Spice (28 page)

3.
Drain the leaves and spread them out on a clean towel to cool and dry.

4.
In a medium saucepan or a 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat, heat 1/3 cup of the olive oil and sauté ¾ cup of chopped chard stems with the onions, garlic, red pepper, tomato paste, mint, chilies, five-spice, and cinnamon for 5 minutes, stirring, until the onions are soft and translucent.

5.
Add the rice and stir to coat it with the mixture.

6.
Add 2 cups of water and bring it to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to low and simmer the rice, uncovered, for about 30 minutes, stirring every so often, until the water is absorbed and the rice is tender. Season to taste with salt and cool.

7.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

8.
Scoop up ¼ cup of the rice mixture and roll it into a ball with the palms of your hands. Repeat this step until you’ve made balls with all of the rice.

9.
Next, use a ramekin to shape each dolma. Place a chard leaf with the ribbed side up in the ramekin. Add a ball of rice and wrap the leaf around the rice. The leaf should cover the rice as completely as possible. If the rib of the chard leaf is too big and doesn’t allow you to roll it easily, remove half of the rib with a small paring knife, carving it out in a V-shape, leaving the leaf on either side intact. If the leaf is too small to cover the rice completely, take part of another leaf and patch it together to make a piece large enough to roll. Invert the ramekin so that the dolma is seam-side down in a roasting pan. Repeat the process, making about 20 dolmas.

10.
Add 1 cup of water to the pan. Drizzle in a tablespoon of olive oil and sprinkle the dolmas with salt and pepper to taste.

11.
Cover the dolmas with foil and bake them for 40 minutes.

12.
Serve the dolmas at room temperature or cold with yogurt on the side.

Steak Tartare, Turkish Style

This brightly flavored raw
köfte
is commonly eaten in the eastern Mediterranean and is often made with lamb instead of beef. Köfte is bulgur-based pâté or dough, and is known as
kibbeh
in Arabic. This dish is fantastic served on romaine lettuce leaves with roughly chopped mint and a squeeze of lemon.

Turkish-style tartare is lighter than French tartare because it’s bound with fine bulgur instead of egg. Normally, to achieve a good consistency for steak tartare, you chop the meat and add an egg yolk, chopped shallots, lemon juice, cornichons, capers, mustard, salt, and pepper. You then stir the mixture until the egg coats the meat and creates a velvety texture. In Turkey, they forgo the egg and achieve the velvety texture by technique. They chop the beef by hand until it’s fine enough to stick together, and then they stir in spices, onion, and fine bulgur and knead the tartare until it becomes creamy as its own protein begins to break down. Brilliantly, the bulgur absorbs the shallot juices and moisture from the meat and olive oil.

I love this dish best in the summertime, served with pickled green tomatoes (see Nookie’s Pickles, page 280) and hot peppers. Use the best-quality beef possible.

This dish pairs well with a medium-bodied, earthy red wine with some spice to it, such as an Aglianico from Italy’s Campagnia region or a Mourvedre from Provence.

S
ERVES 10 AS AN APPETİZER OR
6
AS A MAİN COURSE

1 ½ pounds sirloin or beef fillet, completely cleaned of fat and tissue

½ cup fine bulgur

3 large shallots, peeled and minced

4 teaspoons minced garlic (about 4 large cloves)

Juice of 2 lemons (about ½ cup)

1 heaping tablespoon Red Pepper Paste (see Resources, page 358) or ½ red bell pepper, roasted, seeded, and (see page 97) finely chopped to a paste

2 teaspoons Aleppo chilies

1 teaspoon Middle Eastern Five-Spice (page 109)

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1½ teaspoons salt plus more to taste

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

½ cup finely chopped fresh parsley

½ cup chopped fresh mint

¼ cup chopped fresh dill

Pepper to taste

6 romaine leaves, washed and cut in half

Toasted pita bread chips (see page 122)

Lemon wedges

6 mint leaves, torn in half

6 Green Tomato Pickles, cut into bite-size pieces (see Nookie’s Pickles, page 280)

Pickled hot peppers

1.
Slice the sirloin into ¼-inch slices. Cut the slices into thin strips. Chop the strips into very small cubes, and further chop the cubes finely until they begin to stick together and become a little creamy. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 20 minutes.

2.
Place the bulgur in a small mixing bowl with ½ cup of very hot water. Stir to coat the bulgur with the water, and let it stand for 10 minutes.

3.
Meanwhile, in a medium mixing bowl, combine the shallots, garlic, lemon juice, red pepper paste, chilies, five-spice, cumin, and cinnamon and add about 1½ teaspoons of the salt. Let stand for 5 minutes to soften the raw shallot and garlic flavor.

4.
Stir in the olive oil, meat, bulgur, parsley, chopped mint, and dill.

5.
Place the meat mixture in the mixing bowl of a KitchenAid mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and knead on medium-low speed for 2 to 3 minutes, just until the mixture becomes smooth and creamy and turns a slightly lighter color. If you’re stirring the mixture by hand, do so for at least 4 to 5 minutes, to make a nice creamy consistency. Season well with salt and pepper.

6.
Chill the tartare for at least 20 minutes. You want to serve it nice and cold.

7.
Chill a 10-to 12-inch plate for about 5 minutes in the refrigerator. Mound the tartare in the center of the plate. Fan some romaine leaves around half of the mound and pita chips around the other half. Use the pita and romaine to scoop up the tartare, and pass around little bowls of lemon wedges, mint leaves, and pickles to use as condiments. Top each bite with a little mint, pickle, and a squeeze of lemon.

TOASTED PITA BREAD CHIPS

1 10-inch pita bread

¼ cup olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.
Split the pita bread in half by tearing it with your hands, widthwise, so that you have two pockets. Open up each pocket and separate the halves so that you have 4 half-moon pieces. Roughly tear each half moon into 3 pieces.

3.
Place the torn pita in a large mixing bowl and toss the pieces with the olive oil to lightly coat them. Season with salt and pepper.

4.
Arrange the pita pieces on a baking sheet in an even layer so they can get uniformly crispy. It’s okay if they overlap a little.

5.
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes or until the pita chips are golden and crisp.

Halibut Cooked in Milk with Cinnamon, Fried Almonds, and Spinach