Ladies Thighs Meatballs (Kadınbudu Köfte)

It has been way too long since I have published a recipe on my blog. Life is busy with children, work and home. Most of the food I have been cooking is catered toward little children and don’t even have the time to document it let alone to take pictures and post. But this recipe really deserves some space on my blog. My children loved it and I couldn’t keep from having another and then another.

The name of this recipe might get your attention as it is named after women’s thighs. I did some research and tried to find out where it gets its name, but was not successful. I am guessing this was the name given during the Ottoman era because it resembled women’s thighs. In any case, these meatballs are so succulent and flavorful you will not be able to stop yourself from having another one.

Serve with fries or potato pure and salad. 

For the Meatballs:

2 lb ground beef

1 large onion (grated)

½ cup white rice

1½ cup water

1 egg

1 tbsp chopped parsley

2 tsp salt

¼ tsp ground black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

For Frying:

1½ cup flour

3 eggs

2 cups olive oil

Wash the rice and place in a small saucepan. Add the water and cook. When the water starts to boil, turn it down to low and cook until all the water is absorbed and the rice is soft. Cool the rice by setting it aside.

In a pan, add half of the ground beef and cook in its own water until it’s no longer pink. Add the grated onions and cook for a 3-4 more minutes and remove from heat. Set aside and cool.

In a large bowl, add the raw ground beef, cooked ground beef, egg, cooked rice, parsley, salt, cumin, paprika and black pepper. Mix well with your hands until all the ingredients are integrated. Pull a golf sized piece of the meat mixture and make an oval shape and slightly press it down. Repeat this until all the meat mixture is used up. Refrigerate for at least two hours so that the meat balls become firmer.

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan. Beat the eggs in a wide bowl. Place the flour in a wide plate or bowl. Once the oil is hot, take one meat ball, dip in the eggs and then in the flour and drop in the hot oil. Do not crowd the meat balls in the frying pan so they cook quickly. Frying a few minutes on each side is sufficient for the meat. The outside of the meatballs will take a golden color and will be crunchy while the inside will be flavorful, soft and moist.

Turkish Zucchini Fritters (Kabak Mücveri)

I have made mücver throughout the summer without following a recipe and each time making differently. This version, by far has been the tastiest one. Most of the time, I do not add white cheese and I think I will never make them again without it. The cheese adds such a wonderful flavor. I was already full when I made these, but I couldn’t resist so I ate two while making them. These are also great for little children who usually would not eat zucchinis. Enjoy!

3 zucchinis

1 medium onion

2 cloves garlic (optional)

½ cup chopped fresh parsley

½ cup crumbled Turkish white cheese (or feta)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp crushed red pepper

1 tsp baking powder

¼ tsp cumin

2 eggs

1 cup flour

1 cup olive oil

Peel the zucchinis in stripes and grate them along with the onion. Squeeze all the juice out from the zucchinis and the onion. Add the rest of the ingredients except the olive oil. Mix well.

Heat about ¼ cup of oil and place spoonful of the zucchini mixture. 

Cook several minutes on each side until both sides are golden brown. 

Remove and add another ¼ cup of olive oil for the next batch. Repeat this until all the olive oil and the zucchini mixture is used up.

Serve with yogurt garlic sauce (crushed garlic mixed with yogurt) at room temperature.

Eggplant with Green Lentils (Mualla/Yeşil Mercimekli Patlıcan)

Eggplant is one of my favorite summer vegetables. I don’t seem to be cooking with it as much now since my kids don’t love it. One day, I really craved eggplants so I decided to make something saucy with eggplants. This recipe is traditionally made in Hatay/Antakya (Antioch) region and it is just incredibly delicious. The pomegranate molasses gives it such a good kick. It is particularly delicious with flat bread, but I served it with rice, instead of bread.

2 large eggplants

3 large tomatoes (peeled and diced)

3-4 green peppers (cut in fourths and sliced)

1 large onion (cut in fourths and sliced)

4 cloves garlic (chopped)

1 cup green lentils

1 tbsp red pepper paste

2 tsp crushed red peppers

1 tsp dried mint

1 tsp sumac

2 tsp salt

¼ cup pomegranate molasses

½ tsp thyme

¾ cup olive oil

Peel the eggplants in stripes. Cut each eggplant in eights and slice diagonally. 

Fill a large pot with cold water and add salt. Place the sliced eggplants in salty water and let sit for an hour.

Wash the lentils and place in a small pot. Add two cups of water and boil for 35-40 minutes or until the lentils absorb all the water and are soft.

