Leek Soup with Feta, Dill and Paprika

As the weather is starting to get nippy, I'm thinking of warm, homemade soup. Here's a great recipe from Turkish Cooking: Classic traditions, Fresh ingredients, Authentic flavours, Aromatic recipes by Ghillie Basan that I think is absolute delicious.

Creamy leek soup is a popular home-cooked dish in Turkey. Flavoured with dill and topped with crumbled white cheese, this one is warming and satisfying. The saltiness of feta is good in this soup, but you could just as well us Roquefort or Parmesan, both of which are equally salty, and you could substitute croutons for the cheese. Serve with chunks of fresh, crusty bread.

30 ml/2 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
3 leeks, trimmed, roughly chopped and washed
1 onion, chopped
5 ml/1 tsp honey or Rapadura
1 bunch of fresh dill, chopped, with a few fronds reserved for the garnish
300 ml/1/2 pint/1 1/4 cups milk
15 ml/1 tbsp butter
115 g/4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
salt and ground black pepper
paprika, to garnish

serves 3-4

1) Heat the oil in a heavy pan and stir in the chopped leeks and onion. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are soft.

2) Add the sugar and chopped dill, and pour in 600 ml/1 pint/2 1/2 cups water. Bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for about 15 minutes.

3) Leave the liquid to cool a little, then process in a blender until smooth.

4) Return the pureed soup to the pan, pour in the milk and stir over a gentle heat until it is hot (don't let it come to the boil).

5) Season with salt and pepper, bearing in mind that the feta is salty. IF using the butter, drop it onto the surface of the soup and let it melt.

6) Ladle the soup into bowls and top with the crumbled feta. Serve immediately, garnished with a little paprika and the dill fronds.

Eye of Horus and Nazar Boncuk (Nazar Boncugu)

As anyone who has read any of my Harry Potter analysis essays will know, I'm fascinated by the Eye of Horus. I've written a series of editorials on Mugglenet.com (pre-Deathly Hallows) that analyzed Egyptian Myths in the Harry Potter series, including the Eye of Horus.

One thing that's always struck me was how similar the Turkish nazar boncuk (below) looks compared to the Egyptian Eye of Horus (above). The single, staring eye, with black pupil, surrounded by white and shades of blue, warding off evil--to me, it seems obvious that the nazar boncugu is a direct descendant of the Eye of Horus, However, I've found very little online making this a direct link. Perhaps this is because most of the information would be in Turkish, or perhaps it's just so obvious that no one feels a need to analyze it.

But I do. I find it fascinating that we have an amulet, very much alive and in constant use today, that is descended from an amulet worn by ancient Eygptians (and Sumerians and Hitittes) 4,000 - 5,000 years ago! That's one powerful amulet!

So, if you know more details of the history of how the Eye of Horus traveled from Egypt to Turkey to become the nazar boncuk, I'd love to hear it!

Sultan's Chickpea Pilaff

Rice is eaten frequently in Turkey. But it's rarely served as just plain rice; it's almost always combined and cooked with other ingredients, such as meats, organ meats, vegetables, and other legumes or pulses. Here's a common and wonderful pilaf from Turkish Cooking: Classic traditions, Fresh ingredients, Authentic flavours, Aromatic recipes by Ghillie Basan that combines rice and chickpeas.

There is a story that Mahmut Pasha, the Grand Vizier of Mehmet the Conqueror, used to invite his ministers to lunch every Friday, when he would serve a special mound of rice and chickpea pilaff at the end of the meal. As each minister dipped into the rice with his spoon, solid gold balls the same size as the chickpeas would be revealed, bringing good fortune to those who managed to get one on their spoon. A classic buttery pilaff, fit for a sultan, this dish is a perfect accompaniment to almost any meat or fish dish.

Ingredients:

• 50 g / 2 0z / 1/3 cup dried chickpeas, soaked in cold water overnight
  
• 30 ml / 2 tbsp butter
  
• 15 ml / 1 tbsp olive or sunflower oil
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
• 225 g / 8 oz / generous 1 cup long grain brown rice, well rinsed and drained (and preferably soaked overnight in water and whey)
  
• 600 ml / 1 pint / 2 1/2 cups water or chicken stock
  
• sea salt and ground black pepper

Serves 4

Directions:

1) Drain the chickpeas, tip them into a pan and fill the pan with plenty of cold water. Bring to the boil and boil for 1 minute, then lower the heat and partially cover the pan. Simmer the chickpeas for about 45 minutes, or until tender. Drain, rinse well under cold running water and remove any loose skins.

2)Melt the butter with the oil in a heavy pan, stir in the onion and cook until it softens. Add the rice and chickpeas and cover with the water of stock. Season with salt and pepper and bring to the boil. Lower the heat, partially cover the pan and simmer for 10-12 minutes, until almost all of the water has been absorbed.

3) Turn off the heat, cover the pan with a dish towel and put the lid tightly on top. Leave the rice to steam for 10 minutes, then fluff up with a fork before serving.

Per Portion:
Energy 328 kcal / 1368 kJ; Protein 7.1 g; Carbohydrate 52.3 g, of which sugars 1.2 g; Fat 9.9 g, of which saturates 4.4 g; Cholesterol 16 mg; Calcium 36 mg; Fibre 1.6 g; Sodium 51 mg

Iskembe Corbasi -- Tripe Soup

This is my husband's recipe. He says tripe soup is very popular in Turkey. It's used to warm the body and clean out toxins. It's also recommended to use after a night of drinking to recover from a hangover. Tripe soup is so popular in Turkey that there are restaurants which specialize in serving it alone.

If you've never had tripe soup, don't be unfairly prejudiced against eating cow stomach. My kids absolutely love this recipe and ask their dad to fix it frequently.

Instructions:

• 1kg / 2 lbs cow stomach (tripe)
  
• 2 tbsp whole spelt flour
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil; 3 tbsp olive oil
  
• 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed
  
• 3/4 cups vinegar or lemon juice
  
• 1 tbsp cup red pepper
  
• sea salt

Directions:

The directions for washing the tripe is based on buying raw tripe fresh from the butcher's in Turkey. Most tripe you will buy at a supermarket today, on those little styrofoam plates, has already been cleaned, and probably bleached as well. :-(

1) To wash the stomach: pour a palm-full of salt over the stomach, then roll the stomach up, with the salt covering it, and set it aside to sit for a few hours. Later, scrape the salt off with a knife and wash the stomach good with a lot of water.

2) Boil the stomach in 8-10 cups of water, on low heat, until tender (probably a couple of hours). Reserve the liquid in the pot.

3) Cool the stomach and cut into small pieces.

4) Heat 2 tbsp oil in a frying pan, add the spelt flour, and stir until brown.

5) Add this gravy slowly, stirring constantly, into the reserved liquid (heat on medium). Add the chopped stomach and return to boil.

6) Saute the red pepper with 3 tbsp olive oil and pour over the soup.

7) Mix the crushed garlic with the vinegar or lemon juice. To serve, add this garlic/vinegar/lemon juice to soup bowls according to taste.