by Selin Kiazim
Kalecik Karası typifies exactly what I want to serve at Oklava: wines that are recognizable to the palate but have their own unique twist. The slightly gamey and savoury notes against a background of redcurrant and sweet spice in this light red remind me of a Gamay or Pinot Noir, but the red-rose colour and slight candy on the nose are classically Turkish, making this an interesting and complex wine, perfect for a romantic evening in.
Chilli-roast cauliflower
Spicy red lentil köftes with lettuce, spring onions & lemon
Spiced chickpeas, buttered cabbage, poached duck egg & tulum cheese
Slow-cooked white beans with tomato, lemon & olive oil
Barbecued sweetcorn with sumac, garlic, lemon butter & za’atar
Baked lamb-fat potatoes, fried duck egg, grilled hellim & sherry vinegar caramel
Crispy fried spring onions, cheese sauce & çemen crumbs
Spiced rice, apricot, almond & filo pie
Vegetable dolmas
Ricotta dumplings with yogurt sauce, chilli butter & pine nuts
Sour cherry pearl barley, crispy kale, yogurt, chilli butter & sheep’s cheese
Buttered freekeh with chickpeas, green olives, currants & pistachios
CHILLI-ROAST CAULIFLOWER
I created this dish after my first visit to Istanbul. I had brought back with me a hot sun-dried pepper paste and some pistachios from one of the incredible markets out there. At home one evening, I had a cauliflower, some parsley and the pepper paste in my fridge – and so the chilli-roast cauliflower was born. I cooked it at my very first pop-up, where it became an instant hit, and it is now our top seller at Oklava.
SERVES 4 – 6
1 cauliflower (keep the green leaves on if they are nice)
2 heaped tablespoons Turkish hot pepper paste (açi biber salçasi)
4 heaped tablespoons Turkish sweet pepper paste (tatli biber salçasi)
50ml (2fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil
1 large handful flat leaf parsley leaves
½ red onion, sliced as thinly as possible and soaked in ice water
5 tablespoons pistachio nuts, toasted and roughly chopped
1 quantity Sumac Dressing
1 teaspoon sumac
flaky sea salt
Preheat the oven to 210°C (400°F), Gas Mark 6 and line a baking tray with baking parchment. Cut the cauliflower into 4–6 even wedges depending on its size, keeping a little of the stalk on to hold the wedges. Rinse under cold water and pat dry with kitchen paper.
Mix the two pepper pastes with the olive oil and a little salt. Rub the mixture all over the cauliflower wedges (you might want to wear gloves to do this) and put them on the prepared baking tray. Bake for 10–13 minutes, or until just tender. I like to make sure the cauliflower still has a good bite to it. Set aside.
Drain the red onions, pat dry with kitchen paper and set aside.
Heat a dry non-stick frying pan on the hob. Once hot, add the cauliflower wedges and cook for a minute or so on each side, or until slightly charred.
To serve, put the wedges on a large plate and top with the parsley, red onion and pistachios. Drizzle with plenty of the sumac dressing and an extra sprinkling of sumac before serving.
SPICY RED LENTIL KÖFTES WITH LETTUCE, SPRING ONIONS & LEMON
We sometimes had these as a tasty light meal on a hot summer day when I was growing up. They can also be made with raw minced lamb instead of red lentils; that version is called cig köfte. Expert makers knead these for ages by hand, and street vendors all around Turkey used to sell raw lamb köfte, ready to be cooked at home. These lentil köftes are great for any time of the week, even Sunday brunch.
MAKES 25 – 30
200ml (7fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil
2 onions, finely chopped
1 heaped teaspoon ground cumin
1 heaped teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
2 tablespoons hot pepper paste (açi biber salçasi)
450g (1lb) red lentils, rinsed with cold water
275g (9¾oz) fine bulgur wheat
1½ bunches of spring onions, thinly sliced
bunch of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped (a little stalk it good), plus extra sprigs to serve
1 head of Romaine lettuce
2 lemons, cut into wedges
fine salt
Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the onions and cook for about 10 minutes, or until tender and translucent. Add the cumin, paprika and hot pepper paste and cook for 1 more minute. Add the lentils and stir well. Cover with enough cold water to reach 2cm (¾in) above the lentils. Bring to the boil, reduce the heat to low and cook for about 20 minutes, or until nearly all the water has evaporated and the lentils are cooked through. You might need to add a little more water. Turn the heat off and add the bulgur wheat. Stir well, cover the pan with clingfilm and leave to stand for 30 minutes. Slice 3 of the spring onions diagonally and place them in iced water.
Remove the clingfilm from the lentil mixture and transfer to a large bowl. Let it cool a little before seasoning with salt. Finely slice the remaining spring onions and add to the lentils along with the chopped parsley. Knead the mixture well for 10 minutes, or put it in a stand mixer and beat with the paddle attachment until the mixture forms a ball.
Now divide the mixture into 25–30 equal size pieces and shape into sausages or balls, depending on how big you would like them to be. Arrange the lettuce leaves on a serving platter with the sliced spring onions, the sprigs of parsley and the lemon wedges. To eat them, take a lettuce leaf and place a köfte inside, then top with spring onions, parsley and a good squeeze of lemon.
