Kale with Olive Oil (Zeytinyağlı Kıvırcık Lahana)

Kale, a dark green, leafy vegetable from the cabbage family has numerous nutritional benefits. In fact, kale is one of the most nutritious vegetables. It contains vitamin C, B6, carotenes, manganese, iron, dietary fiber, calcium, minerals and many other nutrients. This is another vegetable that is an excellent protector against cancer.

In Turkey, kale is mainly popular in the Black Sea region in Northern Turkey. In Northern Turkey, kale and collard greens are used for soups, sautés and for other types of dishes. I was not very familiar with kale as it was not cooked in the region I lived. I love taking advantage of this nutritious vegetable when I see it in supermarkets or the local farmer’s market. I found this particular kale at the local farmer’s market.

1 bunch kale
½ onion (chopped)
½ cup pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp sesame seeds
¼ tsp red pepper flakes
½ tsp dried oregano
¼ tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp salt (adjust to your taste)

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add the onions and sauté for 2 minutes. Add pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds, red pepper flakes, oregano and black pepper. Saute all the ingredients for about 3-4 minutes.

In the mean time, wash the kale and with your hands remove the leaves from the stalks. Discard the kale stalks. Give the kale leaves a coarse chop or just tear with your hands. Add to the pan. Cover the pan and as soon as the kale starts to lose its volume, mix it together with the rest of the ingredients. Add salt to your liking. Cook covered for 5-8 minutes. Enjoy warm with rice pilaf.

Ümit’s Hummus with Eggs (Ümit’in Yumurtalı Humusu)

Another version of the hummus is with eggs. My husband informed me that sometimes this is how his family makes hummus. It is very easy and tasty.

You may cut this in pizza-like slices and place between bread slices as a sandwich. That’s exactly what we did when we had extra hummus leftover and wanted a quick dinner. We placed one or two slices of the eggs with hummus between bread slices with the tomato and parsley garnishes. The homemade, pickled small peppers (home preserved) which came all the way from Turkey with me last summer are perfect match for such a sandwich. We placed the pickled small peppers in the sandwich. A small bowl of yogurt would also be a great complement to this. It was one of the most delicious meals I had ever eaten.

4 eggs
1-2 cups hummus
2 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp paprika or cayenne pepper
1 tomato for garnishing (cut in 8 piece wedges)
2-3 leaves of parsley for garnishing

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Beat eggs in a large bowl. Add salt and black pepper and beat vigorously. Pour the eggs in the hot oil and do not tamper until the eggs cook. Take the omelet and place in a large round plate. Spread the hummus on the eggs starting from the center of the eggs towards the outer. You may cover all the eggs, however for picturing purposes I left the sides of the eggs exposed. Either way is fine.

Drizzle the one tbsp olive oil on top of the hummus. Sprinkle some paprika or cayenne pepper. Place the parsley leaves at the center and decorate with tomato wedges around the plate. Serve at room temperature.

Note: Last week, I accidentally posted this recipe for a time period of less than 15 hours. For those of you who already read it, sorry for the repetition!

Hummus (Humus)

One of the most famous Mediterranean foods is hummus. Hummus has become so popular in America, it is very accessible in regular supermarkets. It is sold already prepared in small tubs. I still think homemade hummus is the best. This dish can be a perfect appetizer or a nice lunch full of nutrients.

In my household in Turkey, hummus is rarely prepared for some reason. Maybe my mother does not like hummus much; I really don't know. Although, it is prepared and consumed all over Turkey. My husband’s family prepares it very frequently though. Therefore, my husband actually made this dish (his second time). I had never made hummus myself, as I was not a big fan, however I am very much liking it now. This was prepared on a cooking get together with friends mentioned in the previous post. Of course the whole thing was a collaborative effort, as I boiled the chickpeas and our friends peeled them. My hubby was the one who determined the ingredients and completely decorated it himself without my help (except the crackers). I think he has acquired better decoration skills than myself!

You can decorate hummus with tomatoes, with olives and various spices. It is all up to you. Depending on your taste, you may increase or decrease the amount of tahini. Some people like hummus with more tahini and some like it with less. As you are adding the tahini, taste the hummus until you acquire the right taste for your palates.

