Seafood

Chocolate & Almond Easter Cake & Fascinating Turkey Trip, Just Around the Corner – Some Useful Tips to Share

By Ozlem Warren on March 26, 2013 in Cakes and Desserts, Fascinating Turkey, Seafood, Turkish Street Food 20

Easter is around the corner and although the weather in England at the moment is more of winter-like than spring, the hopes are high and we are busy making an Easter hat for my 6 year old daughter and getting the Easter chocolates ready : )

Almond and chocolate Easter Cake, easy, delicious and so moist

I have been making this lovely chocolate & almond Easter cake over and over again; it has never failed to disappoint us and I wanted the share with you all again. The ground almonds make this cake really moist and the cake stays fresh for 4-5 days. It is a rich cake and I like to cut it in small squares to enjoy the it as a “treat”. The children absolutely love decorating with little Easter eggs and licking out the bowl of remaining melted chocolate in the end – so do I : )!

Here is the recipe for the Chocolate & Almond Easter Cake, I hope you enjoy it.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Fascinating Turkey Trip, Just Around the Corner – Some Useful Tips To Share

The Fountain of Sultanahmet III prior the entrance of the Topkapi Palace and Hagia Sophia at the background

The Fountain of Sultanahmet III prior the entrance of the Topkapi Palace and the Hagia Sophia at the background

I will shortly be packing my bag to depart for home, Turkey for my culinary & cultural tour. I am thrilled to be traveling with a group of enthusiastic travelers and food lovers around Istanbul, Dardanelles, Gallipoli, Priene, Miletus, Didyma, ride along the Aegean coast, visiting this fascinating land and enjoying the Turkish Cusine. It will be special to be in Istanbul during the Easter Period, as we plan on visiting the St Antony’s Catholic Church as well as the Greek Patriarchal Seminary in Heybeli Island. I hope you join and enjoy our adventures in Turkey through my blog in the next coming weeks.

Turkey is a very welcoming country, hospitality is always high on the agenda. I count myself very lucky to be a part of this wonderful country with a rich heritage and a generous culture. Here I wanted to share a few tips on visiting Turkey, I hope they help to make your trip more memorable :

Turks are a friendly bunch; a few Turkish words and a smile goes a long way

Converse/Interact with the locals:. Learning a couple of frequently used Turkish words will be very helpful to you (like “Tesekkurler” for “Thank You”, Merhaba for “Hello” etc.) and the locals would really appreciate it. Most of them have high tolerance for different cultures and would be very happy to help to you. A little effort and a smile always go a long way.

Borekci with mouthwatering savory and sweet pastries, and ‘sinirsiz” – unlimited cay – very welcome!

Balik&ekmek; the grilled fish sandwich prepared at the boats is a popular Turkish street food

Make the Most of the Delicious Turkish Street Food: Turkish cuisine is healthy, delicious and the Turkish street food is of great value. Try and enjoy them whenever you can; boreks – the stuffed savory pastry shops , Simit – sesame encrusted bread rings- stalls pilaf with chickpeas & chicken stalls are around almost every corner. How about Balik & ekmek – the grilled fish sandwich by the Bosphorus or by any harbor? So delicious and a great opportunity to be a part of the local life.

Simit, sesame encrusted bread rings must be the most popular street food in Turkey.

Try local eateries, and Esnaf Lokantasi, for traditional, delicious, affordable home cooked style Turkish meals:

Have you ever tried the humble Esnaf lokantasi, traditional style Turkish restaurants, where mouthwatering trays of precooked – and gently heated – stews, rice, vegetables cooked in olive oil, stuffed vegetables and many more – are displayed in a buffet style.

Delicious casseroles, vegetables cooked in olive oil, stuffed peppers and many more await you at the Esnaf Lokantasi, traditional eateries.

This is slowly cooked “fast food”; all you need to do is to pick up your tray and point to the Chef, Asci, which dishes you would like to try – they are ever so inviting, healthy, delicious, great value and a wonderful way to sample some home style Turkish meals. Check out IstanbulEats for local eateries in Istanbul.

Trays of delicious, great value feast; all you need is to grab your tray and point out what you’d like.

Use public transport whenever you can :The underground/subway at the European side of Istanbul, as well as the tram is very efficient and beats the traffic big time, use it as much as you can.

Traveling by the ferry in Istanbul is a very relaxing and hassle free experience.

When traveling between Asian and the European sides of Istanbul, have a go at the traditional ferries, Vapur. They are delightful to travel and you escape the heavy traffic on the road, with a bonus of a glass of cay & simit to enjoy at the ferry!

