“Ideas are like pizza dough, made to be tossed around.”
Anna Quindlen
Turkish pizzaanyone?
…they call themPIDES, street food from Turkey. Quite similar to something called lahmajoun, an Armenian pizza. Scrumptious, I tell you!! I saw this post by Elle @ Elles New England Kitchen while following DB Filbert Gateaus posts 2 days ago & I was sold…hook, line & sinker.
Pideis a staple Turkish food and you’ll find it all over the country. The Turkish eat an astounding four times as much bread as any other nation. Most of this must be mouth-wateringpide, the Turkish flatbread sold in every store and baked on every street corner. Pideis also the name of Turkish pizza, the bread topped with lamb, onions, cheese and tomato or any variety of combinations. Pide is a long thin banana shaped bread, rolled with some skill from a small ball of dough. The bread is then covered with the topping of your choice and slammed into a large, solid fuel burning oven for about 10 minutes. The resulting pide is sliced up and served piping hot.
Serving Pides with Pride!
Just the words ‘Turkish pizza’ transported me to an exotic land, the land of my dreams; there was no stopping me. Morning broke &, thanks to Elle, I was engulfed with sweet dreams of Turkey & it’s street food.
This spice, sumac, comes from the berries of a wild bush that grows wild in all Mediterranean areas, especially in Sicily and southern Italy, and parts of the Middle East, notably Iran. It is an essential ingredient in Arabic cooking, being preferred to lemon for sourness and astringency.
I am the proud owner of a bag of Sumac powder that my sweet niece thoughtfully got for me from Dubai. She often makes the Turkish Adana Kebabs I posted long ago, recipe here, & enjoys them a lot. The bag of sumac, a beautiful purple-red powder, has been beckoning me to use it for a while; pide seemed to present one such opportunity, since I had been longing to use sumac for something other than adana kebabs – delightful, delicious & simple kebabs.
A small change to the recipe was the use of a fresh papaya tenderizer to soften the lamb…that’s just me becauseI do not like my lamb chewy. The flavours were great, the process SIMPLE; & the big bonanza…the kids loved them!
‘Moreish‘, rustic & delicious!
For the kids, I used a small amount of marinara sauce as the base sauce first, followed by the the topping & additional Baby Gouda cheese grated on top … was terrified of getting rejected on the ultimate pizza frontier I guess…but they loved them. Served pides to the kids as flat pizzas, the regular way & sliced. Was elated that they enjoyed pides so much; love it when they explore their tastes & experiment with new flavours; HUGE relief.
Dough: ( I made 1 1/2 times the original recipe, got me 10 Turkish pizzas) Active Dried Yeast – 1 1/2 tsp Sugar – 1 tsp Flour – 4 cups Whole wheat flour – 1 cup Salt – 1 1/2 tsp Oil – 2 tbsp Method:
Mix the yeast, sugar and 1 cup warm water in a mixing bowl. Proof for 10 minutes.
Add flour, salt and oil, mix slightly, then knead the dough on a floured board until smooth.
Shape into a ball, cover and let dough rise for about an hour.
Topping: Ground lamb – 500gms (or your choice of meat) Fresh green papaya – 1 tsp ; grated fine (very optional) Onions – 2 small; finely diced Garlic – 6-8 cloves/ 2-3 tbsp minced ( I like plenty of garlic) Olive oil – 2 tbsp Tomatoes – 4-5; seeded and chopped Green capsicum – 2 small; diced Coriander – 1 bunch; finely chopped Tomato paste – 2 tsp Sweet paprika – 2 tsp Sumac powder – 1 tbsp + 1 tsp Cumin powder – 1 tsp Salt and pepper to taste Low fat cottage cheese – 300-400gms (I used Le Bon) Method for topping:
Marinade mince + 1 tsp papaya paste +1 tbsp minced garlic + 1 tsp sumac powder for 30 minutes, in the fridge.
