Tag Archives: Cooking

Hoşaf (Fruit Compote)

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This is a great winter fruit dish, using fruit that was harvested and then dried while in season.  Hoşaf is considered a drink, a dessert or a side. It can be made with a variety of fruits such as dried raisins, apricots, plums, pears, cherries, etc.  My father-in-law used to drink it in the summer when he was young, before soft drinks were popular. This drink is incredibly refreshing in the summer and a nice treat with or after dinner.   This is also traditionally served as a side with börek.

Ingredients:

4 cups of Dried fruits (mostly Apricots but it is nice to add dried plums)
8-10 cups of water
1 cup of sugar *Optional (add as much or little as you like)

 

Directions:

Rinse fruit thoroughly.
Bring 8-10 cups of water to a roiling boil.
When it is boiling add the dried fruit to the water (and sugar if using) and shut off the heat.

Let the fruit sit in the water until the water cools. Once the water has cooled, place the pot in the fridge. Let it sit a few hours, a day is better, before  eating the hoşaf. The longer the hoşaf sits the tastier it becomes.

I prefer a main component of apricots with some plums thrown in, the apricots release their sugar more than the plums do so you end up with a sweeter juice. I do not usually add sugar. 

Root Vegetable Roulette

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Hmmm…Maybe not the best idea.  I have been seeing lots of yummy winter vegetable recipes online.  One of them was for roasted root vegetables; beets, carrots, rutabaga, parsnips and turnips.  YUM!  In Turkey, from that list we only have carrots and beets.  There are some turnip varieties, but they are usually only used raw.  So I decided to try out what was available in the market.   I used carrots, black turnips, onions, beets, and celeriac.  I brought some to school for lunch yesterday, it was tasty.  Cue a sleepless night and intestinal distress.   I thought maybe it was the fiber causing indigestion.  So I kept food light today and packed chicken soup.  It was all homemade, down to the stock.  At lunch I ate my beautiful homemade soup, and vicious intestinal distress ensued.  Just in time for my most challenging classes.  Hmm.  So since I knew exactly what went into everything, I figured out the common denominator.  BLACK TURNIP.  I checked it out online and apparently it increases acid and bile production in the intestinal track, great for people with sluggish systems. But eating too much causes over production and irritation of the digestive tract.   Bummer.  So watch yourself with the black turnip.  It might get you.    Root Vegetable Roulette…almost as dangerous as the version with guns.   Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it is definitely no fun. 

Jalapeño Pepper Jelly

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I love hot pepper jelly.  It is great served with cream cheese (or labne) on crackers.  It also is a nice addition to vinaigrettes.  There is a permanent link to the recipe under Close to the Kitchen –>Appetizers

 

Pepperjam

Ingredients:

12 oz. jalapeño peppers (about 12 medium or 16 small)
2 cups of apple vinegar (apple cider vinegar in the U.S.)
5 cups sugar
1 25g bag of Dr. Oetker Reçelyap
5 (8 oz) half pint glass preserving jars with fresh lids (usually available at the pazars or at the Japon Pazari)

Directions:

1.) Get your water canner boiling (I just use a REALLY HUGE pot).

2.) Sterilize your jars and lids in simmering water. Do not boil.

3.) Seed the peppers (leave some if you like it spicy) and then puree the peppers in food processor or blender.  I like to use a mix of colors and leave some chunks for visual interest.

4.) Combine the pepper puree with the 2 cups of cider and bring to a simmer.

COMBINE purée with remaining 1 cup cider vinegar and sugar. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil 10 minutes, stirring frequently.

4.) Add Dr. Oetker Reçelyap.  Continue to boil hard for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add food coloring, if using, and skim foam if necessary.

5.) Pour hot jelly into jars leaving 1/4 inch headspace. Wipe rim. Center lid on jar. Apply band until fit is fingertip tight.

6.) Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes. Remove jars and cool. Check lids for seal after 24 hours. Lid should not flex up and down when center is pressed.
Note: When cutting or seeding hot peppers, wear rubber gloves to keep your hands from being burned.

New Page Under American and Turkish Fusion

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SUBSTITUTIONS!

We have all been there.   You are craving a certain dish from home, or want to make some food in your recipe repertoire but are lacking ingredients.  Maybe they are not sold in the local market, or you would have to sell a kidney on the black market to afford it.  I will keep adding substitutions as things I have done in the past occur to me.

