Seafood

Grilled Fish on Sourdough Bread with Sumac Salad – Balik Ekmek

By Ozlem Warren on April 30, 2012 in Appetizers and Mezes, Salads, Seafood 20

One of the most popular street foods at home is grilled (or lightly fried) fish, served between slices of our traditional white loaf. Fishermen grill the fish at their boats and prepare this sandwich right there for you; with a breeze from the Bosphorus and view of boats passing by, that first bite is just heavenly.

Fishing with a view; fishermen by the edge of the Bosphorus and Sea of Marmara, overlooking the Topkapi Palace, Istanbul

Turkey is bounded by the sea on three sides – the Mediterranean,Aegeanand the Blacksea. 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.

Well, my inspiration for this easy and delicious grilled fish served over crunchy sourdough bread with capers & herb mayonnaise came from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s River Cottage TV series; I love their fresh, no fuss intake on food and making the most of seasonal ingredients. I tweaked their recipe with my sumac dressed red onion, tomato and parsley salad. The citrusy, tangy sumac really goes well with the grilled fish.

Baked fish with herb mayonnaise and sumac salad over sourdough bread

I hope you have a go at this easy, delicious fish sandwich (Balik Ekmek, as we say it in Turkish) with the refreshing sumac salad. Haddock fillets, mackerel, sea bass, cod or sardines would especially work well here. If you’re not a big fan of bread, boiled potatoes by the side is excellent too.

This delicious fish recipe along with over 90 scrumptious and healthy Turkish recipes are included at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland – Signed copies are available to order at this link for a limited period, if you’d like a copy for yourself or gift to a foodie.

Grilled Fish on Sourdough Bread with Herb Mayonnaise, served with Sumac, red Onion and Tomato salad; “Balik Ekmek ” with a twist

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes Cooking time:15-20 minutes (please check the suggested cooking time for the fish of your choice)

4 fillets of white fish of your choice (mackerel, haddock fillets work well)

10ml/1bsp olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Slices of sourdough bread to serve

Slices of gem lettuce, washed, to serve

For mayonnaise with capers & parsley:

20-30ml/2-3 tbsp of good quality mayonnaise (you can use light version if you like)

20ml/2tbsp baby capers, rinsed

A drizzle of extra virgin olive oil

For Red Onion, Tomato and Parsley Salad with Sumac:

1/2 red onion, cut in half and thinly sliced

3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

A handful of flat leaf (Italian) parsley, finely chopped

30 ml/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon

5 ml/1 tsp ground sumac

Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste

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

Grease the baking tray with a little olive oil (or line aluminium kitchen foil on a baking tray then grease, for the ease of cleaning). Place the fillets of the fish, drizzle a little olive oil over them. Coat the fish with the seasoning and bake or grill for the required amount (please refer to the cooking instructions for the fish of your choice).

Capers and parsley work well with mayonnaise

While the fish is cooking, make the herb mayonnaise with capers. In a small bowl, combine the mayonnaise, chopped parsley and the rinsed baby capers. Drizzle with a little olive oil; your herb mayonnaise is ready.

Tangy sumac flavors red onions, tomatoes and parsley beautifully and the salad is excellent with the grilled fish.

Tangy sumac flavors red onions, tomatoes and parsley beautifully; this salad is excellent with the grilled meat and fish.

For the sumac salad; work the salt and sumac into the onion slices with your hands really well in a bowl. This will soften the onions, make them more palatable and let the sumac really penetrate to the onions. Add the chopped tomatoes, parsley, juice of lemon and extra virgin olive oil into the bowl and combine well. Season with ground black pepper; your salad is ready to go.

Piyaz; lovely, refreshing salad with red onions, tomatoes, parsley with sumac and olive oil dressing

Once the fish is baked, slice the sourdough bread (you can toast the bread if you like too.) Spread a thin layer of the herb mayonnaise over the bread and place a cooked fish fillet over it. Then place a spoonful of the sumac salad over the bread. You can add the gem lettuce and another slice of bread over the top. Or you can simply enjoy as an open fish sandwich with one slice of bread. The sumac salad is also lovely served on the gem lettuce slice.

