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Recipe

Casseroles are a great way to use up Thanksgiving leftovers. We combine leeks and eggplant, which are often paired together in Greek cooking, along with fusilli pasta and turkey meat for a comforting, yet healthy dish. We use the Mastiha resin as a spice in this dish. Although it is optional, it is a fun spice to add to your International pantry, and adds a unique nuance to the dish. See note below for details.

Olive oil (about ¼ cup total)

2 large or 4 small leeks, dark green parts removed

1 medium eggplant

1 clove garlic

2 tablespoons of butter

3 tablespoons flour

2 cups vegetable or chicken broth, boiling

½ cup grated Manchego cheese

200g cooked fusilli pasta

1 ½ cups leftover turkey meat

½ teaspoon ground Mastiha powder* (optional)

Salt and Pepper

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut a slit down the length of the eggplant. Peel the garlic and slice vertically into thin slivers. Insert the garlic pieces into the slit in the eggplant and lightly brush all over with a couple tablespoons of olive oil. Bake the eggplant in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until it is completely cooked through and the flesh has shrunken in from the skin. It should look deflated and sink when you poke it with a fork. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. When the eggplant is cool enough to handle, scrape out the flesh into a sieve set over a bowl and drain of the excess liquid. Transfer to a bowl, along with the garlic and a pinch of salt, and fork mash it until it is well blended.

Meanwhile, slice the leeks in half lengthwise. Rinse out the dirt well, making sure to get in between each layer. Slice the leeks in thin strips horizontally across.
Heat up 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sweat the leeks until cooked through and completely soft, seasoning with some salt along the way, about 15 minutes.
You can make the vegetables up to 1 day ahead of time and keep them in the fridge.

Once you have your leeks and eggplant ready, you are ready to put the dish together.
In a medium-sized pot, melt the butter and once it begins to froth a little, add the flour. Stir the flour and butter on medium-low heat for a couple of minutes, without letting it brown, to cook off the flour flavor. This mixture is called a roux.
Slowly pour in the boiling broth, whisking it into the roux as you pour. Once the broth is all in there, keep it at a simmer and let it thicken and reduce slightly. Add the grated cheese, followed by the prepared eggplant and leeks, pasta, and leftover turkey meat. Season with salt and pepper and Mastiha, and stir everything together. Pour into a 9x13 inch casserole dish and top with the grated Parmesan.
Set under the broiler for about 5-10 minutes until the Parmesan melts and browns.

Serves 8-10 people.

* Mastiha is a resin from the island of Chios in Greece. It has a lovely piney/camphoric flavor that goes beautifully with eggplant and leeks. You can purchase it at mastihashopny.com

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November 21, 2009 | 0 comments
Tags: Antioxidant, Cheese, Entrees, Europe, Fall, Fusion, Healthy, high-fiber, Mediterranean, Pasta & Risotto, Winter

Recipe

Mediterranean Pita Pizzas with Roasted Squash, Feta & Za'atar

We here at Kitchen Caravan love the combination of pomegranates, squash, and cheese. This is a simple pita pizza that incorporates sweet, salty, and sour flavors together in one place. It is also a great combination of colors: green, orange, and ruby red. If you cannot find Za'atar, you can still pull this recipe off with the pomegranate, squash, and feta.

2 whole wheat pitas

2 cups cubed fresh pumpkin

2 tablespoons olive oil

Pinch of salt, pepper, and cumin

¼ cup sheep’s milk feta cheese, crumbled

1 tablespoon prepared za’atar*

2 tablespoons fresh pomegranate seeds

1 tablespoon pitted black olives, chopped

Fresh oregano

Toss the pumpkin cubes with the olive oil, salt, pepper, and cumin and roast in a 375°F oven for 20 minutes, or until fork tender.
Remove from the oven, transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly.
Meanwhile, lower the oven temperature to 300 and toast the pitas until crisp, about 10 minutes. Fork mash the pumpkin and spread over the two pitas. Sprinkle over the crumbled feta and za’atar. Bake in the oven for another few minutes, or until the edges are crispy and the cheese has melted.
Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds, chopped olives, and fresh oregano.

Serves 2.

