Spice (53 page)

2 tablespoons ground cumin

2 tablespoons dried, sieved oregano

2 tablespoons dried, sieved mint (page 230)

1 tablespoon Aleppo chilies

1 tablespoon black pepper

In a small bowl, combine all the spices. Store this spice mixture in an airtight container out of direct light, for up to 2 months.

Greek Salad with Winter Vegetables, Apple, and Barrel-Aged Feta Cheese

In Greece, the dish that Americans call Greek salad is called “village salad,” and it’s made with cucumbers, onions, peppers, olives, tomatoes, and feta. Rarely is any lettuce served.

The key to a great Greek salad lies in the feta and the kalamata olives. It’s worth going out of your way to find barrel-aged feta; the barrel-aging process makes it firm but creamy with a nice strong flavor. French feta is creamier, and there are many choices (see page 349), so taste as many as you can and simply choose your favorite. And if you have access to a Greek market, beg them for barrel-aged feta.

Served with Chicken Egg-Lemon Soup (page 51) and some ouzo or raki to sip, this salad is so hearty that you can make a meal out of it. You can cook the cauliflower and Brussels sprouts up to a day ahead of time, but the squash is better cooked and eaten the same day.

S
ERVES
8
TO
10
AS A FİRST COURSE

1 small to medium buttercup squash (about 2 pounds)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon salt plus more to taste

Pepper to taste

Ice cubes

½ head cauliflower, cored and washed

Pinch of baking soda

8 Brussels sprouts, outer leaves trimmed and cut in half lengthwise

1 bulb fennel, quartered, cored, tough outer layer removed and cut into a ¼-to ½-inch dice

1 Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into a ¼-to ½-inch dice

16 kalamata olives, pitted

½ red onion, peeled and finely chopped

2½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice (about 1 large lemon)

4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons dried, sieved oregano (see page 230)

1 pound barrel-aged or French feta cheese

1.
Preheat the oven to 350°F.

2.
Cut the squash in half widthwise and use a small spoon to scoop out the seeds. Slice each half into quarters and then into eighths so that you have 8 wedges of squash. Toss the squash with the 2 tablespoons olive oil on a heavy baking sheet and season well with salt and pepper to taste. Roast the squash in the oven for about 25 minutes, until just tender. Set aside to cool.

3.
Prepare a medium bowl of ice water.

4.
Bring a 2-quart saucepan of water to a boil over high heat and season with 1 tablespoon of salt.

5.
Using a small paring knife or your fingers, break the cauliflower into small florets. Add the cauliflower to the water and boil for 4 minutes, or until it is just tender.

6.
Using a slotted spoon, remove the cauliflower from the water and drop it into the ice water.Let it chill for about 3 minutes, drain well, pat dry with paper towels, and set aside.

7.
Prepare another medium bowl of ice water.

8.
Add a pinch of baking soda to the pot of boiling water and drop the Brussels sprouts in. The baking soda helps keep the Brussels sprouts a nice bright green, but don’t add more than a pinch, or they will turn out mushy. Cook them for about 5 minutes, or until they are just tender.

9.
Drain the Brussels sprouts and place them in the bowl of ice water to chill for about 5 minutes. Drain well, pat dry with paper towels, and set aside.

10.
When the squash is cool enough to handle, remove the skin by placing the wedges skin-side down on a cutting board and running a paring knife between the skin and the squash, staying as close to the skin as possible. Cut the squash into ½-inch chunks and place them in large mixing bowl. You should have about 1½ cups of diced squash.

11.
Cut the cores off the Brussels sprouts and break the leaves up with your fingers. Add the leaves and the cauliflower to the mixing bowl with the squash.

12.
Add the fennel and the apple to the rest of the vegetables. Stir to combine them and sprinkle the top with the olives.

13.
Prepare the vinaigrette in a small mixing bowl: whisk together the onion, lemon juice, extra-virgin olive oil, and oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Let the mixture sit for at least 5 minutes to lightly pickle the onion (it will turn bright pink) before dressing the salad.

14.
Toss the vegetables with the vinaigrette and season the salad with salt and pepper.

15.
To serve, cut the feta into 8 equal slices. Spoon the salad into 8 salad bowls and top each salad with a slice of feta.

Ground Beef and Pistachio Kebobs

I learned how to make this dish when I visited Gaziantep, Turkey—famous for both its pistachios and kebobs. Not your average meatball, these kebobs are fun to make and packed full of flavor. Try making them with either lamb or beef, or a combination of both. Typical of Arabic cooking is the binding of meat with itself rather than using egg or bread crumbs the way we do for meatballs. The meat is kneaded until the proteins change, creating a creamy consistency that holds together well on a skewer. Egg whites are added not for binding purposes but to give the kebobs some volume and a lighter texture when cooked.

In Turkey, they cook these kebobs over the grill and not directly on it (see the foil propping method in Grilling Tips on page 100). This way, the meat becomes crispy on the outside and light and airy on the inside without getting charred. If you don’t have metal skewers, you will want to soak bamboo skewers in water for at least 30 minutes before skewering and grilling.

You can remove the kebobs from the skewers and place them directly on the bread to rest; the bread will collect juices from the meat while your guests decide which condiments to sample. I like to serve the kebobs with thin slices of red onion tossed with sumac (Sumac Onions with Parsley Butter, page 98), Nookie’s Pickles (page 280), thick Greek-style yogurt, fresh mint sprigs, pickled hot peppers, chopped fresh tomato, and romaine leaves. Pita or Greek flatbread, traditionally used for gyros, tastes best with this dish.

S
ERVES
4

1 pound ground beef or lamb (85 percent lean)

2 teaspoons Kebob Spice Mix (page 233)

1 teaspoon Aleppo chilies

1 roasted red bell pepper, finely chopped or 2 teaspoons of Turkish red pepper paste (see Resources, page 358)

1 egg white

1 cup toasted and coarsely ground pistachios (see page 91)

Salt to taste

8 skewers

Four 10-inch pitas, cut in half

1 cup red onions with sumac (about 1 onion; page 71, optional)

1 cup Greek-style yogurt or whole-milk plain yogurt

1 cup roughly chopped tomato (about 1 large tomato)

1 cup roughly chopped romaine leaves (about 4 large leaves)

1 cup Nookie’s Pickles (page 280) optional

8 roughly chopped mint leaves

1.
Prepare a charcoal or gas grill (see Grilling Tips, page 100).

2.
Knead the ground meat with the kebob spice, chilies, and red pepper in a standing mixer with a paddle attachment (such as a KitchenAid) on medium speed for 5 minutes, until the meat becomes creamy and a little sticky. If you don’t have a standing mixer, use a food processor fitted with a metal blade, and carefully push the pulse button on and off until the meat becomes smooth. You can also do this by hand, but it will take much longer.

3.
Add the egg white and pistachios and continue to knead the meat with the mixer until the mixture comes together again and resembles a wet dough. I like to pinch off some meat at this point and cook it to test the seasoning. Add salt to taste.

4.
Shape the meat into eight 2-ounce patties or short sausage shapes and press each patty into a skewer. Squeeze and shape the köfte into long, thin meatballs around the skewers. Set aside.