Minestrone for Spring

I love having a fresh tasting Minestrone in early spring, when the sun is starting to shine through but there is still a chill in the air. Minestrone comes from the part of Italian cooking called 'cucina povera' - the poor kitchen and it can vary a lot depending on the chef and what vegetables are in season. This is my Spring version.

Olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic
1 leek, chopped
3 carrots, chopped
2 potatoes, chopped
3 ripe tomatoes chopped (you could use a can of tomatoes, but I use fresh tomatoes to keep the flavour a little lighter)
1 1/2 cups of water
2 1/2 cups of vegetable stock (I prefer the kind bought in liquid form, it is so much tastier, but here I am stuck with cubes)
1 cup of pasta
Spring onions, chopped -about a handful for soup and extra to serve.
Grated Parmesan (to serve)
It is also delicious and fresh tasting with basil stirred through it just before serving - I just couldn't get my hands on any.

Cook onion and garlic in large saucepan until onion softens. Add leek and carrot, cook for 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, potatoes, water and stock and bring to the boil. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes. Cook pasta. Stir pasta through soup. A few minutes before serving stir through spring onions. Serve with spring onions, parmesan and pepper on top. And of course some delicious thick pieces of bread.


Perfect after a morning working in the garden or running after a certain 16 month old at the park!

A little fishy...

The area we live in is packed with fish restaurants and has some little stalls by the side of the water where you can get some really fresh fish!

Fish are pretty popular as is fishing - the banks of the Bosphorus are usually packed with people from early in the morning until late at night -rain, hail or shine. These people are committed to their hobby!

We took Yashar to one of the little stalls on the weekend to get some fish for his dinner. He had a good look at the live fish in the tank and got pretty excited about it.





While we waited we watched the fishmonger scale and fillet our fish. I love their light fitting!




This guy pulled up on his motorbike while we were there - and ordered drive through style.





And we looked at all the birds flying around the boats behind the stall.







Not a bad way to wait for your fish!

Quinces are my new favourite fruit. The colour of them cooked and uncooked is gorgeous. And the taste - I like them cooked but my husband likes them raw - he likes the dry fibrous texture - yep, sometimes he's weird like that;)

And I especially like that they remind me of this painting, which I love. There is something about the subject of kitchens and food like fresh fruit and vegetables that appeals to me. Maybe it is something to do with their symbolism - of home life being worthy of our attention, of a warm kitchen, a productive garden, of growth and nature and the natural beauty of a pumpkin or some eggs (subjects in other favourite paintings of mine).


I have been meaning to make this recipe for a long time. Sorry I'm not sure where it is from - I have had it written down in my recipe book for so long now - but it seems like a basic jam recipe I think.

Quince Preserve:
4 quinces (about 1 kg total)
5 cups sugar
5 cups water
3 tablespoons of lemon juice

1. Bring quinces, half a cup of sugar and water to the boil. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for approximately 1.5 hours. Put quinces on a plate to cool and reserve cooking liquid.

2. Coarsely chop quinces, and return to pot (including seeds, cores and skins). Bring to a boil. Slowly stir in remaining sugar and lemon juice. Cook, stirring, until mixture is thick and deep orange (about 25 minutes). Put through a fine mesh sieve. Discard solids. Let cool.

3. Transfer to airtight containers - refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Changes: Next time I make this , when the quinces are cool and I am chopping them (step 2) I plan to remove the seeds so that when it comes to putting it through a sieve the left over solids are ready to eat - I tried a little of them from this batch and they were so delicious and would be perfect with ice-cream or on muesli. Such a waste not to use them.

The preserve was so delicious. It didn't totally set but is beautiful and thick - for my first attempt I was very happy. If you have any jam making secrets let me know.

Today I had some on toast with parmesan cheese and we had some with yoghurt for dessert. So good! Quince and cheese are made for each other.

Turkish home cooking - my favourite dish

Of all my mother-in-law Sevim's Turkish home cooking this is my absolute favourite. It is called Karnıyarık which means 'split belly'. Sounds a little scary when translated into English but it is so yummy and the split belly being referred to is the belly of the eggplant (and maybe mine after I eat so many of them!).

I actually never have to cook Karnıyarık because Sevim is always sending some home with us - she knows we love it. But I asked her to share the recipe with you all and she proudly obliged. All the measurements are approximate - of course Sevim never uses a recipe, she cooks it by heart.

Karnıyarık

4 or 5 eggplants - the thinner type are best
2 onions
Oil
Mince -about 250g
Salt, Pepper
Lezzet - literally translated this means 'taste' - it is a spice mix usually made from paprika, pepper, salt, dried tomato powder, grissini flour, semolina, dried parsley and dried thyme -If you can't get lezzet I think some paprika and parsley would be fine.
Large spoon of tomato paste
Water

1. Chop tops and tails off eggplants and put in a large pot. Add enough oil to come about half way up the eggplants. Cook on the stove until the eggplants are soft (making sure you turn to allow all sides to cook).