Heat a skillet over medium heat, add the oil and saute the onions and remaining garlic for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the mince & stir fry on high till cooked through well & any liquid dries up. If you use papaya, the mince will have a kind of pasty consistency, not crumbly. Take off heat.
To this, add the tomatoes, coriander, green capsicum, tomato paste & spices & mix it all up. Taste and adjust seasonings.
Heat oven to 450°.
Divide dough into 10 portions and roll out to thin circles. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment, and place 2 dough circles on each. Spread some of the topping on the first 2, top with grated cottage cheese or feta, then put the baking sheet in the oven.
Have 1/2 cup of cold water ready, and toss it in the bottom of the oven quickly, then shut the door. (I forgot to do this)
Bake for 8-10 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough.
Remove from pan to a cooling rack.
Roll pizzas up to eat.
Rolling in the PIDES – Pizza, the Turkish way…
This one’s on its way to my old friend Ben @ What’s Cookin US for his ‘I Love Baking’ event, a baking event for baking loving people…& to Susan’s @Wild Yeast Blog for Yeastspotting.
“Non-cooks think it’s silly to invest two hours’ work in two minutes’ enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet.” Julia Child
This month’s challenge is being posted on a sad note. Lis, one of the co-founders of Daring Bakers posted this on the 21st, “One of our own, Sher, of What Did You Eat?, passed away yesterday morning of a sudden heart attack. Sherry was an active blogger and her posts were always a joy to read. She was a wonderful friend, a beautiful woman, a devoted wife, mother and good friend.You can read a lovely tribute to her by one of her closest friends, Glenna, HERE.We’re going to miss you, Sherry!!!!! “
Filbert Gateau with Praline Buttercream, From Great Cakes by Carol Walter….…The Daring Bakers challenge this month was hosted by Chris @Melle Cotte
As the sweet Chris said, It’s one of those cookbooks (in the small bookstore within in my home) I am a bit fearful of. Honestly! Honestly, she scared me too, but went on to say she was already beginning to bake the cake to ‘troubleshoot’ any blips that may come up. How sporting & encouraging!! Just seeing her completed post egged me on to complete this daunting challenge. Check out the recipe at her blog HERE.
Filberts are unheard of here, so I went for almonds straight away. The gateau was easy to bake, came out beautifully, the ganache was a cake-walk…what got me to my knees was the buttercream. It made me WEEP!! I guess the culprit is the HOT HOT weather, & I admit I knew exactly what I was going in for. In fact, got onto this challenge after oscillating like a pendulum for days together. My madness is documented in my DB diary below. The gateau itself was a big hit & was polished off before I could say Jack Robinson!! A tad sweet by my standards, but a wonderful, elegant gateau for cooler days. Lovely!!
Thanks a lot Chris, & my apologies for oscillating! Would have been my loss entirely!
dear diary… 7 July 08 : Have been swinging wildly this month since the Db challenge has been announced. Am desperately trying to cut down on the amount of butter & cream in sweet nothings…& being a DB certainly isn’t helping! Eventually decided to give it a pass, but some strange magnetism draws me back to the forum at regular intervals. The pictures of cake posted by the host, Chris @ Melle Cotta, swung me back to taking up the challenge. This is really very addicitive, this baking thing, & must confess that the family has never seen a better year! Sweet & fruitful in every sense. The exilarating feeling after last months challenge, Danish pastry, has convinced me to go ahead too. DH, who is witness, mostly mute, to my ungainly fickle behaviour, nodded positively when I said “How will I know the beauty of the cake unless I give it a shot? Last month’s Danish pastry taught me this lesson!” He nodded too receptively & far too bright-eyed… I think he enjoys being part of this drama that emerges every month.
19 July 08: Dear DB diary…2 weeks later panic has struck. Time is of the essence & I’m not even started as yet. It’s Saturday & I have been mysteriously struck with laryngitis…so no voice to express myself. In other words, no voice to YELL!! Kids are pleased & over the moon; I am distressed & cannot bake. Feeling like it’s a Bridget Jones type of moment again…aaaaaaaaargh!!