*Za’atar is a Middle Eastern spice blend made with sumac, wild thyme, oregano, and sesame seeds. To prepare it, simply mix extra virgin olive oil with the dried spices and stir.

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November 12, 2009 | 2 comments
Tags: Cheese, Entrees, Fall, Fruit, Healthy, Mediterranean, Meze & Small Plates, Middle East and North Africa, Pomegranate, Vegetarian

Recipe

Halloumi Dessert with Honey, Mint, & Walnuts

This is a simple North African-esque dessert using local Patches of Star Halloumi cheese from the Greenmarket topped with honey, lemon juice, walnuts, and mint. Honey, walnuts, and mint are the holy trinity of healthy Middle Eastern dessert toppings.

Halloumi cheese
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2-3 mint leaves, julienned
1 tablespoon chopped walnuts

For two people, slice 1 large block of the cheese for each person. Do not use the whole block for this dessert, but measure at your discretion.
Grill the Halloumi in a grill pan or on the grill until warm and soft, about 3 minutes on each side. Divide onto 2 plates.
Stir together the honey and lemon juice.
Drizzle the honey/lemon combination over the grilled cheese and top with the walnuts and mint.
Serves 2.

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April 9, 2009 | 0 comments
Tags: Cheese, Desserts, Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa, Nuts

Recipe

Grilled Halloumi with Zaatar over Dandelion Greens

This recipe uses grilled Halloumi cheese as a protein, which is grilled and topped with zaatar. It is served over lightly steamed dandelion greens.

1 bunch dandelion greens
Olive oil
Lemon juice
Halloumi cheese, slice into thin rounds or blocks (depending on the form in which it comes)
2 tablespoons dry zaatar mixed in some olive oil

Rinse the dandelion greens well of their grit, and roughly chop. Steam in a steamer or saute in some olive oil. Toss with lemon juice, and if steamed, drizzle over some olive oil.
Meanwhile, grill the Halloumi cheese in a grill pan or on a barbecue until warm and soft, about 3 minutes on each side.
Serve the Halloumi over the greens and drizzle over with the zaatar.

Serves 1-2 people as a light lunch or dinner.

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April 9, 2009 | 0 comments
Tags: Cheese, Entrees, Healthy, Local, Mediterranean, Middle East and North Africa

Recipe

Turkish Whole Wheat Pogacas

Although these little breads are made with some fat, they are quite healthy. Eating savory foods like these for breakfast is a better idea than eating typical sugar-laden foods. These can also be served as an hors d'oeuvre at cocktail hour.

Whole Wheat Poca:
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 pocas 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.

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March 27, 2009 | 0 comments
Tags: Breakfasts, Cheese, Healthy, Mediterranean

Blog entry

Whole Wheat Turkish Pogacas

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.

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March 27, 2009 | 5 comments
Tags: Breakfasts, Cheese, Healthy, Mediterranean

Cooking Show Video

Growing a Local Food Movement

San Miguel fosters a lively local food culture. Meet Cristina Gerez of El Capricho; Gonzalo Martinez Cardenas- executive chef of Casa de Sierra Nevada; Jorge Catalan of Natura health food store; and Pascal Monzie of Banco Vivo. As small-scale independent food producers and distributors, they work together to form a strong support system for a sustainable local food movement in the area.

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March 16, 2009 | 1 comments
Tags: Cheese, Environment, Farm, Food Production, Latin America, Local, Travel

Recipe

Queso Panela with Oregano and Olive Oil

This is a popular Mexican appetizer that is easy to put together and simply delicious. The recipe calls for Mexican oregano, which does have a distinct taste than Mediterranean oregano. Of course, you can use either variety, but just keep in mind that you should try both to get to know their differences.

1 package queso panela
1 tsp Mexican oregano
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Sprinkle the cheese with the oregano on both top and bottom. Heat up a skillet with the olive oil. Place the cheese in the skillet and heat through. After a few minutes, flip and heat through on the other side. You are not looking to gain any color on the cheese, but just gently heating it through so it is soft.
Transfer to a platter and serve with crackers.

1 round of cheese is enough for a party of 12 or more.

