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Turkish Cassoulet – Sausage and White Bean Stew – Sucuklu Kuru Fasulye

By Ozlem Warren on April 13, 2010 in Casseroles and Stews, Uncategorised 14

This delicious traditional stew is very popular at Turkish homes, and as well as in our traditional restaurants, lokantas. It is lovely when cooked with Pastirma, Turkish Pastrami, dried cured beef with a special spicy coating too. This is the Turkish version of the French Cassoulet, the sausage, meat and white beans stew, though much lighter and easier to prepare. You can replace the sausage here with any other sausage (chorizo works well) or meat of your choice. For a vegetarian option, simply omit the meat.
You can cook this stew ahead of time, even a day in advance. It freezes very well too.

Serves 4 – 6

Preparation time: 15 minutes Cooking time: 55 minutes (+ 20 minutes for partial
cooking for the dried beans)

2 cup / 340 gr Cannellini dried white beans or
Pre-cooked Cannellini beans in can, drained
1 medium yellow onion, finely sliced
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz / 225 gr Turkish sausage, sliced in quarters
14 oz/ 400 gr Can of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice
1/2 tablespoon red pepper paste (optional)
6 cups / 3 pints of water
1 teaspoon Kosher salt/ Maldon sea salt flakes
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Soak the dried beans in plenty of water overnight. Next day, drain the water and boil the dried beans in fresh water for about 20 minutes, covered. Drain the water and set the partially cooked white beans aside (If you are using precooked white beans, simply drain the juice and rinse the beans under cold water.)

Sauté the onion with the olive oil until soft. Add the sausages and sauté for another minute or so. Stir in the chopped tomatoes, (and the red pepper paste if using) and mix well. Then add the white beans and water, mixing gently so that the beans won’t break. Season with salt, black pepper and red pepper flakes. Cover and cook in medium heat for about 50 minutes, or until the beans are cooked (cooking time should be about 20 minutes if precooked beans in can are used).

Serve hot with plain rice by the side.

Spicy Bulgur Wheat Salad with pomegranate molasses – Kisir

By Ozlem Warren on April 8, 2010 in Appetizers and Mezes, Salads 23

We made Kisir today with the children. We talked about how important it is for us to be able to share and have an access to the recipes from our mothers, grandmothers, and be able to pass on to friends, family and to the next generation. More than being recipes, they really reflect our heritage, culture, traditions and keep the memories alive.

So here comes kisir, a specialty in the southeast of Turkiye, from where the country’s spicier dishes hail. It is offered as a welcome to the guests in the homes of Antakya, where my roots are from, and in Gaziantep. Kisir is generally made with nar eksisi (sour pomegranate molasses) instead of lemon juice – though it is common to use lemon juice for Kisir at northwest Turkiye. It can be rolled into balls and served nestling in crunchy lettuce leaves. This dish is perfect for buffets or as part of a barbecue spread. It really is a “bowl of health and goodness” with fresh vegetables, bulgur – packed with fiber and pomegranate sauce full of antioxidants.

This wonderful, refreshing can be prepared a couple of days in advance and can be stored in the fridge for 4-5 days. As a matter of fact, it tastes even better a day or two later it’s made! I hope you can get to try the recipe. If you can’t find pomegranate molasses, a good balsamic vinegar and lemon juice also works well in this bulgur wheat salad. Turkish hot pepper paste, biber salcasi is used widely in this salad in Southern Turkish cooking; you can always make your own red pepper paste, here is my recipe.

Note: There are two main varieties of bulgur wheat available, fine and coarse bulgur. Fine bulgur is traditionally used in salads like kisir whereas coarse bulgur is used in pilafs or As as we call it in Antakya. If you can’t get the fine bulgur wheat, you can also make this salad with coarse bulgur, widely available in supermarkets. In that case, use 240ml/8 fl oz hot water for 175gr/6oz coarse bulgur and cook on low heat for 10 minutes, covered. For a gluten-free version, use cooked quiona instead of bulgur.

