Flour Halwa with Dried Cranberries

The Islamic calender is based on a lunar cycle having 12 lunar months in a year of about 354 days. Islamic holy days usually shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year, such as a year of the Gregorian calendar even though these holy days are celebrated on fixed dates in their own calendar. 

Well, if you are not familiar to the Islamic calendar at all, this piece of information may sound a bit complicated. Even if you were born into a Muslim family and grew up in a neighbourhood where religious holidays were celebrated in a festive atmosphere for days and nights, the astronomical considerations concerning when to start the celebrations are always confusing and accordingly a big issue to talk about.

I remember, years and years ago, my mother saying once "I was a young girl, 18 or 19 I think, and it was the holy month of Ramadan and everybody was fasting. It must have been mid-summer because it was boiling outside and we would avoid stepping out of the house. It was scorching. Well, I'll be fasting again in mid-summer in my early 50s." Back then, my mother's words, which were totally based on the fact that that holy days on the Islamic calendar shift 11 days earlier each successive solar year, sounded like a prophesy, a glimpse into the distant future. I was simply enchanted. Actually, it kept be busy quite some years wondering how my mother was able to tell exactly when she would be fasting in the same season once again in a few seconds. I also started to imagine and so look forward to those prophesied days to arrive because by then I would have known that my mother's prediction came true, she was in her mid 50s and I was now a young woman! Later on, I was taught how to deal with such calculations when it comes to the Islamic months and I came to realise how my mother did the magic. 

However, I've been under the effect of my mother's magic for years still. It's been kind of a purest hope placed under a pillow deep down in my subconsciousness. It's laid under the very pillow I sleep on every night. I've been waiting for years to pass by to witness that my mother's prophesy has come true and yes it has come true. My mother is 52 years old and we are going to fast this summer in Ramadan starting in late June and ending in late July. Magical, isn't it?

Ingredients
250 grams butter
2 cups flour
2.5 milk
1.5 cups granulated sugar
100 grams dried cranberries
cinnamon, optional 
vanilla extract

Directions
1. Take a pan and heat it over medium heat for 1 minute.
2. Add the butter and melt it. 
3. Sieve the flour into the pan and stir constantly over low heat until it turns golden brown. It takes more than half an hour. Keep calm and carry on!
4. Meanwhile, pour in milk into another pan. Add in vanilla extract and sugar. Stir until it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.
5. Pour the milk-sugar mixture onto the roasted flour very slowly and continue stirring constantly over medium heat.
6. When the mixture boils and then gets thicker in consistency, remove the pan from heat.
7. Stir in the cranberries. Let it cool with the lid on for 10 minutes.
8. Shape the halwa using a wet tablespoon or an ice-cream scoop.
9. Sprinkle with cinnamon before you serve (optional.)

"Never Give Up" Cookies

"You never give up, sis!" was the best confession & compliment I've received lately. When my sister, on Skype, said it so unexpectedly, I got puzzled for a split second to associate the statement to any recent event or accomplishment I'd been involved in. Well, there was none apparently.

When she saw the expression of confusion on my face, she explained it immediately. She'd happened to call me right after the first tray of thumbprint jam cookies (please read the previous post) came out of the oven and seen how the strawberry jam oozed from the cookies. Anyway, this video call was right after the second time I baked thumbprint jam cookies and this time with my own additions to decorate them. When she saw the cookies all perfect in shape she just wanted to show her appreciation: "You never give up, sis!"

My sister had a point actually. I felt a strong need to bake thumbprint cookies once again to see if there was anything I could add/do to make them better. Accordingly, all I did was to chop some walnuts and after shaping the dough into balls and denting each ball as told in the recipe, to roll the cookies in the chopped walnuts. I think that's how I proved to be a determined cooking enthusiast. I think I am so. Yes, I am a cooking enthusiast, a determined one.

For the full recipe, please see the previous post.

Thumbprint Jam Cookies

Whenever I go through a recipe, I find it quite easy to visualise how the dish would look in the end knowing the type of sugar required or at what degree it should bake etc. That's why, I never use a recipe if I feel it's going to fail which naturally saves me time and precious ingredients. If the recipe is convincing enough, I give it a try right away.

This goes for the last recipe for jam thumprint cookies I found on Martha Stewart's website. Martha Stewart's recipe tells you to heat jam until liquefied in microwave or on stove, spoon the jam into each indentation and then bake. But the moment I noticed that the jam is spooned into the cookies before baking, I doubted whether the jam would ooze from the cookies while in the oven. However, I'd tried several recipes by Martha Stewart and found them very reliable. So, I decided to give it a go, though, with a presentiment of failure. 

