Turkish Chicken Pilau

Serves 4 Cook 30 mins


Ingredients
small handful pine nuts or flaked almonds
1 tbsp olive oil
1 large onion, halved and sliced
2 cinnamon sticks, broken in half
500g chicken breast, cubed
250g basmati rice
1 chichen or vegetable stock cube
12 ready­to­eat dried apricots, or currents/raisins
handful fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped
500 ml boiling water

1. Dry­ fry the pine nuts or almonds in a large pan until lightly toasted, then tip onto a plate. Add the oil to the pan, then fry the onion and cinnamon together until starting to turn golden. Turn up the heat, stir in the chicken, fry until the meat changes colour, then tip in the rice and cook for 1 min, stirring all the time.
2. Pour in 500ml boiling water, crumble in the stock cube, add the apricots, then season to taste. Turn the heat down, cover and simmer for 12 mins until the rice is tender and the stock has been absorbed. Toss in the pine nuts and mint and serve.

Turkish Bread

Ingredients:

230g strong white wheat flour
200ml warm water
½ tbs olive oil
1 tsp dried yeast
½ tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
1 egg
1 tbs milk
Sesame seeds
Nigella seeds

Bulgar Wheat and Vegetables

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: about 20-25 minutes

350 gr/ 12 oz/ 2 cups of coarse organic bulgur wheat, rinsed and drained

2 medium onions, finely chopped

1 green bell pepper, diced

15 ml / 1 tablespoon olive oil

30 ml / 2 tablespoons butter

400 gr /14 oz can of chopped tomatoes

600 ml / 1 pint / 2 1/2 cup hot vegetable or chicken stock or water

1 teaspoon salt – please adjust to your taste -

freshly ground black pepper

chopped parsley for garnish – optional-

Rinse the bulgur under cold running water, drain and set a side.

Sauté the chopped onions in olive oil and butter until soft. Add the green bell pepper and chopped tomatoes, cook for another minute. Add the stock (or water) and bring to boil.

Add the bulgur, salt and ground pepper and stir once. Cover and cook over a low heat until the bulgur has absorbed all the stock and stem holes are visible on the surface. It is important not to stir the pilaf during this time. Remove the pan from the heat. Cover the pan with a cloth or absorbent kitchen paper and the lid over the top. The bulgur will continue cooking in the steam and the cloth will absorb any excess moisture. Leave to stand covered, for at least 15 minutes before serving.

Fluff up the pilaf with a fork and serve hot, garnished with a sprinkling of chopped parsley if you would like.

Red Lentil Soup

1. 1 1/3 cup (about 8 ounces) red lentils, picked through and rinsed
2. 7 cups low-sodium vegetable broth
3. 1 large onion, diced
4. 1 large carrot, diced
5. 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
6. 2 tablespoons tomato paste
7. 1 teaspoon ground cumin
8. 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
9. 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt, or to taste
10. Lemon wedges and chopped mint for serving (optional)

Method: 

In a large pot, combine lentils, broth, onion, carrot, garlic, tomato paste, cumin and cayenne and bring to a boil over high heat. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered, until vegetables and very tender and lentils begin to fall apart, about 25 minutes.

Remove the pot from the heat and use an immersion blender to quickly blend the soup until it is creamy but not completely puréed. Or, you can carefully blend about half the soup in a blender, but use caution when blending hot liquids: blend only in small batches, hold the lid down firmly with a kitchen towel, and begin blending on low speed. Add salt and serve with lemon wedges and a garnish of mint if desired.

Turkish Spinach with Potato Recipes

Spinach with Potato

(Ispanakli Patates)

Ingredients

• Half a bag of spinach (approx 200g), washed. 
• 4 medium sized potatoes peeled and cut into large sections
• 3 shallots, chopped
• 2 large tomatoes
• Tomato puree (I used sundried tomato puree)
• Olive oil
• Salt & pepper to taste

Method

1. Add olive oil to a pan and sauté the onions and potatoes for a few minutes. 
2. Meanwhile, whizz up the tomatoes and tomato puree in a blender or food processor. 
3. Add the spinach and blended tomato mixture to the pan. Stir to combine. 
4. Put lid on the pan - the steam will cause the spinach to wilt and release extra cooking liquid to the pan. 
5. When spinach has wilted, add salt & pepper to taste, cover and reduce heat to a gentle simmer. 
6. Leave simmering until the potatoes are cooked through. 

Another Potato and Spinach Recipe

1 bunch spinach, washed and drained

7-8 yellow mini potatoes, peeled, cut in half

1 medium onion, chopped

1 medium tomato, grated

1 tbsp crushed tomato, in can

50 ml extra virgin olive oil

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Yogurt Sauce:

1/2 cup yogurt

1 garlic clove, mashed with salt

First cut the spinach in large pieces. Saute the onion and potatoes with olive oil for about 4-5 minutes on low heat in a medium pot. Then add the spinach, tomato, crushed tomato, salt and black pepper. Cover the lid and cook until the potatoes are tender on medium-low heat.

Serve Spinach with Potato with the Garlic Yogurt Sauce.