Showing posts with label Turkish Flavours. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Turkish Flavours. Show all posts

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Boreks

These are Turkish pastries, light and crunchy stuffed with any number of fillings. The pastry, called ‘Tufka’ is similar to phyllo, just not quite as delicate, and can be bought at Middle Eastern markets. If you can’t find Tufka, substitute two sheets of phyllo per borek.









Mince Filling
There is some synergy that occurs when beef, lamb, cumin and oregano are mixed—no one flavour stands out, rather they all meld into one of the most delicious, savoury tastes this side of Istanbul.

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 small onion, chopped (red, white, yellow—whatever you got)
2 cloves garlic, minced
250 grams, 8-9 oz minced (ground) beef
250 grams 8-9 oz minced (ground) lamb 
1 heaping teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
A handful of chopped, fresh parsley

Place a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, pour in the vegetable oil and allow to heat up. Add in the onion and garlic and sauté until translucent, then add in the beef and lamb. Sauté the meat until it is just cooked, then drain off all fat, return the meat to the pan, add in the seasoning (except parsley) and continue to sauté and brown the meat.  Once done, remove from heat and toss in the parsley. Allow to cool completely before stuffing.
Enough for about 16-20 boreks

Cheese Filling
I love that feta is at once salty and slightly sour. This makes a tasty hors d’eouvre for vegetarians as well as carnivores.

2 blocks (200 grams/7 oz. each) Feta, crumbled tiny
Loads of freshly cracked black pepper
½ teaspoon dried dill weed
6-8 thin green onions, trimmed and sliced thin
1 scant teaspoon sweet paprika or hot paprika, for spice
2 handfuls of freshly chopped parsley
2 eggs, beaten

Mix everything together until relatively smooth. Stash in the refrigerator until ready to use. Enough filling for about 16-20 boreks.

To Roll
Have 40 Tufka triangles at the ready. Alternatively, use 80 phyllo triangles. Keep either type pastry, under a very lightly dampened cloth to prevent drying out.


Spread 1-2 tablespoons filling along the bottom of the wide end of the triangle...








Fold the sides in...











and roll into a cigar shape. Repeat with the rest.




Place boreks snugly on a baking tray and brush with more melted butter. Scatter sesame seeds on top, if you like.
Bake until golden, about 15 minutes. Serve hot or warm.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Chicken Gyros

I missed the chicken gyros that I used to get at the North Market in Columbus so much that I set out to recreate them at home. It is actually not very hard; it’s just a two step process, so allow yourself time. They are delicious!! And great to serve to friends because most of the work is done ahead of time.

1 large shallot
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts (you can use ground chicken if you like)
2 tablespoon freshly, chopped parsley
2 tablespoons freshly chopped chives
Garlic powder, approximately 1-2 teaspoons
½ to ¾ teaspoon dry oregano
½ to ¾ teaspoon dry thyme
1 teaspoon salt (more or less to your taste)
1 teaspoon cracked pepper

Place shallot into the work bowl of a food processor and chop until very small. Add in the chicken breasts and process until pretty smooth. Then add in all the rest of the ingredients and process just to incorporate.

Pre-heat the oven to 200C or 400F. Take a teaspoon of the mixture and microwave it for 30 seconds, then taste it to make sure that the seasoning is how you want it. It should be very full-flavoured. Adjust seasoning if needed.

Spray a meatloaf pan with non-stick spray, or rub with oil. Spoon the chicken mixture in, cover with tin foil and bake in a hot oven for 30 minutes. You will be cooking this again, so don’t worry if it seems like not long enough cooking time.

Remove from the oven, drain and wrap it in foil. Place it back into the loaf pan and stick a brick or some heavy cans on the chicken loaf, in the pan. Allow it to cool completely in the refrigerator while weighted-- this will take a few hours but can be made the night before. This step will achieve the proper texture of the gyro.

When you are ready to eat: unwrap the chicken loaf, slice very thin slices and sauté over medium high heat in a bit of oil. This is to heat them through, crisp them up and get them tasty!!

Serve in wraps or pita bread with Tahini dressing (recipe follows) and (what is really good) layering the meat with coleslaw-- if you haven’t got any, use tons of fresh veg, like cucumbers, tomatoes, lettuce and onions.

Tahini Dressing
1 small container plain, fat free yogurt
2 tablespoons tahini paste
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
A good pinch of salt

Mix everything together, taste for seasoning and lemon juice, re-season if necessary and save in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Lemon and Garlic Marinade

This is a really simple marinade that I did last night for mixed kabobs of beef and lamb. I grilled them and served them on top of crisp, mixed greens with a plain, minted yogurt dressing and fresh, spicy olive focaccia. It was a perfect Friday night supper.

Marinade
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
¼ cup vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves, slightly bruised or chopped

Whisk everything together in a bowl or blitz in a small food processor. Pour over meat of choice and marinate in the refrigerator. For beef or lamb marinate at least 2 hours but up to 6. For chicken, minimum 1 hour, maximum three. For seafood, minimum 30 minutes, max 1 hour.

When ready to grill, dab the marinade off of the meat (it can cause flare-ups from the flames that will char the meat), salt and pepper the meat liberally and grill to your liking. Serve hot!

Enough to marinate roughly 1 and 1/2 pounds meat

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Grilled Boneless Leg of Lamb

This is delicious~ Crunchy and slightly charred on the outside, tender and juicy inside. It needs the 24 hours of marinating time to achieve the full flavor.

Marinade
5 fresh sage leaves
1 large sprig fresh rosemary, leaves stripped off
3 twigs fresh thyme, leaves stripped off
4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
Juice of half a juicy lemon
Several grind of fresh cracked black pepper
½ cup oil (veg or olive oil)

2 to 2 and ½ pound (1.25 kg) boneless leg of lamb, flat (not rolled)
Sea salt

1) Blitz all the marinade ingredients with an immersion blender, in a small food processor or a regular blender. Place lamb into a zip top plastic bag, pour marinade over it and stow in the refrigerator for 24 hours, turning a few times to evenly marinate.

