Turkish “Green” Eggs Served For Dinner

Like other busy women, sometimes I just need a simple meal to prepare for dinner.

Some days I run errands all over Istanbul and by the time I get home, I don’t have enough time to make the dish I originally planned before hubby gets home. So onto plan B.

I looked in the fridge and found a half kilo of fresh spinach from the Turkish pazar that I needed to use. Just add some eggs and voilà - dinner!

An American friend (who is married to a Turk and lived here for 30 years) shared this simple Turkish recipe for yumurtalı ıspanak (eggs with spinach) with me. I understand sometimes rice is added to the spinach too, but I didn’t because I’m trying to cut down my carb consumption.

I served this simple meat-free dinner with a large side salad filled with greens, tomatoes, cucumbers, parsley, a little Parmesan cheese, dressed with nars ekşilli sos and Turkish olive oil. It’s a meal full of protein, vitamins and a healthy dose of veggies.

Afiyet olsun!

Turkish Yumurtalı Ispanak (Eggs with Spinach)

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp.  olive oil

1  small  onion, diced

1 head fresh spring garlic, diced

1  lb. (500 grams) fresh spinach, cleaned and rinsed

To taste salt, freshly ground black pepper

4 each eggs

Optional  pul biber (Turkish red pepper flakes)

1. In large stock pot, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sauté the onion and garlic for 2-3 minutes until softened.

2. Then, add the spinach and spices. Cover the pot with a lid to allow the spinach to steam and wilt - about 3 minutes. The spinach will reduce in size considerably.

3. Finally, make 4 small holes for eggs in the spinach mixture. Carefully, break the eggs into these holes.

4.  Cover the pot with the lid and cook just until the egg whites are set. This takes about 3 minutes if you want “runny” eggs otherwise continue cooking a bit more to set the egg yolk.

This dish also could be served for brunch or lunch. Serve with toast if you like to dip it into your runny eggs. Another Turkish recommendation is to serve the eggs with a side of yogurt, of course, because yogurt goes with everything!

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A Hint of Paris in Istanbul

After just a few minutes outside reading and studying my Turkish, bird droppings landed on our table.

About 10 minutes later, a giant splotch of red bird poop plopped right in the middle of Jason’s book that he was reading. Not to mention, a young couple were basically making out nearby.

Forget this! We scrambled back inside Starbucks to find a seat and enjoy our Sunday afternoon. The Starbucks located in the “luxurious” neighborhood of Bebek in  Istanbul has a wonderful view of the Bosphorus. For the price of a café latte, you can sit seaside all day if you so desire. 

This is the view from the second floor of Starbucks in Bebek.

That was our plan until the damned birds came along.

Yesterday, the weather warmed up to 50 F here. The sun was shining brilliantly. Jason tortured me with a run through our neighborhood in the morning. In the afternoon, we headed to Bebek for brunch and to spend time relaxing and studying.

I probably ruined the efforts of our run by ordering eggs Benedict for brunch at Happily Ever After. But hey, it’s not very often I get to eat real bacon. I couldn’t turn down that menu item!

Jason fared a bit better with sautéed mushrooms and fresh tomatoes with his eggs, potatoes and bacon. The restaurant is a cute place - super crowded – but it has a great outside seating area.

After our brunch and coffee, we stopped by the newly opened Laduree along the main street in Bebek. Back in September, I saw the sign that proclaimed “Laduree coming soon.” I’ve been waiting patiently to try these macarons again!

The storefront of  Laduree in Istanbul is decorated for Valentine's Day.

Laduree is a famous Paris-based patisserie with a long history. In 1862, the patisserie opened as a boulangerie (bakery) and later became a pastry shop and tea salon in 1871 when a fired forced founder Ernest Laduree to rebuild. As a professional pastry chef, I had dreamed about this place. In May 2009, my wish was finally granted with my first trip to Paris where Jason proposed. I specifically chose our hotel based on its proximity to a Laduree store.

May 2009 - Here I am in Paris.

Inside Bebek’s tiny Laduree, there are rows and rows of pastel and brightly colored macarons. Each macaron is priced at 3.45 lira or about $2.20 USD. I chose six flavors – Chocolat, Framboise, Cassis Violette, Citron, Chocolat and Caramel Beurre Sale’ – to sample. (The store does not allow photos to be taken inside.)

The French macaron is a light, elegant, slightly crispy and chewy confection. The two "cookies" usually are sandwiched together with buttercream, ganache or jellies/jams. I used to bake hundreds of macarons and serve them as one of my petit fours in the restaurant. In Istanbul, many of the Turkish pastaneler (pastry shops) such as Baylan, which is also located in Bebek, bake decent macarons.

Rows of macarons available at Baylan

But, in my opinion, nothing still compares to the delicate French macaron.

At home, I bit into the rosy framboise macaroon. I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. The macaron didn’t taste as fresh as I thought it should be. Something just seemed a bit off.

Next time I’m craving a bit of Paris I’ll give our local Laduree another chance. But hopefully someday, we’ll return to Paris to savor the true French macarons.

August 2013 UPDATE: The Bebek location of Laduree has closed, but you can find a new branch in Nişantaşı at Abdi Ipekçi Cad. No: 5/1.

Afiyet Olsun!

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Pork Pursued in Turkey

Pork – it may be the other white meat in the U.S., but it’s not widely available in Turkey.

When you do find pork products, it’s often a little pricey. For example, a 120 gram package of skinny bacon at a nearby gourmet grocery store costs 22.50 lira (approximately 4 ounces for $15).

Oh how I miss it. Grilled pork chops, pulled BBQ pork on buns, Kansas City-style BBQ sauce on falling-off-the-bones pork ribs, slowly roasted pork shanks, pork belly sandwiches - that’s what I miss from the U.S.

This weekend I craved bacon.

One of my favorite things on the weekends used to be bacon and eggs. Just simple over easy eggs, a couple strips of crispy bacon and whole wheat toast. Plus, I missed that my husband would make this once-a-week breakfast treat for me.

So craving bacon, I knew of a charming cafe in Nişantaşı where last month I devoured a crispy bacon and grilled aubergine sandwich for lunch.

Delicatessen serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The cafe reminds me a little bit of Balthazar in Soho in New York City, especially since it offers croissants served with Nutella.

After perusing the menu, I ordered the Eggs Benedict with Prosciutto cotto. My husband wanted the sahanda yumurta with sucuk – basically sunny side up eggs with a spicy sausage, similar to Spanish chorizo – and a bloody Mary.

Sahanda yumurta ve sucuk

Our brunch arrived. Mine was a large, slice of wheat bread topped with the Prosciutto cotto, two perfectly poached eggs and a very rich Hollandaise. Mmmmm. Next time, I’ll try and ask for a bottle of Tabasco to cut down on the sauce’s acidity a bit. My husband’s dish was good too, and it was the first time we tried the spicy sucuk.

Eggs Benedict ve Prosciutto cotto

We didn’t eat bacon that day, but it was close enough for me.

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