Sunday, May 31, 2009

More Turkish fun...

So I haven't blogged in a while... been dealing w/ life and such. Anyhow, I attended the final Art of Turkish Cuisine class of this session and here's what I learned. I'll upload some pics later from my other computer.
Everything was so tasty and I've made the Cabbage salad and the Sulu Kefte today at home.

Turkish Cabbage Salad
1 head cabbage shredded or finely chopped
Sprinkle w/ a lot of salt to remove excess water & soften it. Mix it well. Let sit for 5-10 min, then rinse well and squeeze out as much water as possible.

Sauce:
1 ½-2 C plain yogurt
3-5 T mayonnaise
2 T olive oil
1 clove finely chopped garlic (optional)
Combine all ingredients and mix well. Pour sauce over cabbage & top w/ chopped fresh parsley or dill, shredded carrots, and garnish w/ walnuts.


Sulu Kofte
(Meatballs in tomato sauce/soup)

1 lb ground beef
¾ C rice (uncooked)
1 onion grated or finely chopped
1 egg
2 potatoes (cut into small cubes)
1 C flour
1 t black pepper
1 t dried mint
1 t cumin (or 2)
1 t salt
1 or 2 T tomato paste (or 1 C tomato sauce)
2-3 T butter or oil
5-6 C warm water

Put flour in a large tray (pie pan works well) to keep meatballs in. Mix beef, rice, onion, & egg together. Add black pepper, mint, cumin, & salt then knead well. Make hazelnut sized balls from the meat mixture. Put these balls into the floured tray/dish and shake well so that the flour fully coats the meatballs.
Put oil or butter into a pot and add potatoes & simmer them for 3 min. Add tomato paste and simmer another 1 min. Add water & stir well. Bring this to a boil. When it is boiling gently add meatballs slowly into the pot & cook for about 2-30 min. on medium heat. *Gently* stir occasionally and add salt if needed.
Serve with bread.



Stuffed Kadaifi (Kadaifi Dolmas)
2 C water
2 C sugar
Bring to boil and stir, let cool.

1 pkg Kadaifi (shredded phyllo dough)
1 ½ sticks of b utter
Pull kadaifi apart and drizzle well w/ melted butter.

You will need either a demitasse cup or small tea cup or muffin tin to form these into “nests”.
1 ½ - 2 C walnuts (chopped roughly)
Fill bottom of cup w/ a small portion of dough and press it down. Add 1 T walnuts and cover w/ another portion of dough. Flip the cup or tin over to release the “nest” and place in a baking dish. Repeat until all dough & walnuts are used.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 2-25 min until golden brown on top. After removing from the oven, pour the syrup mixture evenly over the “nests” and serve.