Turkish drinks and food recipes

[The March Hare]

YOGHURT CAKE Yogurt Tatlisi
1 coffee sthingy bicarbonate of soda or 1 packet yeast
200 grams sugar
300 grams flour
400 grams yoghurt
6 eggs

For the Syrup:
500 grams sugar
750 grams water
the juice of one lemon

Prepare the syrup by boiling the water, sugar and lemon juice for 2 minutes. Put aside.

Mix the yoghurt, sugar and soda in a bowl. Add the beaten eggs, flour and mix. Pour the mixture into a round, buttered cake pan 25 cm. in diameter. Bake for 30 minutes in a hot oven. As soon as it is ready, remove the cake from the mold, place on a deep dish and pour the cooled syrup over it. The cake will expand while absorbing the syrup. Serve when cooled.

[The March Hare]

DRY BEANS WITH CHUNKS OF MEAT Etli Kuru Fasulye
4 Servings
1 and 1/2 glass dry beans
2 big onions
2 tablesthingys margarine
2 tomatoes or 1 tablesthingy of tomato paste
250 g meat
Salt, red pepper

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Drain. Cook them for about half an hour in water so they slightly change colours.

[The March Hare]

ANKARA LAMB CASSEROLE Kuzu Ankara Tavasi
5 Servings
1 carrot
1 glass flour
1 kilo lamb cut into 5 pieces
1 soup sthingy butter
1/2 glass of canned green peas
1/2 soup sthingy salt
2 egg yolks
2 onions
500 grams yoghurt
6 glasses water

Partially cook the meat in butter for 7 or 8 minutes. Add the water and salt. When the water boils, remove the scum. Cook 45 minutes on a low heat. Add the diced carrots and onions. Cook 30 minutes more

[Bulent]

How to make Baklava
By TURKISH DELIGHT

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound unsalted (sweet) butter, melted (It really has to be butter)
1.5 pounds (24 ounces) chopped blanched almonds
1 pound shelled walnuts
1 pound filo dough sheets
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 teasthingys ground cinnamon
1 teasthingy ground allspice or cloves
Syrup:
2 cups honey (bring back any from Greece?)
2 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cinnamon sticks (or 1/2 teasthingy ground cinnamon)
1 teasthingy grated orange peel (or to taste)
1 teasthingy vanilla extract (or to taste)
PREPARATION:

Thaw the filo before starting. Melt the butter.
Grind or chop together the walnuts and almonds, and mix together with the cinnamon, allspice or cloves, and sugar. Using a rectangular pan, preferably a 9x13x2, brush the pan with the melted butter. Separate a sheet of the thawed filo. Keep the rest covered by, but not touching, a damp towel. Handling it as little as possible, lay a sheet of filo in the bottom of the pan. Brush it with butter. Fold it over if necessary to fit in the pan. Do this until you have about 10-12 layers. Then put a layer of the nuts and spices mixture on top of the sheet of filo, cover with another sheet of filo, paint that with butter, and continue in this manner until you've used all of your filling. Top with about an equal amount of the filo sheets as you used for the bottom. If you're a little short or a little over, don't worry about it. Too many layers can get a bit gummy, however. Be sure each sheet is brushed with butter.
Cut across the completed baklava with a sharp knife, into triangles or diamonds. Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until evenly browned on top - think a nice golden color like some of the sunsets you saw in Turkey.

Syrup: Simmer together the syrup ingredients for ten minutes and strain. Set aside. A good time to make this is just after you've put the baklava into the oven. Pour the cooled syrup over the baklava and let it sit before serving. If you can bear to.

If you are like me, by the end of this I have filo dough in my hair and nuts stuck to me with honey syrup - which is why I don't recommend making your own filo dough - I know I'd end up looking like an Egyptian mummy before I'd ever get a sheet of dough to properly fling itself into a tissue-thin layer.


Bulent