Turkish Joys: Dut

Nearby, I saw a young Turkish girl eating a deep burgundy-colored fruit.

Immediately, I thought I want to find whatever she was eating.

We looked through the various stalls at the Beşiktaş pazar and finally found them near the entrance. When I asked the satıcı what the berries were called in Turkish, he said dut or mulberries. We bought a medium-sized basket full of the mulberries and headed home.

In Istanbul, spring has brought mountains of bright red strawberries and now mulberries to the pazar. From what I understand, cherries soon will be on their way as well.

These mulberries, technically known as karadut or the red mulberry, are both sweet and nutritious, and a little bigger than what I'm used to seeing in the U.S. From my research, I discovered they also are high in vitamin C, iron, calcium, and protein.

I’ve spent the morning popping a small bowl full of the mulberries into my mouth. Now, I just have to figure out what to do with the rest of them. A long-time resident here suggested making a jam or a sauce.

Since the mulberries are getting a little soft, I bet I’ll be cooking them down soon to make a fruit coulis. I bet it would make a great topping for my homemade strawberry ice cream in the freezer.

Afiyet olsun!

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Foreign Ice Cream Follies

I poured my homemade strawberry-mint base into my new ice cream maker. I hit start and nothing happened.

I immediately turned it off, thinking that I blew a fuse or something. This wouldn’t be the first time for me. Adjusting to the different electrical voltage/appliances in a foreign country has been what you could call….challenging.

My husband told me I just had to attach one adapter to the plug and it should work. Well, it didn’t.

Then, I thought I had killed my brand new machine that I recently had brought back from London because I couldn’t find one anywhere in Istanbul.

So two phone calls later to my husband and searching for adapters, I figured how to jerry-rig the ice cream machine.  He had asked me on the phone, “Did you read the instruction booklet?”

“Why would I do that? I know how to operate an ice cream machine. And you’re supposed to know this electrical stuff,” I told him.

Well, I plugged the machine into a UK/Turkish adapter, which I plugged into a Turkish/U.S. adapter that I plugged into our 110 to 240v electrical transformer brought from the states.

Then, I had a new obstacle to overcome. During these 10 minutes, my ice cream base had started freezing to the sides of the bowl in the machine. The paddle was stuck and wouldn’t spin.

Now, I had to scrape out most of the ice cream and carefully melt it in the microwave. I poured the reheated base back into the machine, turned it on and it finally started spinning.

This is what a woman will do to make homemade ice cream!

In our marriage vows, I promised to make my hubby homemade ice cream at least once a year since it’s his favorite dessert in the whole world. However, at the time I didn’t realize I’d be dealing with these issues. Just kidding, honey!

Anyway, the bright red çilek from the pazar were simply delicious. When I asked the satıcı if I could take a photo, he proudly showed me a photo of the pile of çilek he had take with his own camera. These çilek were from the Antalya region of Turkey.

After my machine had been chugging away noisily for about 30 minutes, I’m happy to report that my ice cream turned out beautifully. The consistency is bit more like soft serve when it first comes out of the machine but will harden after 2 hours or so once placed back in the freezer.

Since I had some leftover mint leaves from making the pea soup, I added it in with my cream and milk while I was making the ice cream base.

Homemade ice cream really is worth the effort. I just hope you don’t have all the trials and tribulations that I dealt with in my kitchen! Hopefully, my next batch will be easier.

Afiyet olsun!

Strawberry-Mint Ice Cream
(yields: about 1.5 quarts)

465 g. (1 lb.) fresh strawberries, cleaned and sliced
130 g. (2/3 c.) granulated sugar
1 T. fresh squeezed lemon juice

10 oz. (300 ml.) heavy cream or krema
10 oz. (300 ml.) whole milk
5 sprigs   fresh mint leaves
½ cup (100 g.)   granulated sugar
9 ea.   whole egg yolks

Optional: 1 T. vodka

1. Place strawberries, sugar and lemon juice in a bowl together and mix well. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let macerate at room temperature for 1 hour.

