Cannellini bean stew with Turkish salami

Since my halfling's birth, I have carelessly moved from one country to another chasing the sun. But as all good things, my third summer in a row is coming to an end and it looks like it will be one hard winter for this mama.

There are, hopefully, a few more beach days left in February but as the beautiful sunny days were abruptly replaced by the cool autumn breeze last week, my foodometer started pointing comfort food. And when it is cold, there is nothing that can warm your insides like a hearty, gooey and spicy stew.

Kurufasulye (Cannellini bean stew) is the ultimate traditional dish in Turkey, beautiful pearly white cannellini beans cooked in a delicious broth consisting of juices from succulent pieces of meat, onions and tomato paste, served with pilaf and pickled green peppers topped with as much dried red chillies as your mouth can handle.

Usually the tender and succulent meat (off the bone used to make the broth) is added to the beans. But if you feel like something a bit more fancy, you can use sucuk (Turkish salami) or pastirma (Turkish pastrami) instead of the meat. And if you are a vegetarian simply use vegetable stock and leave out the meat all together and dinner is as easy as one two three. 

I had a large can of beans bought from the Turkish store in my pantry cupboard and a half a log of sucuk so I decided it was time to spice things up a bit in the kitchen. It took me a matter of minutes to cook this simple wonder and even less time for my hubby to polish it off his plate. 


Sucuklu Kurufasulye (Cannellini bean stew with Turkish salami)

 
Ingredients

2 400 gr tins of cannellini beans*
250 gr sucuk (Turkish salami), thinly sliced**
1 large brown onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp olive oil
1 heaped tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp redpepper paste (optional)
Salt to taste
1 cup broth or hot water



Wash and drain the beans and set them aside. 

Place the oil and onions in a heavy bottomed sauce pan and sauté until they are transparent. 

Add the sliced sausages to the pan and saute until they darken in color and their juices starts coming out and coloring the onions. 

Stir in the tomato paste and let it sizzle for a couple of minutes. Stir in tomato paste and pepper paste (if using). 

Add the broth and a touch of salt and let the broth boil before adding the beans in.

Let the stew simmer on very low heat for about 5-10 minutes (depending on the softness of the beans.***)

Serve with rice pilaf and pickled vegetables. 

Afiyet Olsun! 


* If you prefer to use dried beans, then soak them overnight and boil them in salty water until they are soft before adding them to the recipe. 

** If you prefer to use meat instead of sucuk, use diced lamb or veal that is suitable for slow cooking. Follow the same steps but just make sure you cook the meat in the broth longer until it reaches the "melting in your mouth point" before adding the beans in. If you cannot find Turkish salami, then you can very easily replace it with chorizos.

*** I find every brand has a different softness to their canned beans so check regularly to make sure that the beans are not overcooked as they would loose their shape and turn into mush. 

Sweet Tahini Bites

Time does fly when you are having fun. My halfling has turned one in December.

The last fourteen months are a big hazy bubble of laughter, excitement, love, worry, exhaustion and more love.

Long gone the days of living life in two hourly intervals. They are now replaced by a toddler who is learning to stand on her own feet, literally. No more time for cuddles, feeding, playing or reading. She just wants to get up, take a few steps, wobble, fall on her tushie, then get up and start over again every single waking hour of every day.

I have manifested a few times in my older posts that I do not have a sweet tooth. Well, turns out I do because I am constantly craving something sweet. The regular question in my mind after dinner is "Do we have anything for dessert?"

Zucchini fritters

The sun is out, the sky is blue, there's not a cloud to spoil the view... no, no, do not panic, but it is not raining in my heart.

In fact quite the opposite, the pregnancy happiness hormones combined with the beautiful weather outside is making it really hard for me to restrain myself from smiling and singing happy tunes. Not a very suitable office decorum.

It is such an extraordinary break from the cold and grey winter days that I can almost close my eyes and pretend I am back home lying on the grass enjoying the warmth of the sun on my face.

Spring is around the corner, my belly is growing, my birthday is approaching and before I know it, it will be summer again!

Summer means lazy afternoon naps, nice cool swims after work, light salads, tasty BBQs and an abundance of fresh vegetables for dinner, and maybe even a sip or two from a nice cold bottle of beer. And what could best accompany that cold beer other than freshly made batch of mucver (zucchini fritters.)

My mum, in my humble opinion, is the mucver queen as she makes the tastiest and lightest zucchini fritters.
Her version is simple with no fancy spices, herbs or cheeses, purely a feast of zucchini and more zucchini.

The omission of any onion, garlic, strong spices, herbs or cheeses allows you to focus on the main ingredient and taste the freshness and juiciness of the grated zucchini while a touch of parsley gives a small element of surprise to your tastebuds. Served with some natural or Greek yoghurt sprinkled with some fresh dill makes this dish an irresistible addiction.

These fritters can keep up to 3-4 days in the fridge if you can resist the urge not to finish them in one sitting.


Mucver (Zucchini Fritters)

Ingredients:

500 gr zucchini
1/2 bunch of parsley
3 eggs
2 heaped tablespoon of plain flour
1/2 teaspoon each of salt and black pepper
Vegetable oil for frying


Here is how:

Peel the zucchini and grate them by using a grater or a food processor with a grater attachment.

Place the grated zucchini in a large bowl.

Add the flour, eggs, chopped parsley, salt and pepper to the bowl and stir until well combined.

Heat the vegetable oil on a large frying pan. You will need just about to cover the pan at a 1/2 cm depth for shallow frying.

Once the oil is hot, fill a tablespoon of the zucchini mix and drop it carefully into the oil and slightly flatten it with the end of the spoon.

Fry them on one side until light brown and then turn the other side.

Remove the fried fritter and drain on paper towel.

Serve at room temperature or cold with a natural yoghurt sprinkled with dill leaves.

Afiyet olsun!

Hommus

As I was wondering what I could entertain your taste buds with next, one of my dear friends, ever so divine Mama Colombiana, wanted me to pass on my hommus recipe. This one is especially for her.

I have to confess I have never actually tasted hommus until I came to Australia. My mother used to make a lot of fava (a thick solid paste made from broad beans served as an appetiser) but never hommus.

As I mentioned before, my family is from the western part of Turkey and our cuisine is more influenced by our Mediterranean neighbours rather than our Arabic ones. So I have learnt to like and make hommus during my days working in the kebab shop in Newcastle while waiting for my bridging visa.

I have also found out during that time that hommus is very widely known and consumed in Eastern Turkey where food is very much influenced by the Arabic and Persian cuisines and spices. In Adana, they even make different versions of hommus. 

Turkish Coffee

Turkish coffee is made by using high quality Arabica beans. The beans are roasted and then ground into a very thin dust-like powder. It is prepared by mixing the ground coffee in water (with or without sugar depending on your preference) in a special pot called cezve and served in small coffee cups similar to espresso cups but with a much thinner rim.

The Turkish coffee is all about testing your patience. The only way to savour it properly is to simmer it over a very low heat over the stove until a thick foam covers the top of the cezve. You then need to wait for the grounds to settle before you can start sipping it, otherwise your mouth will be bombarded with the coffee grounds.

It is traditionally served with a glass of water on the side to ensure that you drink some of the water before you start sipping your coffee. The water cleanses your palate to allow you to better taste the coffee. Also, unlike the Italian espresso, you need to take small sips of the Turkish coffee and let it linger on your taste buds as long as possible.