SEBZE, Vegetarian Recipes From My Turkish Kitchen

Kisir, Spicy bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate molasses and 85 other delicious, easy to make vegetarian Turkish recipes are included at my new book SEBZE, Vegetarian recipes from my Turkish kitchen; you can order a copy of SEBZE worldwide here.

Serves 4 – 6
Preparation time: 25 minutes

350gr/12oz fine bulgur wheat
240ml/8 fl oz hot water
15ml/1 tablespoon tomato paste
15ml/1 tablespoon red pepper paste (optional)
5ml / 1 teaspoon pul biber, chili flakes or red pepper flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
30ml/ 2 tablespoon concentrated sour pomegranate molasses, nar eksisi
45ml/3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 green (spring) onions, finely chopped
4 tomatoes, finely chopped
Small bunch of finely chopped flat leaf (Italian) parsley
5ml / 1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Pomegranate seeds to serve (optional)
Lettuce leaves to serve

Mix the bulgur wheat, salt, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes (or paprika or chili flakes), tomato paste, red pepper paste and the chopped onion and knead thoroughly – this will help all the flavors marry and the onion to soften-. Pour the hot water over this mixture and stir, then leave to stand for about 15 minutes. It should absorb all the water by the end of this period. The bulgur should be of a dry consistency.

Add the lemon juice and the pomegranate molasses together with the extra virgin olive oil and knead well again. Stir in the remaining ingredients and combine thoroughly.

Serve as a salad in a bowl garnished with pomegranate seeds (if preferred) and lettuce leaves. Alternatively, take spoonfuls of the mixture and with wet hands roll into balls the size of walnuts. Refrigerate until required.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem x

Homemade red Pepper Paste – Biber Salçası

By Ozlem Warren on April 7, 2010 in Sauces, Turkish Spices 46

Summer is the time, where juicy, meaty, red peppers are turned into our flavour packed biber salçası, pepper paste in southern Turkiye. It is a fundamental ingredient in southern Turkish cuisine. In my hometown of Antakya, village women cook huge batches of freshly picked spicy and mild red peppers and spread them out on top of their cloth covered terraces to dry under the hot summer sun, until the peppers dehydrate and turn into this robust, flavour-packed condiment. I am unable to sun dry my peppers as I live abroad, so I make my own version of red pepper paste at home, cooking them over stove top. It takes a bit of time to make but really is worth it. The homemade version is fragrant, delicious – not as intense as the commercial ones but packed with flavour; fantastic even spread over bread. Add more chilies if you like it spicier, it also freezes well.

I use pepper paste in so many ways; this robust, vibrant condiment adds richness and adds depth of flavour to sauces, casseroles, salads such as Spicy bulgur wheat salad, Kisir, marinades, dips such as Muhammara.

Here is how I make red pepper paste, biber salcasi. It is also at my cookery book, SEBZE; copies are available worldwide here.

Makes 285 g (10 oz)

6 firm red (bell) peppers, deseeded and cut into 4 cm (1 1/2 in) chunks

370 ml (13 fl oz/1 1/2 cups) hot water

3 small red chillies (chile peppers), deseeded and finely chopped (use a few more if you like it spicier)

1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

You will need 320 ml (11 oz) sterilised glass preserving jar with a tight seal

Place the peppers in a wide, heavy pan . Cook over a medium heat, stirring often, for 25 minutes, gently pressing and turning as you stir, until the peppers have begun to break apart and soften and most of the liquid has been absorbed. Add the chillies and continue stirring over a low-medium heat for a further 10 minutes. By the end of this time the peppers will be cooked and the moisture evaporated. Leave to cool for 5 minutes.

Place the cooked peppers in a food processor and blend until you have an almost a smooth purée (I like a little texture). Return the puréed peppers to the pan, season with the salt and cook over a low heat for a further 30–35 minutes, stirring continuously, so the purée doesn’t burn, until the juices have evaporated. The purée will shrink by half and turn into a soft paste. Remove from the heat.

Spoon the paste into the prepared glass jar while it is still warm, gently pressing it down and shaking the jar a little to allow it to settle. Top with the olive oil and seal. When cool, place in the refrigerator and use within 2–3 weeks.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem