500ml cooked bulgur wheat 250ml parsley, chopped 1 red onion, finely chopped 80ml chopped pickled cucumber 125ml roasted red peppers, chopped 250ml pomegranate seeds 80ml raisins Dressing: 60ml olive oil 60ml lemon juice 1 clove of garlic, minced 2,5ml granulated mustard 5ml sugar 2,5ml salt
Add the cooked bulgur wheat, parsley, onion, pickled cucumber, red peppers, pomegranate seeds and raisins to a large mixing bowl and toss together. Whisk the dressing ingredients together until amalgamated and drizzle over the salad.
12 skewers 2kg beef, cut into 2cm cubes 60ml soy sauce 125ml teriyaki sauce 15ml steak seasoning 250ml red wine 1 green bell pepper, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares 1 red bell pepper, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares 1 yellow bell pepper, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares 1 red onion, cut into 2cm x 2cm squares`
Sauce: 250ml greek yoghurt 80ml parsley, finely chopped 60ml mint leaves, finely chopped 2,5ml salt 15ml lemon juice
Add the beef cubes to a mixing bowl and pour over the soy sauce, teriyaki, steak seasoning and red wine. Toss the beef with your hands and ensure that it is covered with the marinating ingredients. Set aside for 1 hour or longer. Thread the beef, bell pepper and onion on to a skewer – you should have 12 kebabs.
For the sauce: Add all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and mix through.
Grill the kebabs on an open fire – 3 minutes per side x 4, until beautifully charred. Serve the kebabs with the yoghurt sauce.
1 x 400g can chickpeas, drained and rinsed 4 cloves of garlic, minced 1 onion, finely chopped a big handful of parsley, chopped a big handful of coriander leaves, chopped 5ml ground coriander 5ml ground cumin 2,5ml salt 45ml flour vegetable oil for frying
Add all of the ingredients, except the vegetable oil, to a mixing bowl and blitz together with a stick blender. Lift the blender often and stir the mixture around – you want everything mixed together but not too fine. Wet your hands and scoop up 15ml of the mixture. Roll into a ball and place on a tray. Keep going until you have rolled all of the mixture into balls. Pour enough oil to come 7cm up the side of a saucepan and allow to heat up. Fry a few of the falafel balls at a time until beautifully golden and crisp on the outside. Serve with a dipping sauce as a starter or fill a pita bread with falafel, salad and tzatziki sauce.
500g cooked grains (choose from or combine barley, quinoa, brown rice) 100g raisins 1 cauliflower head, cut into small florets 10ml ground coriander 2 cloves of garlic, minced 2,5ml chilli flakes 55ml + 75ml olive oil 5ml salt 1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced 30g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped 30g pomegranate seeds 15ml finely grated lemon zest 30ml lemon juice a small handful of mint leaves a small handful of parsley
Preheat your oven to 200℃. Add the raisins to a small bowl and pour 60ml boiling water over it. Set aside. Add the cauliflower, coriander, garlic, chilli flakes, 55ml olive oil and salt to a mixing bowl and toss together to coat the cauliflower florets. Tip the florets into a roasting tray and spread it out in a single layer. Pour 60ml hot water into the now empty mixing bowl, swirl it around to collect any left-behind spices and then pour it around (NOT ON TOP!) the cauliflower. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and roast for 10 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and leave to cool. Place a pan on medium-high heat, add about 30ml oil and fry the red onion for about 15 minutes, until starting to caramelise. Add the cooled cauliflower, onion, pistachios, pomegranate, lemon zest, lemon juice, raisins and cooked grains to a mixing bowl. Drizzle 45ml olive oil over and season with salt. Mix through. Mix the mint and parsley together on a chopping board and chop roughly. Add the herbs to the rest of the salad, mix through and serve.
Perde Pilavi is a traditional Turkish dish made of chicken and rice flavoured with nuts, fruit and spices and wrapped up in a delicious pastry, specked with flaked almonds.
Place the chicken in a large saucepan and pour in the stock. Cook on medium heat for an hour, until done. Remove the chicken from the stock and set aside to cool slightly. Reserve the stock. Place a large frying pan on medium-high heat, add the butter and wait for it to melt. Add the almonds and stir-fry until golden. Add the rice and cook for a minute or so, stirring all the while to coat in the butter. Now add the raisins, salt, a few grindings of black pepper, paprika and mint. Pour in 660ml of the reserved stock (add boiling water if you dont have enough), stir the mixture and cover with a lid. Turn the heat to a gentle simmer and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the rice is almost cooked. Remove from the heat and set aside. Shred the chicken into strips and discard the bones and skin. Add the chicken to the rice mixture and stir through.
