Becca's Bistro

Squid with Chickpeas and Soçuk

I like the strong flavours of Spanish cooking and this is based on a dish which combines squid with chorizo.  Being in Turkey, I cannot find chorizo so have used our own cured sausage instead which is called soçuk.  I am sure any spicy cured sausage will work well.  Squid is not that easy to find here, but I tracked some down in the fish market today.  This is probably my favourite way of cooking and eating squid (especially since my failed attempt at calamari last summer).

Ingredients for Squid with Chickpeas and Soçuk (serves 2 greedy adults)

half a kilo of cleaned squid, cut into rings
a 3cm section of cured sausage cut into thin slices
one large skinned tomato, chopped
1 large clove garlic, crushed
a quarter of a large can of chickpeas, drained
2 tbsp tomato puree
salt to taste
1 tsp paprika
olive oil
half a lemon
parsley to garnish

Heat the olive oil in a frying pan and fry the onion until transparent.  Add garlic and stir for another 2 or 3 minutes. Put the sliced sausage into the pan and stir, making sure it does not burn.  Add the tomato and stir well, then add chickpeas and tomato puree.  Season with salt and paprika and cook for 10 minutes on a low heat.

Add the squid rings and stir well.  Cook for about 7 minutes, not too long or the squid will be tough.  Squeeze the lemon juice over the squid and then garnish with chopped parsley.

 

İçli Köfte

This is a meze dish that is common in Eastern Turkey and versions of it are served in several central Asian and Middle Eastern countries.  In Lebanese cuisine it is known as kibbeh.  It is a bulgar shell with a mince meat filling.  Previously I had tried recipes that included meat in the shell as well.  I recently found a recipe on a blog called Yesimstylekitchen with a shell made of bulgur and semolina.  These köfte are an adaptation of that recipe.  My main alteration was to include less onion.  I am unusual in as much as I don't like onion very much, not because of its flavour but its texture.  Therefore, I tend to include less and also to grate it, or chop it very finely so that I can taste the onion without seeing or feeling it!

These are quite fiddly and as you can see mine are not quite aesthetically perfect.  Nevertheless, considering I didn't learn the art at my mother's knee, I am not dissatisfied with the result.  They tasted delicious anyway.

Ingredients for İçili Köfte (makes about 8)

1 cup fine bulgar wheat
1 cup water
1 cup semolina
half a grated onion
1 tsp salt 
1 tsp cumin
1tbsp chilli paste (I improvised with harissa paste and tomato puree)

250 g minced beef
half a chopped onion
salt
black pepper
cumin to taste
chopped walnuts (optional)

Put the bulgur wheat in a bowl with the water and leave for 30 mins until the water is absorbed. Meanwhile, fry the minced beef with onion and spices until cooked through.  Break up with a wooden spatula every now and then so the beef does not form clumps.  Leave to cool slightly.

Add the semolina, grated onion and seasonings to the bulgar wheat and mix to a dough with your hands. Knead well until the mixture combines.  Take a ball of dough the size of a golf ball and insert a finger or thumb into the middle.  With your other hand rotate the ball around the finger until it hollows out into a shell about 3 mm thick.  It will take some practice.  With a teaspoon, put some minced meat into the bulgur shell and seal the edges. Roll lightly in your hands either into a ball shape or an ellipse with pointed ends.  Continue with the rest of the dough then rest the köfte in the fridge while you heat up the water or oil. They can be either boiled for about 8 minutes or deep fried over a medium heat until golden.

 

 

 

Cinnamon Rolls

More baking this time, and with one of my all time favourite flavours, cinnamon. What could be better than a warm cinnamon roll straight from the oven? As this is another American speciality I have given the recipe in cups and metric.  The recipe makes between ten and twelve (my husband ate five more or less straight away!)  Thanks to GoofyDebbie who posted this on Allrecipes.com.  It is a quicker version than many recipes, which is a great blessing when baking with yeast.

 

Ingredients for Cinnamon Rolls

3 1/4 cups plain flour (405 g)
1 sachet instant yeast
1/4 cup white sugar (50g)
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cups milk (180ml)
1/4 cup butter (55g)
1 egg

Filling:

1 cup brown sugar (220g)
1/2 cup soft butter (115g)
1 tbsp cinnamon powder

Topping

4 tbsp sifted icing sugar
a little water (enough to make a smooth icing to drizzle)
a few chopped pecans 

Heat oven to 190C/gas 5/375F

Sift about a third of the flour into a bowl and add the yeast and other dry ingredients.  Heat the milk gently in a pan, stir in the butter until it melts.  Add the water. 

Beat the egg and mix into the dry ingredients with a flat knife.  Gradually add the milk and butter until you have a very wet dough.  Add the remaining flour bit by bit until all incorporated.  Knead dough for about five minutes, adding a little more flour if necessary.  Leave to rest in a covered bowl for 10 mins.

Meanwhile make the filling.  Beat the sugar, butter and cinnamon together.

Now roll out the dough to a rectangle 12'' x 9'' or 30 cm x 20 cm.

Spread the filling evenly over the rectangle and roll up from the long end.  Slice evenly into about twelve pieces.  Place on non-stick paper on a baking sheet.  Cover and leave in a warm place for half an hour.

Bake for about 20 minutes until done.

If liked drizzle with water icing and decorate with chopped pecan nuts. 

Beetroot Brownie Cake

I have neglected this blog for far too long.  Partly due to the inertia brought on by a very hot summer (lost interest in cooking) and also by other distractions such as a trip home and a new job.  Finally, I have got round to posting and guess what?  It's another chocolate-vegetable combo.

I mentioned in my last post that I found beetroot in a cake rather earthy.  However, beets are in season here now and I had bought a bunch to boil up for beetroot and blue cheese salads.  After a few salads, I had a solitary beet left and decided to try out a chocolate and beetroot cake again.

I found a recipe in the British Daily Mail (I am almost too ashamed to admit that but that's what came up when I googled chocolate and beetroot).  I didn't have the full amount of beetroot so I reduced it.  Then my brown sugar had set hard so I couldn't cream it.  I decided to do it brownie method and it turned out just delicious.  The last choc beetroot cake I made was velvety whereas this was hard and sticky on the outside and a bit gooey in the middle.

Ingredients for Beetroot Brownie

125 g butter
300g brown sugar (could be reduced by 50g as cake is very sweet)
75g dark chocolate
3 eggs
225g self-raising flour
50 g cocoa
100g grated beetroot

Turn the oven to gas 4/180 C/350F

Melt the sugar and butter together in a saucepan.  Meanwhile sift the flour and cocoa powder together.

In a jug beat the eggs and mix with the grated beetroot.

When sugar and butter have melted turn off the heat and put the chocolate pieces into the mixture to melt.  Stir occasionally and leave to cool slightly.  When cool add to the flour and finally mix in the beet and egg mixture with a wooden spoon until all incorporated.

Put in a greased tin (I used a Bundt tin) and bake in the oven for 30-40 mins.  When mixture is pulling from the sides of the pan and cracks are appearing on the top, the cake is done.  Allow to cool before turning out.