Chard Borek

This was going to be our usual potato borek, but our neighbor brought us a bunch of chard just as I was preparing to make borek. They have a small garden where they grow an apricot tree, a sour cherry tree, a plum tree, some greens depending on the season and some tomatoes. They are our next door neighbor and whenever they have their small ‘harvest’, they bring us some for taste. Our door bell rings at an unexpected time  and when one of us open the door, we see that our polite neighbor is waiting there with something wrapped with paper in her hands. We thankfully accept her gift and unwrap it with excitement. One day she brought some cherries, she brought apricots on another day.  They all had a natural taste, as they had no pesticide on them. Our neigbor lets them free and they grow how they like. Yes, their shapes are not as smooth and neat as the ones at the markets, but they all taste much better. I made some jam from the plums they gave us last summer and it was delicious, it lasted just a week for us to finish it. They haven’t bring any plums this summer yet, I’m planning to make something different with them this time, maybe a cake or a pie.

You know we love borek as a snack and potato borek is our favorite. I boiled potatoes and mixed it with some spices and pepper paste for the filling mixture. And the bell rang. Guess who? Our neighbor and a package in her hand, she said they picked some chard from their garden and they allocated a bunch for us. I invited her for a cup of Turkish coffee to thank her. Entering the kitchen, she saw that I was making borek and made a great suggestion; adding chard in its filling mixture. I loved the idea! In addition to potato and chard, I wanted to use the only carrot left in our refrigerator. I enjoyed making borek and chatting with our neighbor at the same time. When I put the tray in oven, she left saying that she had some works to do.
And of course, I took some borek to our neighbor to show what their chard turned into. After a few days, I saw them in their garden watering trees, and they said that they loved the borek and they would make it too the next time they pick some chard.

Pazılı Borek

Ingredients
-    5 phyllo sheets
-    1 cup yogurt
-    1 egg
-    ¼ cup olive oil
For the filling:
Besides the ingredients for potato borek (but this time I didn’t put any cheese),
-    A bunch of chard, chopped
-    1 carrot, grated
For garnish
-    Nigella sativa

Mix yogurt, olive oil and an egg in a cup. We will spread this mixture on each phyllo sheet.

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Lay one phyllo sheet in an oven tray. Spread a little yogurt mixture on it. Put the half of boiled and sauted potato on it, sprinkle the half of the grated carrot on it. Lay another phyllo sheet, put half of the chopped chard on it. Lay the third sheet, spread a little yogurt mixture on it, put the rest of the potato and grated carrot. Lay the fourth sheet, put the rest of the chard. Lay the last sheet on it, spread allthe yogurt mixture on it.

Then cut the borek in diamond shapes or how you like. Cutting before putting it in oven helps all layers cook equally. Then sprinkle some nigella sativa on it. Cook it for 40 minutes and it’s done. If you think its top is too crispy, sprinkle a little water on it with your hands, cover it with another tray or a piece of cloth, wait it for 15 minutes. Then you’ll see it gets soft enough.

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Borek with Vegetables

Sebzeli Börek

We saw an extraordinary vivacity in our neighborhood this evening. Some people were setting up a music system in front of our building, some were placing plastic chairs in the shape of a circle. These are signs of a ceremony, so we thought that there would be an engagement ceremony or a party for a bride and her friends (called “kına” in Turkish), which is a common tradition held in the evening followed by the wedding ceremony on the next day. However, we were wrong.

While were trying to guess what was happening, the door bell rang. It was our neighbor from the first floor. She invited us to the ceremony they were holding for their son, who would join the army to carry out his military service. ıt is compulsory in Turkey for all males at the age of 20 to complete this military service. It may last from 5 months to 15 months according to the education level of soldiers and some other reasons. If they are studying or working at this age, they can delay it until a certain age.

In Turkey, people hold a ceremony, generally outside their houses for their sons just before he leaves his home and goes to the city where he gets the training. There is a music system or a timpanist is hired. Neighbors, relatives, the boy’s friends all gather here and they dance. The boy’s family serve some drinks. People dance, especially the boy’s friends and family members. Older relatives give some pocket money to the young as a gift. Then his family takes him to the bus station to send him off. His friends and some nighbors accompany them and they go on singing songs and dancing until he gets on the bus.