 

Abundance of Figs

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Oh, figs!  My favorite summer fruit.  Fresh figs are best enjoyed when they almost look too soft to eat.  Stay away from the firm ones.  Look for the figs that are starting to split at the bottom..just barely.  Sometimes there will be a tiny glistening drop emerging from the star shaped fissure, that means it is perfectly ripe.  The issue with figs is that many ripen at the same time, and if you eat too many you will clean your system right out, whether you want to or not?  So what to do with over-ripe figs?  A little too mushy eating means great for cooking.  Jams, compotes, breads, wherever you can put fruit you can use figs.

This morning I used them in pancakes.  The pancakes themselves had  a mixture of ripe peaches and figs in them.  I roughly chopped the over-ripe figs and threw them in a saucepan with a little water and lemon juice while I was cooking the pancakes.   I used the fig compote as a syrup for the pancakes.  I have to say, for a 20 minute cooking project (only as long as it took to mix and cook the pancakes) the results were delicious.  20120822_130246

In Turkey, fruits and vegetables are rarely available while out of season.  This can be a little disappointing when you are craving a particular dish, but in reality creates a smaller carbon footprint and is better for the environment.  This means that will there is only about a four week window for figs, during that time the figs are fresh and delicious, abundant and cheap.  While I would love figs all year long, they seem just a little bit sweeter since they are so special now.

Patlican Salatası

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Now that it is summer I have been craving some light salads.  I have also been away from Turkey long enough I have been craving Turkish food.  I was talking about this dish with my friend the other day and started drooling.  I will be making this soon.   It is pretty versatile.  If you want a side salad make it a little chunkier, if you want to use it as a dip blend it a little more, like salsa

Patlican Salatası

1 large eggplant or 3 or 4 smaller ones (I like the small ones myself)
1 or 2 cloves of garlic (mashed or pressed)
Juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup of yogurt
A splash of olive oil*
1 tomato diced
Salt and pepper to taste

*optional

Poke holes in the eggplant(s) before you roast them.  I use the grill but you could roast them on the grill, the stovetop (over the flames) or broil them in the oven.  Whatever the method-roast the eggplant until it is soft about a half hour or so depending on the size.  After they are done, let them cool and then peel off the skin.  Dice the eggplant small ad toss in a bowl.  Dice the tomato and throw that in the bowl too.  Mash one or two cloves of garlic, to taste, remember it will be in the salad raw.  Add that to the mix as well as the juice of the lemon the yogurt and the oil if you want it.  The oil makes it taster but without it the salad is pretty light calorically, cooked eggplant has about 35 calories per cup.  I also use light yogurt.  Add about a 1/2 tsp of salt to start with and a little pepper.  Salt to taste, you may want to add more salt (I do) but I do a little at a time or to my serving on my plate as I am always afraid to over salt the whole batch.

Mix well and chill, serve cold.  It is best served after an hour or two when the flavors have time to meld.

Thanksgiving

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Oh Thanksgiving, the ways we celebrate you.  Today I was talking to Bülent and realized that this was our 5th Thanksgiving by ourselves. All of which one I cooked.  If we had been living in the US within a five hour drive of my parents, I would have been a guest, and had been a Thanksgiving Virgin.

However, after I graduated from college I moved to the West Coast, and then to Turkey.

So there is a Thanksgiving Timeline.

2006: Just the two of us!  Small Turkey!

2007: My BFF (since age 5) joins us with her husband.  Thanksgiving and the Beach!  Yay for vacation!

2008: Bad Ass Barraford Thanksgiving.   My cousin Hilary joins me on the West Coast (LA) and we have a rocking Thanksgiving with a party of 12 and clubbing after dinner!

, THXGIVING DINNER 11-2008

2009: Arrive in Turkey, guests at a co-workers home.  Lovely dinner, great introduction to the world of NO SHORTCUTS cooking.  Want stuffing?  Buy a loaf of bread, cut it up, spice it and make it into stuffing.  Forget anything out of a can, jar or box.  Delicious but time consuming.

2010: Awesome fun but crazy hard. Read above.  Cooked for 18.  18! With Colitis!  Ouch!

2011: We have decided to go for a more intimate Thanksgiving.  I have decided to include one of my favorite recipes before the dinner.  My friend and I have also decided to make it a more intimate Thanksgiving.  When living abroad, some of your friends transcend boundaries and become family, as my kanka (blood sister) has.  I am looking forward to this Thanksgiving, enjoy the prep, the cooking, the eating and the drinking.  There will be just six of us, so it should be relaxing.  As one of the guests of the 2010 Colitis debacle, my friend from upstairs said “ Tell me what to make…or I am not coming!” Yay!   Here is a list!  Let’s all have fun.

