Feta Cheese Dip with Cumin

Another great dip! Serve with Turkish pide or flat Lebanese bread.

1 cup feta cheese
2 tablesp Greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teasp dried peppermint flakes
1/4 teasp redpepper flakes
1/4 teasp ground cumin

Mash feta cheese with a fork. Crush garlic cloves and add it to cheese together with the rest of the ingredients. Stir well, place on a plate and decorate with extra mint and redpepper flakes. Serve cold.

ROASTED HAZELNUTS

For a while now, I have been making Egyptian Dukkah (a seed and nut-based spice mixture) at home, and the recipe calls for roasted hazelnuts. Whilst dukkah is not Turkish, roasted hazelnuts are very common in Turkey.

One of the food specialty shops in Turkey is the Kuruyemişçi. These shops sell nuts and dried fruits, displayed behind glass counters, and sold by the gram, filled in paper pags. Children grow eating nuts, especially sunflower seeds, which one has to deshell (requiring good mouth and hand coordination, and dexterity). Having grown up in Turkey, I am often amazed to find out how home-grown Australians are into lollies (Jaffas in particular), but nuts are served often with "drinks" rather than being considered as snacks.

My favourite nuts are walnuts (hence my nickname ceviz), and hazelnuts. Having discovered that the roasted hazelnuts I prepared for dukkah were no different to kuruyemisci-bought ones, I now roast extra hazelnuts, which I fill in a jar for (healthy-) snacking.

I should also add that hazelnuts are grown in the north, the Black Sea coast of Turkey. A recent event regarding hazelnut growers led to Turkish foodbloggers to join hands, and compile over a hundred hazelnut recipes on a website called Fındık Fındık (hazelnuts hazelnuts). The recipes are now in the process of being published as a book!

To roast hazelnuts:

Spread any amount of hazelnuts in a flat oven tray. Roast in 180 degrees for 5-8 minutes keeping an eye not to burn them. Once slightly browned, remove the tray. Wrap hazelnuts in a teatowel while warm, and rub them so that the brown skin falls off. Once cool, store in an airtight container.

Try mixing equal amounts of hazelnuts and dried white mulberries (or walnuts and mulberries).

Hummus (Humus, Tahini Chickpea Dip)

Hummus is among my favourite dips, as I love chickpeas. The homemade version is almost always superior to the shop-bought ones, so it is worth the effort, especially if you precook chickpeas instead of using tinned ones. I precook dried chickpeas, and freeze them in small portions, some of which I use for hummus and the rest in chickpea dishes (sometimes vegeterian and other times with diced lamb or chicken).

This tahini dip is well-known in the Middle East, and more common in the southeastern parts of Turkey, bordering Irak, Iran and Syria. In fact, the southeastern Turkish kitchen has more in common with the Middle Eastern kitchen than it has with the western regions of Turkey. The recipe below comes from Abla Amad's Lebanese Kitchen. This recipe makes enough to use over two days. Do not hesitate to adjust the amount of lemon juice v. tahini according to your liking. I sometimes use less tahini to reduce the amount of oil in the dip.

Try spreading it on a piece of bread, and lining it with a slice of cheddar cheese.
Try sprinkling it with dukkah or za'tar.

1 1/2 cups dried chick peas (or 3 cups canned chick peas)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 teasp salt
1 clove garlic
1 1/4 cups tahini
2/3 cup lemon juice
4 tablesp water (optional)
1/2 teasp paprika
1 tablesp fresh parsley
1 teasp olive oil

1. Cover chick peas with water, add bicarb of soda and soak overnight (I normally don't add bicarb of soda, which is said to cut the cooking time by half). They should double in volume. Make sure that the bowl is reasonably large, as the chick peas expand considerably when soaked (Use more chick peas, say 1/2 kilo, if you wish to freeze the rest in smaller portions).

2. Next day, drain chick peas, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or until chick peas are very soft. Drain.

3. Crush salt and garlic together in a food processor, add cooked chick peas and blend until smooth, gradually adding tahini and lemon juice. When blending, stop to combine mixture and scrape down the sides. Add water if you prefer a thinner consistency.

