Turkey: 3rd Stop on the Culinary Tour

Cappadocia (known for its caves and rock formations made out of lava)






Here's a selection of some of the yummy food we ate during the trip:









When I saw that Joan of Foodalogue was including Turkey as one of the stops along the culinary tour, I was really pleased to have a little nudge to try a Turkish-themed dinner.

I picked out everything middle-eastern looking in my house and dressed up the table with it:


I still have wine that we brought home from Turkey (as I mentioned in a previous post, I hoard specialty food products). But, I couldn't justify not opening a bottle of it for this dinner. This bottle comes from Tursan, which is located in Ürgüp (pronounced something like ur-guhp, with a rolled "r"), in the Cappadocia Region.

It's a pretty sharp wine. I left it in the decanter for a while, to let it aerate. But, I think that's just the way it tastes.

As an appetizer, we had za'atar pita with hummus along with cashews and almonds.



For the main course, we ate a pomegranate salad, kind of like this one.


For the rest of the main, I really lucked out with finding two great Turkish recipes:

Turkish Chicken
(source)

8 bone-in chicken thighs, (about 3 1/2 pounds total), skin removed, trimmed
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup low-fat plain yogurt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
2 teaspoons hot paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons dried mint
1/2 teaspoon salt

Place chicken in a large bowl. Add lemon juice and toss to coat. Whisk yogurt, garlic, ginger, paprika, mint and salt in a separate bowl. Pour the yogurt mixture over the chicken and stir to coat.



Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 24 hours.


Position rack in upper third of oven; preheat broiler. Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard marinade). Place the chicken on a broiler rack and broil until browned on top, about 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 400°F and bake until the chicken is juicy and just cooked through, about 15 minutes longer. (Thigh meat will appear dark pink, even when cooked through.) Serve immediately.


Turkish Rice
(source)

1 bud garlic, minced
3 tablespoons olive oil or salad oil
3 tablespoons shredded cashews or pine nuts
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 cup uncooked rice (I used long grain rice)
1 quart chicken or veal broth, or cube or canned consomme (I used chicken broth)

1. Start oven, set at Moderate, 350° F.
2. Saute the garlic in the oil 3 minutes. Add the nuts and heat 1 minute only.
3. Remove from the heat, add the salt, pepper and rice. Stir to mix thoroughly, then add the broth or bouillon. Pour into a casserole, and cover the dish.
4. Bake 45 minutes, or until the rice is tender.