Sunday, 20 May 2012

Recipe: Döner Meat with Tomato Sauce served on a bed of Minted Rice



Ingredients - (serves 3 to 4)
1 pack döner meat
1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 cup lamb stock
1/2 onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
1 roasted red pepper, drained and finely chopped
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
For rice
1 cup rice
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 lemon
salt and pepper
For yoghurt
1 cup Greek yoghurt
1/2 lemon

Approximately 2 tbsp fresh finely chopped parsley, you may use more or less depending on taste.

Method -
Lay the döner meat in a single layer in an oven proof dish, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with a couple of pinches of chopped parsley.  Place in a preheated oven at 180c and leave to cook until the tomato sauce and yoghurt are read.  Check the döner meat now and again and mix around to allow the meat to heat evenly.

Half fill a medium saucepan with cold and water a good 2tsps salt, bring to the boil, then add the rice and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and cook until the rice just becomes tender.  Take off the heat and drain in a colander.  Return the rice to the saucepan, add the olive oil, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1tsp chopped parsley, mix together well and keep warm.  Taste the rice to make sure it is seasoned enough and add more parsley if you want.

In a frying pan, heat 1/2 tbsp olive oil in a frying pan and gently fry the onion and garlic, until softened but not brown.  Add the chopped roasted red pepper, chopped tomatoes, lamb stock, 2 tsp chopped parsley, season with salt and pepper, bring to a gentle boil, turn down and simmer, until the liquid reduces.  Taste the sauce to make sure it is seasoned enough and add more parsley if you want.  If you want a smoother sauce, blend in a blender or use a hand blender until the sauce is as smooth as you want.

Place the Greek yoghurt in a bowl, add 1tsp chopped parsley, juice of 1/2 lemon and a pinch of salt.  Mix together well.  Taste the yoghurt to make sure it is seasoned enough and add more parsley if you want.

To serve, place a bed of rice on each plate, lay some slices of döner meat on the rice and spoon over some of the tomato sauce.  Serve the yoghurt on the side.

What's In Season - During May

The following can be found in the markets during May. These lists are compiled from my visits to markets in Turkey. (This list is being updated during the month).


Apple - elma
Apricots - kayısı (first fresh of the season, so quite small) 
Artichoke - enginar (these can be brought still attached to the stem or with just a small piece of stalk attached or ready prepared)
Aubergine - patlıcan
Banana - muz
Beetroot - kırmızı pancar
Broad beans - bakla
Broccoli - yeşil karnıbahar
Cabbage - lahana/başlahana
Cabbage red - kırmızı lahana
Carrot - havuç

Cherries - kıraz (first of the season)
Courgette - kabak (one stall I saw had small round, medium round, normal tubular shaped light and dark green varieties)
Cucumber - salatalık/hıyar
Eggplant - patlıcan
Figs dried - kuru incir

Galia Melon - galia kavun (see photo)
Garlik - sarmısak
Grapevine leaves - asma yaprağı
Green beans - ayşekadın/taze fasulye/yeşil fasulye
Kiwi fruit - kivi
Leek - pırasa
Lemon - lımon
Lettuce - marul

Loquat - yeni dünya or Malta Eriği
Mushroom - mantar
Olive - zeytin
Onion - soğan
Orange - portakal

Oyster Mushrooms - istiridye mantarı   
Parsley - maydonaz
Peaches - şeftalı (these are the first of the season so are quite small)
Pear - armut
Peas - bezleye
Pepper green - yeşil biber
Pepper red - kırmızı biber/arnavutbiberi
Pepper sweet red - tatlı kırmızı biber


Plum (small green, quite sour tasting) - eric (see photo) 
Potato, normal and some new - patates
Pumpkin - kabak (it tends to be sold in bags precut into chunks now)
Radish - turp

Rocket - roket
Samphire or Sea Asparagus or (turkish translation Sea Of Cowpea) - deniz börülcesi
Spinach - espanya
Spring Onions - yeşil soğan
Strawberries - çilek

Tomatoes, cherry, normal, on the vine and beef types - domates
Turnip - turp

Water melon - karpuz
  • I like to freeze some strawberries to use later in the summer.  When defrosted they do become mushy, but are still good to create sauces, or in ice cream.  I have a small plastic chopping board that just fits on the shelf of my freezer.  I line the board with a sheet of greaseproof paper, and then pick through the strawberries, I try not to wash them if at all possible to keep the water content to a minimum.  I then cut across the stalk end of the strawberry to remove the stalk and also to create a flat end to stand the strawberries up.  Fill the board with the strawberries, then put in the freezer for several hours until they are solid.  They can then be transferred to plastic containers for storage in the freezer.

