Gozleme

These are like Turkish crepes, but a little more savory than sweet. Not for those intolerant of lactose :) If you have a Turkish store in your neighborhood, you can buy the really thin dough from them. Otherwise, you'll need to make it yourself (sort of a pain, but at least you won't need to workout your shoulders at the gym that day).


Dough Ingredients

1 cup flour (more if needed) (125 g.)
1/3 yeast packet
A little less than 1/2 cup water, room temperature
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar

Dough Directions

1. Mix flour and salt in one bowl and yeast, sugar, and water in another.

2. Add water mixture to flour mixture while stirring until a dough forms (add more water if needed)

3. When it can stick together into a dough, place on a floured counter and knead for approximately 10 minutes, or until it becomes smooth

4. Put dough back in bowl and cover with a damp paper towel/washcloth for at least 15 minutes

5. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces; let sit for at least 20 minutes

6. Roll them out as thin as you can (more flour will likely come in handy at this point). Turks get it paper thin. How? I don't know. My dough is always a little lumpy.


Filling Ingredients

1 part feta cheese
1 part chopped fresh parsley
1 part ricotta cheese
Ground pepper to taste (I like loads!)

(1 cup each is a good guideline)


Filling Directions

1. Mix together. There, wasn't that easy?


Actual Gozleme Directions

Fill half of rolled out dough with the filling and pinch closed; cook in frying pan with olive oil or butter (depending on taste) until browned. Serve immediately.

Spinach with rice

Turkish soul food. This is surprisingly awesome for something that's good for you.

Ingredients

About 10-12 ounces of spinach (I use frozen, but fresh is always good!)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, diced
1/3 cup rice (I like basmati)
Olive oil for cooking
Salt and pepper to taste

(serve with plain yogurt)


Directions

1. Saute onion in olive oil in a medium pot (not a frying pan), adding the garlic a little later (garlic scorches, so be careful!)

2. Add spinach, tomato, rice, salt and pepper to the pot.

3. Cover the lid and cook for about 20 minutes on medium-low heat. The rice should be cooked through, but make sure before you take it off the burner

Kofte (Turkish meatballs)

These are juicy and delicious. You can use this as a burger recipe, too!


Ingredients

-1 pack of ground beef (about 1.5 - 2 lbs)***
-1 medium-sized onion, finely chopped or grated*** (depending how you like it)
-1 tsp. baking soda + 1/2 tsp.***
-1 tsp. salt + 1/2 tsp.***
-1 tsp. vinegar
-1/2-1 tsp. cumin
-1/2 tsp.t black pepper
-3 sprigs of fresh parsley, finely chopped
-olive oil for cooking

***You are going to make a starter for this by mixing 1/4 of the beef, 1/4 of the onion, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. baking soda. Mix it all together by squeezing between your hands, then place in a ziploc bag and leave in the fridge overnight.

Directions

1) Mix onions, salt, cumin, parsley, and black pepper in a medium-large bowl.
2) Add baking soda and vinegar so it starts to fizz.
3) Mix in the beef and starter fairly quickly, so the chemical reaction is still going on
4) Cover tightly in plastic wrap and leave kofte mix in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, preferably at least 2-4 hours, to allow it to "puff up".
5) Heat the olive oil on medium-high heat in a large pan
6) Meanwhile, roll the kofte into slightly flattened 2-by-1-inch meatballs and cook them in the olive oil on both sides until cooked through
7) Place onto plate with paper towel to absorb some of the grease