Spinach and cheese börek

Börek is a savory pastry filled with various combinations of cheeses and herbs or veggies; or ground beef with spices. There are various ways to moisten the dough - with butter or milk - depending on the type you desire. The pastry is called 'yufka' and is a paper-thin dough similar to filo dough. Here in Turkey, I buy my yufka from my yufkaci (one who makes the yufka) in a tiny shop down the street (I need to get a photo....) A special baklava yufka is also made extra thin. The recipe for yufka is as follows. However, I've never done it myself, but I promise, I will, and I'll share my experience.

4 ozs. water
2 eggs
2 cups flour
6 and 1/2 spoons butter or margarine
salt

After making a dough by mixing well and kneading these ingredients, sprinkle the dough with flour. Let it rest for 15 minutes covered with a clean cloth. Break into pieces the size of your fist and roll out to 24" in diameter. These pieces will then be used to make börek.

1 lb. spinach
1 1/2 Tablespoons sunflower or other light oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 garlic clove, chopped finely
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped finely
1/2 cup white cheese, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon black pepper, preferably freshly ground
1/2 cup butter (or more, if needed), melted
Çorek ötü (The closest I can come to in the US is black sesame seed. While this isn't 'it', it's good enough.)


Heat oven to 325º. Thoroughly clean and roughly cut spinach. Drain very well or even wrap in a clean towel. Heat 1 Tablespoon sunflower in skillet, add onion, garlic and spinach. Saute until soft. In a bowl, mix white cheese and parsley. Use the remaining 1/2 Tablespoon oil to coat a round, fairly deep baking pan. Tear large pieces from the round yufka dough and lightly layer with melted butter in between sheets. Use a brush so that you don't overdo the butter. After 3 layers, add the cheese and parsley mixture, then add the spinach and onion/garlic mixture on top. Continue layering until you have at least 6 layers. Butter the top layer and sprinkle with black sesame seeds (çorek ötü). Bake for at least 25 minutes or until top is nice and crisp. Cut into pie shaped pieces. Top with a good yoğurt.

Affiyet olsun!

Don't do what I did!

Burned the Barbunya Fasulye! (Dried cranberry beans.....) I was in a hurry to meet my neighbor for a walk through Fehti Paşa Korosu (lovely park on the Bosphorus hillside). I lovingly sauted my onions, garlic, potato and carrot, then, without thinking, simply dumped the beans that I had soaked overnight, but had not pre-boiled, directly into the pot. I added my tomato and tomato paste, salt, pepper, a little sugar - and realized what I had done! Unfortunately, in order to get the beans cooked through thoroughly, I needed to cook them for an extra long time. Guess what you get - MUSH!

So, for all my friends who love this dish (especially Lisa), I promise never to do this again. Here is the correct recipe!

BARBUNYA FASULYA (serve 6-8 as a side dish)

2 lbs. of fresh cranberry beans or 1 cup of dried cranberry beans (or barbunya in your Middle East grocery store)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 medium onions, chopped

2-3 garlic cloves (your preference), chopped finely

2 medium carrots, chopped

1 medium potato, small cubes

2 or more tomatoes, diced

1 Tblsp. tomato paste (or if you like a little spice exchange this for red pepper paste, but don't serve it like this to a Turk - they like things 'just the way they're supposed to be - please don't mess with the original.....'

2-3 long, green sweet peppers

1/2 bunch of parsley, chopped, but not too fine

1 lemon, squeezed

4 cups (approximately) boiling water

Salt

1 tsp. sugar

Cook fresh beans in boiling water 15-20 minutes until beans turn white (opaque). If using dried beans, soak overnight, then boil as stated. (DO NOT FORGET THIS STEP!). Drain, except retain 1 1/2 cup of juice.

In a separate pot, add olive oil and saute onions, garlic, carrots, potatoes, green peppers until tender. Add to beans along with tomatoes, paste, lemon (to your taste), salt and sugar. Add enough hot water to cover. Cover another 20 minutes or just until beans are al dente. Don't overcook as they will continue to cook while cooking. When cold, add parsley.

Do as I say, not as I do.....I can hear my daughter saying this back to me......

Afiyet olsun

Bakla

I also made fresh bakla (baby fava beans still in the pod) last night - one of my hubby's favorites! This is one of Turkey's olive oil based vegetables served cold with a good dose of really good yoğurt I love their yoğurt with kaymak [a thick cream] on top! It's certainly not the least fattening, but it's not something I can get at home so I splurge. I've never found fresh bakla, but you can do the same thing with other types of green beans and use regular yoğurt if you would like. These are really good in the summer.

2 lbs. fresh bakla (or other beans in their pod), stringed, ends clipped

1/2 lemon, squeezed

1/2 Tablespoon salt

1/3 cup olive oil

2 small or 1 large onion, chopped

3 garlic pieces, chopped

1 pot of boiling water

1 handful of fresh dill

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon dried mint

As you clean the beans, drop into a bowl of water with the lemon juice and salt. Add olive oil to large pot, heat slightly, add chopped onion and chopped garlic and saute until soft. Add beans and continue to saute another 5 minutes. Add BOILING HOT water just enough to cover beans, add dill, mint, sugar, and cook for approximately 45 minutes or until beans are tender. Add more salt to taste.

Affiyet olsun!

Çinekop

I'm back in Istanbul (arrived Feb. 17, 2011)! Our driver took the long way home across the Fatih Koprusu (the second bridge over the Bosphorus) due to the density of traffic from the airport that starts about 5:00 p.m., but it still took over an hour. The apartment got cleaned yesterday while Sumer and I walked to our 'upper' market for general household needs and our local bakery for a lovely, crispy-crusted, round loaf of what seemed like whole wheat bread (I need to ask her next time we're in there) and then down our 186 steps to our wonderful outdoor market for fresh fish, veggies and fruit. What a treat! I'm always amazed by the variety and freshness.

A cousin joined us for dinner last night which gave me the excuse to buy freshly caught çinekop (bluefish from the Mediterranean to the Black Sea). In Turkey, fish of the same variety have different names depending on their size. For example, bluefish less than 4" is called defheyaprağı; 5-7"çinekop; 8-10" sarıkanat; larger is lüfer and there are even bigger ones, but in Turkey, these are the most common.

The three of us gobbled up 1 kilo (2.2 lbs)! I have a terrific oval-shaped clay pot with a short lip (about 1") that is perfect for cooking and going straight to the table. All I needed to do was add about 1 tablespoon of good olive oil to the pan, roll the fish in the oil, stuff them with a little chopped onion, garlic, salt, pepper (toss extra on top), add a bay leaf, a few lemon slices on top, a drizzle of white wine, and bake in a very hot oven (450ºF) for about 20-30 minutes (it depends on the pan and how many fish are stacked close together) . Fish is done when you press on the flesh and it feels firm or if the flesh is flaky if you test with a fork. Don't overcook!

Serve with a nice salad and good bread for dipping in the sauce in the pan.....although I made other side dishes, we were all so enthusiastic about the fish that we really didn't care if there was anything else on the table!

Affiyet olsun! (Bon Apetit!)