Lentil snack

OK the original name for this dish is "Mercimek Kofte". The closest translation would be Lentil Meatballs. But hey there is no meat in here. We are talking a light vegetarian meal which is perfect for a warm season. You serve it cool on a crisp lettuce with a squeeze of lemon. This is what summer meal is all about, isn't it?

1 cup of red lentil

1 cup of fine bulgur*

2 tsp of salt

2 onions

1/3 cups of olive oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp of black pepper

1 tsp of red pepper flakes

1 heaping table spoon of tomato paste

lots of chopped green onion and parsley ( to your taste)

* I have never tried it but I assume couscous would work here as well since it has the same properties as fine bulgur.

In a big pan cook lentil in 2 cups of water until it is done.Turn the heat off and add bulgur and salt. Mix them well, cover and let stay for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile fry onion in olive oil. Once onion is soft add garlic and spices. Cook for one more minute. Add tomato paste and saute for another couple of minutes. Now it is time to add onion mixture to the lentil mixture. Mix them well and leave to cool.

Now it is time to do all the chopping of parsley, green onion and any other of your favorite herbs: say dill or mint or cilantro. Try to mince them rather fine.

Once the mixture is cool enough to handle give your precious hands a good wash and start shaping the kofte.

Serve on top of the lettuce leaves with lemon wedges on the side. I like using the smaller center leaves or cutting the big ones in half to stay even on the kofte size.

Enjoy!

New comfort food

I knew I had to act fast if I wanted to have a picture of this Bulgur pilaf for my blog. This whole pan was consumed in no time right after this picture was taken. There is never a leftover of this dish in our house .

You see I had no clue about bulgur until I started eating often at my in-law's house. Bulgur is widely used in Turkey and other Mediterranean countries instead of rice for pilaf. More fine version of the grain is often used for baking, stuffing (think dolma) or kisir ( Turkish version of tabouleh).

Come summer and I will definitely make a lot of kisir and I will show you how. But for now as the weather is still chilly let's eat something more hearty. Bulgur pilaf....You will need

1 pound ( 0,5 kg) lean ground beef

1 Tbsp butter

1Tbsp olive oil

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 heaping Tbsp of tomato paste

1 heaping Tbsp of pepper paste (optional)

1,5 cups of bulgur

3 cups of chicken broth

3-4 spring of fresh scallion

spicy red pepper ( optional)

1 Tbs of dry mint or more

salt and pepper to taste

Melt butter and olive oil in a big pan with tall sides and saute onion for about 5 minutes. Add crushed garlic and saute for another minute. Now the best here would be to remove onion mix and brown the beef separately returning the onions back afterwards. But I do not always do it. Too lazy, hehe. So you brown the beef until all the liquid evaporates. Return onion and now add the tomato and pepper pastes and saute everything together mixing well. Time to add bulgur and broth. Lower the heat, cover and cook until bulgur is ready. About 30 minutes. You might want to steer it a few times to make sure it cooks evenly. Now add scallions, adjust salt to your liking, add mint and pepper. You may find that you need a little bit more of the broth. Cover again and let it finish for another 5-7 minutes.

P.S. As you can see from this picture above this dish can be taken further by adding sauteed vegetables or greens. That day I had a gorgeous bunch of Kale that I did not want to wilt . I cooked it separately and just added to the bulgur at the very end. This way it kept all its amazing flavors.

To do this you remove all the stems from the bunch of Kale leaves. In a pan heat butter and olive oil. Saute briefly a crushed clove of garlic without burning it. Now add your chopped kale to the pan. And about 1/4 cup of chicken broth. Cover and saute for about 5 minutes. Adjust salt and freshly ground pepper to you liking . At this point you can eat Kale as it is or add it to your bulgur.

Enjoy!

Trout with salad

You can see I am feeling fishy nowadays, he-he
Here is another fish recipe that I absolutely love. This is how we eat fish every time we go to Turkey. It is all about traditions. Every time we would (OK, I would) ask for this fish for dinner it will be served with this particular salad. And you start to understand that its like a perfect couple. You can't have one without another. You are simply looking forward this absolutely delicious and light meal.

For this dish you need to buy a whole trout. If you are not intimidated to butterfly it yourself -great. Otherwise ask the person at the counter in your store to do it for you. But remember to keep the skin on. Consider buying a fish per person. If we were to cook for 4 then we would need:

4 whole trouts

salt+pepper

corn meal for dredging

oil for frying

lettuce

2 boiled eggs cut into small pieces

2-3 scallions

olive oil

3 lemons

Let's start with a salad...

Cut your lettuce rather thin. Add your chpped scallions, parsley and eggs. Now drizzle with olive oil and squeeze some lemon juice on top (about half of a lemon). Season with salt and pepper. Give it a gentle toss and voila your simple but very delicious salad is ready.

Now for the fish...Season your trouts with salt and pepper then dredge it into corn meal. Off it goes to the frying pan. (My mother -in-law is not shy about the amount of oil she uses. At home I am trying to scale it down. So you decide it for yourself here but still you want to have enough oil for the fish to develop a nice crust.) One fish at a time. You want to put it skin down first. Cook it for about 3-4 minutes. Then flip on the other side and let it cook for another 2-3 minutes. Keep the cooked fish warm until you finish frying the other 3 .
Serve immediately with lemon wedges on the side.

Enjoy!

Tomato Orzo Soup

Here is another fantastic soup from Turkey. I've learned to cook it this past summer from my mother-in-law. You see when my younger son being less then a year old has tried this soup for the first time he has not only finished a huge bowl of it-he asked for more. I thought he was just plain hungry that day. But no. He loved it ! Now I cook it basically once a week and together with my hubby they are finishing the pot almost instantly.

