Simple Citrus Salad

I must admit I am a bit obsessed about the citrus here.

I understand the season is coming to an end soon, but that doesn’t stop me from consuming my mandalina (mandarins) and kanlı portakal (blood oranges). This weekend, we must stock up again at the pazar.

In the U.S., I often remember ordering salads with blood oranges, goat cheese or feta and often nuts like pistachios, almonds or walnuts during the winter months. I decided to recreate that type of salad with the ingredients I find here.

Nuts abound in Turkey. There are small stores known as kuruyemiş that sell (cheaply) tons of dried fruits and nuts. I try to always keep some badem (almonds), fındık (hazelnuts) and fıstık (pistachios) in the house. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, Turkey produces 2 percent of the world’s almond crop. Most of the almond trees can be found in the southwestern part of the country called  the Datça Peninsula.

Last night, I decided to make a lovely spring salad using blood oranges, almonds, beyaz peynir (white cheese similar to feta), roka (arugula) and lemony bits of kuzu kulağı (sorrel). I reserved some of the juice from the blood orange segments and made a vinaigrette with the juice and Turkish olive oil.

A cutting board full of blood oranges at our apartment in Istanbul.

The salad is quite simple to make but is packed full of flavor. The sorrel adds a nice tanginess that complements the citrus. If you can’t find blood oranges, feel free to substitute with pink grapefruit or oranges.

Afiyet olsun!

Simple Spring Salad
(For about 2 small salads)
Ingredients:

roka (arugula), rinsed
kuzu kulağı (sorrel), rinsed
beyaz peynir - substitute with Feta or goat cheese
almonds, chopped into slivers
blood orange segments, cut from 3 oranges
TT salt and pepper

Vinaigrette: In a small bowl, whisk together 2 T. blood orange juice and 2 T. olive oil.

1. Arrange the selected lettuces in salad bowls. Garnish with the cheese, almonds and orange segments.
2. Drizzle the vinaigrette over the salad. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste.

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Let Spring In

This weather puts a bounce in my step and makes me happy.

The sun is shining. There’s a slight breeze outside. Temperatures have climbed to the mid-50s. Bits of color are popping up amidst the fallen leaves and brown grass.

Fuschia-colored primroses seen in the Belgrade Forest.

Yesterday, I noticed a nearby pet store was selling little bunnies and even a fuzzy, yellow duck. I squealed with delight. My husband saw that look in my eyes and told me no, but said the duck sure would be tasty in a few months! Thanks hon!

We took advantage of the beautiful weather and walked around Beşiktaş. We stopped at our favorite watering hole and enjoyed some late afternoon beers while playing a few rounds of tavla (backgammon).

Earlier in the day, we drove out to Belgrade Forest. (Apparently, everyone else had the same idea too.) Despite the number of people, the forest generally is a welcome respite from the city’s crowds and traffic. We just enjoy being outside and walking among nature for awhile.

As you are driving to the forest, one of the most impressive sites you see is the remains of Roman aqueducts built circa 1500s.  This stretch of the aqueduct system straddles a busy section of roads just outside the forest. I was trying to research what the name of this one was called, but alas I am still unsure. The aqueducts provided the growing city of Istanbul with fresh water for hundreds of years.

Remains of the ancient water system abound in the forest as well.

It looks like we definitely have some more exploring to do in this area.

The forest is still blanketed in dead leaves and varying shades of brown. However, I was happy to find colorful wildflowers in many sections of the forest. Spring should be here soon!

Toward the end of the trail, you even discover a Sağlık Çeşmesi (fountain of health) that presumably is full of clean spring water. However, we were not willing to bet how strong our stomachs were.

Although the main trail provides a well-paved path around the forest, next time I’d like to explore more off the beaten path. This means we actually need to set an alarm clock on the weekend so we can arrive before the crowds of people do. We’ll see!

I had to climb over part of a barbed-wire fence to take a photo of this
dilapidated house in the forest.

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Snow In The City

For nearly two straight days, a very light snow fell in Istanbul.

Today, as I look outside my window, I see little evidence of the snow. A few small patches here and there. We may have received an inch or two.

Yesterday, I discovered a miniature "melting" snowman near our apartment. It was so adorable - with Turkish black olives for the eyes and mouth!