2. While eggplants are cooking, dice up onions finely, then fry in pan until golden, add mince, salt, pepper and lezzet and cook mince well.

3. Take eggplants out from pot. If they are large chop them in half length ways. Take off a small slice along one side to make a flat base for the stuffed eggplant. Lay the eggplants down in a casserole dish.

4. Slit eggplants down the middle (don't chop through the ends) and fill with mince mixture.

5. In a small bowl mix tomato paste and 1 cup of hot water and then pour this over the eggplants.

Bake in the oven for about 15 to 20 minutes.

We love to have it with thick slices of bread. This recipe is definitely worth trying (if you don't have a Turkish mother in law to cook it for you that is!).

Soup making weather

Usually my posts are inspired by the photographs I take, but it has been pretty overcast and grey here lately. Often I look out to fog blanketing the Bosphorus, only just being able to make out the huge cargo ships moving through it. They sometimes sound their fog horns to warn the little fishing boats.

So it is definitely not photo taking weather, but it is soup making weather. This version of Avgolemono was delicious! I believe that Avgolemono refers to the egg and lemon base used for soups and sauces (Avgolemono is the Greek name) and that in Turkish it is called Terbiye.

I actually got the base of the recipe from the Martha Stewart website and changed it a little. The main change I made was using burghul instead of orzo which I think worked really well. Martha Stewart actually has some really good recipes. Her show is one of a few English language shows that are free to air here and it is repeated three times a day so I usually watch at least a little of it. She often has chefs from great New York restaurants (the show is made in New York) in to make some of their recipes and they often look so delicious! So don't knock the Martha!

Here is my version:
5 cups chicken stock (I would usually use the fresh non-powder type but that is all we had last night)
1 chicken breast (sliced into strips)
1 onion
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup burghul
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
Freshly ground pepper

Fry onion and garlic in olive oil until soft, add chicken and fry until just cooked. Let chicken cool slightly, and then shred (I pulled it apart with my fingers). Cook burghul as per packet instructions.
Bring chicken stock to a gentle simmer and add burghul and chicken mixture. Simmer for about fifteen minutes. Then reduce heat to low.
Beat together eggs and lemon juice in a medium bowl until smooth. Ladle 1 cup hot broth into egg-lemon mixture, whisking constantly until mixture is warm to the touch. Stir the egg-broth mixture into the broth in the pot. Make sure that the broth doesn't start to simmer again as the egg will curdle. Season with pepper when serving. Martha's recipe also added dill which sounds nice.

I have a confession to make. I have been serving my soups with thick slices of bread that I have fried in olive oil - I know - probably not particularly healthy but soooo golden and yummy - like a giant tasty crouton. Mmmm. My excuse is we don't have a toaster. Ok, one more confession, I then have the left over pieces of fried bread for dessert with thick lashings of nutella on them. OK I think I have said enough.

Seasonal recipe

Remember when I mentioned my brilliant idea a while back - a seasonal recipe each month. Well believe it or not - I actually got around to doing it! The recipe this month, while not exotic or mind blowingly original, is yummy! It is also so easy and spot on season wise here.

It's my Mum's Pumpkin Soup! My sister reminded me about it when she put together a whole lot of recipes for me because I was running out of ideas for food for Yashar (what a good sister I have - and Yashar loves it!).

The thing that used to put me off making pumpkin soup was chopping the damn thing up! But here at the Pazar (our weekly fruit and vegie market where I took the photo above) and even at the supermarket they have a guy whose sole job is to chop up the pumpkin for you on the spot - yay!

1 diced onion
1 peeled and cubed pumpkin
Chicken stock
Bay leaf
Nutmeg (I didn't have any, but added some paprika instead)
1 tablespoon of butter

Fry onion in butter. When soft add pumpkin and enough water with stock to cover and add bay leaf. Simmer until pumpkin is soft, take out bay leaf and vitamise with a pinch of nutmeg. Return to saucepan until ready to serve. Serve with a dollop of cream, a sprinkle of nutmeg and bread.

There are few variations with this recipe - I know my Mum sometimes adds curry powder and I think coconut cream (?). Sweet potatoes are also nice to use instead of pumpkin but at $20 a kilo here...

Do you know of any other yummy variations for me to try out? I am going pumpkin soup crazy!

Nerd indicator #2: Don't be evil

To keep up the nerdy image (thick rimmed glasses and all) I just finished reading The Google Storyand I totally nerded out about it. I couldn't put it down!