Note: You do not have to peel the chickpeas; they will still taste good and will be pureed smoothly even with the peel. I tried it recently with the peel after writing this recipe and it worked well. To my surprise, the hummus was very smooth even without peeling the chickpeas.

2 cups dried chickpeas
1 cup tahini (or ½ cup depending on how much you like tahini)
5-6 garlic cloves
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp salt
½ tsp paprika
9-10 black olives for garnishing
10-15 crackers for garnishing
2-3 sprigs fresh parsley
1/3 cup hot water

Soak the chickpeas overnight in a deep bowl full of water. The next day, pour the water out and wash the chickpeas. Place the chickpeas in a large pot and cover with water. Boil for about an hour or until the chickpeas are soft but not mushy. Run the chickpeas under water and cool. Peel the skins of the chickpeas (if you prefer). After boiling, the skin of the chickpeas will come out easily. All you have to do is take each chickpea and give it a gentle scrub between your thumb and forefinger. The skin will come off easily.

Put the chickpeas, the garlic and the salt in a food processor. Process until the mixture is pureed adding the hot water gradually in order to create the right texture. Pour the water from the feed tube. After the chickpeas are pureed add the tahini in the processor with the chickpeas. Once everything is integrated, spread the hummus in a large flat plate with a spatula. Drizzle olive oil on top by making a circular shape with the oil drizzle. Sprinkle some paprika and decorate with parsley and black olives. Place the crackers around the round plate and serve at room temperature. The beauty of this dish is that you may decorate it any way you like. There is no limit to the decoration.

Zeynep’s Stuffed Grape Leaves with Olive Oil (Zeynep’in Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Sarması)

During a cooking get together with friends a while back, we prepared various dishes. I could not resist publishing a few pictures of these foods. Usually, I do not get a chance to take pictures of the food when I have company, but since this was a cooking together activity, many pictures were taken. Here are a few.

I will start explaining the dishes made during this feast. I will use the 3rd picture as a reference. However, the 2nd picture is taken from the opposite side of the 3rd picture.

The ‘Roasted Chicken’ was rubbed with various dry spices, olive oil and lemon juice before it was roasted. I did not write down the recipe that day as I just wanted to just enjoy cooking. Sometimes I feel like cooking something without measuring. In that case, I do not publish the recipes until I make them with measurements.

To the left of the chicken is ‘Poğaça’ which is a savory pastry filled with white cheese (similar to feta) and parsley. These poğaças were made with yeast rather than baking powder. Usually there are two options in choosing the raising agent for poğaças. The ones with yeast turn out very soft and the ones with baking powder are a little firmer. Both taste great, but I prefer the soft ones. I have made these a few times and have not written the recipe yet, but it will be coming sometime.

Right above the poğaças is a ‘Steamed Asparagus and Brussels Sprout Salad’ dressed with salt, olive oil and lemon (very simple ingredients).

Next to the asparagus and brussels sprouts is İçli Köfte which is bulgur shells stuffed with meat and onion mixture. I have posted a recipe for içli köfte before. You have two choices when making the shell. You may add boiled and pureed potatoes to the bulgur or ground meat (this can be done in a food processor or grinding the ground beef three times in a meat grinder). These particular ones are made with grinding the meat three times in a meat grinder to make the shell. They turned out pretty decent.

Everyone had a shot at opening the shells. Both Selma and Zeynep actually did a good job even though it was their first time, except I think Selim created some interesting shapes to the shells. We knew which ones he made! I don’t even think my husband tried; he probably would have done worse! Opening a hole in the shells needs some experience and talent and I am not there yet either. The shells are supposed to be thin, however mine turn out to be thicker than I would like them to be. But I have made these only 3-4 times so far. I need to practice! They tasted similar to what my mother makes, so I was pleased. Once I manage to make the shells a little thinner, I’ll be happier, as this is simply my favorite food. There is a machine for it, but bringing it from home in my luggage will be very risky since I have seen how luggage is carelessly thrown in airports! It will be too heavy to carry on a carry on.

Next to the içli köfte is ‘Bulgur Pilaf with Chickpeas’ that is prepared with chicken broth instead of water.

