Stuffed Squash Blossoms

November 04, 2019 by Gizem in Dinner, Meze

Last week I found fresh squash blossoms and fava beans at the Phinney Neighborhood Farmers Market. The guys at Alvarez Farms told me that they picked the blossoms that same morning. I knew I had to buy some given how fresh they were. I have to admit, I don’t cook with squash blossoms that often. Their season is super short and they are kind of difficult to work with. But, once a year, I buy some to make this dish and teleport myself to the beachy summer days in Turkey.

There are many ways to cook squash blossoms. You can fry them with a batter or stuff them with cheeses like ricotta or burrata. Stuffed squash blossoms is a specialty of the Aegean region of Turkey. In this region, squash blossoms are stuffed with rice mixed with lots of herbs. The squash blossoms are served cold with a drizzle of lemon juice. It is definitely a summer time favorite on dinner tables.

I always choose larger squash blossoms as they are easier to stuff. They don’t stay fresh for long so it is best to cook this dish on the same day you buy the blossoms. If the blossoms wilt, they become hard to stuff so keep them protected from warm weather and sun.

Yields: 2-3 servings Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

8 squash blossoms

2 and ½ tablespoons olive oil

½ onion, diced (about ⅓ cup)

½ cup white rice

3 tablespoons water for stuffing, 1 cup water for cooking

Fresh mint, chopped, keep the stems (about 1 tablespoon)

Fresh dill, chopped, keep the stems (about 1 tablespoon)

½ tablespoon pine nuts

½ fresh tomato, pureed (or 2 tablespoons of canned tomato sauce)

Pinch of salt

Pinch of pepper

Preparation

1. Gently remove the stem inside the flower that has the yellow pollens on it.

2. Using a paring knife, cut off the small, green, hairy sepals if there are any, near the base of the flower (see pictures).

3. In a frying pan over medium-high heat, cook the diced onions in 1 and ½ tablespoons of olive oil, until softened, 3-5 minutes. We will use the rest of the olive oil later.

4. Rinse the rice and add it to the pan. Give everything a stir for about a minute.

5. To puree the tomato, I use the chopper attachment of a hand blender. You can also use a grater.

6. Add in the tomato puree, dill, parsley, mint, pine nuts, salt and pepper. Give everything a stir.

7. Add in 3 tablespoons of water and cook, stirring, until the all the water has been absorbed. The rice should be cooked a little bit but still quite crunchy.

8. Remove from heat and let the stuffing cool for about 10 minutes.

9. Once the stuffing has cooled down, with the help of a teaspoon, take a spoonful of stuffing and gently fill the inside of the squash blossom. It is important not to overstuff the blossom. The rice is going to absorb more water so it needs room to expand. If we overstuff the blossom, it can rip during the cooking process.

10. Once the center of the squash blossom is stuffed, close it by folding the petals of the blossom one by one (see pictures).

11. Depending on the size of your blossoms, you might have some stuffing leftover. Transfer the leftover stuffing into another container. You can always add water and cook it just like cooking normal rice.

12. I use the same pan that we used to make the stuffing for cooking the blossoms. The leftover olive oil in the pan helps enhance the flavor. Lay the herb stems on the bottom of the pan. They help raise the blossoms so that they don’t stick to the pan.

13. Transfer the stuffed squash blossoms to the pan. Drizzle with 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add 1 cup of warm water. Turn the heat to medium-low and cook, with the lid closed, for 10-15 minutes until the rice is cooked through.

14. Transfer to a serving plate. Serve the dish room temperature or cold with lemon wedges on the side.

Braised Fava Beans

October 31, 2019 by Gizem in Dinner, Meze

Yesterday, Cesar and I finally made it to our local farmers market. I could not resist to buy some fresh fava beans. Fava beans, also called broad beans, are from the pea and bean family. They have a distinct grassy taste that announces the beginning of summer. Their season is short so don’t wait too long to try this recipe.

This fava bean dish also happens to be my mom’s favorite. It was her birthday two weeks ago and I could not be there physically, so I made this recipe thinking of her. Served cold with garlicky yogurt, this recipe is a refreshing addition to your summer table.

In Turkey, there are many vegetable dishes that are cooked with lots of olive oil and served cold. We call them “zeytinyagli yemek” which literally translates into “olive oil dish”. Olive oil dishes generally star one main vegetable and they frequent the table during hot summer days. Most olive oil dishes are served with freshly squeezed lemon juice, but this fava bean recipe is a bit of an exception. It is served with garlic yogurt which highlights the mild grassy flavor of the fava beans so well.

I don’t know why, but many people believe that the pods of the fava beans are inedible. This is not the case at all. However, I always pay attention to pick smaller, thinner pods instead of the really big, thick and overripe ones. The smaller pods generally have a greener color, they are tender and easier to cook.