I was totally right. The cookies spread as they baked and the strawberry jam I used started to bubble and flew out slowly. The cookies were still super delicious though. 

Well, I'd been cautious enough to bake the second tray of cookies without jam just in case and filled each indentation with the jam after the cookies cooled completely. Those ones turned gorgeous with the jam glowing in them like rubies. By the way, I'd also added some confectioner's sugar, vanilla extract and a pinch of salt to Martha Stewart's recipe.

Ingredients

24 tablespoons (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
1 large egg
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup jam (any type)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 175 C degrees. 
2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar combination until smooth. 
3. Add egg and salt and beat until completely combined. 
4. With mixer on low, add flour and vanilla and mix just until incorporated.
5. Shape dough into 2 cm balls. 
6. Place on baking sheets, at least 6 cm apart.
7. Moisten thumb with water, and gently press the center of each ball, making an indentation about 1/2 inch wide and inch deep.
8. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges, 18 to 20 minutes.
9. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. 
10. Spoon jam into each thumbprint and serve.

P.S. I, later on, happened to read another recipe telling to bake the thumbprint cookies for 10 minutes and then remove them from the oven, put the jam in each thumbprint and then continue baking for another 8-10 minutes. It  also sounds fine.

Wedding Buns

When it comes to Easter, everybody starts talking about buns. Here I come too! 

These buns are, for a change, savoury with some local herb salt called Vegeta and with the luring touch of sesame and flax seeds on top. They are spongy and great appetizers for the 5 o'clock tea or the Sunday breakfast/brunch menu. 

Well, inspired by the wedding ceremony of a dear friend in Istanbul that day, I shaped both the buns and the cream cheese wedges into hearts which made everyone concerned smile happily! 

Ingredients

1/2 cup warm milk

1/2 cup warm water

herb salt Vegeta*

1 teaspoon sugar

3-4 dessert spoons dried yeast

3/4 cup vegetable oil 

500 grams flour (add more if the dough turns too sticky)

1 egg yolk

*containing salt, carrot, parsnip, onions, celery, parsley leaves

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190-200 C degrees. Grease and line a baking tray.

2. Sift the flour into a large bowl, and then add the salt, the sugar and the yeast.

3. Mix the milk and water - you should be able to dip your finger in without scalding it.
4. Make a well in the centre of the flour-yeast mixture and pour in the oil and the water-milk mixture.
5. Using a fork, mix well until you have a rough dough, then transfer to a clean flour dusted work surface and knead for around 10 minutes, or until soft and springy.
6. Cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for at least an hour, or until doubled in size.
7. Return the dough to a flour dusted bowl, cover with a damp tea towel and leave to rise in a warm place for at least an hour, or until doubled in size.
8. Transfer the dough to a clean flour dusted work surface. Knock the air out by bashing it with your fist, and then knead the dough for 1 to 2 minutes.
9. Divide the dough into equal pieces and roll each into balls. Evenly space them out on a lined baking tray as you go. Or, as I did, place them in a heart-shaped pan so that they will rise and stick together to form a heart.
10. Beat the egg yolk and brush the buns gently with it. Season each roll with sesame seeds and flaxseeds and leave the buns to rise for another 30 minutes.
11. Place the buns into the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.
12. Transfer to a wire cooling rack.
13. Slice open the warm buns, spread with a little cream cheese and serve.

Parsley Root, Carrot and Potato Roast

Let me introduce to you my new discovery in Sarajevo: parsley root! 

It surprises and impresses you at first sight. You ask yourself why you haven't wondered before whether parsley has a root or not! You start looking at the veggie even more closely, you turn it over and over, you find yourself smelling the root, and you finally decide to search for more about the parsley root. I actually found out really cool stuff about the parsley root which I am planning to note down in the next post. In the photo above, you have a few of the basics about the veggie. 

Well, the sudden and sweet realization about the parsley root made me simply happy. I left the small grocery shop and headed for the kitchen. With the other veggies left in there, I decided to have some fun with a veggie roast.

Ingredients

potatoes

carrots

parsley Roots

bay leaf

cloves of garlic

salt, pepper

dried mint

olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 225-250°C. 

2. Peel the potatoes and then cut them into squares. 

3. Peel the carrots and slice off round coins by cutting them crosswise.
4. Cut the leaves off the parsley root and peel them. Then slice off round coins. 