Straight above the pilaf is 'Hummus’ which was made by my husband. A recipe for it will be coming next.

To the left of the hummus there is ‘Yalancı Dolma’ or ‘Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Sarması’ which was made by Zeynep. The recipe is being posted in the bottom of this post.

To the left of the ‘Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Sarması’ is a ‘Red Cabbage Salad’ which is made with lemon and olive oil dressing. This is a very tasty salad.

I had to reserve a separate picture for the ‘Baklava’ that we made. This is my favorite dessert. I enjoy making it and sharing it with others. A while ago, we made it with a friend so she could take it to her work for an occasion. She could not stop telling me how much praise it got and how she still hears about it. Did I mention that last year, in the company where I work, there was a dessert competition and my baklava won? I am humbled to receive so many compliments above and beyond usual about this baklava. However, the last time I made baklava, which was last week it did not turn out great for two reasons. For one, the market where I usually shop had run out of my favorite phyllo dough, so I had to choose another brand that I had not tried before. These phyllo sheets were thicker than usual and did not work out as I wanted it to be. Another thing was that, I played with the syrup a little bit. It still was not bad, but was not my usual.

Now, it’s time to talk about today’s recipe. We prepared all the meal together except the filling for the rolled grape leaves which was done the night before by Zeynep. She brought the filling ready to be rolled during our cooking adventure. We used the grape leaves my mother had given me last summer that she had collected from our garden in the mountains. In fact, I think I even helped her picking them. She stores them in bottles with some water (I don’t know the process she uses to store them really). This is a common way of preserving grape leaves back home.

Collaboratively, the grape leaves were rolled and cooked. The decoration was done by Zeynep and her sister Selma who claims does not have any culinary talents. I was astonished when I saw the rose she created with the tomato peel that was placed on top of the rolled grape leaves. That was something I learned from her as I need to advance my decoration skills. The plate looked so pretty and appealing with the arrangement and contrast of colors; one would feel discouraged to eat them so that the decoration would not be destroyed. As you can assume, we did eat them. In fact, this was the first dish that was cooked, so we nibbled on the grape leaves while preparing the rest of the menu.

Again, this is another versatile Turkish dish as you will already see two other different stuffing posted in my blog for grape leaves and dolmas. Check out Stuffed Mixed Vegetables (Karışık Dolma), Stuffed Grape Leaves with Olive Oil (Zeytinyağlı Yaprak Sarması) and Stuffed Peppers with Chicken (Tavuklu Biber Dolması) for other types of fillings.

The stuffing for the grape leaves and dolmas varies from region to region in Turkey. Different areas prepare the filling differently based on their local food culture.

This dish is also called ‘Yalancı Dolma’ which in this case means ‘Fake Dolma’. The word ‘Yalancı’ in Turkish means ‘Liar’, but in this case it refers to fake. Instead of meat, rice is used for stuffing the grape leaves. The word ‘Dolma’ comes from the Turkish word 'doldurmak', which means, ‘to fill’.

This is made with olive oil and served cold or at room temperature. Although, for me I make everything with olive oil, so I serve them warm or cold. Both ways taste very good. Generally, I serve them warm as I am used to the way I used to eat them when I was a kid. It is funny how habits from a young age continue for so long. However you choose to eat them, sarmas or dolmas are really good.

This dish was very common in the Ottoman Empire kitchen. Most regions surrounding Turkey also make different types of dolmas. From Eastern Europe to the Middle East, to Azerbaijan, this is a popular dish along with eggplant, zucchini, tomato and other types of dolmas.

Thank you Zeynep for sharing your delicious recipe.

For the Stuffing:

2 cups rice
1 large onion (finely chopped)
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp currants
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp dried mint
¾ cup olive oil
1 bunch fresh parsley (finely chopped)
1 tsp salt
2 ¾ cups water

For Rolling & Cooking:

1 jar grape leaves or as much as it takes to finish the stuffing above
½ lemon
2 ½ cups water


Stuffing Preparation:

Heat olive oil and sauté onions until onions are transparent. Add pine nuts and stir for 3-4 minutes. Add the water and let it boil. When the water boils, add the rice and salt. Mix and cook covered on medium low heat for about 15-20 minutes or until the rice is soft. Turn heat off and add currants, cinnamon, mint and parsley and cover. Let it sit for 10 minutes. Uncover and mix stuffing. Let it cool.