2. Then, place the strawberries in blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Set aside.

3. In a medium-sized pot, bring the milk and cream to a boil. Add the mint leaves. 

4. Remove the pot off the heat and cover with a lid. Let steep for at least 15 minutes.

5. In a separate bowl, whisk together the second amount of sugar with the egg yolks. Then slowly pour some of the warm cream mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed yolks back into the saucepan. This is the tempering stage of making a custard...i.e. ice cream in this case.

6. Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a heatproof rubber spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. This stage is known as nappe in French cooking.  If using an instant read thermometer, it should read around 170ºF (77ºC). I always do this stage by eyeballing it. If I can run my finger through the custard on the back of the spoon and the lines don’t run together, then the custard is done.
7. At this point, add the strawberry puree into the hot mixture. I used my hand immersion blender for a few minutes to puree the mint and the strawberries a little more thoroughly.
8. Then, strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. Place the mixture over an ice bath until cool.
9. Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
10. When your ice cream base is almost done spinning, add the vodka while the machine is churning. 

Note: by adding alcohol, you can prevent the ice cream from freezing rock solid later in your home freezer.

This is what your ice cream should look like when it's almost done.

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Hop Into Spring With Pea Soup

Fresh spring pea soup and lamb chops recently made for a perfect spring meal.

I couldn’t resist the fresh peas stacked in piles at the pazar the other day. Even though I knew, I’d be spending at least a half hour to shell the peas again, I figured the fresh taste was worth the effort.

Fresh peas are one of the highlights of spring. If you don’t snap them up now, you’ll have to wait until they arrive again next year.

Last week, I attended a French cooking class at another expat’s home here in Istanbul. It was a fun-filled, belly-aching day. Every recipe contained butter or cream as only a real French recipe should! One of the recipes we learned was veloute’ de petis pois or in other words cream of pea soup.

The recipe is simple and takes less than 30 minutes to prepare, if you don’t count the time it takes to shell the peas. I did end up using about one-third frozen peas because I didn’t yield enough fresh peas from the pods.

Serve the soup as a first course with an evening meal this spring. It’s sure to be a delight! For the entree, I served spiced, pan-grilled lamb chops with basmati rice.

Afiyet olsun!

Spring Pea Soup
Adapted recipe from French friends Laure and Patricia
(yields: about 1 quart)

500 g. (17.6 oz.) fresh green peas (you can substitute frozen peas with good results)
325 ml. (11 oz.) whole milk
125 ml. (4.23 oz.) heavy cream or krema
10+ fresh mint leaves
TT salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch freshly grated nutmeg

Garnish: chiffonade of mint leaves/grapefruit segments

1. In a medium-sized pot, bring the milk and cream to a boil. Add the mint leaves. (I used a bit more mint so the soup had a more minty flavor.) Season to taste with salt, pepper and nutmeg.
2. Remove the pot off the heat and cover with a lid. Let steep for at least 10 minutes.
3. Then add the peas and rewarm the mixture for a few minutes.
4. Using an immersion hand blender, carefully puree the soup in the pot. I placed the pot in my kitchen sink because the soup tends to splatter quite a bit while you’re trying to blend it. Alternatively, use a blender.
5. Adjust seasonings as needed.
6. Serve in Turkish çay glasses as a starter course for a meal.

Tip: If you reheat the soup later, you will need to add a little more milk or cream to thin the soup out a little bit. Also, do not use too high of a temperature to reheat the soup because you can scald it.

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Turkish Street Food: Gözleme

To me, it’s almost like the Turkish version of a quesadilla.

Take a thin, round piece of dough, pile on delicious toppings, cook and serve.

The outside of a Turkish gözleme gets slightly browned and a little crispy while the inside stays moist and definitely hot. Every time, I practically burn my mouth on it because I can’t wait to devour it. I sprinkled a little sumac on top and enjoyed a side of pickled vegetables with it.