Learn how to cook Turkish cuisine: Most folks traveling to Turkey have told me they were amazed to see how delicious, healthy Turkish cuisine is – so true! And good news is, you can learn to make these wonderful mezzes, kebabs and more while in Turkey. Istanbul Culinary Institute offers wonderful hands-on classes if you would like to have a go, you won’t be disappointed.

Fragrant, flavorful spices; a must buy at the Spice Market

Stock up on your spices: Spices have an important part in Turkish cuisine; we add flavor to our dishes through the artful use of spices like the fragrant cumin, fiery Aleppo pepper, refreshing dried mint and tangy sumac. Make sure to get your bach of spices when you visit the Spice Market in Istanbul. I also like to stock up on nuts like the Antep Pistachios (probably the most delicious pistachios you’ve ever tasted), almonds, walnuts and dried fruit like power food dried apricots and dried figs.

If you’re planning a road trip to Turkey, there are some fantastic blogs like Turkish Travel Blog and Turkey’s For Life offering great tips, routes and insights for traveling in Turkey, so well worth checking out.

The magnificient Bosphorus, istanbul – make sure to have a boat trip along the Bosphorus Strait

Well, I’d better sign off and finish my packing – I greatly look forward to hitting the road towards home and sharing what we will see, taste and learn; I hope you join us at exploring the fascinating land of Turkey!

My best wishes for Happy Travels – Iyi Yolculuklar!

Ozlem

Baked haddock with tomatoes, red onion, peppers, capers and bay leaves, in olive oil

By Ozlem Warren on November 15, 2012 in Fascinating Turkey, Seafood 34

A fisherman is getting ready for the catch of the day, the Bosphorus, Istanbul

Do you like fish? How do you like your fish cooked? We have a delicious and easy all-in-one-tray baked fish with vegetables this week. Fish is generally grilled or lightly fried in Turkey. “Balik & Ekmek”, is one of the most popular street foods at home, where the fisherman shallow fries the catch of the day at his boat and serves in our traditional white loaf, ekmek, with a slice of lemon by the side. A first bite of that fish sandwich, especially if you are by the Bosphorus or anywhere by the coast, is just heavenly.

A fisherman by Golden Horn, Istanbul, grilling the catch of the day for "Balik & Ekmek"

Regarded as a symbol of fertility, fish is very much enjoyed at home, especially at the coastal regions. Turkey is bounded by the sea on three sides – the Mediterranean, Aegean and the Black Sea. With the Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and Dardanelles at northwest, Turkey has over 7,000km (4,350 miles) of coastline. The plentiful fishing waters provide daily catches of bluefish, red and grey mullet, swordfish, sea bass, tuna, bonito, turbot, plaice, mackerel, sardines, anchovies and many more. In most of the coastal regions, fish is bought very fresh, straight off the boats at the daily fish market, still swimming around in the buckets or beautifully arranged on ice.

It is the palamut or bonito, as well as lufer (blue fish) season in Turkey at the moment; please check out A Seasonal Cook in Turkey’s lovely post on these seasonal fish in Turkey.

We Turks also like baking the fish with vegetables; the wonderful juices of the vegetables and lemon juice make a refreshing, delicious sauce. We very much enjoyed this baked haddock with red onions, peppers, tomatoes cooked in olive oil, with bay leaves and capers recently; the flesh has been succulent and moist, and delicately flavored with bay leaves. I added a handful of capers for an extra zing, the flavors complemented each other beautifully. As the fish is baked with vegetables together, you have a delicious, healthy meal ready in about 45 minutes, a precious extra bonus!

Baked haddock with vegetables and capers, cooked in olive oil; delicious, healthy and so easy.

This baked fish and vegetables dish is also delicious made with a variety of fish, such as bonito, trout, salmon, sea bass or mackerel. The squeeze of lemon to the finished dish gives an extra zing and a refreshing flavor.

How about finishing the meal with a sweet note? These caramelized dried apricots with walnuts stuffing may just fit the bill : )

This recipe is adapted from The Complete Book of Turkish Cooking by Ghillie Basan, one of my favorite Turkish cookery authors.

Baked haddock with tomatoes, red onion, peppers, capers and bay leaves

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes Cooking time: 40-45 minutes

4 fillets of haddock –or any filleted fish of your choice

4 tomatoes, sliced

1 red onion, cut in half lengthways and sliced

1 green and 1 red bell pepper, seeded, cut in half lengthways and sliced (you can also use chillies for a spicy flavor)

1 bunch flat leaf parsley, leaves chopped

4 dried bay leaves (or 6-8 fresh bay leaves)

2 tbsp capers in jar, its juice drained and rinsed

4-5 tbsp olive oil

Sea Salt and ground black pepper to taste

I lemon, cut into wedges to serve

Preheat the oven to 180 C/350 F/Gas 4

Arrange the vegetables and the bay leaves in between the fish fillets.