If you are using a pickled grape leaves, remove from the jar and run under cold water and squeeze to let all the water out. Take one grape leaf and place on a cutting board or well cleaned counter. Follow the rolling process on my previous post for ‘Stuffed Grape Leaves with Olive Oil’.

Remove the stem. Place some stuffing on the leaf. Start rolling the grape leaf by first making one fold forward and then folding both sides in. Keep rolling forward until the leaf is completely rolled. Place neatly in a pot.

Pour ½ lemon juice on top. Add water. Place 3-4 small plates on the leaves to put weight on them so they do not open during the cooking process. Cover and cook on medium heat until water boils. Reduce the heat once the water boils and start cooking on low for 45 minutes. Make sure the water does not dry out before cooking. I always take one grape leaf and taste it before I decide if the rice inside has cooked or not. Enjoy at room temperature.

Lamb Chops (Kuzu Pirzola)

I love lamb chops. These turned out just out of this world. The tenderness and juiciness of these lamb chops were very noticeable. Combining and pureeing all the common Mediterranean ingredients such as parsley, garlic, thyme, lemon and olive oil created a wonderful sauce. Enjoy with pilafs, pasta or potatoes.




7 lamb chops
2 cloves garlic
5-6 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs mint
½ cup fresh parsley
Juice of 1 lemon or lime
2 tbsp olive oil
Ground black pepper
Salt

Salt the lamb chops on both sides. Sprinkle the black pepper on them. Set aside 1 thyme sprig and 3-4 mint leaves for garnishing purposes. Remove the rest of the thyme leaves from the twigs and place in a food processor. Add the mint, parsley, garlic cloves, olive oil and juice of 1 lemon. Puree all the ingredients in a food processor. Set a small amount of this sauce for garnishing purposes.

Rub the lamb chops with this sauce and set aside for 30 minutes. Wrap the exposed bones with aluminum foil to prevent the bones from burning. Broil each side for 12 minutes. You may extend or reduce the cooking time based on how rare or well you want them to be. I like them medium well and 12 minutes on each side was good enough. Place in a serving plate and garnish with thyme, mint and the green sauce.

Note: You may remove the aluminum foil from the lamb chops before serving. It is up to you. I removed the aluminum foil as I think my plate looks more appealing without it!

Orange Cake (Portakallı Kek)

This cake reminds me of my childhood. I grew up with orange and lemon cakes since I used to live in part of Turkey where citrus trees grow. The Mediterranean region is blessed with citrus fruit. Fields are filled with lemons, oranges, clementines, mandarins and grapefruit trees. There is an abundance of citrus fruit, so they are widely used in desserts, salads and other dishes.

When I was growing up, during the citrus season (usually winter months), our home always had lots of citrus fruit and none of it was ever purchased. Due to the generosity of relatives, family friends and acquaintance who own citrus farms or citrus trees, we never had to purchase them. Now, my father has his own citrus farm which he enjoys taking care of as a hobby, so now we have more citrus fruit than we even want. In fact, he has a few orange trees that last until the summer, so every year when I go home, they save a tree full of juicy oranges so I can enjoy them from the tree. I know that’s really sweet.


Back to the cake…This cake is very simple and common, which does not require elaborate ingredients. To me, the simpler, the tastier. Sometimes, I do not enjoy foods that have way too many ingredients and different flavors which cause my palates to be confused. Usually, I enjoy one flavor without the interruption of other flavors. Since I am fan of oranges, I like the hint of orange flavor that comes out of the cake. The cake is not too sweet, but flavorful. I wanted to attain the exact flavor I enjoyed when I ate this, God knows how many years ago, at home in Turkey. I still remember flavors of orange and lemon cakes I had when I was a child!

