Middle Eastern Cooking

Off course that for me, what really stricked me most in Istambul was this.... The incredible variety of different ingredients , spicies , fishes...

I am a huge fan of the Middle Eastern Cuisine and off course had to try everything I could - my favorite are the MEZES , usually served as starters but also great as main courses. These are tapas of different sorts that keep coming to the table and are mainly vegetables.

Here I leave some of my favorites:

Humus - a paste of chick peas

Put 250grs of canned chick peas in a food processor. Add 4 ts of olive oil, 1/2 cup of sesame seadd paste (tahin), 3 ts of lemon juice, 3 garlic cloves crushed, cayenne pepper , salt and blend until reaching a creamy consistency. Turn into serving dish and sprinkle with paprika and cover with olive oil. Eat with pita bread.

Patlican - Aubergine purée

Prick 6 aubergines with a fork and put them on the grill until skin is burned and inside is soft. Cool them to handle , cut lenghtways and spoon out the flesh in to a bowl. Mash with a fork, add juice of 1 lemon, 4 cloves of garlic crushed, 120ml olive oil, salt and coninue mashing until puréed. Place on serving dish.

Haydary - Yoghurt and cheese spread

Place 500 grs of greek yoghurt in a fine cloth to drain for an hour. Beat the yoghurt until smooth and add the fresh mint finely chopped, add teaspoon of paprika, cayenne papper and 125grs of white cheese crumbled (feta), salt. Put in a bowl for a few hours. Before serving sprinkle with paprika and olive oil.

Adana Kebab

Mix 1 kg of minced lamb, with 2 finely chopped onions, 3 chilli peppers chopped, 3 cloves of garlic crushed, 1 bunch of parsley chopped, 1 teaspoon of chilli powder, 1 teaspoon of SUMAK , salt and pepper.
Mix well with hands and leave it to rest for 15minutes in fridge.
Divide into 8 balls and then work around the skewers with should have flat blades , moulding the meat until it is flat but like a long sausage.
Grill on the charcoal until well done. Also grill tomatos and green sweet peppers.

Should be served with warm pita bread, rice, grilled vegetables and onion ring.