20 July 08:More panic…whatever shall I do. Nothing seems to happen with the kids at home. Tomorrow is THE DAY!! Bookmarked!! At least the cake HAS to be baked!! Firm resolve. All I comfortably have on hand is a bag of almonds & clarified butter…YAY!!
21 July 08: Lack of time looms large…but today has been bookmarked to make a definite beginning. The cake is finally in the oven, with the heart in the mouth, because electricity has been playing up of late. I am even practicing how to react if it gets up & goes halfway thorugh…real drama in my mind. Shall I just present a half-baked wonder & tell my tale on the blog; do I have the ‘get up & go’ to get up & make another one? Being a DB is not childs’ play…this is serious business. Realised it on my first challenge; confirmed & reconfirmed it on every subsequent one!! O woebegone me…hope I live to tell my tale!! 5 minutes to go & the almond genoise shall be popped out of the oven. Halfway daring if nothing else!! Ciao for now, diary my dear!!
P.S. Just came back to let you know that electricity upped & awayed 10 minutes after the cake was done…providential escape!! Must have done something good sometime to have narrowly missed high drama. Now the sponge is safely in the fridge, swathed in cling wrap & a plastic bag. Maybe, I shall endeavour to embark on the next step in a day. Got 3 days in the fridge!! Woohoo…
22 nd July 08 : Huge moment of indecision; am down with the viral & can feel the panic setting in. Can’t make it today…maybe the freezer is a safer place. So now…phew…the blessed thing is sitting happy in the freezer.
25th July 08:5 days to go & the DB pressure has been steadily building. What if all I have is a cake sans frosting…panic again. Praline time early in the morning. Doesnt become pasty as the recipe says, but is pretty close to it. Weather update : HOT HOT HOT; humidity 87%. NOT a good time to frost, but little choice left;the cake’s out of the freezer. SOB!! No way will buttercream come together after reading so many buttercream horror stories, so I’ve decided to go the whipped cream way. See you in a bit…
Am back & am ready to run away…migrate to the Southern hemisphere if need be. The whipped cream BROKE UP big time after the praline went in…so the freezer is busy again. The cream is in there!! Made the ganache, which is my all time favourite way of frosting…but no longer. Things are melting faster than the moments left to the deadline, & I’ve decided I hate frosting! The kitchen is HOT…only saving grace is that the kids are at school & DH is at work. I could SCREAM!! Am trying to calm down; this is a challenge after all…
OK, am back again. Have patched the cake together with melted marmalade & melted whipped cream, poured the ganache over it. At 37 degrees C in the kitchen, hardly needed to grate the bar of chocolate to decorate my poor gateau…it almost dripped all over the cake. I drizzled the praline buttercream over the cake…looks so sad. It’s back in the fridge as I’m getting outta here…don’t think I can take it!
2 hours later, am back. Chris’s words are still ringing in my mind. The praline has to be on the cake in some form & buttercream too. So, there is loads of praline paste/powder left…I’ve stuck it into the sides.Have also made some buttercream which I’ve piped on in a hurry. Topped the cake with a few flakes & almonds to make it look halfway decent…& I”M DONE!! This is definitely a winter cake. Will take it across to my parents place this eve…baked this for a belated birthday for my Dad. We shall know tomorrow, the fate of this DB.
26th July 08: What an absolutely beautiful day…Cake cut & devoured quite happily last night.
Was a little on the sweeter side. This despite the fact that I didnt use even a 1/4 of the sugar syrup, & halved the preserves. Shouldn’t have sweetened the whipped cream I think. Otherwise, was a brilliantly soft & moist cake with a subtle flavour. Almonds, chocolate & orange really compliment each other beautifully…but there wasn’t a very pronounced almond flavour, even though I used loads of almonds. This is definitely a winter cake & will taste most yummy in cooler weather. The sponge had a lovely nutty yet light texture & the whole cake disappeared too soon. Maybe the next time I make it, will add ground almonds sans praline to the whipped cream, like I’ve done
here, in this Chocolate Cloud Orange Gateau. That way the cream will stay firmer & less sweet too. Otherwise, a very elegant cake, with a load of work….a challenge indeed!
