Turkish Ezme with rice noodle

 

Ezme with rice noodle

Turkish Asian Fusion…one of the most wonderful things about Istanbul is that it has parts in both Europe and Asia. Any student of history can tell you all of the groups that have gone through and lived in the trade route hub. Fortunately for us this means there have been an enormous number of influences to their cuisine.

2 oz of rice noodles soaked in warm water

10 lettuce cups

Sun Dried tomato powder (a pinch)

1 oz smoked almond powder

4 medium sized tomatoes (In the Summer whatever you have on your vine, in the winter the Roma is a good choice)

4 to 6 spring onions or scallions

1 Red pepper

1 or 2 hot peppers

Juice of one lemon

1 to 3 cloves garlic (depending on strength, Gilroy garlic tends towards sweetness so more can be used)

1/4 cup olive oil (more or less depending on the juiciness of the produce)

Cilantro or parsley (I like the cilantro kick but those sensitive to it can substitute parsley)

I teaspoon pomegranate syrup or concentrate

Roughly chop all of the vegetables and put into the food processor. Mix well and let rest.

*Option: The vegetables can be roasted if you want a deeper mellower flavor.

*Option: The ingredients can be finely chopped with a knife if you have no food processor.

Remove the rice noodles from the water bath and rinse with cold water. Let drain and drape in lettuce cups.

Spoon Ezme over the rice noodle. Sprinkle with tomato powder and crushed almonds. Garnish with additional Cilantro or parsley.

There will be leftover Ezme.  You can make additional rice cups or let sit over night in the refrigerator and use as a dip with pita, a sandwich spread; or my favorite…tossed with fresh greens as a salad dressing.

 

Lamb Meatballs Rachel Ray

I have not been putting a lot of new material out lately and I apologize for that.  It is not that I have not been cooking in fact the opposite is true, I have been cooking a lot. 

When I don't update I get more e mail than when I do. Yesterday I got one that rankled me a bit. It was not the first.

"I know you hate Rachel Ray BUT if you are very busy you can put out some recipes for very busy people and we don't care if you open a few cans or packages to make things simple, all of us do."

I did a search...to date I have received over 1000 e mail referencing my supposed hatred for Rachel Ray. I DO NOT HATE RACHEL RAY, in fact I like much of what she has done. 

I wrote a column criticizing her for the constant used of canned/boxed stock and her claim that it makes people think you have been cooking all day. To me it tastes like you used a boxed shortcut. Rachel Ray is a big girl, she is on the Food Network and widely syndicated. I admire her for bringing new choices to the masses. Suggesting lamb instead of beef has probably opened the tastes of thousands of midwestern families that had previously not considered such 'exotic' meat. 

Now that this has been clarified let me dedicate a recipe to Rachel and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND that you use home made stock. However this is one recipe that can deal with stock from box and after you use it for the meatballs it can make a good soup. 

Yuvarelakia

These are really great meatballs and the cooking method renders them nice and lean.

1-pound ground lamb

1 very finely diced medium onion

4 cloves of garlic

8 tablespoons of barley crushed in the food processor

4 tablespoons fresh parsley diced

2 tablespoons fresh mint diced

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon dried thyme

2 eggs

1-teaspoon salt

8 cups of STRONG beef or chicken or veal stock

1 coarsely chopped onion

2 celery stalks diced

2 carrots sliced

1 cup Greek yogurt

Juice of one lemon

Squeeze the lemon juice into the yogurt and set aside while you make your meatballs.

Combine the lamb, onion, garlic, barley and herbs in a bowl and mix with hands. Add in the egg and mix again.

Shape into small walnut sized balls. (At this point I like to fry a tiny one to taste for salt and seasonings, adjusting as needed) Set aside.

Bring your stock to a boil with the onion, carrot and celery. Add the meatballs to the boiling stock turn to a simmer, and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.

With a slotted spoon divide meatballs and vegetables in bowls and top with lemon yogurt.

Save the stock and refrigerate, the next day remove the fat and you will have a killer soup stock ready to go.

With half the protein needed and more than 100% of the B12 with an excellent showing across the nutrition board this is a great choice. At only 500 calories a serving it is one you can prepare often.

I must apologize for not updating this for a while. I have gotten all the e mails of concern that were sent and I do appreciate them. I made a transition from the Dominican Republic to San Francisco and time flew more quickly than I had realized.

One of the most wonderful things about being here is the fresh crab. It is crab season and I have been getting a lot of those delicious creatures. I take them into the backyard with a hammer and a nutcracker and go to town.


Via Facebook one of you asked me for a favorite crab recipe, they are all my favorite however ...I do love the crab cake.

I do not like a cake with too much bread in it so taking a cue from the Chinese dumpling I reconfigured the crab cake to be breadless and I think you will agree delicious.

1 lb picked and shelled crab
1/4 pound shrimp shelled and veined
1 large bunch of scallion chopped
1 garlic clove
4 egg whites beaten stiff
1 tablespoon mustard
Salt and Pepper

Grind the shrimp with half of the scallions and the garlic clove into a paste into the food processor. Mix the other ingredients into the shrimp paste and then the stiff egg whites into the mix.

Make into small patties (big ones will fall apart) and fry in a mix of butter and oil until crisp on the outside. Serve them with whatever sauce or dip you like. I prefer mine naked.