Turkish drinks and food recipes

[The March Hare]

SEA BASS IN WHITE WINE Beyaz Sarap Soslu Levrek
4 Servings
8 filets of sea bass about 100 grams each
1 soup sthingy butter
1 and 1/2 glasses of water
1 small onion chopped very fine
1/2 glass of whipped cream
2 coffee cups white wine
In a deep frying pan or saucepan brown the onions in the butter and brown the filets on both sides. Add the salt and white wine and let cook covered for 5 minutes on a low heat.

Place the fish carefully on the serving plate. Boil down the sauce in which the fish was cooked. Remove from heat and add the fresh cream, mix and pour over the filets. Serve at once.

[The March Hare]

CHICKEN "CIRCASSIAN" Cerkez Tavugu
8-10 Servings
1 chicken, 1.250 kilos approximately
1 coffee sthingy red pepper
1 glass of milk
1/2 soup sthingy salt
2 glasses chicken broth
2 soup sthingys olive oil
500 grams bread (without crust)
500 grams hazelnuts
Cook the chicken for 1 and 1/2 hours in salted water. Remove from the water and drain. Remove the skin. Remove the meat from the bones and cut into small pieces.

To make the sauce: Soak the bread in the milk, grind the nuts, and add the powdered nuts to the bread from which the excess milk has been squeezed. Put the mixture through a food mill, then add salt and chicken broth. Stir vigorously with a whisk. (If desired, a clove of crushed garlic may be added).

Arrange the chicken pieces on a plate. Pour the sauce over it. Sprinkle with a fine stream of olive oil and red pepper. Serve cool.

[The March Hare]

CHICKEN BREASTS Tavuk Gogsu
1 small chicken (1 and 1/4 kilos approximately)
2 level soup sthingys cinnamon
2 litres water
3 litres milk
300 grams rice flour
600 grams powdered sugar
Boil the chicken in water until it is quite tender. Drain. Put the rice flour and sugar in a saucepan. Slowly stir in the cold milk. Keep stirring constantly while you boil this mixture for 10 minutes until it thickens.

Remove the breast meat from the chicken. Rub the meat between the palms of your hands to reduce it to hair-like fibres. To make this easier, keep dipping the meat into water. Soak the fine fibres in a glass of water for 2 minutes. Drain thoroughly and put into the saucepan containing the "muhallebi." Mix, boil for 10 minutes and pour into dessert bowls. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

[The March Hare]

BREADED LIVER Ciger Pane
4 Servings
1 lamb liver
1 tea cup bread crumbs
1 tea cup flour
1/2 glass oil (olive oil, if possible)
4 eggs parsley
Cut the liver into 1/2 cm. thick slices. Coat each slice in the flour first, then in the egg and finally in the bread crumbs. Fry in oil on a low heat first, then on a higher heat. Place the slices on a serving dish and garnish with chopped parsley.

[The March Hare]

BANANA MUHALLEBI Muzlu Muhallebi
2 litres milk
400 grams sugar
100 grams preserved oranges chopped fine (or any preserved fruit)
200 grams rice flour
1/2 kilo bananas

Place the preserved fruit, flour and sugar in a saucepan. Add the milk and stir. Boil for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from the heat and let cool.
Cut the bananas into fine slices and add them to the cream. Pour into dessert bowls and decorate with banana slices.

[The March Hare]

ARTICHOKE AND MEAT STEW Etli Enginar Basti
6 Servings
1 bunch dill
1/2 soup sthingy flour
1/2 soup sthingy salt
2 lemons
2 soup sthingys butter
20 very small onions or shallots
5 glasses water
500 grams of lamb cut into small pieces
6 artichokes

Peel the artichokes as described in the recipe "Artichokes in Olive Oil."

To prevent the artichoke heart from turning black, it is extremely important to rub them with lemon juice the moment they are peeled. Place the artichokes, hollow side up, on the bottom of a saucepan. Pour in the lemon juice, broth, and flour mixed with a little water. Add salt, cover, and cook for 20-25 minutes on a low heat.