4. To serve, place humus on a small platter or in a bowl. Sprinkle with paprika, arrange parsley around the edges and pour olive oil over.

Muhammara (Fenugreek Dip)

There are several recipes for muhammara, but my favourite is my mum's. She uses fenugreek, which is worth sourcing if only for this recipe. I know some people are partial to fenugreek, but noone I know has shown dislike to this dip. Best to make it a few hours ahead.

Serve it with another yoghurt based dip such as the carrot or the beetroot dip.

2 slices of two-day old bread
1 teaspoon red pepper paste
1 tablesp tomato paste
1 tablesp dried mint
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of lemon
1/2 teasp fenugreek powder, increase according to taste
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-3 tablesp walnuts, crushed
2 tablesp feta cheese (optional, or parmesan)

Wet bread. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. Drain the bread and squeeze to get rid of the water, and add to the bowl. Mix all ingredients until the bread takes the colour of the paste. According to taste, you may increase the amount of fenugreek.

P.S. You may use mashed roasted red pepper instead of red pepper paste.

TURKISH CARROT DIP

This dip is so easy to make and so refreshing. It is made with raw carrot, but there is also another version that uses cooked carrot. I prefer the raw version, I like the crunchiness of the carrot pieces in the dip.

1 carrot, washed and peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
6 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
a pinch of salt

Cut the carrot into a few chunks, and put in the food processor along with the clove of garlic. Process for about a minute, ending up with tiny pieces of carrot. Transfer to a bowl. Add the yoghurt and salt, and mix. You may adjust the amount of yoghurt to your liking. Sprinkle with dried mint (or other herb), if you wish.

Serve with Turkish pide/ thin Lebanese bread/ water crackers.

This dip accompanies the babaganoush dip perfectly. It can also be served as a side dish with the red kidney beans in olive oil.

Tahini Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghanoush)

Baba Ghanoush is one of the most famous dips of Lebanese Kitchen, well known to Melbournians, and it is yummy. It is also well-known in the Southeastern Turkey. In other, particularly western parts of Turkey, this dip is made with olive oil instead of tahini. Both are equally nice, and different enough to try. The tahini one is nice as a dip, whereas the olive oil one is better served as a sidedish especially with fish.

The recipe is from Abla Amad's Lebanese Kitchen.

1 kilo eggplants (aubergine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
2/3 cup tahini
1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil; sumak; dried mint, to garnish

1. Roast the eggplants on the stovetop until black blisters appear, turning occasionally. Abla suggests that you peel the eggplants under cold water. I place them on a plate and peel them with a sharp knife. Dice the eggplant.

2. Add the eggplant pieces, garlic, tahini, lemon juice and salt together into the food processor, and mix for about two minutes. Make sure that the tahini is stirred well into the dip.

3. Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle sumak and dried mint. Or serve with fresh diced tomatoes and European parsley.

Serve it with Turkish pide. It goes well with the beetroot dip.

Beetroot Dip

This dip is available at any Turkish restaurant in Melbourne. I have never seen its recipe in a Turkish cookbook. Nor have I come across with the dip in Turkey! I got the recipe from a friend two years ago, and since then, have made on several occasions. I use tinned beetroot, and have also noted the recipe on one of the tins. It is very easy to make and so tasty. Great with Turkish pide or water crackers, and goes well with hummus.

This recipe is for fresh beetroots.

3 beetroots
5 tablespoon of Greek yoghurt
1 clove garlic
a pinch of salt

Boil the beetroots (or cook in microwave oven with two spoonfuls of water, covered for four minutes). Let it cool. (If using tinned beetroot, drain the liquid, and proceed).

Mix the beetroots and the garlic clove in the blender.

Place the mixture into a bowl, add salt and yoghurt.

Sprinkle dried mint and drizzle with olive oil for serving.

P.S. Last time, I added a teaspoonful cayenne pepper. It gave a nice bite to it.

The Turkish recipe is here.