The book starts with the development of the system and technology of the search engine while the Google duo (Sergey Brin and Larry Page) were at Stanford and then goes through the rise and rise of the company. The book claims on the back cover that "This book was not created, authorized, or endorsed by Google Inc." But they wouldn't really have anything to complain about and I totally wouldn't be surprised if they funded the whole thing. The author even attempts to make the whole computer/software/business story a little risque and sexy (attempts not succeeds) with a chapter called 'Porn cookie guy', another called 'Playboys' and another about the 'burning man' festival with mention of getting naked around a burning effigy. He also quickly argues himself out of the small amount of criticisms he makes and provides many favourable comparisons with 'evil' Microsoft. And despite the obvious bias I still bought in to the whole 'don't be evil' Google mantra wholesale! It makes Google look like the cool guy from the Apple Mac ads and Microsoft the PC guy.

I loved getting info about how the ranking of search results works, the conditions at Google offices (massages, time to work on your own projects, free ice-cream days etc) and the floating of the Google stock which made many of the employees super rich. There is even a whole chapter on the apparently legendary chef who cooked up nutritious organic food for all the employees.

And now that I have finished with Google I dipped into Sacre Cordon Bleu: What the French know about cookingand I am already addicted. It starts with the burning of recipe books by celebrity chefs and then Micheal Booth, his wife and two young children are off to Paris so that he can study at the famous cooking school - Le Cordon Bleu. By the time Madame Raffarin shows them around the Parisian apartment full of shelves of dusty antique books, vast oil paintings and fading velvet curtains with views of the Arc de Triomphe and Eiffel Tower (and then they excitedly spy the boulangerie and chocolatier on the street below) I was hooked! I am already dreaming of moving to Paris or at least having an extended holiday there.

Some things I am loving at the moment

My glasses! After wearing my contact lens way too much I decided to give my eyes a rest and dug out my glasses. Bordering on nerdy, the rims of these are pretty prominent and the arms are nice and thick. I forgot how much I liked them! And now I can pretend I am super intelligent!

And this book looks sooo good! It is bills open kitchen- bought by my sisters for Senol's birthday last weekend. I love the glowing fading light on the cover and my favourite photo inside is this one (sorry about my crappy photo of this gorgeous photo - it looks a hundred times better in real life):

I love how he writes about the relationship between food and family. He writes "I want my family to grow up with good memories around food. A freshly brewed cup of tea with a slice of cake still warm from the oven or a tart made from freshly picked apricots will become part of a happy memory..." I want that too! I have some very happy memories of making cupcakes with my mum. I am so looking forward to when Yashar is old enough that we can bake yummy memories together.

Muşmula

These are Muşmula (pronounced Mush-mul-la) and they are in season now so Senol rushed to get some at the market before it was too late. I love the sound of the name. Muşmula. But the taste of these isn't what I'd call delicious. Sort of like eating raw quince if you've ever tried that. They make your mouth all dry and the texture is fibrey (is that even a word?) fibrous perhaps. Either way not particularly tempting!

I have been surprised by how many varieties of fruit and vegetables there are here that I have never even heard of. I thought we pretty much had everything available in Australia now - although maybe they are there at the market, and I just never recognised them.

I love that the availability of fruit and vegetables is so seasonal here. It just makes sense - they taste better and are generally locally grown. Shame on me for not knowing which fruit and vegies are in season apart from the basics! But I'm learning - seeing what's available at the local market, what's weighing the trees down in the neighbourhood.

Ooh I just had an idea - I might start a monthly post where I look at what is in season here and maybe even cook something and include the recipe. It might get me a little more inspired with my cooking too. Brilliant!


(and it makes me want to buy this book even more!)

Yashar update

Yashar loved the water, having swims every day in Edremit. A little water baby! And we've now discovered that he loves to push his stroller along - very funny!

I have also included a few more shots from Edremit. There were lots of different fruit trees, vines and lots of crickets! It would be so fantastic to have a garden that produces all sorts of delicious things (instead of the bare balcony we have at the moment). At the place we rented there were grape vines covering the terraces, pomegranate trees (that's a pomegranate tree behind the pink gate), nectarines... so good to stand barefoot on the grass on a warm summer morning, pick a nectarine and eat it on the spot.








We discovered this little friend one morning on Yashar's little floaty thing. I think it looks like a little alien, don't you?

Olive Groves and the Aegean Sea

Enough relaxing already! Back to the sticky Istanbul heat. We just got back from a beautiful place on the Aegean Sea in the midwest of Turkey. The area is close to Edremit and is about 7 hours drive, 5 near misses, 2 crying episodes and 1 Iskender Kebab from Istanbul. It's well off the beaten track for foreign tourists but is popular with Turkish holiday makers, many of whom have a holiday house there.