However, in Ankara, this capital city received more than it’s fair share of snow - an estimated 14+ inches. News reports says its the heaviest snowfall in Ankara in 10 or maybe 24 years. (Maybe I’d get better accurate news reports if I could read Turkish better.) Citizens were trapped on roads and were criticizing the municipality. Schools were shut down. See photos of Ankara here. It sounds like the city wasn't prepared for this amount of snow.

I’ve actually enjoyed the snow and have been hibernating in my apartment. It was the perfect time to read a book and plan future trips. I did venture out to get groceries and meet some friends for coffee, but that’s about it.

This is what the outside looked like on Wednesday. Cold and windy!

When I went outside, I was lucky to have my heavy-duty snow boots. The streets were a bit slippery and the wind was fierce. I didn’t think I would ever have to use the boots here. Thank goodness I actually packed them in our shipping container. It doesn’t hurt to be prepared.

In some places, you can still see a little snow.

But Istanbul’s 10-day forecast is foretelling temperatures of the 40s and 50s F. Maybe spring is just around the corner!

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Happy Fat Tuesday!

New Orleans holds a special place in my heart.

It's where Jason and I were married last year. We will celebrate our 1-year anniversary later this month on the 26th with a little trip to London.

Today, an estimated 1 million people will celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans back in the states. Although we are very far away from those celebrations, that doesn't mean I can't cook some Cajun food at home.

Over the weekend, I invited two of my American classmates from my Turkish class to our apartment for a meal of New Orleans' fixins. This delightful couple also were married in the French Quarter in New Orleans.

When I think of New Orleans' food, I generally think of three things - gumbo, jambalaya and oysters. I made gumbo awhile back so I opted to make a version of jambalaya with chicken, shrimp and sucuk. The sucuk makes an excellent substitute for Andouille sausage even though its made from beef and not pork.

I looked through one of my favorite old New Orleans' cookbooks, "Recipes and Reminiscences of New Orleans," for inspiration. I enjoy reading these homey recipes collected from dozens of southern women.

One of the appetizer recipes talked about crab-stuffed tomatoes. Well, I don't have crab here, but I decided to fill cherry tomatoes with a mixture of labne, black olives and a little bit of French truffle oil instead. They were quite delicious!

Making jambalaya is similar to making a hearty pot of stew filled with all sorts of goodies. Jambalaya is akin to the saffron-colored paella native to the Spanish culture. It usually consists of the southern "trininty" of celery, onions and bell peppers, tomatoes (if you make Creole jambalaya), various meats and rice. I had to make a few substitutions, but the resulting dish resembled many of the jambalayas we've eaten in New Orleans.

A ladle full of steaming hot jambalaya.

I even decorated our dining table with some of our Mardi Gras beads (leftover wedding favors) to make it feel festive.

And, of course, I had to make a king cake for dessert. A king cake is a Mardi Gras tradition - based on a rich brioche-like dough decorated with icing and colorful baking sprinkles. Inside, you often will find a small trinket such as a plastic baby (which is supposed to represent baby Jesus), pecan or a legume. Tradition goes that if you get the piece of cake with the trinket then you are responsible for buying the cake for next celebration.

Wherever you may be, I hope you enjoy cooking a little Cajun food at your home like we did.

Today, I'll close with "Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!"

Chicken, Shrimp and Sucuk Jambalaya

Easily serves 8 to 10 people. (I would cut the recipe in half if you have less than 4 people.)

Ingredients:

1  lg.            yellow onion, small diced

2  c.             red and green peppers (In Turkey, approx. 3 dolma biber, 2 kirmizi biber)

1  ea.           Turkish hot pepper

4-6               garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1  #   500 g.  chicken breast, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

8 oz./235 g.  package of sucuk, cut into small pieces

7 oz./200 g.  fresh karides or shrimp, cleaned

1  400 g.       can of diced tomatoes

4  T.              tomato paste

2+                 cans of water or stock (I just used the tomato can to measure this.)

1  c.              Baldo or long-grain rice

TT               fresh parsley, salt, pepper, cayenne pepper

Optional      hot sauce (can be added to the jambalaya or simply placed on the table)

1.  In a large stockpot, heat 2 T. of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add and saute' the peppers, onions and garlic. Cook this mixture for about 8 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.

2.  Add the chicken and sucuk. Cook for about 10 minutes until the chicken is no longer pink on the outside, stirring occasionally. 