SPICED CHICKPEAS, BUTTERED CABBAGE, POACHED DUCK EGG & TULUM CHEESE
This dish is perfect for lunch, or even brunch. Chickpeas take on all sorts of flavours and lots of spice really well, so if you like things hot, add more urfa chilli. For some extra texture you could add Çemen Crumbs too.
SERVES 2
100ml (3½fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 heaped teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
1 teaspoon ground fennel
2 tablespoons urfa chilli flakes (isot biber)
1 tablespoon tomato purée
400g (14oz) tinned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
125ml (4fl oz) red wine
2 tablespoons white vinegar
2 duck eggs, the freshest you can find
small bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped (a little stalk is good)
1 teaspoon unsalted butter
¼ head of sweetheart cabbage, cored and leaves separated
4 tablespoons tulum cheese or any strong, crumbly cheese
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the olive oil in a pan over a medium heat, add the onion and cook gently for about 10 minutes, or until completely soft. Add the garlic, spices and tomato purée and continue to cook for a few minutes. Now add the chickpeas and red wine. Increase the heat to reduce the wine by half, then add about 3 tablespoons water and season with salt and pepper. Turn the heat right down and cook gently for 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a small pan of water to the boil, add the vinegar and lower the heat to a simmer. Crack the duck eggs into the water, then cook them to your liking; if you prefer them soft, you just want to set the white and the yolk should be soft when you touch it. (If you want to get ahead, you can poach the eggs, then transfer them to iced water until needed. To serve, gently reheat them in a pan of water.)
While the eggs are cooking, melt the butter in a pan, add the cabbage leaves with a splash of water, cover and cook for 2–3 minutes, or until wilted. Season with salt and pepper.
Stir some of the parsley through the chickpeas and divide them between 2 serving bowls. Scatter over the cabbage and top each serving with an egg. Scatter over the cheese and a little more parsley to serve.
SLOW-COOKED WHITE BEANS WITH TOMATO, LEMON & OLIVE OIL
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bsp; The Turks love their beans and have all sorts of recipes for the different types, sometimes with meat and sometimes without. The key to this dish, traditionally made with a rich tomato sauce known as kuru fasulye, is to use the best ingredients you can get hold of, as the flavours are very subtle. It is traditionally served with raw onion, bread and parsley to mop up all the juices, a great mid-week meal. I especially like to cook this version in the summer months, as it tastes a little lighter and fresher because of the lemon zest.
SERVES 6 – 8
250ml (9fl oz) extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, diced
2 celery sticks, diced
2 onions, diced
1 bay leaf
2 sprigs of thyme, leaves only
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
400g (14oz) dried white beans, such as cannellini, soaked overnight
½ head of cabbage, such as sweetheart, finely shredded
3-4 large tomatoes, peeled and roughly diced
small bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped (a little stalk is good)
1 sprig of tarragon, leaves only
1 sprig of marjoram or oregano, leaves only, chopped
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
flaky sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Heat the oil in a large pan over a low heat. Add the carrots, celery, onions, bay leaf and thyme. Cover and cook gently for about 15 minutes, or until slightly softened. Add the garlic and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
Drain the beans, add to the pan and pour in enough water to cover them by 5cm (2in). Gently cook for about 30 minutes, or until the beans are almost soft. You might need to add a bit more water if the pan starts to dry out.
Add the cabbage and tomatoes (there should be enough liquid to come halfway up the beans at this point; if there is too much, just spoon some out). Season with salt and pepper, cover and cook for 5 minutes, or until the cabbage has wilted but still has a little bite.
Remove from the heat, check the seasoning and add the parsley, tarragon and marjoram. Serve in bowls and scatter over the lemon zest; a little extra olive oil, flaky sea salt and parsley on top are always good too.
BARBECUED SWEETCORN WITH SUMAC, GARLIC, LEMON BUTTER & ZA’ATAR
In Cyprus people will set up a small barbecue just about anywhere, and you’ll often see them selling freshly grilled corn cobs in their husks. When I’m having a barbecue at home, I nearly always grill corn as one of the courses. I just love it, especially experimenting with all the different flavours it can take. I like to open up the cupboards and see what jumps out at me.
SERVES 4
4 corn cobs, with husks
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 tablespoon sumac
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 teaspoon flaky sea salt
2 tablespoons za’atar
1 lime, cut into wedges
4 sprigs of coriander, mostly leaves with a little stalk
Heat a barbecue until the coals turn grey. Place the corn cobs straight onto the rack and leave to blister and blacken slightly, turning them over.
Meanwhile, combine the butter, sumac, lemon, garlic and salt in a bowl and mix well. You can make the butter ahead of time, if you like: just place it on a piece of cling film, roll it into a sausage shape and keep refrigerated until needed.
Once the corn is cooked to your liking, remove it from the grill, leave to cool just a little and peel back the husks. Smear over the butter and sprinkle with za’atar. Garnish with coriander and serve with wedges of lime.
