Like Strawberry Wine...

It was 2pm and I hadn’t yet eaten.  I was hungry but really wanted something satisfying, not just something quick.  I had just been to the grocery store and was trying to stuff my freezer with the meat and frozen fruits and veggies I’d just purchased when I saw the pie crust….  I sometimes like to keep one in the freezer in case of “emergency".  Well this one had been in there for a while so it was time to put it to use.

I love eggs and was considering a quick egg sandwich anyway, so this was a perfect, much tastier alternative.  I didn’t have a recipe – I just started throwing in some cheeses and veggies I had in the fridge/freezer.  Of course I needed a little bacon too, so I chopped up a few slices and cooked those until crisp.  Here’s what I ended up with:

4 whole eggs

4 egg whites

½ cup milk

¾ - 1 cup cheese of your choice – I used a mix of grated asiago, grated parmesan, and a couple slices of pepper jack that I tore into pieces

½ red bell pepper, diced, sautéed

3 scallions, thinly sliced – white and green parts, lightly sautéed

½ cup frozen chopped kale, thawed and drained

¼ - ½ cup frozen corn kernels

3 strips bacon – chopped and cooked until crisped, drained on paper towel

Pinch of garlic powder

Salt & Pepper to taste

A few notes –

2 cups uncooked Farro

1/2 cup Slivered Almonds, toasted

1/4 cup Dried Tart Cherries, roughly chopped (or whole, your preference)

1/4 cup Pomegranate Seeds

1- 1.5 cups Cucumber, diced

1/4 cup Sprouts, rinsed with roots trimmed off (optional, I use alfalfa)

2-3 Scallions, chopped

2 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, chopped

1 Tbsp Fresh Mint, chopped

1/3 cup Feta cheese, crumbled

Lemon Vinaigrette*

Instructions

Cook farro according to package instructions, then drain and set aside to cool in a large mixing bowl.  I add a couple shakes of Montreal Chicken seasoning, as well as one chicken bouillon cube, just for added flavor.  You can always use chicken stock/vegetable stock/plain water – whatever you choose.

Toast the almonds in a dry small frying pan on medium-low heat, just until they start to brown and you can smell them – should only take a few minutes.  Set aside to cool.

Chop and prepare all other ingredients.

When the farro is cool, add remaining ingredients.  Drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss well to coat the entire salad.  Add additional vinaigrette to taste.  Feta can be tossed in with everything else, or just crumbled on top.  Serve at room temperature, or chilled if you prefer.

*I make my own vinaigrette.  I don’t measure anything (sorry!!), but here is what I include:

Fresh Lemon Juice, a few tablespoons

Dijon Mustard, a tablespoon or so

Salt & Pepper, to taste (slightly more pepper than salt)

Dried Thyme, couple shakes of the bottle

Honey or Agave Nectar, maybe a tablespoon (or use a pinch or two of sugar)

Extra Virgin Olive Oil – good quality – probably ¼ - ½ cup

Whisk everything together until well combined.  Can be stored in a jar or bottle in the fridge for a couple weeks.

On my trip to Turkey a few weeks ago, I stayed one night in an adorable old stone hotel, called the Taş Otel in the town of Alaçati (Ah-la-cha-tuh).  Every afternoon they serve their guests homemade cakes and çay (black tea).  When I went into my room, there was a cookbook laid out on the bed.  What?!  To an avid baker, this was basically the best gift ever.  Who needs mini soaps or lotions or a mint on their pillow?  Give me the cake. 

So, last weekend I was up in Cape Cod visiting my parents, relaying the details of my trip to them – seemed like the perfect time to test out one of these recipes.  My mom is also a baker and my parents love sweets.  My mom picked this recipe for us (and wrote down another to try later herself).  This cake was super easy to whip up.  My dad is allergic to nuts so we left them out, and frankly, I think the texture of the cake was a bit too soft to handle them.   

I made this in a loaf pan thinking it would have the texture of banana or zucchini bread, but it’s actually much lighter and fluffier than that.  The loaf pan was okay, but I think next time I’d use a 9" round or 9x9" square pan and eat this with a fork.  Loaf pan/round pan/nuts/no nuts – do what you prefer, but definitely give this a try.  The orange flavor comes through nicely but isn’t overpowering, and the ricotta provides that perfectly satisfying crumby texture.  No icing necessary.

And of course - when in Turkey, stay at the Taş!  Alacati Tas Otel

Ingredients

125g unsalted butter, softened

225g sugar

3 eggs

450g AP flour

2 tsp baking powder

2 tsp vanilla

Grated zest of 2 oranges (I used 1)

2 spoonfuls orange marmalade (I used 2 rounded Tbsp)

100ml orange juice

100g chopped walnuts (I omitted)

125g ricotta (I used lowfat)

Instructions

Ok first let’s set the mood…listen to this while you read this post:  Zaynah - Kate Linn

This song was on the radio in almost every cab I took in Istanbul.  In fact, I “Shazamed” it during one of my rides because it was so familiar by that point I had to know what it was.  I kinda love it.  Anyway, let’s get to the trip…

Basically, I spent two weeks eating my way through Istanbul (and parts of southwest Turkey) with some friends, and I loved every minute.  We got a ton of sightseeing in too.  It was rare if we made it home before midnight.  We’d leave the house before noon and tool around all day, generally starting with a big traditional breakfast, tea and coffee, and then ending the day with wine and mezze.

Items of note:

1) Turks absolutely love yogurt, eggplant, meat (beef and lamb) and bread.  Lots of other things too obviously, but those three things play a prominent role in their diet.

2) You start your day with tea (çay – pronounced chai), have breakfast, then move on to coffee afterwards.  If you start with coffee, chances are, you aren’t Turkish.

3) It’s perfectly acceptable to have at least 5-10 glasses of çay per day.

4) Simit is sold everywhere for about $0.37 each (1 Turkish Lira).  The easiest way to describe it is a large, skinny, sesame bagel that’s a little dry.  It is truly a staple.  I found it much tastier when slathered with jam, honey or olive tapenade.

5) In addition to simit, another favorite treat is kaymak - clotted cream made from water buffalo milk.  Yes, seriously.  Our food tour guide referred to this as "The Queen" of Turkish breakfast.  Generally, a large glob of it is placed on a plate and surrounded by honey.  You take a smear of the cream and honey, smear it on your simit then groan in delight.  Typically it is eaten maybe once a week or so - its not an everyday thing by any means, but I'll tell ya - every place I had breakfast had kaymak!  Here's an article about it: Kaymak

6) Baklava does not have honey in it!  Who knew?  I think here in the States, it usually does, but traditionally it gets its sticky sweetness from simple syrup (sugar dissolved into water).

7) You will be hard pressed to find other types of food in Istanbul.  Turks love Turkish food – why would they eat anything else?!  I’m down…

In addition to eating out for every meal for two weeks, a friend and I did a culinary walking tour around the Beyoğlu neighborhood, including parts of Cihangir and Taksim.  It was really interesting and fun to check out some little mom & pop places tucked into the neighborhoods.  I highly recommend doing one if you have the time.  Here is the site we used:  Culinary Tour

Ok - I’ll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.  The moral is, Turkish food is fresh, full of flavor, and relatively healthy compared to other cuisines.