It has been almost two years since I have baked a cake, since I try not to bake or make desserts often. It is usually too much for me and my husband and we end up eating it all. Not so much for weight gain (partially), but for health reasons. However, I did find a solution. When I make desserts or cakes, I take most of it to my office or send to my husband’s office so we could share with our colleagues. I like sharing food, so there are times when I bake things only for the office (not just for experiment). Since I baked this cake 7 times in the past couple weeks, I sent almost all of these cakes to my husband’s office and some to my office. As a result, a coworker of mine offered to bring me oranges from his orange tree in front of his house! I gratefully accepted and the next day he came with a bag full of oranges so I could bake more cake! I baked my last version of the cake with these natural oranges which turned out really good.

The first cake I baked, was too dry, but came out of the cake mold perfectly. The second time, I improved the flavor tremendously, but the cake was cracking and it didn’t come out of the pan nicely. The third time, I improved the flavor even more, but the top of the cake was cracking. Well, during my next try, I covered it with aluminum foil for the first 15 minutes of baking, which prevented it from cracking. However, it still did not come out of the cake mold nicely. Every time it had to break slightly, in one place or another. So, finally, I am happy to say that last night, this cake came out really good with the help of a tip from my mom. The trick was that, instead of greasing the cake mold with liquid oil, I greased it with unsalted butter, with a sprinkle of flour on the greased pan and baked it at lower heat than usual. Apparently, this is a known tip for bakers. Obviously, I have a lot of room for improvement in baking.

I did not want to post this cake until I perfected it in every way. Now, here it is. Enjoy!

2 cups flour
1.5 cup sugar
1/2 cup yogurt
1/2 cup canola oil (or vegetable oil)
3 eggs
1 large orange (both the zest and the juice to be used)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla extract

Unsalted butter for greasing the cake pan
¼ tsp of flour to sprinkle on greased cake pan

Note: All ingredients need to be at room temperature. To hinder the cake from cracking around the ring, cover with aluminum foil only for the first 15 minutes of baking time.

Using a Stand Mixer:

Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Place the egg whites in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Attach the wire whip to the beater shaft of the mixer. Using the wire whip of the mixer beat the egg whites starting with the lowest speed and gradually increasing the speed to 8. Once a foamy texture is attained, place the foamy egg in a separate bowl.

Grate the orange and put the zest aside. Squeeze the orange and set aside. In the mixer bowl, place the egg yolks, sugar, orange juice, orange zest, yogurt, vanilla extract and oil. Whip together at speed 8; again starting at the lowest speed and increasing it gradually.

Remove the wire whip attachment from the mixer and attach the flat beater (Do this after unplugging the stand mixer as the instructions of the mixer suggest). Add the foamy egg white to the bowl. Sift the flour and baking soda in a separate bowl and add them to the wet ingredients in the bowl of the mixer. Mix together at speed 4 for a few minutes until all the ingredients are incorporated and you have a smooth batter. In case some of the flour stays around the mixing bowl, scrape them down using a spatula. Make sure your mixer is off when you are doing this.

Manually:

In a deep bowl, whisk the egg whites until they are foamy. Set aside. On another large deep bowl, put the egg yolks, sugar, orange juice, yogurt, oil, vanilla extract and orange zest and whisk together until all the ingredients are integrated. Add the egg white foam the rest of wet ingredients. Sift flour and baking soda and add to the wet ingredients. Mix all the ingredients until you attain a smooth batter.

Set oven heat at 325ºF. Grease a cake mold with unsalted butter. Sprinkle a little flour on the greased pan or cake mold. Pour the cake batter in the cake mold. When the oven is ready, place in the middle rack and bake for 50 minutes. To check whether the cake is baked well or not, insert a toothpick in the cake. If the toothpick comes out clean, that means your cake is ready, if it comes out with batter, that means it still needs baking.

When you remove the cake from the oven, let it rest for about 15 minutes before taking the cake out of the cake mold.

Enjoy with a hot tea or coffee.

Ispanaklı Sac Böreği (Borek with Spinach on Griddle)

Another type of borek that is unique to Iskenderun/Hatay region is the Spinach Borek on a convex griddle. This version (with spinach) is more widespread in this region. However, nowadays potato, zucchini and meat versions are frequently prepared on sac (convex griddle). To reiterate, even though Turkey is a small country compared to the United States, Turkish food is very heterogeneous. There are so many foods that are unique to only one city or one region. For instance, some cities in Hatay province may not recognize this borek because of its specialty specifically for one small area. Common Turkish cuisine may be prepared and consumed all over Turkey, but sometimes with different versions.