3.  Then, add the diced tomatoes, tomato paste, water or stock, shrimp, rice and seasonings. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pot with a lid and cook for 20 minutes or until the rice is tender. You may need to add a little more water if your mixture appears too thick.

4.  Taste and adjust the seasonings to your liking. 

In New Orleans, you will always find at least one kind of hot sauce served on the table. (I even found Louisiana Hot Sauce here at one of my little shops.)

Labne-Stuffed Cherry Tomatoes

(Inspired by my friend, Sharon in Istanbul, whom uses pesto instead of the black olive paste)

Ingredients:
As needed cherry tomatoes
TT             labne, black olive paste, salt and peper
Optional    truffle oil
Garnish     fresh parsley

1.  Trim and carefully hollow out the center of the cherry tomatoes, using a paring knife and a small measuring spoon.
2.  In a small bowl, stir together some labne with a spoonful of the black olive paste and a drizzle of truffle oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
3.  Place the mixture in a resealable plastic bag, trimming off the end. Pipe the mixture into the cherry tomatoes.
4. When finished, garnish the tomatoes with the parsley.

Here I am with my new American friends, Spencer and Stephanie, who are studying Turkish.

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Turkish NY-Style Cheesecake

Since moving abroad, I have learned how to substitute certain ingredients.

When I need molasses, I use pekmez - a Turkish grape molasses. For sour cream, I use süzme yoğurt - a thick, strained Turkish yogurt. This yogurt also makes tasty dips such as cacik - the classic Turkish cucumber and yogurt dip/sauce.

I've been wanting to make a cheesecake for a while haven't had the time lately. When I did set adie some time the other day, I picked up some Turkish labne to substitute for cream cheese. Labne is a spreadable cream cheese made from strained yogurt. You really can't tell the difference in taste.

Some stores do sell Philadelphia Cream Cheese at a price - about 12 lira for a 3 oz. package! Just think of how many small packages you must buy to make a cheesecake! However, I bought this tub of labne for about 7 lira.

Next substitution - no graham crackers so I picked up a package of these Eti Finger Bisküvi. The ingredient list sounded like a basic cookie recipe with vanilla so I figured
 the taste would be similar to what I wanted.

They were perfect and tasted almost like vanilla wafers! I just crushed up the biscuits in 
my food processor to make the crust of the cheesecake.


For the cheesecake base, I modified my normal U.S. recipe a bit to fit with the amount
of ingredients I was working with this time. The end result was a dense, creamy NY-style
cheesecake with a hint of citrus and chocolate. It was just the way I like it!

I set aside a small portion of the batter to make this 4-inch cheesecake for my husband.
I garnished it with toasted hazelnuts.

Afiyet olsun!


Turkish NY-Style Cheesecake
Makes one 10-inch/25 cm. cake


Ingredients:
275   g.  biscuit cookies, finely ground
100   g.  butter, melted


750   g.  labne at room temperature
200   g.  granulated sugar
200   g.  krema or heavy cream
1     ea.  lemon zest, finely grated
3      T.  flour
3     ea.  large eggs
1     ea.  large egg yolk
1      T.  vanilla extract
75    g.   dark chocolate, melted


1.  In a small mixing bowl, mix together the ground cookies and butter. Press the mixture
 into the bottom and partly up the sides of a metal springform pan. Wrap aluminum foil
 around the bottom of the pan and up the sides because you will be baking the cheesecake
 in a water bath later.
2.  Bake the crust in a pre-heated oven of 350 F/175 C for about 6 to 8 minutes or until lightly
 browned around the edges. Set aside to cool.
3.  Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, place the labne and sugar into a metal bowl and
 cream together until well blended.
4.  Next, mix in the krema, lemon zest and flour, and blend again.
5.  Next, slowly add in the eggs and vanilla, making sure to scrape down the sides of the
 bowl now and then to prevent any lumps in your mixture.
6.  Lastly, mix in the melted chocolate.
7.  Pour the mixture into the crust-lined pan.
8.  Place the pan onto a larger tray with sides and fill the tray with about 1/2-inch of water.
 Alternatively, place a pan of water on the rack below the cheesecake. This will create 
steam heat while the cheesecake is baking. Bake the cheesecake in a preheated oven
 of 400 F/200 C for 10 minutes.
9.  Reduce the temperature to 250 F/125 C. Leave the oven door ajar for a few minutes
 so the internal temperature can drop.
10. Continue baking the cheesecake for about 30-40 minutes or so until the cheesecake
 is barely set. (I used the convection fan on my oven the whole time and I think the
 cake baked a bit quicker this way.)
11. Turn off the oven, leave the door slightly ajar, and let the cheesecake cool in the
 oven for 1 more hour. Chill.
12. Tip:  After the cheesecake cools down, I like to freeze it, which makes it easier
 to cut into perfect slices.