In another saucepan, brown the onion in butter for 3 minutes. Add the meat and cook it only until it begins to render its juice. Then add the chopped tomato and stir.

Finally, add the salt and water and cook 20 minutes longer until the liquid has evaporated

[The March Hare]

VEAL KIDNEY IN WHITE WINE Beyaz Sarapli Dana Bobregi
4 Servings
1 soup sthingy butter
1/2 tea cup meat broth
1/2 tea cup white wine
2 veal kidneys
5 soup sthingys oil
salt, pepper

Cut the kidneys into 1/2 cm. thick round slices. Salt and pepper them. Fry them in oil for 2 minutes on each side. Put them on a plate. Remove the oil from the frying pan, and in its place, melt a sthingy of butter. Add the wine and broth. Boil for two minutes, then pour the sauce over the kidney slices.

[The March Hare]

PEA SOUP Bezelye Corbasi
8 Servings
1 and 1/2 litres of meat broth or water
1 Kilo of green peas
1/2 soup sthingy of salt
Some chopped parsley
Boil the peas in water for 15 minutes, drain and blend them with a mixer or put through a food mill.

Put the pea puree in a saucepan, add the broth, the salt, the butter. Cook over a medium heat, stirring constantly with a sthingy. When cooked, add the chopped parsley, mix and serve.

[The March Hare]

POTATO BALLS Palates Koftesi
4 Servings
1 coffee sthingy salt, pepper
1 glass dried bread crumbs
2 egg yolks and 3 beaten eggs
3 soup sthingys flour
6 medium potatoes
Cook the peeled potatoes in boiling water. Puree the potatoes in a vegetable mill, and then add salt, pepper and the 2 egg yolks to the mixture.

With the puree, make balls the size of walnuts, and roll them in flour. Dip the balls into the beaten eggs and into the flour again. Brown them in oil until they become golden brown.

[The March Hare]

"PUF" BOREK Puf Boregi
1 egg
1 soup sthingy olive oil
1 to 1 and 1/2 glasses of oil for cooking
250 grams flour
250 grams white cheese or, 250 grams ground meat mixed with grated onion
3/4 coffee cup water
75 grams butter
Make a dough with the flour, water, egg and oil. Wait 15 minutes. Separate the dough into 5 equal pieces. Roll the 5 pieces with a pastry rolling pin. Spread melted butter on each surface and place one on the other. Let stand 1/2 hour.

Now roll out the dough as fine as possible into a large disk. On one half of the disk, place small portions of the filling, be it white cheese or meat mixed with onion. The small portions should be spaced about 10 cm. apart. Fold the empty half over the filled half. Around the base of each portion of filling cut a half-moon with an aluminum saucer or something similar. Press around the circumference of each mound with your fingers to close it well, then fry the borek in oil.

[The March Hare]

RAGOUT Papaz Yahnisi
4 Servings
1 tablesthingy of vinegar
2 garlics
20 pearl onions
3 tablesthingy margarine
500 g veal, without fat
Salt, paper, red pepper, allspice, cinnamon

This is a dish specially for cold winter evenings.

Brown chunks of meat in margarine until they absorb juice. Add garlic, pearl onions on which you leave one layer of red skin. Brown them as well for 5 minutes. Add pepper, red pepper, allspice, cinnamon, salt and four glasses of water. Cook on medium heat. In about three hours you can serve your ragout.

[The March Hare]

POTATO "MUSAKKA" Patates Musakka
4 Servings
1 and 1/4 kilos medium potatoes
1 glass oil
2 finely chopped onions
2 large green peppers
250 grams ground meat
3 glasses water
3 soup sthingys butter
4 tomatoes
salt

Peel and halve the potatoes. Wash them, then fry them in oil for 10 minutes.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter and brown the onions for 3 minutes. Add the ground meat and partially cook it for 3 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the salt and water and boil. Place the potatoes without the oil in a saucepan. Pour the meat preparation over the potatoes. Add the sliced green peppers and chopped tomatoes. Cover and cook 45 minutes on a low heat.