In a large bowl, combine the cooked lentils, green peppers, tomatoes, onions, garlic, sumac, mint, crushed red pepper, red pepper paste, thyme and pomegranate molasses. 

Drain the eggplants and set aside. In the bottom of a large pot place half the lentil mixture. 

Place the eggplant slices on top of the mixture and pour the rest of the lentil mixture on the top. Drizzle with olive oil.

 

Cook on stove top for 15 minutes on high heat and then turn down the heat and cook for 1 hour. Enjoy with rice.

Turkish Style Potato Salad (Türk Usulü Patates Salatası)

 

Here is a simple, light and delicious potato salad: Turkish style.  There is no mayonnaise or eggs in it, but if you would like it a little creamy, both ingredients can be added. Instead of green onions dried red onion and instead of green garlic a garlic clove can be used. The green onions and green garlic are from my small garden so I preferred to use them. The pictures show more green onions and garlic than what the recipe calls for. The last minute, I decided not to use them all in the recipe and left them for other types of salads. For two medium potatoes, I think the amount of the greens is perfect. Enjoy!

2 medium russet potatoes

½ cup chopped green onions & green garlic (3 green onions and 1 green garlic)

2 tbsp chopped parsley

1 tsp sumac

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

¼ cup olive oil

Place the whole potatoes with skin in a sauce pan and fill water to cover them. Boil for about 45 minutes or until tender. This can be checked with a fork.

Let them cool. Peel the skin. 

Cube the potatoes and place in a deep bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients and toss. Enjoy alone as a snack or a side dish. 

Cigaratte Rolls (Sigara Böreği)

Sigara böreği takes its name from the shape of cigarettes. Although I truly loathe cigarettes, I love cigarette rolled boreks! Addictive is the right word to describe these little rolls. In Turkey, they are usually served as appetizers, for breakfast and as an afternoon snack with a hot Turkish tea. I have tried making these numerous times using whole fat Turkish white cheese and each time the cheese would leak during frying and ruin their appearance and taste. I have tried rolling them differently, adding an egg white to keep the cheese together but it kept leaking. Then I realized I was using cheese with whole fat which was causing the leaking. Since I couldn’t find low fat Turkish white cheese, I used low fat feta and for the first time I prepared rolls that did have leaked cheese during frying. They were so good to look at I was hesitant to eat them (no, not really) J I do not normally purchase anything low fat or diet so I had to make an exception for this. They tasted incredibly good but I know that they taste even better with whole fat white cheese.

You may substitute the filling with other types of cheeses, minced meat, chicken, potatoes or even spinach. Enjoy hot right after you fry them. They will be so crispy and delicious!

2 cups crumbled low fat white cheese (or feta)

1 cup finely chopped fresh parsley

1 package triangle pastry leaves (about 20 leaves)

4 cups sunflower or canola oil

Place the white cheese in a bowl and add the parsley. Mix well.

Place one triangle pastry leaf on the counter and brush the edges with water. 

Add a table spoon of cheese in the wide section of the triangle pastry leaf. 

Fold from both sides and start rolling. 

Dip hands in water when sealing. 

Repeat the same process until all the triangle leaves are used up.

Heat up the oil. Add a few of the rolls and start frying. 

It should take only a few minutes. As soon as the rolls start taking a golden color remove and drain on paper towel. It is better to fry as little as possible; that way they will fry faster. 

Note: If you cannot find triangle shaped pastry leaves available in Turkish or Middle Eastern stores (ucgen yufka) and able to find regular Turkish yufka, you could cut the large round piece of yufka into eight triangles. If you cannot find yufka, you may substitute regular (thinner) phyllo dough for it.

Baked Pastry with Leeks and Chard (Fırında Pırasalı ve Pazılı Börek)

With winter comes, my favorite winter vegetables: chard and leeks. I started buying chard and leeks because of their nutritional value which I feed my little kids on a weekly basis. I grew up eating chard which I was not fond of but my mother only made it with a yogurt soup with grain which is eaten cold. I don’t recall eating it any other way. For böreks, my mother only used spinach and never chard. After I learned cooking many years later, I tried böreks with Swiss chard and regular chard and I was very happy with the results. This time I wanted to add leeks since I had them on hand and really it was so light and delicious!

I prepared the stuffing ahead of time and froze it as it is almost impossible for me to make everything the same day with two little kids and work.  I made the dough the same day I made the böreks and the stuffing tasted as if fresh. We all enjoyed them; especially my boys. They kept wanting more and more. Even though I was in a hurry when making them and didn’t take very good pictures, I think the pictures are acceptable and will explain the steps pretty well.