Today, I decided to enjoy one of my favorite snacks while I was shopping for produce at the 4Levent pazar. Well, it was lunchtime so I ordered a gözleme filled with ispanak (spinach) and beyaz peynir (the Turkish cheese similar to Feta). Sometimes, I find little pieces of chopped parsley or dill inside too.

So far, I’ve eaten gözleme at the pazars in Kadıköy (Tuesdays), 4Levent (Tuesdays) and Beşiktaş (Saturdays), and outside of the Blue Mosque. It’s not something you find being made all over the city.

The gözleme is a traditional village dish made from the thin Turkish yufka pastry dough which is rolled out and folded up around the fillings. It is cooked over a large saç (round metal dome) for several minutes until the cook deems it done. Then, the gözleme is folded in half, sometimes wrapped in paper, and placed on a plate or cut in pieces like the one I had today.

I enjoy watching the process of the gözleme being made. Often, you will see several women rolling out the dough nearby and cooking the gözleme on the saç together. Today, there were three men and the head guy that kept yelling out how many orders they were supposed to be cooking. Add that noise to the surrounding vendors hawking their wares and the crowds of people and it makes for an interesting sight!

In Kadikoy, you can see the women rolling out the gözleme. 

Several gözleme are placed on the hot griddle at the same time.

For 4.50 TL (about $3.50 USD), you can enjoy a cheap Turkish snack or lunch the next time you are in Istanbul.

Oh, on a side note, I bought some lezzetli çilek (tasty strawberries), and I plan to make a batch of homemade strawberry ice cream later this week. Stay tuned.

Afiyet olsun!

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The Breaking of Bread and Cookies

Over the weekend, I donated my kitchen skills to a good cause.

Well, the making of 40 turkey and Kaşar cheese sandwiches didn’t require a lot of skill, but it did require some time. I selected wheat bread to keep the sandwiches healthier. However, I also baked some delicious old-fashioned oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

I spread the sandwiches out in the kitchen to make them easier to assemble.

On Saturday morning, my husband drove us to Mavi Kalem, where the sandwiches and cookies would be distributed to young school-age children that participate in weekend educational activities. This non-profit organization works mainly with poorer women and children living in the Fener and Balat neighborhoods of Istanbul. The members of an international group I belong to, Professional American Women of Istanbul, have agreed to provide the weekend lunches throughout June.

Unfortunately, we arrived a bit early, and none of the children had arrived yet because of the rainy weather. We didn’t get to meet the children at Mavi Kalem as I had hoped we would, but I hope they enjoyed the sandwiches, homemade cookies, juice boxes, pencils and stickers that we bought.

For about 100 TL ($65 USD), we were able to provide lunches for 40 young children. I’m happy we were able to help some people in need here in Istanbul.

Below, please find the delicious old-fashioned cookie recipe that I made for the children. I was happy to eat several spoonfuls of the cookie dough before I baked them.

Afiyet olsun!

Cinnamony-Oatmeal & Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from “A Baker’s Field Guide to Chocolate Chip Cookies” by Dede Wilson
(Yields about 60 1 ½-inch sized scooped cookies)

1 ½ c. (190 g.) all-purpose flour
2 ½ c. (225 g.) rolled oats (not quick or instant)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp.+ good ground cinnamon (I used Chinese Cassia cinnamon)
½ tsp. salt
8 oz. (225 g.) unsalted butter, room temperature
⅔ c. (135 g.) brown sugar (I mixed a bit of pekmez with granulated sugar to make my own brown sugar in Turkey.)
⅔ c. (150 g.) granulated sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 ea. large eggs
1 ½ cup. (200 g.) chopped chocolate or chocolate chips
(You could substitute nuts for a ½ cup of the chocolate if you desire.)