What I loved most about the area was the olive trees. They were everywhere! On the beach and and back into the hills as far as the eye could see. Their trunks were so wide and twisted and their branches heavy with hundreds of olives. I can't even guess how old they were.


Yup, they are all olive trees on all of those hills.

So of course I was hoping to find beautiful olive oil soaps and creams, but wasn't quite as successful as I hoped. We did pick up a huge block of olive soap from a stall on the side of the road which was definitely handmade but I have to admit that it looks and smells pretty feral! I did have one great find though on the long road trip back which I will share with you as soon as they are washed and cleaned!

Nonna Rosa's Lendichia

We had some fantastic house guests recently. They were great company, kept Yashar entertained and made us all a yummy dinner! Even Yashar enjoyed it.
This is a lentil stew type dish that would normally be served with pasta through it. We had the left overs with fresh bread, yogurt and fresh tomatoes. Delicious!

I hope they don't mind me giving the family recipe away. Here is Nonna Rosa's Lendichia:

200 grams lentils
1 large onion (coarsely chopped)
2 carrots
2 capsicums
2 ripe tomatoes
2 sticks of celery

Soak lentils for 1 - 2 hours
Heat olive oil in a medium pot and sweat onion until soft.
Dice tomato and add to pot and cook for approximately 15 minutes (until soft).
Dice all other vegetables and add to pot. Cook for 10 to 15 minutes. Drain lentils and add to vegetable mixture.

Add water to pot to just cover mixture. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat to simmer for 30-40 minutes.

My contribution was this yummy drink. Just frozen guava juice, some mint and a splash of vodka. A perfect summer evening!

The bird house

Imagine getting this design brief:
Design me a house for resting and guests, two floors, located in gorgeous garden surrounds, overlooking the Bosporus - oh - and make it look like a bird house.

Sarı Köşk was designed in the 1870's by the Ottoman architect Serkiş Balyan with this concept in mind after receiving this 'interesting' request from the owner at the time, General Khedive Ismail.

Painted yellow for the same reason, Sarı Köşk is now open to the public and has a huge buffet style breakfast, including delicious Turkish pastries and amazing looking sheets of honeycomb, with the honey dripping off ready for your toast! It is owned by the Istanbul council which has a policy of making Istanbul's parks and historical buildings open to the public at reasonable prices. Excellent.

Sarı Köşk is in Emirgan Park, a huge park with forest areas, water fountains, playgrounds and masses and masses of flowers.


We had a gorgeous morning there with my sister and her family, filling up on pastries and cherry juice and then walking it off through the cool forest and parkland. I love going to huge parks like this when the weather is hot. All those shady trees, lush grass and the fountains really do make it so much cooler. Sure, you could go to an air-conditioned shopping mall to get out of the heat, but this is so much more fun and leaves you feeling all good inside!

28 things to do before I turn 29

So, quite a while ago I read a post by Andrea over at Hula Seventy called '37 things to do before I turn 38'. I thought that was a great idea - I love lists, I want to get all the things done that I mean to do and would love to do but never actually get around to doing...this is totally what I need! 5 months later and my point is proven -I need that list! (ok so I actually wrote the list back in April just after my birthday, but have only now got around to posting it - hope that is not cheating)

Here are my 28 things to do before I turn 29 in no particular order:

1. Go swimming with Yashar

2. Read 3 novels

3. Get up earlier

4. Get photos of Yashar printed and organise them in an album

5. Improve my Turkish to 'advanced' level

6. Draw a picture for Yashar's room

7. Generate some income -how? That I do not know!

8. Take photos of strangers - this is a hard one -see the 22 April post on Hula Seventy

9. Buy a sewing machine (and actually use it)

10. Take 5 pictures I love

11. Buy some vintage fabric

12. Sell one thing I have made

13. Get to know at least 10 new people in my area

14. Find other Mums to meet up with

15. Make a gorgeous room for Yashar

16. Knit a scarf

17. Have a romantic dinner with Senol

18. Buy handmade

19. Learn to crochet (see my earlier post about this - it is cool to crochet -believe me!)

20. Paint a picture

21. Go to Trilye

22. Get one of my photos printed 'ginormous size' for our bedroom

23. Write letters (not just emails!) to friends and family

24. Cook 4 things from Greg and Lucy Malouf's gorgeous book Turquoise

25. Paint a chair

26. Plant some herbs

27. Go to Topkapi palace (again)

28. Make the Christmas presents for my family (sorry to my family but that's what you are getting!)

...and what does this have to do with tomatoes and lettuce? Nothing, it's just dinner.