Yields: 4 servings Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients

1 pound fava beans, with pods

3 tablespoons all purpose flour

1/2 lemon, juiced

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced (about 1 cup)

1/2 tablespoon white sugar

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1 cup water

For the sauce:

2 cloves of garlic, minced

5 spoonfuls of plain yogurt

Fresh dill, chopped (about 2 tablespoons)

Preparation

1. Fill a large bowl, halfway, with cold tap water. Mix the lemon juice and 2 tablespoons of all purpose flour into the water. We are going to put the cleaned fava bean pods inside this water to avoid browning of the pods and help keep their green color.

2. Wash the fava bean pods in a colander. Using a knife, chop off the tips of the fava bean pods at both ends.

3. Most bean pods have a stringy fiber on their side which is hard to chew, even when cooked. This is especially true for thicker pods like fava beans. Using the help of a paring knife make a dent near the tip of the bean pod. Pull down lengthwise and the stringy fiber should peel off easily (see pictures). Check both sides. Sometimes the sides might not have this fiber and that is completely ok.

4. Once cleaned, transfer the fava bean pod into the bowl with water. Repeat these steps until all pods are cleaned.

5. In a sauté pan (or pot) over medium-high heat, cook the diced onions in 3 tablespoons of olive oil* until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Reduce heat. Strain the fava bean pods and add them into the pan. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring.

6. Add the sugar, salt and pepper and give everything a stir.

7. Pour in 1 cup of water and add 1 tablespoon all purpose flour. Stir everything. Close the lid and cook for 15-20 minutes on low heat, until the pods are soft.

8. Once cooked, transfer onto a serving plate. Cool until it reaches room temperature and transfer to the fridge.

9. For the sauce, mix yogurt and minced garlic until yogurt is smooth. You can serve the dish room temperature but serving cold is so much better. Before serving sprinkle with generous amounts of fresh dill and serve with the yogurt sauce on the side.

* You might think that 3 tablespoons of olive oil is a bit much. But don’t forget, this is an olive oil dish and actually you can use even more olive oil.

Fried Eggplants with Yogurt

October 31, 2019 by Gizem in Dinner, Meze

Eggplants are one of my all time favorite vegetables. They just taste amazing whichever way you cook them. You can stew them, roast them, fry them. It all works. But if you ask me to choose, fried eggplants get my top vote. This recipe doesn’t use batter to fry the eggplants which results in super light, earthy and melt-in-your-mouth eggplants.

Fried eggplant is a common summer meze in Turkish cuisine. They are served either with yogurt or tomato sauce. The tomato sauce version is called shakshuka (not to be confused with the poached egg dish from Middle East). For this recipe, I will use yogurt and save the shakshuka recipe for another blog post. The yogurt in this recipe balances the earthy flavor of the eggplant so well and lightens up the dish.

I highly recommend serving this dish shortly after freshly frying the eggplants. Eating them freshly fried is very similar to the satisfaction of eating a freshly baked cookie, right out of the oven. I used to steal a couple freshly fried slices from the plate when my mom was busy frying another batch and inevitably, get scolded. I have to admit, I never felt guilty.

Yields: 4-6 servings Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2 eggplants

1 and 1/2 cups vegetable oil

5 spoonfuls of plain yogurt

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 teaspoons salt

Preparation

1. Wash the eggplants and slice off their caps. Peel the eggplants in a stripe pattern, alternating by peeling and not peeling lengthwise (see pictures).

2. Slice the eggplants crosswise into 1/3 inch thick slices.

3. Fill a large bowl with cold tap water. Add 2 teaspoons of salt into the water and stir until it dissolves. Put all the sliced eggplants into the salt water. This helps with two things: one, it keeps the eggplant slices from browning and two, it removes the bitter taste of the eggplant.

4. In a large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat 1/2 cup of the vegetable oil. Eggplants absorb a lot of oil, so instead of adding all of the oil at once, I add it to the pan in increments as I fry.

5. Using a paper towel, pat dry 5-6 slices of eggplants and transfer to the frying pan containing the hot oil. A note of caution: if you don’t pat the eggplants dry, water touching the hot oil will create splashes and you can burn yourself, so please don’t skip this step.

6. Fry each side of the eggplant until it reaches a golden color. In the beginning, when your oil is not hot enough, it might take up to 2-3 minutes per side to fry the eggplant. Once the oil is hot enough, it will take as quick as 45 seconds to a minute per side to fry the eggplant.

7. Place a paper towel on a large plate. Transfer the fried eggplant slices onto the paper towel to soak excess oil.

8. Continue to repeat steps 5-7 until all eggplants slices are fried, adding more oil to the pan when needed.

9. For the sauce, combine yogurt and garlic in a bowl. Add salt to taste. Mix until the yogurt is smooth. Drizzle some yogurt sauce on the eggplants or serve on the side.