[The March Hare]

SULTAN'S DELIGHT Hunkar Begendi
5 Servings
1 kilo lamb meat cut into small pieces
1/2 litre milk
100 grams butter
100 grams cheese (kashar or gruyere)
100 grams flour
2 kilos eggplant
2 large tomatoes
2 medium onions
salt, pepper, bay leaf

The dish will be composed of meat surrounded by eggplant puree.

To Prepare the Meat:

For 1 hour and 30 minutes cook the meat with the following ingredients: the finely chopped onions, peeled, seeded and chopped tomatoes, salt, pepper and a bay leaf. Do not add water.

To Prepare the Eggplant:

Cook the eggplant by holding them by the stem and turning them over an open flame (gas or wood). When the eggplant is soft, remove it from the flame. When it has cooled off, remove the skin with a knife while holding the stem with your hand. Mash with a fork.

Melt 50 grams of butter in a saucepan. Add the flour and make a paste. Add the milk slowly, and let come to a boil. Add the eggplant puree to this sauce and stir for 6 to 7 minutes on a low heat. Finally add the grated cheese and stir.

Put the meat in the center of a serving platter and surround with the eggplant puree.

[The March Hare]

SHEKERPARAY Sekerpare
For the Cake:
1 coffee sthingy yeast
1 egg yolk
1 soup sthingy sugar
1 whole egg plus
20 hazelnuts
250 grams butter
500 grams flour

For the Syrup:
2 glasses sugar
3 glasses water
the juice of one lemon

Prepare the syrup by boiling the sugar, water and lemon juice. Put aside. Cream the softened butter and sugar together. Add the eggs, flour and yeast. Knead.
In a deep oven dish, place small disks of the dough (5 cm. in diameter) spaced well apart from each other. Put a hazelnut on each piece of dough. Bake 20 minutes in a medium oven. The top should become golden brown.

Place the cakes in a deep dish. Pour the cooked syrup over them and wait until it is absorbed. Serve when completely cooled.

[The March Hare]

SUTLATCH AU GRATIN Firin Sutlac
4 Servings
1 egg yolk
1 glass sugar (not full)
1 liter milk
1 teasthingy rice flour
2 small cups of coffee rice

Cook rice in water until you can pull the rice. Drain. Cook milk, rice and a pinch of salt. When milk is boiling add sugar. Cook until rice is tender. Mix rice flour with little water and add to the boiling milk. If you wish you can add now vanilla.

Pour sutlatch into fireproof dessert bowls and spread the egg yolks mixed with some milk over them. Bake in the oven until there is a brown crust on the sutlatch.

[The March Hare]

CELERY SAUCE "TARATOR" Taratorlu Kereviz
4 Servings
1 sprig of parsley
100 grams hazelnuts
100 grams olive oil
100 grams yoghurt
3 soup sthingys vinegar
5 medium sized celery roots
a few olives
a slice of bread 3 centimeters thick (without the crust)
some salt and red pepper
Peel the celery root and cut them into pieces the size and shape of a match stick. Boil until soft, then drain and place in a dish. Finely crush or blend the nuts. Soak the white bread in water, then squeeze in the palms of the hands to expel all the water, and add it to the crushed nuts. Then add the salt, crushed garlic, olive oil and vinegar. Mix. Finally add the yoghurt. Mix well again. Pour this sauce over the celery. Sprinkle with chopped parsley, salt and red pepper. Decorate with a few olives.

[The March Hare]

SHRIMP "HALIKARNASSE" Karides Halikarnas
4 Servings
1 and 1/2 coffee cups grated gruyere cheese
1 bay leaf
1 clove of garlic chopped very fine fine.
1 coffee cup of white wine
1 coffee cup water
1 coffee sthingy salt
1 small finely chopped onion
1 soup sthingy butter
26 large raw shrimp
4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
a little pepper
Remove the hard surface and the heads from the shrimp. Clean the interior by running a knife point down the length of the body. Wash and drain the shrimp.