1. In a medium-sized bowl, mix together the flour, rolled oats, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
2. In a large bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the butter until creamy. Add sugars gradually, beating until light and fluffy about 3 minutes.
3. Add the eggs, one at a time, and then the vanilla, scraping down the bowl so the mixture is combined.
4. Add about half the flour and mix together on low speed. Gradually add the remaining flour and mix just until combined. Then, stir in the chocolate.
5. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
6. Preheat the oven to 325 F/162 C. Line 2 baking trays with parchment paper.
7. Using a cookie scooper or a tablespoon, drop rounded mounds of cookie dough, spread about 2 inches apart, onto the trays.
8. Bake the cookies until lightly golden on the edges, about 9 to 10 minutes. Immediately, remove the cookies from the trays using a spatula and place on a cooling rack.

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London: The Fight For Food

When my husband’s friends “joked” that beer was dinner, I was not amused.

This theory may have worked in our 20s, but not now. I had every intention to eat some good food and plenty of pork while I was in London. I wanted to experience the much talked about and read out English gastropub.

So, we started the evening with pints of English ales at Pitcher and Piano in The City. I was a bit disappointed as I was hoping for something more rustic with crumbling brick-lined walls and an ancient history. This shiny-as-a-new-copper-penny pub was packed with men wearing suits (including my husband and his friends since they worked nearby during the day). I think there were 10 other women in the pub beside myself, one of the guys’ girlfriends, and of course, the young, scantily-clad shot girls walking around.

The beer was cold and tasty. I know I tried an English cider and an IPA, but otherwise I don’t recall the names. I just drank what the guys placed in front of me.

The evening was fun. I constantly was amused by the accents of Jason’s friends - both English and Scottish. As the evening wore on, sometimes I just had to sit there and ponder what they said for a moment. The more you drink the funnier the U.K. English language sounds.

A little after 9 p.m., I convinced everyone that yes, I must eat - NOW! As Jason knows, I transform into a Jekyll and Hyde personality when I’m hungry. We piled into two taxis and headed to nearby The Princess of Shoreditch, which I had chosen based on online reviews, its location and its menu.

This gastropub features a very hearty, meat-eccentric menu. I had reviewed the menu several times and couldn’t wait to eat things that I normally don’t get to eat anymore - foie gras, duck and pork. I immediately ordered 7 items off the menu and just asked the server to bring them to the table. The kitchen was closing soon and I wasn’t wasting any time.

The pub was dark and lively, so my pictures didn’t turn out the greatest, but I tried. I also realized it’s hard to make a large pile of meat, covered in dark reductions, look good. Trust me, overall, the food was delicious! Exactly the kind of food you want to have after drinking a few pints.

For starters, I ordered the venison & foie gras terrine, Madeira jelly, port reduction with slices of toasted sour dough, and the smoked salmon plate with Scotch quail’s eggs, chive and crème fraîche dressing. The Scotch egg was interesting - basically a hard-boiled quail’s egg, covered in breadcrumbs and fried.

The plating of the smoked salmon platter was a bit messy.

My favorite entree was the chef’s speciality sausage of the day (that day was venison) with chive mashed potatoes, a red onion jam and red wine jus.

The other entrees were good, just not very memorable. There was a confit duck leg with mashed celeriac and a lentil cassoulet.

The braised pigs' cheeks with mashed swede (an English root vegetable) and cider jus needed to be braised a bit longer. Generally, pig or veal cheeks should be fork tender; these were not.

The 28-day air-hung Speyside steak was a bit gristly but was served with red wine jus and hand cut chips on the side.

I have no idea what flavor the "pie" of the day was, but the menu said it was served with fine beans wrapped in bacon and parsley mashed potatoes.

My ah-ha moment came during dessert! I almost didn't share it with anyone. I wanted it all to myself. This simple English dessert, sticky toffee pudding, was warm and snuggly - like sitting next to blazing fire, wrapped up in a blanket and sipping rich, homemade hot cocoa. It was that good! I might have used some other descriptions at the pub, but I won't repeat them now.

This warm sticky toffee pudding was served with a buttery caramel sauce and vanilla ice cream.

Cheers!

Pitcher and Piano, 28-31 Cornhill, London, EC3V 3ND
The Princess of Shoreditch, 76 Paul St., London EC2A 4NE

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