Tuesday, 10 April 2012

Recipe: Hot Cross Buns



Ingredients - (makes 12 small buns)
450g plain flour
1 x 7g sachet dried yeast (Here in Turkey the yeast doesn't seem so strong, so I actually use a 10g sachet)
50g brown sugar
2 tsp mixed spice
150g sultanas
50g mixed peel
1 large egg
225ml milk
50g butter

For Cross on Top
50g plain flour
1 tsp melted butter
3 tbsp cold water

For The Glaze
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp water

Method
Sift the flour into a large bowl.

Add the yeast, sugar, 1/2 tsp salt and mixed spice.  Stir in the sultanas and mixed peel.

Beat the egg and pour into the flour.

Warm the milk and butter in a small pan.  When it is hot, but not boiling, pour into the flour, then mix until the dough sticks together.

Tip the dough on to a well floured board, it will be quite sticky, so use plenty of flour.

Knead for 5-6 minutes until the dough feels soft and elastic.

Return the dough to the bowl cover with clingfilm and put somewhere warm for an hour, the dough should double in size.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 12 pieces.

Tell each piece into a ball and put on a backing sheet lined with greaseproof paper.

Cover the buns with a clean tea towel and put somewhere warm for 30 minutes to allow them to plump up.

Preheat the oven to 210c.

For the cross, mix the plain flour, melted butter and cold water in a bowl.

Put the mix in a small plastic bag, snip off one corner and pipe a cross over each bun.

Bake the buns in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes.

Meanwhile warm the honey and water in a small pan.

When the buns are ready, brush them with the warm honey and leave to cool a little.

These can be frozen and then either warmed in the oven for a few minutes or toasted.

Friday, 6 April 2012

Recipe: Julia's Carrot Cake

Thank you to my friend Julia for this simple, moist, yummy, carrot cake.


Ingredients
3/4 cup olive oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup apple sauce (or stewed apples)
1 and 1/2 cups white sugar
2 packed cups of plain flour
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cinnamon
3 cups carrots

For Icing
3/4 packet soft cheese
2 sachets vanilla sugar

Method
Line cake tin with greaseproof paper, I use an oblong tin measuring 21cm x 18cm.

Heat the oven to 175c.

In a large bowl whisk together the olive oil, eggs, apple sauce and sugar.

In a smaller bowl combine the remaining dry ingredients except for the carrots.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and fold together until combined.  Then fold in the carrots.

Pour into the lined tin.


Bake in the centre of the hot oven for about 1 hour, until a skewer comes out clean when inserted into the cake.

Allow to cool completely before removing from the tin as it is a soft cake.

For the icing combine the soft cheese and vanilla sugar and spread over the cake.  Sprinkle with grated lemon or orange rind to decorate.

Tuesday, 3 April 2012

What's In Season - During April

The following can be found in the markets in April.  (This page is being updated as the month progresses.)

Almonds - (this time of year they are picked whilst green and soft so you eat the whole thing where as later in the year the nut has formed in the centre and they are sold as nuts)


Apple - elma
Artichoke - enginar (these can be brought still attached to the stem or with just a small piece of stalk attached or ready prepared)
Aubergine - patlıcan
Banana - muz  (you will see the smaller native varieties and also the normal imported ones)
Beetroot - kırmızı pancar
Broccoli - yeşil karnıbahar
Cabbage - lahana/başlahana
Cabbage red - kırmızı lahana
Carrot - havuç  (we are starting to see some of the black and purple carrots appearing on the markets now)
Courgette - kabak
Cucumber - salatalık/hıyar (here in Turkey they are a lot smaller and sweeter than we are used to in England, more the size of a courgette but darker green in colour)
Eggplant - patlıcan  (these can be either the normal egg shaped variety or more elongated or round ones)
Figs dried - kuru incir
Garlik - sarmısak
Grapefruit - greyfurt/altıntop  (as well as the normal yellow ones, increasingly you can get the pink variety)
Grapevine leaves - asma yaprağı
Kiwi fruit - kivi
Leek - pırasa
Lemon - lımon
Lettuce - marul
Mushroom - mantar
Olive - zeytin
Onion - soğan
Orange - portakal
Parsley - maydonaz
Pear - armut
Pepper green - yeşil biber
Pepper red - kırmızı biber/arnavutbiberi
Pepper sweet red - tatlı kırmızı biber
Pomegranate - nar
Potato - patates
Pumpkin - kabak (it tends to be sold in bags precut into chunks now)
Radish - turp