Thank you Chris, a delightful choice & a challenging bake. Do also stop by at other Daring Bakers across the blogospherehere& check out their delightful Gateaux & tales!!
“Live each season as it passes; breathe the air, drink the drink, taste the fruit, and resign yourself to the influences of each. “
Henry David Thoreau
Stone Fruit Crisp – Peaches & Plums…
This is quite the best time of the year to get inspired by summer fruits in food. This summer is special for me. The blogosphere is constantly churning out eye-catching & delicious fruity delights a dime a dollar!! It’s difficult to catch up & make each of them, but I’m getting on slowly & steadily… a real feast for the eyes. Here’s a stone-fruit crisp I made inspired largely by this ‘Triple Berry Rhubarb Crisp‘ posted bySusan’s @ Food Blogga. A single type of berry is hard enough to come by here where we live, so ‘triple berry’ could only exist in my dreams. I decided to go ahead & use what I had on hand…using this recipe for a ‘Plum & Peach Crisp’ from 101cookbooks.
PEACHES & PLUMS … YUM YUM YUM!!
Peaches, plums, cherries and apricots are a few of summer’s sweetest treasures. Few culinary pleasures compare with biting into a ripe sweet peach bursting with juice or enjoying a sugary sweet plum at the peak of its season. Most of the luscious fruits of summer are known as stone fruits because of the stone-like pit at the core of the fruit. When fully ripe and at the peak of their season, there’s no better way to enjoy stone fruits than simply eating them just as they are – fresh, sweet and full of juice. However, the exquisite flavors of ripe stone fruits lend themselves to many creative uses, be it fruit salads, cobblers or compotes.
The crisp was to be done for the following day, but I decided to do the fruit on day 1. Not too sure if peaches & plums were a ‘hot’ combination, I muddled ahead anyway, trying to make the best of what I had. By the time the fruit was done, there was no ambiguity left.
The combination was finger licking good, & spoonfuls were doing the disappearing act, so the bowl was hurriedly bundled into the fridge. Baked the crisp the next day. Must say that the flavours that overtook the house were unbelievable… fruity wafts filled the air & the plummy-peach or peachy-plum syrup started bubbling over the edges. They have been and are still called by various names such as cobbler, tart, pie, torte, pandowdy, grunt, slump, buckles, crisp, croustade, bird’s nest pudding or crow’s nest pudding. They are all simple variations of cobblers, and they are all based on seasonal fruits and berries, in other words, whatever fresh ingredients are readily at hand. They are all homemade and simple to make and rely more on taste than fancy pastry preparation. Early settlers of America were very good at improvising. When they first arrived, they bought their favorite recipes with them, such as English steamed puddings). Not finding their favorite ingredients, they used whatever was available. That’s how all these traditional American dishes came about with such unusual names. Early colonist were so fond of these juicy dishes that they often served them as the main course, for breakfast, or even as a first course. It was not until the late 19th century that they became primarily desserts.
A really simple dessert to make…
Recipe for Peach & Plum Crisp as adapted from101cookbookCrisp: Brown sugar – 1/2 cup Flour – 1/4 cup Rolled oats – 1/2 cup Almonds – 1/4 cup chopped Ground cinnamon – 1 teaspoon Ground ginger – 1/4 teaspoon Butter – 4 tablespoons / melted Method:
To make the topping combine the oats, flour, sugar, ginger, almonds and cinnamon together in a medium bowl. Stir in the butter & mix until everything comes together in a dough-like texture. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the plum and peach mixture.