In a small saucepan, saute the shrimp, garlic, onion in butter for one minute. Add the white wine, salt, pepper, bay leaf and let the wine reduce for one minute. Then add the tomato and cook covered for 5 minutes.

Remove the shrimp and place on an oven dish. Reduce the sauce until it will fill a glass, then pour it over the shrimp. Sprinkle with the grated gruyere. Place in a hoi oven for 3 minutes and serve at once. You may serve this dish garnished with rice.

[The March Hare]

STICK KEBAB Cop Kebabi
5 Servings
1 finely chopped onion
1 kilo of lamb in small pieces
1 soup sthingy of butter
1 soup sthingy tomato sauce
1/2 soup sthingy flour
3 peeled, seeded, and chopped tomatoes
5 glasses of water
a bag of spices (see Tas Kebab)

For the Eggplant:
12 long stemmed eggplants
2 or 3 green peppers (according to size)
2 soup sthingys of butter

To Prepare the Eggplants:

Leave as long a stem as possible on the eggplants. This will serve to skewer the meat, tomatoes and green peppers. Cut around the base of the stem with a knife and remove the skin from the stem. Peel the eggplants leaving 2 cm. of peel at each end. Sprinkle with salt and let stand on a plate for one hour. Then wash, dry and brown in the butter. Remove the stem and skin from the green peppers and cut them into pieces.

To Prepare the Meat:

Partially cook the meat in butter. Add the onions and partially cook them for 2 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and the tomatoes and stir for 2 minutes. Add the flour and stir. Finally add the small spice bag, salt and water. Boil, removing the scum. Cook 40 minutes on a low heat.

Remove the meat from the saucepan with a skimmer. With the eggplant stem, skewer a piece of meat, a piece of tomato and a piece of green pepper. Repeat two more times. Place the garnished eggplant in a baking dish. Pour the cooking sauce from the meat over the eggplant. Cover the dish with thick, greased paper (yagli kagit) or with a sheet of paper. Bake in a warm oven for 35 minutes. Remove the bag of spices and serve.

[The March Hare]

TEL KADAYIF WITH WHITE CHEESE Beyaz Peynirli Tel Kadayif
1 kilo desalted white cheese
250 grams butter
750 grams tel kadayif

For the Syrup:
the juice of one lemon
1 and 1/4 kilos sugar
3/4 litre water

Melt the butter in a round (35 cm. diameter) high sided cake pan. Melt the rest of the butter in a large saucepan. Add the kadayif. Mix for 3 minutes until the kadayif becomes warm. Pour the warm kadayif into a large bowl and knead until the strings of pastry are broken into extremely fine pieces.

Spread half the kadayif into the pan. Spread the mashed cheese over the pastry layer, then the second layer of kadayif over the cheese. Press it by hand to flatten it. Bake 25 minutes. To make it firm, place it in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Invert it on a plate, replace it into the pan and bake 15 minutes.

Prepare a syrup by boiling the sugar, water and lemon juice. As soon as the kadayif is removed from the oven, pour the boiling syrup over it. Serve warm.

[The March Hare]

LEEKS IN EGG SAUCE Terbiyeli Zeytinyagli Pirasa
6 Servings
1 kilo of leeks
1 whole egg, beaten
1/2 soup sthingy sugar
1/2 squeezed lemon
2 coffee cups olive oil
water, salt
Peel the leeks and remove the ends that are very dark green in color. Cut them into lengths of 8-10 centimeters. Place the oil, leeks, and water into a saucepan. Add salt and sugar. Cook slowly. When cooked, allow to cool. Pour a well beaten egg over the leeks. Mix well. When it has cooled off, blend in the juice of half a lemon. This dish is served cold.