5. Slice or mince the cloves of garlic.

6. Put all the vegetables in an roasting tray or a clay pot. 

7. Season the veg with a good pinch of salt and pepper. Add a bay leaf. Scatter all of the mint over the veg. Drizzle it all well with olive oil, then toss to coat.

8. Roast your veg in the hot oven for around 40-50 minutes, or until soft, golden and cooked through.
9. Garnish with chopped parsley leaves. 

P.S. You must have noticed that I haven't specified any amount for the veggies above. It depends on how much you have in the kitchen. Feel free to add or remove any vegetables, spices or/and herbs to the dish. 

Dairy-free Chocolate Chunk Cookies

16 days ago (yes, I've been literally counting each day), my dermatologist advised me to go on a dairy-free diet telling me that cow milk is the only dairy product that has been scientifically proved to cause acne and some other skin problems. The doctor's words sounded like a silly joke to me and I started laughing which made the doctor got puzzled. I immediately felt the need to explain the whole situation about my love of/addiction to cheese and other similar dairy products. It took me some time to make up my mind about whether to go on the diet or not. Anyway, when I took all the other factors into consideration I decided to give it a try and here we are now, on the 16th day and I'm all clean, free from all kinds of dairy products. 

Well, I have a couple of weeks more to go and in order to make things much easier to deal with, I've been trying dairy-free recipes and here is one I came up with on my own this morning: Dairy-free chocolate chunk cookies with honey instead of refined sugar.

Ingredients

• 100 ml vegetable oil
• 6-7 tablespoons (Langnese forest) honey
• 2 medium eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 400-425 grams white whole wheat flour (sifted twice)
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 100-150 grams bittersweet chocolate (chopped roughly)

Directions

1. In a large bowl with an electric hand mixer, cream together the eggs and the honey until well combined. You will see the bubbles when done. 
2. Add the oil and vanilla extract and beat for 2 minutes.
3. In another bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt. 
4. Combine the two mixtures and beat until you get a non-sticky firm dough. 
5. When well combined, add in the chocolate chunks and knead the dough for a few more minutes until all the chocolate is mixed well with the dough. 
6. Turn out the cookie dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap. Wrap the dough and refrigerate it at least for 1 hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C. Line a cookie sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
8. Shape the cookies and place them on the cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Don't let them get too brown. 
9. Remove the cookies from the oven and let them cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack.
10. Once cool, store in an airtight container for up to 3 – 5 days. 

TIPS on baking with honey

• BBC Food suggests that it is easier to replace one quantity of honey for each one and one quarter quantities of sugar. The ratio should be 4:5. 
• Honey has quite a strong flavour of its own - be careful substituting it in recipes where it might dominate the overall flavour. Fruit is susceptible to being overwhelmed by the flavour of honey.
• Lower the oven temperature by 25ºF when substituting honey, to prevent over browning.
• Honey is hygroscopic, meaning it absorbs moisture. This ability means that cakes should turn out to be more moist when using honey in place of sugar.
• A cup of honey contains 1/4 cup of water; this means that you should cut down on liquids by the same amount.

Red Lentil Balls a.k.a. Mercimek Koftesi

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils

2 cups bulgur wheat, fine grind

2 medium onions, peeled and finely chopped

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1,5 tbsp tomato puree

1,5 tbsp Turkish red pepper paste

salt 

crushed red pepper (optional)

black pepper

small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

6 spring onions, finely chopped

lettuce leaves, lemon slices, tomatoes for garnish

Directions

1. Wash the lentils and combine them with four times their volume of water. Add 1/2 teaspoon of salt and bring to a boil. Then, simmer uncovered over low heat, stirring occasionally until the lentils are soft and have absorbed most of the water about 10 minutes. 
2. Stir in the bulgur and remove from the heat. Cover with aluminium foil and allow to stand for 30-45 minutes. 

3. In a skillet, heat the oil and add the onion, sautéing until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the tomato puree and pepper paste and mix well. Remove from the heat and cool. Add crushed red pepper and black pepper. Season with salt to taste.

4. Add the onion mixture to the lentil mixture and stir for 10 minutes using your hands to mix. Add the remaining ingredients mixing gently. 

5. Shape the mixture into walnut-sized balls (with dampened hands) and serve on a bed of lettuce. Serve with lemon and tomato slices.


P.S. The photo below show the most common way to shape red lentil balls in Turkey. 