Caveat: You will most likely have leftover dough. I could have adjusted the proportions for the recipe, but I did not want to do that without really trying it. You can use the left over dough for any type of stuffing you like or even a small pizza.

Now it’s time for the recipe.

For the Dough:

6 ¼ cups white flour

2 ½ cups warm water

1½ tsp yeast (optional)

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp red pepper paste (optional or red pepper can be substituted)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup olive oil for brushing boreks

½ cup flour for rolling

For the Stuffing:

2 bunches of chard (around 10 chard leaves)

2 leeks

2 garlic cloves

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp cumin

1 ½ tsp red pepper flakes

¼ tsp black pepper

1 ½ tsp salt

Prepare the Dough:

Let yeast sit in warm water for 25-30 minutes until it bubbles.

Using a Stand Mixer: 

Attach the dough hook to the stand mixer. Add the flour, salt, red pepper paste and olive oil in the mixer bowl and run it on stir. Gradually add the yeasty water. Change the speed to 2 and let it knead the dough until it is soft. It should take less than five minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and let it sit for two hours.

Manually:

Add the flour, salt, red pepper paste, olive oil and half of the water and start kneading. Add the rest of the yeasty water gradually and continue to knead until soft dough is attained. It should take about 15-20 minutes. Cover with a damp cloth and let it sit for two hours.

Prepare the Stuffing:

Remove stems of chard from leaves.  

First steam stems of chard until soft as they will take longer to cook than the leaves. Remove and steam chard leaves until wilted. Chop both stems and leaves small.

Slit leeks in half and wash thoroughly several times to remove all the dirt between the layers. 

Chop finely. Heat olive oil in a pan. Sauté leeks first for 4-5 minutes. 

Add chopped chard, garlic, cumin, salt, pepper flakes and black pepper. Stir for a couple minutes and remove from heat and cool.

Prepare softball size dough balls and sit aside. 

Take about 2 tbsp of flour and place on the dough rolling surface. Take one of the balls and place it on top of the flour. Add another 2 tbsp of flour on top of the dough ball. 

Flatten with your fingers and start rolling. 

Make the pastry 9-10 inches in diameter, smaller if smaller pastries are desired. 

Add 3 tbsp of the stuffing in the middle of the rolled dough and fold the outer 1 inch from the left, right and the bottom to create a triangle. 

Place on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Repeat until all the dough and the stuffing are used up.

Heat up oven to 375º. Bake for 15-25 minutes or until the böreks take a golden color. 

Enjoy with hot tea or with cold yogurt or yogurt drink. 

Rose Pastry with Beef and Spinach (Etli ve Ispanaklı Gül Böreği)

I have made these boreks with potatoes, spinach and cheese filling separately in the past. This is the first time I am trying them with meat. All versions turned out really good. Anything with phyllo dough tastes wonderful; at least that’s what I think. The shapes of these boreks are attractive which makes me wanting to eat one more and one more…The filling is very easy to make and can be prepared ahead of time. These can be served as an appetizer, main dish or a snack. I had them with hot Turkish tea and it was delicious!

1 lb ground beef (95% lean)

1 bunch spinach (approx 1 lb)

1 medium onion (chopped finely)

2 cloves garlic (chopped finely)

¾ cup parsley (chopped finely)

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp red pepper flakes or paprika

1 ½ tsp salt

¼ tsp black ground pepper

1 package (1 lb) phyllo dough

½ cup milk

½ cup olive oil

1 egg

Heat the oil in a pan. Add the ground beef and cook until the beef is no longer pink and releases its water. Pour out the water and add the olive oil. Stir. Add the onions and sauté until onions are transparent. Add the garlic, salt, red pepper flakes and the black pepper. Saute for a couple of minutes and turn off heat. Add the chopped parsley and stir again. Let it cool.

Wash the spinach several times. Remove the stems and steam for about 3 minutes. Let it cool. Chop coarsely and add to the meat mixture.

Mix the milk, olive oil and egg until everything is integrated well.

Lay one phyllo dough sheet on the working surface (long side towards you). 

Brush the all the phyllo dough sheet with the milk/olive oil/egg mixture. 

Lay another sheet on top of it. 

Add 3 tbsp of the stuffing along the edge of the sheet (approximately 1 inch from the edge). 

Roll the sheet gently and brush with the milk/olive oil/egg mixture before rolling on top of the upper edge. 

Place in a greased baking tray and brush with the milk/olive oil/egg mixture again. 

Start with one end and roll it circular to give it a rose like shape. 

Brush the borek roll with the milk/olive oil mixture so it sticks together well.

Repeat until all the phyllo dough sheets and stuffing used up.

Bake at 350º for about 50 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and enjoy warm.