I prepared a quick borek with what I had in my pantry and took it to my neighbor and she served it to their guests. She also served pilaf with chicken and cold ayran. It was a great party for their son before his military service.

Ingredients
-    1 stalk leek, chopped thin
-    1 potato, grated
-    2 carrots, grated
-    1 big onion,diced
-    1 cup parmesan cheese, grated
-    2 tbsp olive oil for sauting
-    3tbsp olive oil for spreading between sheets
-    1 egg
-    ½ cup yogurt
-    5 phyllo sheets

Saute all the vegetables in olive oil for about 10-15 minutes. add some salt.

Mix egg, 3 tbsp olive oil and yogurt.

Preheat the oven to 180C (400F)

Lay one of the phyllo sheets and spread the yogurt mixture on it. Lay the other sheet and spread the half of the sauted vegetables on it, then sprinkle the half of parmesan and lay another phyllo sheet on it. Brush it with the same egg and yogurt mixture. Lay the other sheet and spread the rest of sauted vegs and parmesan. Cover this with the last phyllo sheet and spread the rest yogurt mixture on it. Cut it with a knife as squares or triangles before putting it in oven so that its inner part also cooks. Cook this in oven for about 50 minutes.

By the way, I’ll be away for a few days as I’m traveling to Istanbul today for a work. Besides this work, I hope I can visit some good restaurants. I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences.

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Cigarette Borek

Sigara Boregi

Our national football team had a match with Spain yesterday. We love watching matches with friends, so we called some friends and invited them to watch the match together. They already knew that we’d prepare some food for the night, but this time they  had a request from us: Cigarette boreks!  Of course we accepted.

They came just before the match began and they all went crazy with the smell of cigarette boreks. They brought several bottles of beer, so we understood that it was a part of their plan. We all agree on cigarette boreks go perfect with cold beer. Although Spanish team defeated with a 2-1 score, we had great time because both teams played well. By the way, I should admit we grabed a cigarette borek each time our players missed a goal. It’s better than cigarette itself at all.

The name of this borek is cigarette just because of its shape. You put some very healthy ingredients in it like cheese and parsley instead of tobacco.

Ingredients

- 3 phyllo sheets

- 1 cup white cheese, crumbled

- Half bunch parsley, chopped

- A very small cup water, just to stick the ends

- ½ cup vegetable oil

Lay the sheets on the counter and cut them into pieces of triangle. You see it in the picture, if you like you can cut them bigger, but originally they are small.

Mix chopped parsley and cheese together. If you like you can add spices you like. We love it plain.

Grab a triangle and put some cheese mixture on the wide side of it. First fold the left and right edges and then roll it up. To stick its end, dip your finger into the water in small cup and rub it on the end of the triangle.

Heat oil in a pan and fry these cigarette boreks until golden brown.

You can serve these crunchy cigarettes as a kind of snack with beer or tea. You can even surprise your family or friends by serving it at breakfast. The sound it makes while eating is as enjoyable as eating it.

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Borek with Potato

Patatesli Börek

Borek is one of my favorite Turkish pastries and it’s one of the most common pastries served to guests. I generally make borek at the weekend as a preperation for week days. As I leave for work early in the morning, borek becomes my best breakfast. You know how much I love breakfast, but during weekdays, I don’t have enough time for a big one, so if we have prepared borek, I just heat them in oven and have a quick breakfast with two squares of borek and a cup of tea.

Moreover, if I have something different for breakfast, I put a few borek squares in my lunch bag and take it to work. It becomes a perfect lunch accompanied by a glass of ayran as borek is also eaten cold. When I take some for lunch, I always take more than I eat because I love sharing lunch with my collegues. Borek has a lot of varieties, you can use different filling mixtures for it. Generally, it is filled with cheese, minced meat, potato, spinach, etc.

Ingredients
•    5 phyllo sheets

To stick these phyllo sheets
•    1 cup yogurt
•    ¼ cup olive oil
•    1 egg

For its filling
•    5 middle potatoes
•    1 big onion
•    1tbsp pepper or tomato paste
•    1tsp cumin
•    1tbsp black pepper
•    1tbsp salt
•    ½ grated yellow cheese

For garnish
•    nigella sativa

First we’ll prepare its filling. Boil the potatoes in a pot full of water until they get very soft. You can check them with a fork, insert it in one of the potatoes, if it’s soft enough, that’s ok. Then peel the potatoes and chop them in small pieces. Put it aside.