Cut the peaches and plums into bite-sized, 1-inch pieces. Gently simmer for 2-3 minutes with the ginger & cinnamon. Don’t overcook; the fruit should retain it’s shape.
In a separate small bowl whisk together the cup sugar and the arrowroot. Sprinkle over the fruit, toss gently (but well). Allow to cool slightly.
Put the fruit into an 8″ baking dish. Sprinkle the crumble evenly over the plum and peach mixture.
Bake for about 20-25 minutes, or until the topping is golden & the fruit starts bubbling over the edges.
Best served warm or at room temperature… even better with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice-cream.
“If life is a bowl of cherries, then what am I doing in the pits?” Erma Bombeck
Mixed Berry & Nut Clusters
Aaaaaaaargh…it’s just another of those days when time begins to run out on you even before morning has nicely broken!! Day before was a busyish day. I made cookies out of dried berries & I made chocolate chocolate-chip muffins from Nigella’s recipe @ Food network…asking for trouble to tell you the truth!
The muffins were not nice at all, so not worthy of being posted. Had my dear friend’s kids over from Ukraine, so then made chocolate morsel cookies too. The kids are complete chocolate addicts & will not touch anything even remotely ‘berry’! Manggy, your brother’s got company!! To make matters worse…no cake in the fridge for early morning indulgence. Donno what I’m talking about? Check out this at Cakespy…to all ya folk who feel guilty at sneaking a slice of cake out for breakfast, cupcakes, muffins included..we’ve got proof. IT’S OK!!Jessie says so & Bill Cosby always said so!! Since the muffins were a disaster, I quickly made a Zebra cake.
Coffee with the Zebra…
As always, this is one fascinating looking cake (recipe HERE), & a cuppa coffee makes it even better. Which gave rise to thoughts in the direction of CLICK July ’08 Coffee / Tea @Jugalbandi…
Back to the cookies in question. I’ve had some dried berries lying around for a while. Actually bits & bobs of all sorts, so I decided to clear them one fine day…came up with quite a treasure.
Some craisins, some dried blueberries,currants, raisins etc. Better use ’em up before it’s too late…books opened & a recipe found. ‘Mixed Berry & Nut Clusters’ turned out to be yummy, healthy cookies, best devoured the day they are made or the next. I think they taste best fresh, warm out of the oven with a glass of chilled milk. The kids had 4 each just after I made them. Home made cookies always taste better; it’s been eons since I bought cookies from the store. These cookies had oats too…
Mixed Berry & Nut Clusters…
Adapted from ‘Cranberry & Orange Clusters’, ‘The Colossal Cookie Cookbook’, pg 277 Ingredients: Butter – 1/2 cup Sugar – 1/2 cup
Grated rind of 1 orange Egg – 1 Vanilla Extract – 1 tsp Rolled oats – 1 1/4 cups Dried cranberries, currants, nuts etc – 3/4 cup Flour – 1 1/4 cup Baking powder -1/2 tsp Pinch of salt
Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Lightly grease 2 baking sheets.
Beat butter + sugar + orange rind till fluffy.
Add egg & beat again.
Stir in the oats & berries, nuts etc.
Sift the flour + baking powder + salt into the bowl & mix until evenly combined.
Put spoonfuls of the mixtures on the sheets, leaving space for spreading in between. Flatten slightly with a fork. Sprinkle with a little vanilla sugar or coloured sprinkles.
Bake for approx 15 minutes until risen & golden brown.
Cool on rack. They will be soft when you take them out of the oven, but will become firm as they cool.
Dressed up a few with sprinkles I had on hand…just to give the kids happy smiles!
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
Voltaire
Frankies served with a Sweet & Sour Mango Chutney…really experience your senses!!
The thoughts of what to make for lunch ring in the head every morning the minute I wake up. Inspiration on a daily basis is hard to come by…but this morning Meeta @ What’s For Lunch Honey came to my rescue. Have been fascinated by her post on frankies served with a mango chutney ever since I saw it served on her blog. Thoughts turned into opportunity when spicy Zlamushka @ Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen mailed the other day announcing WFLH was the blog in focus for this month’s Tried & Tasted.
