Turkish poca

I love Turkish pogacas. I love love love them. Pronounced Po-ah-ja, they are small little breads made with yogurt, butter, and olive oil, and then stuffed with white cheese and herbs. After the demo for CT News 30, I had so much yogurt and cheese that I had to think of how I would use the leftovers. Pogacas immediately came to mind. I already had some butter and oil in my cupboards, as well as parsley and thyme in my fridge.

You might remember that I wrote about pogacas last summer when I returned home from Turkey. One morning when I was staying with my friend Harika, I went downstairs and found her housekeeper making them for breakfast. I had eaten them at the hotel I was staying in before, and was very excited to learn the recipe. Nur was adding the ingredients together, using Turkish coffee cups and the palm of her hand to measure the amounts. I knew that I would forget everything the second I got home, so I tried to translate her measurements into something that I could share later. One small Turkish coffee cup I estimated to be 1/4 cup. The scoop of flour to be about one cup. Although my initial guesses were pretty much on, I have since adjusted the recipe slightly. And these little babies have turned out just fine every time I have made them.

This time around I used a mixture of whole wheat flour and all-purpose flour, mainly because I did not have enough of the latter. I had to increase the amount of yogurt (which has been adjusted for you in the recipe) and add a drop of water at the end to make the dough come together, but it did become moist and elastic the way I remembered it to be. I also added a bit of Turkish spicy peppers to the feta and herbs, which I think gives it a pleasant kick. You can use red pepper flakes if you do not have the Turkish pul biber.

You can make these in the rustic way I describe below, or use a little kitchen weight to divide up the dough evenly. I weighed each piece of dough to be about 1.5 grams. They also need to have little slits in them. You can tell by the photos that I was undecided about vertical or horizontal slits, so it is up to you. I think I like the horizontal ones better. And finally, if you want to make them a bit fancier, brush them with a simple egg wash made of an egg yolk + drop or so of milk. These make a great breakfast food, but I also think they could be an hors d'oeuvre at cocktail hour.

Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Pogaca:
1 ½ cups all purpose flour (unbleached)
¼ cup whole wheat flour
½ tsp salt
1 T baking powder
¼ cup butter, softened
1 egg white
¼ cup + 1 tablespoon plain yogurt (can be low-fat)
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup feta cheese or Turkish beyaz peynir (crumbled)
Handful of fresh herbs: Parsley, thyme, dill

Sift the flours, salt, and baking powder in a bowl. Mix in the butter, egg white, yogurt, and olive oil.
Knead the dough until smooth and elastic.
Fork mash the herbs into the cheese. You can add some pul biber or hot pepper flakes here also.
Tear off enough dough to make a 2-inch ball and roll out on a floured surface. Cut two parallel slits in the center. Place a dollop of cheese in the center. Bring the edges of the dough up around the cheese and seal shut. Turn the little pogacas upside down so that the slits are facing upwards.
Bake in a 375ºF oven for 15-20 minutes or until light brown and cooked through.

Spinach and Asparagus Moghrabiyyeh with Seared Scallops

Moghrabiyyeh is a Middle Eastern grain resembling couscous, only it is larger, like a pearl. Its name actually refers back to regular couscous and means “the North African dish”. Like its Maghreb cousin, the little pearls are also made of semolina and toasted, which gives them a nice nutty flavor. My favorite way to cook it is in a verdant spinach broth, which gives it so much more flavor than plain water. I was excited to find organic asparagus at my local health food store and decided to add it to the dish for more seasonal flavor. The idea for cooking the grain in a green broth comes from Mexican cooking, where cilantro, parsley, and epazote are often used to give rice a green tinge.