Chop the onion and saute it until golden. Add tomato/pepper paste into it and stir. Put the boiled and chopped potatoes into it, sprinkle salt and other spices and saute all of them for 10 minutes. Stir occasionally. Take it from heat and let it cool.

Now we’ll prepare the mixture to stick the phyllo sheets. Mix yogurt, oil and egg until well combined. This mixture prevents the borek from splitting off.

Preheat the oven to 180C (356F).

Lay one of the phyllo sheets on an oven tray. Then spread the yogurt mixture on it with a brush. If the sheet is too big for the tray, you can tear it into two pieces and then lay it on the tray. It doesn’t need to be perfect in shape. Then lay onether sheet on this one. Spread some yogurt mixture again. Now put some filling mixture (not much as you’ll put the rest soon).

Lay another sheet on potatoes and spread yogurt mixture again. Now put the rest of the pototoes and sprinkle grated yellow cheese on it. Lay the last two sheets on them spreading yogurt mixture between them. Finally spread all the mixture on top of it to have a well cooked borek. Cut it into squares. And sprinkle some nigella sativa on it. Cook it for about 40 minutes.

You can also have these boreks as a snack.

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Bakeries prepare for you

It is also a tradition in some regions of Turkey to get your borek baked in a bakery. You prepare the filling and take it to a bakery in your neighborhood. They give a certain time for you to come back and get your borek. They already have a lot of dough, so they make borek filling the dough with your mixture. You come at the given time and get a tray of borek.

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Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Cabbage is one of the most popular Winter vegetables in Turkey. There are several dishes made from cabbage such as cabbage stew, cabbage borek (a kind of pastry), cabbage soup, cabbage pickles, and stuffed cabbage rolls. Among all these dishes, stuffed cabbage rolls are my favorite and the most common one.

Just like stuffed grapevine leaves, there are various kinds of cabbage rolls. Sometimes the shape of its rolling changes, but generally its filling has variety. In fact, rice is the constant ingredient of its filling but there may be some different additions to it. In some regions minced meat is added, in some regions tomatoes and some greens (we call it cabbage rolls/cabbage sarma with olive oil), are added and in some other regions chestnut is the addition. I love the one with olive oil as this main dish turns out to be a snack for me like stuffed grapevine leaves, so I’ll give its recipe here. I made these stuffed cabbage rolls last Sunday, and we finished it today. I love it so much that I felt so upset while eating the last roll. So I strongly recommend you to make these rolls in large amounts.

Ingredients
•    1 small size cabbage
•    1 liter water
•    1tbsp salt

For its filling:
•    2 glasses rice
•    4 onions
•    4 middle size tomatoes, diced
•    1 green pepper, diced
•    2 scallions, diced
•    4 cloves garlic, sliced
•    Half bunch of parsley, minced
•    2 lemons, juice
•    1 tbsp pepper/tomato paste
•    1 tsp dry mint
•    1 tsp salt
•    1 tsp thyme
•    1 tsp black pepper
•    ½ cup extra virgin olive oil

(If you like, add 200gr minced meat into it.)

Wash the cabbage, throw the outer leaves away and seperate all its leaves.

Put enough water (about 1 liter) into a large pot, add 1tbsp salt and boil it. Put the cabbage leaves into this boiling water and boil them until they get tender (but not too much), when their color turns to yellow, (after about 3-4 minutes) take out them from water.

Now try to cut them in regular shapes. We don’t use the thick streaks of these leaves, so cut them out. You can use these thick pieces in a vegetable stew the following day.

For its filling, combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them well.

Now get one piece and lay it on a flat surface. Put some filling mixture on it and roll it up. The shape is not so important herei, just try to roll it well and do not put a lot of filling in it, otherwise you’ll lose some of them.

Place these cabbage rolls in a pot leaving the center empty. Pour the watery part of the mixture on the rolls. When you finish all the leaves, but still have some filling mixture, do not throw it away.

Put that mixture in a glass bowl and place it over the space in the middle of the rolls. Moreover, if you like you can chop the thick pieces into it and have a bowl of another dish of cabbage.
Put the pot on the lowest heat and cook it for half an hour. Then add ¼ cup of water into it and let it cook for an hour.

You can serve it warm or cold with some lemon slices and greens. And I think the best pair of these rolls is a bowl of home made yogurt.

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