You can understand now that I've made this soup dozens of times and at one point I have added one more ingredient that I think made the flavor even richer. It is a Turkish red pepper paste. Let me tell you that I am in love with it! It is now my secret ingredient when it comes to pulling off any great tomato based sauce or soup. It just makes everything so much more flavorful.

By all means if you have a Middle Eastern store in your neighborhood stop by and get yourself a jar. Try to get the one that is made from Antep peppers since it doesn't get any better then that. And please pay attention as the paste may come in different levels of spiciness.

One last thing I need to comment on before I get back to the recipe. You will need to grate fresh tomatoes for this soup. If you've never done this before the best way of doing it is by cutting tomato in half and then grating it until you reach the skin.

So....lets get back to the soup. You will need

1 Tbs of flour

1 Tbs of butter

2 Tbs of tomato paste

2 Tbs of pepper paste (optional)

3 tomatoes grated

8 cups of chicken broth (about 2 liters)

1/2 cup of orzo pasta (rice shaped pasta)

1/2 tsp or more of dry mint

In a pot over a high moderate heat melt 1tbs of butter then add 1 Tbs of flour. Now you have to mix them constantly until the flour achieves this golden color and starts giving away a nutty aromas. Basically you are trying to make a roux. Then add about a cup of broth and stir everything well to make a smooth base for the soup. I like using a whisk for that task. Now pour the rest of the broth. Add your tomato and pepper pastes plus grated tomatoes. Increase the heat and start bringing everything to the boil. Once you soup is boiling add orzo and dry mint. Lower the heat and cook until pasta is ready.

Yogurt soup

Fall is time for soups. And while its still not too cold outside yogurt soup seems to be the perfect choice. It has this nice velvety texture that is very warming right now and at the same time lots of mint brings back aromas of summer. What can be better!
So let me start by saying a few words about the type of yogurt you need for this soup. Please look for a full fat or at least 2% variety of Greek yogurt. It has to be almost sour cream consistency and not one of these light-textured breakfast yogurts. I buy large container of FAGE or CHOBANI brands in here.
To cook the soup you will want to mix yogurt and broth in ratio of 1 to 3. So if later you want to cook a smaller portion of this soup please keep that number in mind .
Another trick with this soup is that you have to make sure you do not bring it to boil too fast and you steer it as often as possible otherwise your yogurt with curdle. Basically with this soup you have to keep an eye on it at all times. Good thing is it doesn't take long to cook. So here is what you will need

1 large container of strained Greek yogurt (17,6oz /500 g)

3 containers filled with chicken broth ( use the yogurt container )

1/4 cup of short grain rice

1 egg

1 Tbs of flour

1/4 tsp of salt

1 Tbs dry mint+ more for serving

your favorite red pepper for serving

Without starting your stove put all the ingredients except red pepper into a pan and mix it well. Now start your stove on medium heat. Keep mixing the soup every once in a while so that it heats evenly. Your task is to bring it to a boil slowly. Go ahead and increase the heat later if neede it. Once you are there lower the heat again and cook the soup still steering occasionally until rice is done.
To serve sprinkle with some more mint and red pepper.
Enjoy!

TURKISH PILAF with liver, pine nuts and raisins

I thought I would share with you my all time favorite recipe for Turkish pilaf. Of course it is something I have learned to cook from my mother-in-law. I love it sooo much that one has to pull me away from the bowl of this rice in order for me not to finish it all by myself. It is has an explosion of flavors. It is so reach that it can be a meal in itself.
This pilaf is cooked with liver, pine nuts and little raisins. I know I know what some of you may think about liver. But hey liver is cut in such tiny pieces here that I find this dish to be the perfect way of introducing the flavor of liver to your taste buds. After all you can put as little or as much liver as you wish or just totally omit it. It won't be the same of course but the rice will not disappoint you.
First let me start by telling you that I use chicken liver here. You can find it in almost any grocery store in the chicken aisle. But of course the organic liver of a grass feed chicken from the place like Whole Foods would be the best option . It would be sold in a plastic container and is very very cheap. We are talking about 1-2 dollars per container here. So it won't break your bank. All you need to do at home is to rinse liver and cut it in tiny tiny pieces.
Another thing you might want to do is to soak the rice in boiling hot water before you start cooking. What it does is it quickens the cooking time fore you and you will get nice grains at the end that are not sticking to each other.
So here is the recipe

2 cups of short grain rice
3 cups of chicken stock
2 Tbsp. or more of liver, cut into tiny pieces
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp oil
a handful of pine nuts
a handful of small raisins (*see Note)
salt and pepper to taste

If you have time start by covering your rice with boiling water. Mix it and leave for about half an hour or up to a few hours if needed. If not skip this step and go straight to next.
In your pan melt butter and oil . Add liver and pine nuts and sautee for a couple of minutes. Add chicken stock and bring it to a boil. Now add rice ( you want to drain your rice if you soaked it before). Adjust salt and pepper to your liking depending on what kind of broth you are using.
Now lower the heat to simmering and put the cover on your pan. In 5 minute add raisins and give your pilaf a mix. Put the cover back on. Check it in 5 minutes again. If the rice is almost done and you still have too much liquid in your pan increase the heat to evaporate it. Otherwise cook for about 5 more minutes or until rice is ready.
Enjoy!

* Note. In Turkey they have these very small raisins that are perfect for cooking with. I am very sure you can find them in Middle Eastern specialty shops. Otherwise just try chopping California raisins into smaller bites.