Place the fish in a shallow ovenproof dish and sprinkle them with sea salt and ground black pepper. Arrange the onions, tomatoes and peppers over and around the fish. Tuck the bay leaves around the fish and pour over the olive oil. Cover the dish with foil and place it in the oven for 30 minutes.

Stir in the capers and the parsley, give a gentle mix.

Remove the foil and stir in the capers and the parsley, give a gentle mix. Place the dish back to the oven for a further 10-15 minutes for the fish to brown slightly.

Baked fish with vegetables now ready to eat; all you need is a squeeze of lemon over!

Serve hot with wedges of lemon squeezed over the fish and garnish each plate with the vegetables and bay leaves.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Baked Sea Bass with Vegetables in Olive Oil and Lemon Sauce; Sebzeli Levrek Pilaki

By Ozlem Warren on July 1, 2012 in Fascinating Turkey, Seafood, Travels 16

I had the pleasure of meeting Mr Sureyya Uzmez, the food writer and owner of Ankara’s Trilye Fish Restaurant; undoubtedly one of the best fish restaurants in Turkey. I greatly admired Sureyya Bey’s (Mr Sureyya’s) passion for seafood and efforts to source the freshest possible fish and shellfish at home, and preparing them in a way to bring the best out of them. This is also the essence of Turkish cooking; we aim to bring out the freshness, the actual flavor of the produce, rather than hiding it behind sauces. I very much look forward to the Trilye experience in Ankara, and I hope you can too.

Trilye Restaurant’s Mr Sureyya Uzmez and myself at Covent Garden, London, before our interview

My dear cousin, Ahmet Sabuncu is an accomplished photographer (please check out Ahmet’s award winning pinhole photography) and a TV producer for TRT (Turkish Radio and Television). Teaming up with Mr Uzmez and the wonderful Sofra Restaurant’s ambassador of Turkish food, Mr Huseyin Ozer, they have been shooting a TV program in London about how Turkish and British cuisines have been shaped throughout the history, the ethnic influences that has contributed to Turkish and other food cultures. They kindly included an interview with me for the program, which is planned to go on air in Turkey – very exciting! It was a thoroughly enjoyable experience – my sincere thanks to them. I will keep you posted on the air time of the program 🙂

Southeast coast of Turkey, bountiful with fish, just as at the Agean and Black Sea

One of the many fisherman by the Bosphorus, Istanbul, getting ready for his daily catch

Inspired by Sureyya Bey’s passion for seafood, I adapted one of the recipes at Trilye’s wonderful book “Trilye’s Passion for Sea Food” (Trilye’nin Balik Sevdasi). This delicious baked sea bass makes a complete meal with all the fresh vegetables in it, and so easy to make. I poached the sea bass and the vegetables in olive oil, lemon juice and a little water, just as the same way we cook ‘Vegetables cooked in olive oil’, Zeytinyaglis. This delicious and healthy way of cooking retains all the wonderful juices of the fish and vegetables. The result has been a refreshing, utterly delicious supper that disappeared very quickly.

This wonderful recipe and over 90 authentic, delicious Turkish recipes are included at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland. Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book are delivered worldwide, including US and Canada at this link – You can also see also kindle, ebook etc options here

Baked Sea bass with vegetables in olive oil

Serves 4

Preparation time: 15-20 minutes Cooking time: about 35-40 minutes*

4 fillets of sea bass – or any fresh white fish-

1 onion, cut in half and sliced thinly

4-6 cloves of garlic, crushed and chopped coarsely

1 small green (bell or pointy) pepper, quartered and sliced thinly

1 small yellow (bell or pointy) pepper, quartered and sliced thinly

3 medium tomatoes, coarsely sliced

2-3 medium potatoes, cut in half and thinly sliced

Juice of 1 lemon

2 bay leaves

8fl oz/1 cup water (or fish stock)

45ml/3 tbsp olive oil

5ml/1 tsp red pepper flakes – optional

Salt and ground pepper to taste

Handful of flat leaf parsley, coarsely chopped – to decorate

Lemon wedges to serve

* Please check the recommended cooking time for the fish of your choice on the packaging.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F

Stir in all the prepared vegetables and the bay leaves in a baking dish. Coat them with the olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes (if used).

Coat the vegetables with olive oil, seasoning and red pepper flakes; they complement the fish beautifully

Coat the fish fillets with 1 tbsp of olive oil and place them amongst the vegetables. Mix the lemon juice with water or fish stock and spoon this liquid all around the fish and vegetables. Cover the baking dish with foil and put it in the oven for about 35 minutes or until the fish and vegetables are cooked. Once cooked, take the foil out and sprinkle chopped parsley over the fish. Serve immediately with wedges of lemon by the side.