[Sca-cooks] More fun with Turkish food

[Christiane]

Thanks for everyone's advice on the cheeses I'm finding! Next I will be picking up some kasari, a cheese that's sort of of Swiss-like in texture (also has many tiny holes), tulum, a creamy, sort of crumbly pungent cheese, and otlu, a tulum flavored with herbs. Will also be picking up more of the traditional bread; round, sort of focaccia-like but fluffier, sprinkled on top with sesame and nigella. Absolutely rocks with hummus.

I went to the other Turkish deli near me, which is also a halal butcher. I wanted to try my hand at making kofte, a traditional spicy Turkish meatball, so I needed ground lamb. I asked for lamb, was displayed the leg, told them I wanted about a pound of it, ground. They were a little fuzzy on what I meant by "ground" until I specified it was for making kofte, and after that it was not a problem. 

The kofte turned out great; the recipe on the spice packet I picked up from my provider of Turkish cheeses called for ground beef and lamb, so I just went to my regular food store for the beef. We had kofte-burgers for the 4th. My husband used buns, but I ate mine without bread, with slices of pickled green tomatoes. We both agreed, however, that kofte-burgers ruled.

I will be trying my hand soon at traditional Turkish rice pudding, allegedly a recipe that came from the Ottoman palace kitchens. It's very creamy and flavored with rosewater, and I'll be adding a few dabs of rose petal preserves at the top. I also want to obtain a whole leg of lamb for roasting.

Gianotta