eggs in a small bowl. While stirring continuously, add the eggs slowly into the cacao mixture. The resulting batter will thicken very quickly. Cook for another minute and remove from heat. Make sure to stir continuously otherwise you will get chocolate scrambled eggs, which is not desirable!

Let the mixture cool down completely and add the crumbled biscuits. Mix well. The mixture is not supposed to be holding together like a dough. Divide it into three separate bowls. Cut out a 15-inch piece of saran wrap (plastic wrap) and pour the content of one bowl on it. Roll the chocolaty biscuit mixture like a log in saran wrap and put it in the freezer. Repeat it for the content of the two other bowls.

The logs will keep for a month or so in the freezer. You don’t need to defrost them before serving (they don’t get rock hard).

 

Tangy Apricot Yogurt Cake for My Uncle

Yogurt and apricots, it couldn’t get more Turkish than this. The Hungry Turk will feature a yogurt-dedicated post in the near future but let me tell you now that yogurt is big in Turkey. Very big. It’s not just an accompaniment or a health choice (have you eaten your friendly bacteria today?) but it’s part of everyday life. You want to cool down? Have a yogurt drink (ayran). Your baby is starting to eat solid foods? Feed him/her yogurt and rice. You’ve got a sunburn? Yogurt!

And apricots... According to statistics from the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO), Turkey is the number one producer of apricots in the world by far. So no surprise that a large majority of the dried apricots displayed at your local grocery store are from Turkey.

For this recipe, I got some inspiration from Greg and Lucy Malouf’s cookbook Turquoise. In collaboration with his former wife, Chef Greg Malouf takes on the Turkish cuisine with a pinch of Middle Eastern influence and brings to it a contemporary edge. The great thing about Turquoise is that it is not just a cookbook. It is a collection of well-juxtaposed travel writing, photography and culinary exploration.

The original recipe calls for the use of sultanas and sherry but I had neither in my pantry, and opted for apricots and golden rum instead.

Serves 6-8 people

¼ cup dried apricots, cut into small pieces

Golden rum

5 eggs, separated

⅓ cup super fine sugar

⅓ cup plain flour

2 tablespoons honey

2 cups thick yogurt (sold as Greek-style yogurt in grocery stores)

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

Preheat the oven at 350°F (175°C). Grease lightly an 8-inch (20cm) springform cake pan with olive oil.

In a small bowl soak the apricots in rum for about 20 minutes. Drain half the rum and cook the apricots with the remaining rum in a small pan over medium-high heat. This brings out the sweetness in apricots and gets rid of the alcohol taste. Once all the alcohol has evaporated, turn off the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the egg yolks, honey and sugar with a handheld mixer. Once well mixed, add the apricots, olive oil, lemon juice and zest, flour and yogurt, beating until well combined.

Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff and fold them gently into the batter. Pour the batter in the cake pan and bake for 50-60 minutes.

Once the cake is cooked, remove the pan from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Then with the help of a knife loosen the sides of the cake from the pan and open the pan. Let the cake cool down completely before serving.

Long Live Jamie!

I’m sure that I am not the only foodie with an absolute crush on Jamie Oliver. He is an inspiration to many not only because his cooking tastes and looks beautiful, but also because it is so simple to recreate at home. His passion for food is so genuine and contagious that, after reading one of his recipes or watching one of his TV shows, you want to jump into the kitchen even if it is just to crack an egg. And, oh, he also has a wicked British accent (and yes, after a few years living in North America, it sounds like the most exotic thing in the world).

Last week, during a rare occasion when my usually suppressed sweet tooth gene decided to act like an alpha male, I started to crave dessert. My dinner HAD to have a dessert component in it. After flicking through a few cookbooks, I ended up going back to my much-trusted Jamie collection and settled for the “Lovely Lemon Curdy Pud” (from Happy Days with the Naked Chef). Unfortunately the first trial didn’t go too well. The light lemony taste was there but the texture was a miss (too liquid). Determined to get it right, I tried it again during the week with a few measurement adjustments. And bingo! Total satisfaction!

