restaurant to try
Heard of this, and I'll try and put it to memory so I can try if in the LES area: Supper http://newyork.citysearch.com/profile/35698496/new_york_ny/supper.html?
 |
 
|
« November 2005 | Main | January 2006 »
December 29, 2005
December 27, 2005
recipes can change
Walking home from the grocery store after picking up everything to make chicken marsala, the bottle of marsala wine decided to drop out of the bag and break into a million pieces. Ahh! Melik is quick to respond with "marsala can't be that important in the recipe for marsala chicken, let's use something else!" ok... And so we used a Beringer Chardonnay and it was still great. As I become more experienced, I hope not to strictly rely on the recipe and this was good practice.
December 09, 2005
Turkish food blog
After my grape leaves experiment, I'd like to try other Turkish dishes. Found this blog that I might refer to: http://www.turkishcookbook.com/
The author seems to make things in a simple but good way.
December 05, 2005
Stuffed Grape Leaves
I love grape leaves, but I hear that homemade taste far exceeds the canned store bought. Saw this blog which explains in detail - http://www.yogurtland.com/category/turkish-food/page/2/
Ok, I just tried to make Dolmas last night. I decided to go without the meat on my first try. Instead of using any of the recipes I found, I spoke with Melik's mom. She said to just add olive oil, tomato paste, peppermint, and water to 2 or 3 cups of rice and cook. Then just add this mixture to the grape leaves. I don't think I added enough tomato or something... I used tomato sauce instead and only 1 can... and cooked in a pot, covered by a plate with a rock as weight on top... but the grape leaves weren't cooked enough and didn't seem to have enough flavor. Melik said they're usually saucy. Where did I go wrong? I'll have to try again and experiment with the recipe.
below is one that I found online:
1/2 kilo fresh grape leaves or alternatively you can purchase them in jars or cans,
1 cup long grain rice,
2 pinches of salt,
1-2 large onions, finely chopped,
2 cloves of garlic, crushed,
2 Tbs finely chopped parsley,
pinch of ground allspice,
pinch of ground black pepper,
3 Tbs of good quality olive oil,
250gr of ground meat (chicken, beef or lamb),
juice of 1 to 2 lemons,
2 cups chicken stock,
butter.
Trim the stems of the grape leaves. Place them in a large bowl, cover with boiling water and soak for 10-15 minutes and then rinse with cold water.
Soak the rice in salted hot water for 25 minutes.
Meanwhile saute the chopped onions, garlic, herbs and seasoning in the oil.
Remove from the heat, add the drained rice and the meat, mixing everything together very well.
Place a grape leave on a work surface, shiny side down, place about 2 tablespoons of the meat mixture near the stem end, then fold in the end and sides and roll up neatly.
Repeat this process untill all the leaves are stuffed.
Line the bottom of a large, heavy based pot with several grape leaves, then arrange the filled rolls in stacks with lemon slices between.
Pour in the stock, add small dabs of butter on the top.
Place a heat proof dish on the top layer to keep the rolls pressed down.
Cover with a lid and simmer slowly for 1 to 2 hours, or untill the leaves are tender.
Serve the "dolma" lukewarm, sprinkled with lemon juice.
Alternatively, you may prefer to serve with a garlic, olive oil and lemon juice dressing.
Garnish with halved lemon slices.
Note: Alternatives to this recipe are minus the meat, just a plain rice and seasoning dolma, with or without chicken stock. The plain dolma are just a nice cold.
Kofte
Should I attempt this turkish dish? Melik says he remembers it with strips of onion, not the eggplant and zucchini. And with ground beef, not lamb.
INGREDIENTS
500 gm lamb-minced
4 pieces bread
1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp chopped onion
2 tsp fresh parsley-chopped
1/2 tsp chopped garlic
2 tbsp olive oil
1 eggplant
1 green zucchini
2 tbsp diced tomatoes
1 tsp tomato paste
1 tsp basil paste
1/2 cup water Put bread, milk, pepper, salt, black pepper, onion, parsley, garlic and lamb in a bowl
METHOD
Mix well. Divide into equal barrel shaped portions. Apply little basil paste on them.