It is the little things…

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I moved to Turkey almost 3 years ago, leaving behind almost all my my personal possessions in San Diego CA. This was really difficult.  After I graduated from college Bülent and I moved to San Diego, and slowly started accumulating the things you need to make a house a home.  A bed.  A couch.  Kitchen accessories.  We could not afford to ship everything, so we left it behind and donated it to a very worthwhile charity.  Some of the things I still miss.  One of them is my first “grown up” purchase I paid for all on my own, a red leather (pull out) couch and matching chair.

red-leather-sofa-set-10

I also miss my kitchen accoutrement, especially the cast iron pan and griddle I bought.   Now, I could buy cast iron while I am in the states and bring it over here, but it is just too heavy.  Cast iron is not as popular here, and I can not find some of the things I have been looking for, such as a 12 inch cast iron fry pan, and the Holy Griddle…I mean Grail.    I love a big, two burner cast iron griddle, just like my mom had. Not only was it handy, but every time I use one I think of her and of cooking in our family kitchen.   I have not been able to find anything like it.  The closest thing was a little like this, and an arm and a leg.

pan

But that is not THIS…

lodge

The cast iron griddle is great, for pancake and French toast, and really anything that needs a larger surface area.  Also, the grill side is great for the inside-grilling of fish and chicken and especially veggies.  You can use it to grill eggplant and make a super low fat eggplant parmigiana, with no frying at all.

Anyway, the other day, one of these cast iron griddles fell into my lap!  My kanka Terry pulled one out her her cupboard and handed it to me.  She said he had been feeling guilty owning it after I had been expounding about my search for the Holy Griddle.   No guilt needed to be felt, but then again she is Catholic, so it could have been that. *wink wink*  But since she has given it to me I have used it once or twice a week.  Once for a grilled hot salad with zucchini, eggplant, tomato, onion and cauliflower with a garlic and rosemary infused olive oil rub which was awesome.  This morning I made super yummy whole wheat pancakes.    So now I own a little piece of home, and when I whip out my cast iron griddle, I think about my mom, and now also Terry.

***Terry—I will have you over for brunch and use the griddle as part of the payment installment. There will be bacon.

Summer BBQ

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I LOVE food.  ALL FOOD.  As my husband will attest while shuddering with repulsion and distaste, I will eat anything.  I will try anything once or twice (sometimes you need more than one tasting.)  I have no prejudice when it comes to food and will eat it mild or spicy, hot or cold, offal or vegetarian.   Seriously.  One of my favorite foods in TR is Kokoreç—lamb intestines…YUM!

But, there are some things that I miss.  Like tender, fresh, native summer corn and  Pork, Pork, Pork, Ham and Bacon…

While my husband was here we had a lovely barbeque, including some of my favorite things that I missed the most.

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Sweet NH Native Corn…

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Salad of Field Greens picked from Mom’s Garden

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Homemade Potato Salad

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Hotdogs, Hot and Sweet Pork Sausages

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YUM!

Fun Times with the FamFam

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LASIK Shout Out!

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Traditionally after the wedding the bride and groom exchange gifts.  Or so I was told.  So for my gift, my new beloved husband told me he would finance my LASIK surgery.  YAY!  My eyes are horribly myopic, around –3.75 plus astigmatism.  His gift was perfect.  We both can’t wait.  However, since it is my EYES and if we mess it up there could be serious complications, we have proceeded cautiously.

Hospital #1: Super Shiny!  Clean and New!  Expensive and commercial.  We felt that they did not care about safety as much as money.  They wanted to give me LASIK after only one week of not wearing contacts.  I have been wearing soft contacts for 10 years, seven days a week, 15-18 hours a day.

Hospital #2:  Our new doctor is SUPER conservative.  Maybe too much!  He saw me (after not wearing contacts for two weeks) and said at least one month later.  So today I go in—after not wearing contacts for six weeks.  (Side note:  I hate wearing glasses) He wants to wait six more months of no contacts before the surgery.  That seems excessive to me—what about you?  All the research I have done says that before LASIK you cannot wear soft contacts for two weeks, toric for a month and hard lenses for a month for every decade you wore them!   Am I mistaken?  I really don’t want to wear glasses for six more months if I don’t have to, but I also don’t want to ruin my eyesight.

Any suggestions?

We are going to Hospital #3 tomorrow.