I bought the spinach at the Greenmarket the other day, only 2 loose cups or so. I brought 4 cups of vegetable broth to a boil, added the rinsed spinach and then blended it together. I took a handful of asparagus (about ½ of the standard size bunch), and broke off their bottoms. Asparagus has a natural breaking point near the bottom, which you only have to gently tug on in order to snap off the thick bottom. I then finely chopped the stalks and left the spears whole. I blanched the chopped stalks in salted water, drained them, and shocked them in cold water. I took ½ of a medium onion and chopped it very finely. To begin the preparation, I heated up about 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pot and added the onions along with 1 clove of garlic to sweat. When they were translucent I added about ½ teaspoon of ground coriander and just a dash of cumin. This is an optional step, but I love coriander in my green dishes, and then when I put coriander in there, I always feel the need to add a dash of cumin. I tipped in the moghrabiyyeh, which you must rinse first to rid it of its starch, and gave it all a good stir. I then poured in an ample 2 cups of the spinach broth and brought it to a boil. Once it boiled, I covered the pot and turned down the heat to a simmer and let it cook for 30 minutes, or until it the broth was fully absorbed. I turned off the heat and then stirred in the chopped asparagus (reserving the spears).

We ate this for lunch with seared scallops, which my mother prepared. The spears made a lovely garnish, but you can also just stir them in with the rest of it. Emma had mentioned the need for more side dishes the other day, and I thought that this would be a great one for people to have on hand in the Spring, when you want everything on your plate to be green and vibrant. I have posted the recipe in our recipe bank, so you can look it up here.

Enjoy!

Just read an interesting article about the vertical farm, a proposed way for densely populated cities to feed their population and reduce the carbon footprint of its food supply in the process:  http://greenprophet.com/2009/03/02/7250/skyscraper-farming/

Basically the idea, developed by Dickson Despommier a professor at Columbia University, is to create a 30 story buildling that grows enough food and houses enough livestock to feed 50,000 people year round. It's also supposed to be essentially carbon neutral.

Sounds good too good to be true in a way, but also just sterile and missing the point enough that it will probably work.

Read more at Despommier's website: http://www.verticalfarm.com/

White Chocolate Yogurt Cake Topped with Pomegranate Seeds

Yesterday I taught another cooking class. I have been really enjoying working with people one-on-one, teaching them my recipes, and ways of integrating quick and healthy cooking into their routines. The menu yesterday was my new favorite Mediterranean Chicken "Stew", Tarragon Mayonnaise, and a bonus dish of Kale with Garlic. I will be posting the recipe for the chicken dish soon, along with a photo. For dessert we made the Opulent White Chocolate and Yogurt Cake, which without the pomegranate seeds can only be called "White Chocolate and Yogurt Cake". My cousin is obsessed with this dessert, and has been begging me to make it again for her since September of 2007.

I do make this dessert often, because it is quick and easy to make, and can be topped with whatever fruit is in season. In the Autumn we use , but in the Summer we use fresh berries of every color. I thought it would be a perfect fit for the women that I was teaching yesterday. However, I had been unsatisfied with the crust for quite some time. It was too crunchy; you almost had to stab it in order to separate a piece for yourself. I decided to play around with it, and found that there was not much that had to change to improve it.

If you have made this dessert before, you will now notice that I have adjusted the quantity of pistachio nuts used in the crust, increasing them to 2/3 cup. This make the dessert a bit more crumbly and graham like. If you have never made this dessert, I encourage you to try it, because it uses very few ingredients and is quite heavenly.

My mother and I arrived last night from our long drive from Miami to Connecticut. We made the essential stops, and did about 8 hours a day. The hard thing about being on the road is the disruption of your exercise and eating schedules. Even a day without a home-cooked meal affects me. I quickly got over breakfast on the road and new dinner destinations.

Today my mom wanted something soothing. I looked around the pantry and found some stuff that I had not cooked in a while: brown basmati rice, mung beans, dried kaffir lime leaves. I knew that I had an onion, garlic, and my fully equiped spice drawer, and that that is all it takes to make a great rice and beans dish.

I heated up some coconut oil in a pot and cooked some finely diced onion. Then I added ground coriander, crushed cardamom pods, smashed garlic, and some turmeric. I added in 1 part mung beans to 2 parts rice, and poured in some water. Once it came to a boil, I brought it down to a simmer and added the kaffir lime leaves and a small piece of cinnamon stick. I covered it and let it simmer until cooked through. We ate it with some steamed kale. The coconut oil was a nice touch, because it really made the rice aromatic and comforting. All of the spices contributed their flavor, giving the cooking liquid a really nice aroma. Ahhh, I am so glad to be back home and in control of the kitchen!