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Kanlı Portakal In Turkey

(We've figured out a way that I can access Blogger so I can keep writing in Turkey. Cheers!)

On Saturdays, we often walk to the pazar in Beşiktaş to stock up on local produce.

As I've mentioned before, the pazar is a fast-paced blur of the saticilar shouting at you and around you and quickly weighing produce and customers milling about everywhere. It's a bit like going to a farmer's market and flea market in one. It's a bit overwhelming for the senses, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

Yesterday, we barely had walked past two stalls before I saw a table overflowing with kanlı portakal or blood oranges. I couldn't believe my eyes! Who knew I would find blood oranges in Turkey!

Jason had to pull me away from the table because he wanted to buy the heavy items last. That didn't stop me from drooling for a second or two.

In the restaurant business, I would eagerly await blood orange season because they were so colorful and flavorful to use in my winter desserts. The juice makes a tasty sorbet. 

In the U.S., blood oranges are typically imported from Sicily, Italy, but now you can find ones grown in California and Florida too. They are only available for a short time - usually December to early March.

In Turkey, I have to assume these kanlı portakal are grown down along the southern coast by the Mediterranean Sea where most of the country's citrus is grown. According to the Hurriyet Daily News, the Antalya province produces about 20 percent of all citrus in Turkey. The major crop is oranges and about 30 percent of all oranges produced in Turkey are from this region. Izmir is the leading citrus producing province in the Aegean Region; about 5 percent of all citrus grown in Turkey is from this province.

You can read more about the history of blood oranges here.

After buying tomatoes, roka, cucumbers, lettuce, carrots, beyaz peynir, black olives and mandalina, we stopped by the stand to buy the kanlı portakal. Two kilos of the blood oranges cost only 3 lira. Amazing price! So basically, we purchased a little over 4 pounds of blood oranges for $1.88 USD. You can't even buy regular oranges at this price!

That's certainly one of the joys of living here - most of the produce is very inexpensive, fresh and local. I love it!

This morning, Jason assembled a Turkish breakfast for us with sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, black olives, beyaz peynir, hard-boiled eggs and toast. We also decided to test our new super juicer we recently purchased.

The blood orange juice was sweet, a little tart, and a beautiful sunset-colored orange.

Next time, I need to buy extra kanlı portakal so I can use some of the juice to jazz up my desserts.

Afiyet Olsun!

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Blogger Banned In Turkey

Merhaba to my loyal readers near and far!

At first, I just thought it was the Internet access at our apartment here in Istanbul. One minute, our Internet connection is fast. Other times, it takes forever for a page to load!

Today, I learned the REAL reason why Blogger has been acting up all week! It's been banned in Turkey!

I couldn't believe it! The government really thinks shutting down a "voice to the rest of the world" is a way to solve a dispute over unauthorized webcasts of Turkish football. I had to learn about the news from a complete stranger today. Then, I found this news article online published by the Hürriyet Daily News.

So because one person did something illegal, the government wants to punish everyone else out there too. Come on! What happened to free speech? Does a citizen not have the right to express his/her opinion out there? Apparently not this country!

I'm just so irritated right now! If the U.S. government blocked every web site because it didn't agree with something or there was an illegal webcast of something, there would be a huge outcry. Now, I don't necessarily agree it's okay to post the unauthorized webcasts to begin with. However, I think there would be a better way to solve this problem than to just ban the entire medium.

Just a few months ago, in October, the Turkish government was talking about banning Facebook across the entire country. See related article also in the Hürriyet Daily News. The ban was being discussed because someone had said something "offensive" against the government.

I won't rant and rave too much more, but I just wanted to express my displeasure. I will continue to write my blog if I can.

It just makes you realize how much you take for granted in the U.S. and other developed countries. Be happy you can enjoy the simple privilege of logging onto the Internet and saying whatever you want.

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