Tea

Ilke describes herself as, “A Turkish Girl Cooking it up in the American South”. And her blog, Ilke’s Kitchen , is wonderful mix of Southern Cooking and Turkish Recipes. Recipes range from a beautiful Baklava (wish I had had the time for this one) to Muhammara (Roasted Red Pepper Dip) to Simit (Turkish yeast bread). Just so many wonderful Turkish dishes to choose from. I knew I didn’t have time for ALL of them, so I settled for just a couple.

I love oatmeal. And I love grits ( I am a southern girl, afterall). But I am always on the lookout for something new and different. And I found it with this Turkish Breakfast dish:

KUYMAK

….described by Ilke as, “which is just a simple combination of cornmeal, butter, and cheese”. How can you go wrong with those ingredients?

Love the stringy Mozarella Cheese in this…..

Cheesy Cornmeal (Kuymak)

•2 cups of water
•1/2 teaspoon salt
•2 tablespoon unsalted butter
•3/4 cup cornmeal
•1 cup mozzarella cheese or Oaxaca cheese
•1/2 teaspoon black pepper
•1/2 teaspoon paprika to garnish

1. Boil water, salt, black pepper and butter in a deep skillet.
2. Reduce the heat to medium. Add cornmeal and stir frequently to break up all the clumps until it reaches a thick consistency.
3. Add cheese and stir until all melts.
4. Sprinkle paprika on top and serve hot.

This was one of the most filling breakfasts ever. But then it is cooked cornmeal. Like Oatmeal and Grits it sticks to your ribs. I cooked it in a cast iron skillet (which is what I think Ilke used) and had plenty of left overs. It is hard to reheat this type of dish so I decided to try browning it in butter like left over grits. WIN!!

I spooned the leftovers into a small cake pan and cooled. Then I sliced it into large wedges and browned quickly in butter. Perfect!

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You all know I am a big-time Tea Drinker. Earl Grey is one of my favs. I always have some loose tea in the kitchen to make a cup (or 5) of CREAM Earl Grey. I had seen a recipe before for an Earl Grey TeaCake, but had not made it yet. When I saw this one had CHOCOLATE in it I knew I had to try it.

Earl Grey Tea Cake

{no cake flour so made a sub: 1 3/4 cups AP + 1/4 cornstarch = 2 cups cake flour}

{not a single orange in the kitchen so I used a dash of orange oil}

1. Steep the teabag in 1 cup of hot water for 15-20 minutes.
2. Beat eggs and sugar in a mixing bowl until all blend well.
3. Discard the teabag. Add cooled black tea and butter, continue beating until everything is well combined.
4. Add cake flour, baking powder and cocoa. Stir until all well blended.
5. Stir the chopped hazelnuts. Pour the batter in a bundt pan or 9-inch cake pan.
6. Bake at 350-degrees for 45 minutes {since I made mini-bundts mine only needed 35 minutes to bake} or until the toothpick inserted comes clean. (Do not preheat the oven.)

This cake is not real sweet and the taste of orange from the tea and the oil is subtle but tasty. Because it wasn’t too sweet I knew it wouldn’t hurt it to drizzle with a little Nutella. It is already full of chopped hazelnuts – what’s a little more.

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Finally, a quick and tasty side dish….

Turkish Pilaf

Serves 4

1 cup of basmati rice
1/4 cup of thin broken vermicelli
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
1-1/2 cups of water or chicken stock {I used veggie broth.}

1. Wash the rice in a colander until the water runs clear.
2. Melt the butter in the pan and add vermicelli. Saute vermicelli until it browns slightly.
3. Add rice and salt, saute the rice for another 1 minute.
4. Add water and cover the pan, turn the heat up until it starts to boil. Once the water boils, turn the heat down to low and cook another 20 minutes. The rice will be fluffy when all water is gone.

This is great side dish and a good alternative to everyday rice. Finding this recipe made me very happy I had bought that package of Vermicelli at the local, and very small, MidEast Store last month. I KNEW there was a reason it found it’s way into my kitchen!!

When you get a chance, go visit with with Ilke in her Southern Turkish kitchen and enjoy some of the recipes I am looking at real closely. Like the Borek.

And if you want in on our monthly fun come join Amanda and her Secret Recipe Club.

amazon So what does one do when one has done “99 recipe posts on the blog, 99…” (sung to the tune of 99 bottles of beer….). Celebrate! Celebrate! Dance to the Music. Celebrate! Celebrate!… (Thank you 3 Dog Night)YAY!!! HURRAH!!! (imagine confetti in the air, bottles of champagne popping open, much noise and chatter in the background….). I have to tell you, dear bloggers, how much I enjoy ‘visiting’ with you all, learning from you all (all those FANTASTIC recipes), and sharing with you all. I also have to tell you HOW MUCH FUN THIS IS!!! I don’t always have the time to do these the way I want, but they are fun – no matter what.

I am going to celebrate with some Tea and scones. My favorite tea is Masala Chai . If you are not familiar with that, it is a black tea served in India mixed with cardamon, cinnamon, and ginger or cloves. Usually served ‘latte’ it is very common to see vendors for it everywhere in India. It is gaining popularity here now – finally. I have tried so many different ones – Stash, Twinnings (the one here in the US is not as good as the one found in GB), Celestial, etc. But I haven’t found one I really, really like. Answer – make it your self, so I do.

Chai Spice Mix

Add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon (to taste)to 1 teaspoon black tea leaves in a brewing ball (although the paper tea filters work much better since the spices are small) and seep as for black tea.

Chai Spice Scones

3 cups AP flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup chilled butter cut in small pieces
1 cup milk or cream(and I added a smidgen more)
1 Tbl chai tea mix + 1 tsp black tea leaves

Preheat oven to 400F.
In a saucepan over medium heat, bring milk and chai masala to a simmer. Let it steep for 15 minutes, then cover and chill for about 45 minutes. Strain the milk and discard the chai mix.
Sift dry ingredients. Add orange peel. Add butter and mix until flour resembles course meal. (Remember I use a food processor, so just process until butter well mixed in.) Gradually add chai infused milk until dough is workable. (Needs to be little moister since will be kneading on a floured board which is why I added a tad more milk.) Knead briefly – about 4 turns. Form dough into 1 1-inch thick round and cut into 8 wedges or two smaller rounds and cut into 4 wedges. Bake 25 minutes or until golden brown. (Sometimes I add additional chai spice without the tea to the dry ingredients. It depends on how strong a chai flavor you want.)

Y’all have a great 2009.

May all your recipes be correct when you get them and your tastebuds never waver from real flavor.