I think this recipe is great for both a casual weekday dinner and guests. It takes about 5 minutes to put together. You can start preparing the batter as your guests arrive, put it in the oven just before you sit at the table and forget about it. You will only have to get up towards the end of your dinner to get the the dish out of the oven and let it cool down just a little bit. Delicious served on its own. 

Lemon pudding à la Jamie Oliver

Serves 6

¼ cup (¼ stick) unsalted butter, softened

⅓ cup sugar (I used organic golden sugar)

Grated zest and juice of 1 lemon

2 large eggs, separated

6½ generous tablespoons plain white flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup and a tiny less milk (about 250ml)

½ teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)

Note: You can use 6½ tablespoons self-rising flour and scrap the baking powder

 

Preheat your over at 400°F (200°C). Butter a ceramic pie dish (or a Pyrex one).

In a small bowl whisk together flour and baking powder. In a separate medium bowl, beat together softened butter, lemon zest and sugar with a handheld mixer at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in egg yolks on at a time until blended. Add flour mixture in two batches, alternating with the milk, and beating until well combined after each (this avoids unnecessary splatters).

Whisk egg whites in a separate bowl until stiff and fold them gently in batter. Pour batter in your buttered pie dish. Place the dish in a roasting pan about one third full of water and bake for about 45 minutes (this induces even cooking and avoids the pudding from cracking from top).

You can keep the leftovers covered in the fridge for a few days. Re-heat before serving.

Bon appétit!

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.

It's Complicated

I love food; there is no doubt about it. And the Turkish cuisine is my temple, the guiding principle to everything I cook. But when it comes to talk about it with non-Turkish people I get all baffled. The question “what’s Turkish cuisine like?” causes short circuit after short circuit in my delicate brain.

There is a Turkish word, however, that sums it all up: “keyif”. Zargan translates it into “pleasure of life”. If you were to visualize it, imagine sitting on a sunny patio in a mid-June afternoon. You’re sipping on a light beer, having home-style potato chips and catching up with your best buddy. That’s keyif, and that’s what the Turkish cuisine tries to recreate over and over again.

Turkey is divided into seven regions (Marmara, Aegean, Mediterranean, Black Sea, Central Anatolia, Eastern Anatolia and Southeastern Anatolia) and there are in total 81 cities. Needless to say, the cuisine varies from region to region, from city to city and well, really from household to household.

In my family a typical dinner table consists of a protein (mostly red meat cooked together with vegetables), a starch (usually rice), one or two vegetarian dishes (either vegetables or legumes cooked in olive oil), a green salad and bread, loads of it! Dessert can consist of a variety of things but fruits are almost always there, not cooked in any way, just as fruits (here grandmothers come in handy in the peeling process).

And that’s just my family. Go to eastern Turkey and meat will weigh more heavily on the table (the famous kebabs; kebabs in an accentuated plural). In the Aegean region, anything that contains olive oil is king. If you decide to visit a “meyhane” in Istanbul (the ultimate Turkish drinking and eating experience: good luck to anyone who tries to remember their name for the rest of the night), you will not only encounter a variety of “mezes” but also all sorts of red meat, fish and the most sought after delicacies: brain, kidney, liver etc. prepared in a variety of ways.

The Turkish palate goes beyond what the West knows as “döner kebab”. It is a pity that a blandly cooked piece of meat served with all sorts of absurd sauces (Hawaiian?!?) should symbolise the historically and geographically rich eating culture of a country of over 70 million  inhabitants. In order to shed more light on the complexities of the Turkish cuisine, the Hungry Turk will have dedicated posts on types of dishes, regional specialties and family traditions.

In the meantime, practice on your “keyif” and take advantage of the beautiful spring weather.

The Essence of It All

I am where it all started. Here my palate doesn't need nouvelle cuisine or molecular extravaganza to be satisfied. Here tastes explode without warning at every street corner and I worry, I really do, that I won't have time to experience it all...

Here is Istanbul and I am the Hungry Turk.