I have bookmarked the lemon squares & the apricot pistachio ice-cream, amongst many others off Meeta’s inspiring blog. But with mangoes in every hue & colour flooding the markets, what better time to indulge & appreciate a great recipe…a finger licking good mango chutney served with these yummy paneer/cottage-cheese frankies.
Bombay Street Food at it’s best…
You must hop over to Meeta’s & read up her interesting post on Bombay street food, which these frankies form an integral part of. DH gave these a big thumbs up, & said the chutney reminded him of the one his grand mom used to make. The flavours throughout both were beautiful. THANK YOU Meeta for the wonderful post, & for bringing alive fond memories of days gone by. The recipe for the chutney & paneer / cottage cheese frankies is HERE .
I made the chutney with a combination of 2 green mangoes & 1 ripe mango (made 1/2 the recipe), but if you don’t get green mangoes, don’t fret. The original at Meeta’s has been made just with ripe mangoes. Play around with the spices as you like…this is a great chutney to have on hand.
I made half the amount of the recipe & got 2 jars. Kept tasting it while making it…very addictive…maybe ate up half a jar doing just that. I increased the chili flakes & figured that the black pepper gave it a great flavour & an interesting dimension. Do try & make the chutney a day in advance so that it chills in the fridge overnight. YUM!!
Thank you Meeta for the wonderful experience, & Zlamushka for the opportunity to express it!
If it’s bookmarked it HAS to head to Ruth @ Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments for her ‘Bookmarked Event‘. There you go Ruth…another opportunity to cherish & treasure great recipes!
“Appreciation is a wonderful thing; it makes what is excellent in others belong to us as well.”
Voltaire
Frankies served with a Sweet & Sour Mango Chutney…really experience your senses!!
The thoughts of what to make for lunch ring in the head every morning the minute I wake up. Inspiration on a daily basis is hard to come by…but this morning Meeta @ What’s For Lunch Honey came to my rescue. Have been fascinated by her post on frankies served with a mango chutney ever since I saw it served on her blog. Thoughts turned into opportunity when spicy Zlamushka @ Zlamushka’s Spicy Kitchen mailed the other day announcing WFLH was the blog in focus for this month’s Tried & Tasted.
I have bookmarked the lemon squares & the apricot pistachio ice-cream, amongst many others off Meeta’s inspiring blog. But with mangoes in every hue & colour flooding the markets, what better time to indulge & appreciate a great recipe…a finger licking good mango chutney served with these yummy paneer/cottage-cheese frankies.
Bombay Street Food at it’s best…
You must hop over to Meeta’s & read up her interesting post on Bombay street food, which these frankies form an integral part of. DH gave these a big thumbs up, & said the chutney reminded him of the one his grand mom used to make. The flavours throughout both were beautiful. THANK YOU Meeta for the wonderful post, & for bringing alive fond memories of days gone by. The recipe for the chutney & paneer / cottage cheese frankies is HERE .
I made the chutney with a combination of 2 green mangoes & 1 ripe mango (made 1/2 the recipe), but if you don’t get green mangoes, don’t fret. The original at Meeta’s has been made just with ripe mangoes. Play around with the spices as you like…this is a great chutney to have on hand.
I made half the amount of the recipe & got 2 jars. Kept tasting it while making it…very addictive…maybe ate up half a jar doing just that. I increased the chili flakes & figured that the black pepper gave it a great flavour & an interesting dimension. Do try & make the chutney a day in advance so that it chills in the fridge overnight. YUM!!
Thank you Meeta for the wonderful experience, & Zlamushka for the opportunity to express it!
If it’s bookmarked it HAS to head to Ruth @ Ruth’s Kitchen Experiments for her ‘Bookmarked Event‘. There you go Ruth…another opportunity to cherish & treasure great recipes!