Balik ekmek; Open fish sandwich with herb mayonnaise and sumac, red onion and tomato salad

Afiyet Olsun!

Ozlem

Grilled Sardines in vine leaves with Tomatoes, Peppers; Sebzeli Sardalya

By Ozlem Warren on June 6, 2011 in Seafood 8

Grilled (or chargrilled) sardines are very popular at home, especially in summer time. It is also common to grill the sardines wrapped in vine leaves – the tangy taste of vine leaves work well with the distinctive flavor of sardines (You can buy preserved vine leaves in jars in supermarkets or Middle Eastern / Mediterranean stores).

I like to grill sardines with cherry tomatoes and bell peppers; their juicy, sweet flavor complements the strong taste of sardines well. Make sure to serve the sardines with wedges of lemon to squeeze over and perhaps with some boiled new potatoes for a complete meal.

Baked Sardines in vine leaves, with tomatoes and peppers; firinda sebzeli sardalya

Serves 4 – 5
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes

250gr/10oz sardines (12 pieces), scaled, gutted and washed
1 green, red or yellow bell pepper (or mixture), cut in half and sliced in long strips
10-12 cherry tomatoes, halved
Juice of 1/2 lemon
12 preserved vine leaves
30 ml/2tablespoon olive oil
5ml/1teaspoon red pepper flakes
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Wedges of lemon to serve
Handful of fresh dill, coarsely chopped to decorate

Heat the olive oil in a pan and sauté the bell peppers for 3-4 minutes. Toss the tomatoes into the pan and mix them well. Season with salt and pepper, and add the red pepper flakes. Combine well and turn the heat off.

Spread the vine leaves out on a flat surface and place a sardine on each leaf. Wrap each sardine loosely in the leaf like a cigar. Brush each leaf with a little olive oil and place seam side down.

Place the sardines on a baking tray. Spread the tomato and bell pepper mixture amongst the sardines. Squeeze half a lemon over the mixture.

Preheat the grill on a moderate heat. Place the tray under the grill for about 14 minutes, turning over every 2 minutes, until the vine leaves are charred. Once cooked, sprinkle the fresh dill all over and serve hot, with wedges of lemon by the side.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Baked Salmon with Onions, Red Peppers and Lemon – Soganli, Kirmizi Biberli Firinda Somon

By Ozlem Warren on March 29, 2011 in Seafood 5

Baked Salmon with onion, peppers and lemon

Turkey is surrounded by the Aegean, Mediterranean and Black Sea and we get a good variety of fish. Generally, fish is bought very fresh, straight off the boats or from the fish markets. When it comes to cooking fish, Turks are purists and they don’t do much to it; you wouldn’t see any sauce around the fish served at home. Grilled fish is mostly served with a little dash of olive oil, grilled vegetables and fresh green salad with sliced red onions by the side. I love the simplicity of this baked salmon recipe, yet it is packed with flavor. The sweetness of the onions and red peppers go very well with the tangy lemon taste and their marriage works heavenly with the baked salmon.

Serves 2-4
Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 25-30 minutes

500gr/1 1/4lb salmon fillets
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 small pointy red pepper (or bell pepper), sliced
4 slices of lemon
30ml/2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

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

In a heavy pan, heat the olive oil. Stir in the onions and red peppers and cook until soft (for about 5 minutes). Season with salt and pepper and leave to cool.

Spread the foil (that is large enough to enclose all the fish) on a baking tray and place the salmon fillets on it. Spread the sautéed onions and red peppers on the fillets evenly. Place a slice of lemon on each fillet, season with salt and ground black pepper. Wrap the foil to make into a packet by pulling up the sides and pinching the edges tightly, leaving a little room for the steam to escape. Place the tray in the preheated oven for about 20-25 minutes (please refer to cooking instructions at the packaging as cooking time may vary with the size of the fish).

Once cooked, open up the packet, and serve the salmon hot with the onion, red pepper and lemon garnish. A green salad with lemon & olive oil dressing or steamed vegetables of your choice would go well with this dish.

Enjoy, Afiyet Olsun!

Ozlem