Muffins with Bosnian Coffee

Coffee means a lot in the Balkans and Sarajevo is not an exception. Every now and then you find yourself with a cup of fresh Bosnian coffee getting inspired by its fabulous smell. And people who visit us get surprised when they see how much coffee we consume a day - simply a lot! 

Anyway, this morning, while I was having my morning coffee, the idea of adding coffee to the Sunday muffins happily walked into my head. How come I hadn't thought of this before? The idea is simple: Make some coffee, cool it to the room temperature and add in to the muffin mixture along with the liquids. Cool, isn't it? Well, if you don't have any coffee from the Balkans on hand, no worries, Turkish coffee or espresso would also work with these muffins. However, remember to use less with the latter since espresso has a higher concentration and more caffeine than Bosnian coffee. 

Ingredients

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 medium eggs
2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 cup Bosnian coffee, cooled to room temperature 
powdered sugar (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 185 C and lightly grease or line a muffin pan with paper liners. 
2. In a big bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In a medium bowl, beat the sugar and eggs with a mixer until light and fluffy. Add the oil and milk beating well. Stir in the vanilla extract and the coffee. 
4. Combine the two mixtures, blending until the dry ingredients are moistened.

5. Fill the muffin cups about three-quarters full. Bake for about 15-18 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. 

6. Cool completely on a wire rack. Sprinkle with powdered sugar (optional).

Turkish Beef Casserole

“The Oxford Companion to Food” by Alan Davidson says:

“Gyuvech is the Bulgarian name for a kind of earthenware casserole or the dish cooked in it. The name comes from the Turkish word güveç, which has the same meaning. The casserole is fairly shallow with a large surface area allowing for maximum evaporation. It comes round or oval and lidless…These vessels found all over the Balkans are used for cooking almost anything of a savoury nature, including fish as well as meat, poultry, and game dishes.”

If you are confuzzled (confused&puzzled) with the variety of Turkish güveç recipes on the Internet, please try to keep in mind that the dish is still called güveç no matter what kind of meat and/or vegetables are used as long as it is slow-cooked in an earthenware casserole. The choice of ingredients for güveç all depends on the variety of meat, vegetables and spices where you live. You can always add others or remove some from the recipes. The idea is that everything is in rough, bite-sized chunks to be cooked very slowly (preferably in a stone oven) with spices. Just because of this freedom with ingredients, the dish is also called 'türlü' which literally means 'varied' in Turkish: layering various vegetables with meat and slow-cooking in a clay pot. 

Ingredients

400-500 grams beef

1 large onion

1 large eggplant

1 large carrot

250 grams grean beans

2 small zucchinis

1 large potato

1 large bell pepper

2 large tomatoes

salt and black pepper

1/3 cup olive oil

Directions

Step 1: Prepare the vegetables

Onions

 Chop the onion into bite-sized chunks.

 Carrots

 Peel and slice off round coins from the carrot by cutting it crosswise.

Green Beans

String the beans if necessary and slit in half (French cut). 

Zucchinis

Trim the zucchinis and cut into large pieces.  

Potatoes

Peel and cube the potatoes.

Eggplant

Remove stem from the eggplant, peel off 1 cm strips of skin lengthwise at intervals giving a striped effect.  Cut the eggplant into chunky pieces. Spread the pieces on a tray and sprinkle liberally with salt.  Leave for 30 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels.

Bell Pepper

Cut top of the bell pepper and remove the seeds and ribs. Slice it in chunks. 

Tomatoes

Peel the tomatoes and slice them into big chunks.

Banana Pepper

Cut top of the pepper and remove the seeds and ribs. Slice it into two.

Step 2: Layer the ingredients

1. Remove bits of fat from the meat. Cut the meat into bite-size chunks.

2. Place the casserole over medium heat. Put the bits of fat into the casserole and let them melt for a few minutes. Add in the beef chunks and saute them until lightly browned. 

3. Add in and saute the onion.

4. Add in the carrot coins.

5. Add in the green beans.

6. Add in the zucchini chunks.

7. Add in the potato cubes.

8. Add in the eggplant chunks.

9. Add in the bell pepper slices.

10. Cover with tomato slices and sprinkle with salt and black pepper. 

11. (Optional) Top with banana peppers. Drizzle olive oil. 

12. Cover the casserole and cook over low heat up to 2 hours until vegetables and the meat are done.

P.S. Garlic would be a great addition to the dish. Add it minced with the onions if you feel like it. While layering the vegetables, feel free to sprinkle with any other spices you prefer.