For the pastry: Preheat your oven to 180℃. Add the eggs, yoghurt, butter and vegetable oil to a bowl and whisk together. Set aside. Add the salt, flour and baking powder to a bowl and whisk through. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet. Lightly knead the pastry to bring it together. Flour a work surface and roll the pastry to a 45cm diameter circle. It should be large enough to line the dish and have enough hanging over the sides to close around the filling. Spray a 18cm diameter x 8cm deep ceramic dish with cooking spray. Scatter the almonds on the bottom of the dish. Line the bottom and sides of the dish with the pastry, leaving the overhang. Spoon the cooled rice mixture into the pastry. Fold the overhang-pastry over the filling to enclose it completely – trim off any excess. Bake for 40 minutes, until golden. Take the dish from the oven and rest it for 15 minutes. Place a serving plate over the baking dish and invert it. Serve the pilavi with a crispy salad.
Dough: 330ml warm/tepid water 5ml salt 5ml sugar 10ml instant yeast 750ml bread flour
Filling: about 350g cooked, ground beef 250ml grated mozzarella cheese a handful of basil leaves
For the dough: Add the water, salt, sugar and yeast to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook. Stir the mixture together until the sugar has dissolved and leave to stand for 10 minutes. Add the bread flour and mix on low speed to form a dough. Turn the speed up to medium and mix/knead for 5 minutes. You will be left with a soft but slightly sticky dough. Place the dough in a clean, oiled bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for 1-2 hours or until doubled in size. Preheat your oven to 240℃ and line a baking sheet with baking paper. Dust a work surface with flour and divide the dough into 6 portions. Roll out each piece of dough to form an oval. Place the dough ovals on the baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Top the dough with mozzarella and a few spoons of beef, but keep a 1cm border on the edges. Fold the edges of the dough over the filling and pinch the ends together to form a boat shape. Bake for 13 minutes. Scatter over the basil leaves. Serve warm or at room temperature.
500g lamb mince 4 slices white bread, crusts removed 60ml milk 1 small onion, finely chopped 10ml chopped parsley 10ml chopped mint 2 cloves of garlic, minced 5ml salt 5ml ground cumin 5ml ground coriander 100g feta cheese, cubed (1,5cm x 1,5cm)
Sauce: 1 x 400g tin chopped tomato 5ml salt 10ml sugar 60ml cream
For the meatballs: Preheat your oven to 180℃. Place the minced meat in a large mixing bowl and break it up with your hands. Break up the bread, add it to the bowl and pour over the milk. Mix well. Now add the onion, parsley, mint, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt and a few good grindings of black pepper. Mix again. Scoop 30ml of the meat into your hands, form a ball and press it flat in your palm. Place a feta cube on the mince and bring the sides up and around it. Roll the mince ball between your hands to seal. Place the balls on an oven tray and keep going until you have no meat left. Drizzle a few drops of olive oil over the meatballs and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
For the sauce: Add the tomato, salt and sugar to a liquidiser and blitz until smooth. Pour the sauce into a saucepan set over medium-high heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Add the cream, stir through and add the meatballs. Simmer for a further 20 minutes. Serve the meatballs with rice or bulgar wheat.
12 baby aubergine OR 2 large aubergine, cut into 2cm thick slices 30ml olive oil 250ml greek yoghurt 45ml tahini paste 2 cloves of garlic, minced
Slice the aubergine in half and score the flesh. Brush the olive oil on the scored side and either grill over an open fire or in a very warm pan until cooked and slightly charred. Arrange the aubergine on a serving plate. Add the yoghurt, tahini paste and garlic to a small bowl and mix together. Smear the tahini paste against the side of the bowl and scrape it off again so that it mixes through the other ingredients. Serve the sesame dressing on the aubergine at room temperature.
Bazlama is known as village bread in Turkey and is a super tender flatbread, very similar to naan. This bread can be cooked in a pan or on an open fire.
12,2ml instant yeast 15ml sugar 310ml warm water 190ml Greek yoghurt 30ml olive oil 10ml salt 4 x 250ml + 125ml flour + extra 60ml parsley, finely chopped
Add the yeast and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Pour in the water and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set aside for 10 minutes, until frothy. Now add the yoghurt, olive oil and salt and whisk together by hand. Add the flour and parsley and turn the mixer on a low speed until the dough comes together. If it is VERY wet you can add another 60ml of flour. Knead the dough in the machine on a medium speed for 5 minutes. Transfer the dough to a work surface and divide into 10 equal pieces. Dust with flour, cover with a tea towel and allow to rest for 15 minutes. Roll each dough portion to a 15cm diameter circle. Brush the tops with olive oil. Place a pan on medium-low heat and allow it to warm up. Slice the first flatbread, oiled side down, into the pan and brush the top with olive oil. Cook the bread for 1minute 40 seconds and flip it over. Cook for another 1 minute 40 seconds. The bread should have bubbles after cooking for the first 1 minute and about 20 seconds. If your bread does not look like the photograph below, turn the heat up a notch. Repeat with the other breads. Keep the cooked flatbreads wrapped in a tea towel until you are ready to serve them.
My Whisk and I 