Palamut pilaki and Ispinak Borek

Great to see our longest friends (I can't say oldest without getting into trouble) here in Istanbul last night. They're both doing well, which at our age, is the most important thing.

I fixed a wonderful spinach pie (better than Olga's) and fish. Here in our mahalleh (neighborhood) we have a tiny shop that makes nothing but yufka (fill dough). So we buy 3 or 4 pieces, fresh, and I can do a hundred things with them! Last night I simply sauted an onion in a tiny bit of vegetable oil until soft, then added about a pound of fresh, slightly chopped spinach until wilted. I added about 2 oz. of white (feta) cheese and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper. I melted about 4 tablespoons of butter and layered half the yufka in a metal baking dish with a little butter sprinkled around on top of each layer; added the spinach mix; repeated the remaining yufka/butter routine and baked about 30 minutes in a 325F oven. If you have access to corek otu (a black sesame seed-like spice) or regular sesame seeds if you don't, sprinkle a little on top before backing.

Palamut is not easily available in the states - it's other name is Bonito. We bought a fairly large one and had it sliced steak-style. It was very simple - I placed the slices into a baking dish and covered it with 1 sliced onion; 2 chopped onions; 4 fresh bay leaves (that I picked yesterday); salt; pepper; 3 garlic chopped garlic cloves; a bit of fresh parsley (or dill); 1/4 cup of vegetable oil; 1/2 cup white wine; topped it all off with thin lemon slices; baked 25 minutes in a 375F oven.