Rocket - roket
Spinach - ıspanak
Spring Garlic - sarmısak (BEWARE the first time I brought these I thought they were large spring onions, turned out they worked well in a salad but wondered why the house smelt of garlic) Strawberries - çilek
Turnip - turp

Friday, 9 March 2012

What's In Season - During March

The following can be found in the local markets during March. (This page is being updated as the month progresses).

Apple - elma (there are a lot of different varieties around at the moment)
Artichoke - enginar (these can be brought still attached to the stem or with just a small piece of stalk attached or ready prepared)
Aubergine - patlıcan
Banana - muz
Beetroot - kırmızı pancar
Broccoli - yeşil karnıbahar
Brussel sprouts - brüksel lahanası (at the start of March there are still quite a few to be found).
Cabbage - lahana/başlahana
Cabbage red - kırmızı lahana
Carrot - havuç
Cauliflower - karnıbhar (at the start of March these are very cheap).
Courgette - kabak
Cucumber - salatalık/hıyar
Eggplant - patlıcan
Figs dried - kuru incir
Garlik - sarmısak
Grapefruit - greyfurt/altıntop
Grapevine leaves - asma yaprağı
Green beans - ayşekadın/taze fasulye/yeşil fasulye
Kiwi fruit - kivi
Leek - pırasa
Lemon - lımon
Lettuce - marul
Mushroom - mantar
Mushroom oyster - istiridye mantarı
Olive - zeytin
Onion - soğan
Orange - portakal
Parsley - maydonaz
Pear - armut
Pepper green - yeşil biber
Pepper red - kırmızı biber/arnavutbiberi
Pepper sweet red - tatlı kırmızı biber
Pomegranate - nar (there are not quite so many about now, but they can still be found)
Potato - patates
Pumpkin - kabak (it tends to be sold in bags precut into chunks now)
Radish - turp
Strawberries - çilek (these are the first of the season and are quite expensive and only keep for a day or two but if you cannot wait they still taste good)
Turnip - turp

Sunday, 12 February 2012

What's In Season - During February

The following items can be found in the local markets during the month.  This list is updated during the month as items come into season:

apples - elma
aubergine - patlıcan
bananas - muz
beetroot - kırmızı pancar
blood oranges - kan portacalı
broccoli - yeşil karnıbahar
cabbage - lahana/başlahana
cabbage red - kırmızı lahana
carrots - havuç (this week we saw several of the black skinned varieties of carrots)
cauliflower - karnıbahar
chestnuts - kestane
courgettes - kabak
cucumber - salatalik/hıyar
eggplant - patlıcan
garlik - sarmısak
grapefruit - altıntop/greyfurt
grape vine leaf - asma yaprağı
hyacinth bulbs in flower - sümbül
kiwi fruit - kivi
leeks - pırasa
lemons - limon
lettuce - marul
mushrooms - mantar
onions - soğan
oranges - portakal
parsley - maydanoz
pear - armut
pepper green - yeşil biber
pepper red - arnavutbiberi
pepper red - kırmızı biber
pepper sweet red - tatlı kırmızı biber
plum - erik
potatoes - patates
pumpkin - kabak
radish - turp
shallot - soğancık
spinach - ıspanak
spring onions - taze soğan
strawberries - çilek (we are lucky to have an early crop of these which have just come into season).
tangerine - mandalına
tomatoes - domates
turnips - turp ( you will see whites and black ones, about the size and shape of a cricket ball, they are often sold mixed along with the radish, which are a deep pink in colour and the same shape and size).