I have made Patatesli Sac Böreği (Borek with Potatoes) previously which was posted on my blog. This recipe is almost the same. I used wheat flour for the potato borek, here I am using regular white flour. Of course the fillings are different too, but the process is the same. Since I do not have a convex griddle, I used a regular non-stick pan.

It may look very time consuming to make these boreks, but believe me it does not take much time to prepare the borek, especially if you prepare the filling the day before. The day you cook the boreks, all you have to do is prepare the dough. If you have a stand mixer, that will take you less than 4 minutes. The only disadvantage is that you have to constantly watch the boreks while cooking so that they do not burn and you do not set your fire alarm.

I am proud to say that both the spinach and the green onions were from our local farmer’s market. They were so fresh. I actually took the previous recipe of 'Spinach Saute' and spiced it up a little bit before I used it as a filling for these boreks.

Here is the recipe with illustrations.

For the Stuffing:

2 bunches of spinach
7 large green onions (chopped) (or 1 medium white or yellow onion)
½ tsp red pepper flakes
1 garlic clove (chopped finely)
3 tbsp olive oil
¼ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp paprika
1 tsp salt


For the Dough:

4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1 ¾ of cups water

For Drizzling During Cooking:

1/3 cup olive oil


Preparation of Stuffing:

Wash the spinach thoroughly. In a large pot, boil water and add the spinach in the boiled water for 2 minutes. Do not keep them in the boiled water longer as their texture will become mushy. Immediately run the spinach under cold water in order to stop the cooking process. Create small balls from the spinach and give them a nice squeeze to remove the excess water in the spinach. Chop each spinach ball coarsely and with your hands, separate the spinach leaves from each other as sticking together will hinder the salt and spices to get inside the spinach.

Heat olive oil in a large pan. Add onions and garlic and sauté for 2-4 minutes. Stir occasionally.

Add the spinach to the onions. Add the rest of the ingredients for the filling and sauté for 5-6 minutes. Make sure the salt and pepper are distributed evenly in the spinach.


Dough Preparation:

Using a Stand Mixer:

If you are using a mixer, place the flour and the salt in the bowl of the mixer. Attach the dough hook to the beater shaft which comes with your mixer. Start with the lowest speed and start pouring water gradually from the pouring chute. Increase the speed to 2 and then to 4 and mix for about 2-3 minutes until the dough is soft and sticky. Do not forget to add the 1 ¾ cup of water slowly to the dough. The dough will stick to your hands when it is finished (in about 2-3 minutes) but that is okay. Cover the bowl that has dough in it with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 20 minutes.

Kneading with Hands:

If you are kneading with your hands, place the flour and salt in a large shallow bowl. Keep a bowl of water handy since you will be dipping your hands in the water quite often. Add some water to the flour to start the dough making process. Keep adding water slowly and start kneading. Keep kneading and keep dipping your hands in the water while kneading. Continue kneading until the dough becomes soft. Place in a bowl and let it sit for 20 minutes.

For Cooking:

Heat a large non-stick pan. Keep the 1/3 cup olive oil handy in a bowl with a small spoon. Take a piece of dough in the size of your fist and make ball.


Add a little olive oil to the ball and with your hand flatten the dough a little.

Keep the dough in your left hand and place a spoonful stuffing inside.


Close the stuffing with the dough by pulling the dough from each side and joining at the center.

Add a little more olive oil to the ball (this is left to your judgment) and smoothen the ball with your hands.

Drizzle some olive oil in the heated non-stick pan. Place the stuffed ball at the center of the non-stick pan and start pressing with your fingers from the center to the outer side of the ball until you have a large disk of dough with the stuffing inside.





This will allow the stuffing inside the dough ball to be distributed evenly on every side of the dough disk. You will have some tears and broken dough here and there but do not worry that happens when you first try this.

Cook each side until the color turns golden brown. You may keep turning back and forth until you reach the desired color.


Enjoy with Turkish tea as an afternoon snack or with yogurt and any kind of salad for a lunch or dinner.