2) When ready to cook, removed from the meat from the marinade (discard), pat dry with kitchen towel and liberally rub all over with sea salt. Grill, covered over a prepared charcoal (preferable) or gas grill for 12 minutes per side (for rare) to 15+ minutes per side (medium to medium rare)-- times vary according to thickness of meat.

3) Allow the meat to rest for 5 to 10 minutes before slicing.

Serves 4-6

Tuesday, November 6, 2007

Köfte

One of the main meat dishes in Turkey, köfte were probably a forerunner to Western cultures’ hamburgers and meatballs. Made with equal parts lamb and beef (or sometimes just one of the two), they can be shaped into ping-pong ball size for meatballs, or mashed down to form mini-burgers. They are also sometimes shaped into logs about the size of a hotdog then skewered and cooked. Grilled, broiled, baked or sautéed, köftes are savory and delicious.

300 grams (¾ pound) ground lamb
300 grams (¾ pound) ground beef
3 tablespoons finely minced shallot
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
¼ cup chopped parsley
1 packet Saltine crackers, pulverized (or ¼ cup cracker or bread crumbs)
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper

1) Mix everything together with your hands, until well combined. You can cook right away or stash in the refrigerator, covered for up to 24 hours (a couple of hours in the fridge will allow the flavors to meld and deepen).

2) When you are ready to cook: Shape the meat into ping-pong ball size rounds. Cook as is, or mash down gently to make small burgers. They can also be shaped into a log and threaded on to a skewer. Grill, bake, broil or sauté. The easiest is to sauté: Set a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Allow it to get hot. Do not add any oil if the meat you used is fatty-- if you use lean, add a bit of veg oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Place the burgers or meatballs into the pan, cover (with lid cracked) and cook until brown on one side (about 5 minutes), then flip, cover and cook on the other side for 4-5 minutes more. Keep warm in a very low oven while you cook the rest.

Makes about 35 small meatballs or burgers. Serve with tahini-köfte sauce, crisp lettuce, ripe tomatoes and warm pitas.





Tahini Sauce

The flavor of this sauce drizzled over köftes or falafels is magic. It is also excellent on salad (or chicken) vegetable stuffed pitas. 

2 soup spoons tahini (ground sesame paste found in middle eastern and natural food stores)
3 soup spoons hot water
2 soup spoons milk
1 soup spoon lemon juice
Good pinch of salt

1) Mix everything together, thinning with more water or milk if you like.

Refrigerate until use. Drizzle over köftes or falafels. Makes approximately ¼ to 1/3 cup.

Friday, September 14, 2007

Tahini Vegetable Dressing and Dip

For the love of all things savory, if you like the flavor of Tahini, make this dressing immediately. It is scrumptious! Great on steamed broccoli, green beans, asparagus or carrots, as well as cooked shiitake mushrooms. Fabulous on salad greens.

3 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
½ teaspoon sea or kosher salt
2 teaspoons low sodium soy sauce
Dash of garlic powder (not garlic salt)-- optional
¼ cup Tahini (found in some grocery stores and all natural food stores)
¼ cup water
¼ cup vegetable oil
¼ teaspoon sesame oil
Sesame seeds

1) In a blender, small food processor or by hand, whisk together the lemon juice, vinegar, salt, soy sauce and garlic powder. Add in the tahini and water, whisk again. Now, whisk as you drizzle in the vegetable and sesame oils. Store in a jar in the refrigerator until ready to use-- up to a week. Sprinkle dressed veggies with sesame seeds.
Makes a bit more than one cup.

Saturday, September 1, 2007

Falafel

I found this on epicurious.com and changed it just a bit. It is really tasty, really easy and kid friendly. Great to make, (mostly) ahead. A nice vegan meal.

1 cup roughly chopped onions
8 cloves garlic
¼ cup roughly chopped parsley
2 cans chickpeas, drained well
2 teaspoon cumin
Dash of cayenne
1 and ½ teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup flour
Oil for frying
Tahini
Skim milk
Lemon juice
Salt to taste

1) In a food processor, place the onion, garlic and parsley. Process until chopped fine. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the chickpeas, cumin, cayenne and salt. Process briefly until the chickpeas are well, chopped, but not pureed-- it should not look like hummus. Scrape down bowl and pulse to process just a minute more. If some of the chickpea pieces are the size of pencil erasers that is fine, as long as most of the mixture is the consistency of coarse sand.

2) If you have time; place the mixture in a zip-top bag and store in the refrigerator for 1 hour up to a day to allow the flavors to marry. If not, that’s okay, too.

3) When you are ready to eat: Heat vegetable oil in a large sauté pan, over medium heat. Pour in enough oil to come about 1 cm up the sides of the pan, cover and allow to heat up.

4) While the oil is heating, mix the baking soda and flour into the chickpea mixture. Mix it well then shape ping-pong size balls and squish into patties. Fry for about 2-3 minutes on each side, until golden and crisp. Turn once and fry the other side. Remove to a paper towel and fry remaining falafel. You can also place the fried falafel in a warm oven as you remove them from the oil. Serve with Tahini sauce, fresh tomatoes, salad and pita bread.
Serves 4

Tahini Sauce
Mix ¼ cup Tahini (found in good grocery stores or health food stores), 2 tablespoons milk, 2 teaspoons lemon juice and a generous pinch of salt together and set in the refrigerator to thicken. Adjust seasoning to your liking (more salt or lemon juice?) and drizzle over warm crunchy falafels.