Gozleme-Turkish Flatbread

Ingredients

• Uncooked tortilla (30 pcs.)
• 1 package feta cheese*
• 1 lb. spinach - fresh
• 2 bunches green onion
• salt and pepper to taste**

* We used Valbreso brand feta which comes in a 1 lb. container.
** Depending on how salty your feta is, you need to be cautious when adding extra salt.

This is a semi-homemade recipe for a typical gozleme as you can see we bought the uncooked tortillas at Cosco. A traditional gozleme dough is made with flour, water and salt. As for a filling, there are quite a few options, but the most common is spinach and feta. Preparation time is minimal between 20-30 minutes and cooking time is at mist 3 minutes per gozleme. You may cut back on prep time if you use crumbled feta.

Preparation

1. First, we prepare the filling. Crumble the feta cheese if not already using the crumbled kind.
   Chop green onions and spinach and combine well with cheese. Add salt and pepper. 
2. Now that the filling is ready, you can assemble your gozleme. Lay one tortilla flat on your working surface, sprinkle with 1-2 tablespoons of filling on one half of the tortilla, then fold the other half of tortilla over the filling. 
3. Heat a large nonstick pan with 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat.(You need a good nonstick pan to cook the gozleme or you can use a proper sized griddle as well. I do not recommend using a cast iron pan.) 
4. Transfer a gozleme to your pan when the oil is shimmering. Cook for 1-2 minutes, turn the other side and cook for another 1-2 minutes. 
5. Put aside and repeat for every gozleme.

Orange Ricotta Cookies

Filling 


Ingredients

• 4 medium sized Oranges (we'll use the peel only!)
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup ricotta cheese

Preparation

1. Wash the oranges thoroughly and peel. Cut orange peels into small pieces. Now you need to boil the peel in water and discard the water. Repeat this process at least 3 times. Yes, you read that right, at least 3 times! Too much work for cookies, I know! This is just like making candied orange peel, you need to boil so that  there's no bitter taste.
2. Add sugar and another cup of water and boil this mixture until there's no more water left in your pan. Just be careful, do not burn your pan, trying to make sure water evaporates. Set your pan aside to cool down completely. 
3. Transfer to a mixing bowl  and combine with ricotta cheese.

Pastry

Ingredients

• 8 oz butter/margarine - room temperature
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup yogurt
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 packet baking powder
• 1 packet vanillin
• flour

Preparation

1. Make the cookie dough with the above ingredients. 
2. Get a walnut sized piece of the dough and add a tablespoonful of the filling and shape into a nice ball. Repeat with the rest of the dough. 
3. Preheat your oven to 400 F degrees and bake for 15-20 minutes. The cookies should be pinkish and puffy when done.
4. Generously sprinkle with powdered sugar when they are still hot.

German Peach Tart

Ingredients  

• 200 g  (1 ½ cups minus 1 tablespoon)   wheat flour
• 1 even tsp baking powder
• 125 g  (1/2 cup) sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1 package vanilla sugar)
• 1 egg
• 125 g  (1/2 cup = 1 stick + 1 tbsp) butter or margarine
• 125 g  (1 ½  cups minus 1 tbsp)  ground almond or hazelnut
• a pinch of salt

Preparation

Dough

1. Sift flour and baking powder onto a board. Make a depression in the center and place the egg and sugar in it. 
2. Using a spoon, combine egg, sugar and some of the flour into a thick batter. 
3. Scatter ground almonds and butter or margarine cut into small pieces over batter, cover with the remaining flour. 
4. Then combine all ingredients quickly into a smooth dough using your hands. The idea is to keep the dough as cool as possible so that the butter stays firm. Should the dough be sticky let it rest for a while in a cool place.
5. Take the dough and place it in a 26 cmdiameter spring form pan (ca. 10 inches) and flatten it, pressing down on it and spreading it from the center to the edges of the pan.You need to keep the dough in the bottom of the pan about ¼ inch thick. This will leave enough dough close to the rim so that you can press the dough upwards against the wall of the pan to form a raised edge. 
6. Now take a fork and prick the dough with it all over. This way the dough will stay flat and you will prevent blisters from forming which would make the baked tart very uneven.
7. Preheat oven for 10 minutes and bake the tart for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees F.