BAKED LAMB-FAT POTATOES, FRIED DUCK EGG, GRILLED HELLIM & SHERRY VINEGAR CARAMEL
As a quick and easy dinner, Mum would sometimes sauté a pile of diced potatoes, then crack an egg onto it, or add some diced lamb with caramelized onion and parsley. It was one of my favourite meals. This is my rather more complex version of that dish, which captures the flavours of a good lamb roast with potatoes. Leftover fat from a lamb roast is perfect here, or ask your butcher for lamb suet.
SERVES 12
200–300g (7–10½oz) lamb fat or lamb suet, melted
250g (9oz) lamb breast, sliced into small pieces
1–2 onions, chopped
4 long green Turkish peppers (Charleston peppers; use ordinary peppers if you can’t find them), sliced
4 hot Turkish peppers (sivri biber; use any hot chillies if you can’t find them)
8 large white potatoes (we like to use the variety Cyprus)
12 duck eggs
1 x 250g (9oz) block hellim (halloumi), sliced into 6
1 quantity Sherry Vinegar Caramel
fine salt
flat leaf parsley leaves, to garnish
If using lamb suet, place it in a pan over a low heat, cook gently to draw out the fat, then strain through a sieve before using. Heat half the lamb fat or suet in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the lamb breast, onions and both types of peppers and cook for 45–60 minutes, or until completely softened. Season with fine salt. Once cooked, drain the lamb, adding the fat to the remaining lamb fat or suet and keep it warm.
Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F), Gas Mark 5 and line a deep baking tray (about 20 x 30/8 x 12in) with baking parchment. Cut the potatoes into 2–3mm (1/16–⅛in) slices, using a mandoline if you have one. Coat the slices in the lamb fat in a heatproof bowl. If they get stuck together, hold the bowl over a low heat or place briefly in the oven to melt the fat again.
Place 3 layers of potatoes in the bottom of the prepared tray, overlapping them a little and seasoning with salt. Add a thin layer of the lamb mixture, followed by another 2 layers of potatoes and seasoning. Keep repeating this process until all the potatoes and lamb mixture are used up. Try to finish with 3 layers of potatoes on the top. Reserve any leftover fat.
Put a sheet of baking parchment directly on top of the potatoes and push them down so they are evenly spread out in the tray and into the corners. Cover with foil and bake for about 45–60 minutes, until the potatoes are soft (check by poking a skewer or knife into the centre).
Once cooked, remove from the oven and leave to rest for 40 minutes. Place another tray and a weight on top to press it down, then chill the gratin for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F), Gas Mark 6. To release the gratin, you’ll need to warm the tray, either by using a blowtorch or running it across a low heat. Turn it out and cut into 12 portions. Heat a frying pan with a little more lamb fat (or sunflower oil) and add the portions of gratin. Cook until crispy and golden on both sides. Transfer to a baking tray and put in the oven for 5 minutes to heat through.
Meanwhile, fry the duck eggs in more lamb fat or sunflower oil. In a separate frying pan, fry the slices of hellim in a little sunflower oil until golden brown on both sides. Serve the eggs on top of the hot gratin with a drizzle of sherry vinegar caramel, a slice of hellim and a few parsley leaves to garnish.
CRISPY FRIED SPRING ONIONS, CHEESE SAUCE & ÇEMEN CRUMBS
A few years ago I discovered calçots, the delicious spring onions from Catalonia in Spain. I tried preparing them in the traditional way, which is to blacken them, peel off the outer layer and eat them with romesco sauce. As delicious as this was, I had an urge to fry them in spiced flour. This is a great, indulgent dish by itself, or you could serve it as a garnish with grilled steak, or even top a pide with them. If you can find calçots, I would recommend using them.
SERVES 4 – 6
200g (7oz) plain flour
1 heaped tablespoon sweet smoked paprika
1 heaped tablespoon ground coriander
1 heaped tablespoon ground cumin
1 heaped tablespoon ground fennel
1 tablespoon fine salt, plus extra to season
2 bunches of spring onions or calçots, outer layers removed
300ml (10fl oz) milk
100ml (3½fl oz) Turkish or Greek yogurt
sunflower oil, for frying
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1 quantity Cheese Sauce (see 1 and 2)
1 quantity Çemen Crumbs
Mix the flour with the spices and measured salt, and set aside.
Slice the onions diagonally into 1cm (½in) slices. Whisk the milk and yogurt together in a bowl. Add the onions and leave to soak for about 30 minutes.
Heat the oil in a deep-fat fryer to 180°C (350°F). Alternatively, half fill a deep frying pan with oil and set over a high heat. When hot enough, a small cube of bread added to the oil should sizzle immediately.
Take a handful of the onions, shake off the excess milk mixture and coat them in the flour. Transfer to a sieve and shake off the excess flour, then add them carefully to the hot oil and fry for about 2 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and drain on kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil and season with fine salt.
To serve, put the cheese sauce in a large bowl or several smaller bowls and top with a mound of fried onions and a generous sprinkling of çemen crumbs.