Now shallow fry them in a pan. Add diced tomato, onion, parsley, tomato paste and water to make a gravy. Keep aside
Peel the eggplant and zucchini. Cut into long strips. Sprinkle them with a little salt and sear in a pan till it turns colour.
To serve, wrap the kofte in the eggplant and zucchini. Garnish with remaining gravy, parsley and olive oil.
or this recipe
Turkish Kofte
>Yield: 6 servings
>1 lb Ground beef
>1 Large onion minced
>1/2 c Grated parmesan cheese
>1/2 c Minced flat parsley
>1/4 c Chopped dill
>Salt &pepper to taste
>1/2 c Flour
>3 Eggs, beaten
>1/2 c Solid white shortening
>Lemon Egg sauce:
>4 Eggs
>6 tb Lemon juice
>2 c Clear chicken broth
>Place meat and ingredients down to and including salt
>and pepper and knead 5 minutes. Form into egg shaped
>ovals and then roll in flour. dip into eggs beaten
>until frothy. Saute in skillet with hot shortening.
>Makes 12 balls. For sauce: Beat eggs until frothy in
>small saucepan. Add lemon juice and stir. Place over
>low flame. Add broth slowly, stirring constantly. cook
>and stir 10 to 15 minutes until thick. Do not let
>boil. Makes 2 cups. Serve lemon sauce over meatballs
>and serve with steamed broccoli.
or this simple recipe
INGREDIENTS:
1 lb ground beef or lamb 1 onion, chopped fine 2 Tbsp fresh bread crumbs
2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley 1 tsp ground cumin (optional) 1 egg
salt and ground black pepper olive oil, for brushing
1 Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl with seasoning to taste. Knead thoroughly.
2 Preheat a hot broiler. Take walnut-size pieces in your hand and flatten to an oval shape. Continue making little patties until you have used up all the mixture.
3 Brush the broiler with a little oil and cook the burgers, turning them for even cooking. serve hot.
December 04, 2005
turkish flatbread
I baked these on 1/8/05 on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. I'm still trying to figure out bread making, so it was a little rough going. I halved the recipe and the balls of dough were pretty tiny. I was being rushed when I was making them into circles because we were going to see a movie so I don't think I stretched them enough... would have made excellent pizza if I streched them thin and added toppings. I might try that.
We had this in a turkish restaurant in Williamsburgh and would like to try and recreate it.
During the holy month of Ramadan a flat bread called PIDE becomes available in the bakeries. Families eat this bread with their meals after fasting during the day. Turkish style "pita bread" is not the pocket bread that is known as Arabic or pita bread. It is a flatbread that looks like a hand shaped quilt and is always eaten fresh from the baker's oven.
Pide
Turkish flatbread
8 tsp. Dry yeast
1 tsp. Sugar
1 cup warm water
1 cup flour
Dissolve dry yeast and sugar in a warm water and let stand in a warm place 10 minutes until frothy. Stir in the flour, cover with plastic wrap and let rise 30 minutes. This makes the sponge.
7 cups flour
2 tsp. Salt
6 Tbsp. Olive oil
2 cups & 2 Tbsp. Lukewarm water
Put flour in a large bowl, make a well in the center and add the sponge salt, olive oil and lukewarm water. Gradually work in the flour to make a soft and sticky dough. Knead the dough on a floured surface for 15 minutes. Put the dough in a buttered bowl, cover and let rise 1-hour. Divide dough into quarters and each quarter into ten pieces, shaping each into a ball. Cover and let rest 30 minutes. Shape each piece of dough into a circle by flattening the dough and stretching it. Bake for 10 minutes at 450 degrees (F)