Filling

1. Prepare vanilla sauce, using a little bit less than1 cup of milk, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar and 1 package vanilla sauce powder (from Cost Plus or some Middle Eastern stores carry German products at times) according to package directions. 
2. Cool and spread over bottom of tart shell. You can also use ½ ounce of standard American vanilla pudding, not instant, but the kind you need to boil with the milk.
3. Place sliced peaches (1 jar, Costco, e.g. or canned from grocery store), well drained, slightly overlapping on top of vanilla sauce layer. You can also use cherries, apricots, pears or other fruit like that.
4. If you are able to find the glaze that goes over the fruit layer, prepare it according to the directions and spread over the fruit. It is called Tortenguss (klar) in German or glaze for fresh fruit tarts or cakes, transparent, in English.

Kartoffelkloesse (German Potato Dumplings)

Portion : 3 persons

Ingredients

• 1 box potato dumpling mix
• Milk or water

Preparation

1. Follow instructions on box.
2. Mix with milk or water.
3. Roll into balls (about 1½ inch in diameter)
4. Bring a big pot of water to boil then add salt. 
5. Add the dumplings and continue to boil until the dumplings float. 
6. Turn off heat and remove dumplings from water. 
7. Serve dumplings with beef gravy (prepare from mix).

Sauerkraut (sour cabbage/ fermented cabbage)

Portion : 12 people

Ingredients

• 3 lbs sauerkraut (from Lucky supermarket)
• 2 bay leaf
• 3 apples (cored and cut into large pieces)
• 1 large onion (cut into large pieces)
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 tbsp caraway

Preparation

1. Rinse the Sauerkraut with cold water, best in a fine colander / strainer
2. Put all ingredients into a pot and bring to a boil. 
3. Reduce heat and simmer and cook for 20 minutes until apples and onions are soft and mushy.

Buletten (German-style Hamburgers)

Portion : 12 persons

Ingredients

• 3 lbs ground beef
• 2 eggs
• 1 large onion (finely diced or grated)
• 2 tbsp salt / pepper (adjust according to taste)
• 2 tsp fresh nutmeg
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1½ cup bread crumbs

Preparation

1. Mix above ingredients together and set aside for an hour to marinate. 
2. Roll ground meat mixture into mini hamburger shapes and pan fry till both sides are brown and the center is cooked. 
3. Remove from pan and serve.

Semolina Halvah with Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp butter (or ghee)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 4 tbsp pine nuts
• 2 cups semolina 
• Ice cream as the filling

Syrup

• 2 cups milk
• 2 cups sugar

Preparation

1. In a sauce pan, combine butter, olive oil and pine nuts. Stirring constantly, cook this mixture over medium heat until the pine nuts are fully roasted. You need to roast the pine nuts properly to bring out their delicious flavor. You know they are roasted when they turn toasty brown, watch out for burning as they gradually turn brown and fill your kitchen with a very sweet aroma. 
2. Add the semolina at once and keep stirring until the semolina turns to a light brown color. 
3. Meanwhile, in a separate sauce pan, boil milk and sugar. It doesn't have to come to a full boil as long as all the sugar is dissolved. 
4. Carefully add the milk-sugar mixture to semolina. Be careful at this step as hot splatters do happen and you don't want to burn yourself. 
5. Close the lid and let simmer over low-medium heat for 5 minutes. (You need to watch closely and make sure semolina absorbs all the liquid.) 
6. Turn off the heat and set aside to cool. You've successfully completed the "semolina halvah" part of the recipe. Now you just go get your ice cream from the freezer.
7. While the halvah is still warm, cover a small bowl’s bottom and sides with semolina halvah. Do not pour the halvah or fill up the bowl as that ruins the whole ''filled with ice cream " concept. 
8. Fill with ice cream. 
9. Now cover the ice cream with the rest of the halvah. Immediately turn the bowl upside down over a serving plate. Serve with cinnamon on top.

*My mother doesn't use 2 cups of milk but a cup of milk and a cup of water. She says too much milk changes the texture and the taste.

**Go sparingly on sugar. Sometimes a cup and a half is enough. As a sugar snob, I recommend taste tasting.