Turkey

When I was younger I had visited Turkey and remember it as a robust country with many culinary delights.   Full of culture and tradition I was really looking forward to cooking Turkey.   I find it ironic in a way that some countries have such a vast cuisine you are not sure where to start or what to make while some countries you struggle to find a few recipes.  Turkey is one of the countries where the possibilities were boundless in a sense.  A delightful mix between European and Middle Eastern influence.  I had planned a big meal however toned it down at the last minute due to time constraints.  I was also having a busy week and the fact that I am writing this one week later when I am supposed to be doing Yemen is testament to that.   The purpose of cooking a different country every week is to have fun and experience a wide variety of cuisine and culture in a limited way.  But sometimes life gets in the way and you got to skip a week here and there.

The Menu

Kuzu Tandir

A simple mixture of lemon, rosemary, bay leaves, allepo chilies and olive oil is all that is needed with this slow roasted lamb.   These are originally made in a pit oven dug into the ground so I replicated this cooking process in my Egg.   Slowly smoked lamb shoulder yielded succulent tender moist meat.  I turned up the heat in the last hour Leto get a little bit of a deeper bark on the meat and that was a final touch that took this dish to the next level.

Roasted Roma Potatoes

This is one of those never miss dishes to make as a side dish.   Slowly roast potatoes with salt, pepper, lemon, home made chicken broth and tomatoes.  The key to this dish is that the last 15 minutes or less the dish should be broiled to caramelize the tomatoes and get rid of any extra moisture.

Limonlu Kareler

Lemon bars as desert.  Even after completely messing up the recipe by switching the amount of sugar that was to be used in the custard with the pie crust it still turned out nice.   So here is a lesson learnt if by mistake you ever use too much sugar in the crust then just use the original crusts sugar quantity in the filling.  I honestly taught after I realized my mistake that this would be one of those absolute fail moments however was really surprised that it was not.   Of course the original or real recipe would be several times better and I might just attempt it again.

As mentioned earlier we are skipping a week this week as I have been too busy to plan Yemen properly.