This easy Mexican appetizer uses olive oil and oregano to enhance a simple, home-style cheese.

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December 30, 2008 | 2 comments
Tags: Appetizers, Cheese, Latin America, Mexican

Blog entry

French Liasons: Rustic Tart with Beltane Farm Cheese

Our new blogger friend, Marie-Claude, otherwise known as Banette, writes mainly about breads and baked goods on her blog: http://www.bombance.net. Although she is French, she has worked in New York for almost 20 years, and currently divides her time between New York state and Connecticut. One of her recent blogs was about Beltane Farm, where she bought fresh chevre and made a Rustic Tart with Chevre, Rosemary and Lemon. We were not lucky enough to try it ourselves, but it looks delicious! Her blog is in French, so if you would like to brush up on your language skills, it is a great opportunity. If you don't speak French, just enjoy the photos, they are pretty self explanatory!

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October 17, 2008 | 0 comments
Tags: Appetizers, Cheese, Local

Blog entry

I love Turkish Food

I love Turkish breakfasts. Well, I love all Turkish food, but breakfast most of all. A typical Turkish breakfast consists of breads, olives, cheeses, jams, honeys, tomatoes and cucumbers. When I say jam, I mean rose petal and quince, and when I say honey, there are usually a variety of different floral honeys to choose from. Cheeses range from soft feta to hard Kasar. Turkish breakfasts are healthy and abundant with flavors. I remember being surprised the first time I traveled to Turkey, and saw vegetables (For all intents and purposes I am referring to tomato as a vegetable. Yes, I know it is a fruit!) at the breakfast buffet. I quickly adapted because I realized that eating savory foods was much healthier than the sugar-laden and subsequently sugary "sugar-free" junk food that is marketed to us as breakfast in the US. Also, it was not hard to conform to a new way of eating with such abundant beauty.
I will also never forget when I fell in love with Simit, a hollow, circular bread covered in sesame seeds, which is sold all over the country. I have never been a big bagel fan, which is probably the closest comparison to this type of bread. However, unlike bagels, simit is less chewy and dense, and is more "bread-y". Simits tend to be big, so most people will cut it into quarters and include parts in the bread basket. I ate my first simit with my friend Harika. She taught me to pair it with a soft cheese and drink Ayran (a yogurt drink) along with it. I will never forget that breakfast on the Bagdat Caddesi on the Asian side of Istanbul.
Turkish food is all about combining contrasting textures and flavors. Cheese is oven served with tomatoes and watermelon, as their salty and soft vs slightly sweet and crisp textures contrast in a way that combines beautifully. Another breakfast treat that we feature on the show this week is Tahin Pekmez, which is tahini (tahin in Turkish) with pekmez (a molasses made from grapes or carob). The nutty flavor of the tahin contrasts with the sweetness of the pekmez. This summer I traveled to Turkey again, and enjoyed this combination for the first time. Even though it was my third time in Turkey, I was discovering new things every day. Instead of pekmez, I would drizzle honey over the tahin on top of my bread. Side note: At dinner one night we had fried eggplant with tahin pekmez on top. The flavor combination does not have to be limited to just breakfast!
Another favorite breakfast food was poca, which I learned to make from my friend's housekeeper, Nur. Poca (pronounced poh-ja), are buttery breads filled with feta and herbs. When I caught her in the kitchen one morning throwing all of the ingredients together, using coffee cups and her hand to measure, I went in and estimated everything she was doing. One Turkish coffee cup I estimated to be 1/4 cup. When I returned to New York, poca was one of the first things I made.
My friend Ria and I have discussed breakfast in great detail. She lived in Turkey for some time and loves the food there as well. It is her theory that our obesity problem would be greatly reduced by making savory breakfasts mandatory. I have to agree with her. Imagine if we ate the Turkish way, and had tomatoes and cucumbers for breakfast, with a little bit of salty cheese and some freshly baked bread. How does that compare to yogurts with 18 grams of sugar per container and packaged cereals with ingredients we can't even pronounce? Or fried donuts covered in glaze?

Just some Turkish food for thought.

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October 12, 2008 | 4 comments
Tags: Breakfasts, Cheese, Healthy, Mediterranean

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