Oh, Toulouse

Before heading to our friends O&S wedding in Montpellier, we "ex-New Yorker Gang" managed to meet up in South of France to spend 5 days together, between Toulouse, Carcassonne, and Montpellier.

Besides having a lot of fun, we certainly ate and drunk well  (an "orgie" of  foie-gras, duck-confit and cassoulet), but also visited new cities and historical sites, rode a 35km tour around the Canal-du-Midi,  saw a falconry show, played ping-pong and swam in the pool.

Normadie: Green and Organic

This summer again, we had a very nice short stay at my Aunt and Uncle's country house in Normandie, surrounded with green fields, black-white cows, vineyards and farms.

During our stay, my aunt ordered  this wonderful organic basket of seasonal vegetables, that a neighbor harvests and sells to the surrounding houses.

 Normandie being close to the Atlantic and somehow fresh in summertime, its fields offer are known for apples, pears, plums and mirabelle-plums (small and yellowish). As for the vegetable side, our baskets was very representative of what can be easily planted and harvested in the region: potatoes, red and green onions, very very large squash, and a variety of leafy vegetables such as lettuce and fresh herbs

(some Pink to contrast with the surrounding "green")

Antep Usulü...in Paris!

Each time I went back on holiday to Paris, I was happy to bring with me some edible gifts to share with my family and friends. Having thus exhausted the list of  all varieties of Lukum, baklava, helva, dried-fruits, nuts, simit, salty cakes, börek, paskalya, herbal teas,  akide şeker, chocolate candies and badem çikolata.

This time, as everyone was busy preparing and helping for my cousin's wedding, I needed a gift, that could be shared among many persons and more importantly  that could stay fresh as I had no idea when everyone would be available to gather.

 

So, guess what I end-up buying.......Kuru  Patlıcan!

Yes, and I made my very-first  'Antep Usulü Kuru Patlıcan Dolması' (Dried Aubergines Dolmas, Antep style), at my aunt's kitchen, a quite challenging task I must admit as I had to master the flavor, the quantity, the surprise aspect and  not to mention finding my way in someone else kitchen!

 

And here is the proof:

A French wedding.....Menu!

Summer season often rimes with wedding....

 

 After the Turkish Wedding we attended in Istanbul (see previous post), we flew to Paris to attend two other weddings.

The very first one, was my dear cousin Marie-Noele, who added a new "flavor" to our international family :)

The wedding was a typical Parisian wedding held in a Château outside of Paris. As a contrast to the Blue of the Bosphorus in Istanbul, there was all about the Green of the surrounding garden and forest.

The guests' list was quite international and mutli-cultural. And the groom nicely and genuinely thanked in his speach the guests, by asking first the ones who came form Far-East Asia/North Africa/Middle-East to stand-up and to be applaunded by the other guests, then was the turn of  the North and Latin-American guests, then the European guests excluding France and finally it was the guests from France.

It was quite thoughtful indeed as we all cheered and applauded one another. Additionally, it was the bride's sister birthday, so we sang "Happy Birthday" and cheered once more.

As for the menu, French flavors were at their best, matched with delicate wines and a bubbly Champagne!

The garden cocktail had three varieties of  "amuses-bouches" to nibble on:

       - a selection of  warm and meaty samosas, shredded chicken phyllo-triangle...

       - a selection of cold cuts and smoked meat, salmon bouchées and delicate cheese rolls...

       - and a very tasty foie-gras presented with either fig jam, caramelized almonds or mango chutney and beautifully decorated with edible violets flowers

The four-course menu was nicely combined with wines "pour le plaisir du palais", as follows:

- Gambas Marinées en persillade, accompagnées d'un palet de brousse aux deux pistou

(Marinated Gambas-Shrimps with a parsley-based sauce, over a bed of greens seasoned with two types of pistou -basil sauce)

&

Vin Blanc. White Wine: Bordeaux AOC - Château de La Chèze 2009

- Filet de canette en basse température, accompagné de légumes et de champignons des bois, jus perlé

(Filet of duck cooked at low temperature, accompanied with forest vegetables and mushrooms with their juice)

&

Vin Rouge/Red Wine: Bordeaux AOC - Château Angélique 2009

- Fromage affinés à souhait à l'anglaise

(Selection of Cheeses)

- Assiette gourmande  (trio chocolat, framboisier pistaché)

(Sweet delicacies: Trio of chocolate and Raspberry-Pistachio Pastry)

&

Champagne Blanc/ White Champagne: Brut réserve de la maison Taittinger

The final note of the evening was the Wedding Cake, which was a wonderfully arranged 'Tour of Ladurée Macaroons' in all the most delicious flavors: chocolate, vanilla, rose, pistachio, caramel ....(I was too busy enjoying them so I forgot to take a picture).

Wishing the beautiful bride and the handsome groom all the Happiness, from:

Oups I ate some "Shark"!

On a hot July day and after an afternoon wandering in Kadiköy Fish market. I decided to cook some fish for dinner.  To keep up with my reputation of always trying things I have no clue about, I bought some shrimps and an unknown fish called "Keller" from Mersin Coasts.

I discovered the fish is 'Squatina Squatina' (Wikipedia entry: Squatina Squatina), a relative to Shark, yummy! The texture was somehow firm and chewy with a flavor reminiscent to Lobster (or at least for me).

The menu end-up being quite simple:

• a nice summery salad with tomatoes, greens and scallions
• homemade fries
• shrimps in a thick tomato- sauce generously flavored with bay leaves
• grilled "Keller" fish with a homemade Aioli sauce

The Aioli sauce was too garlicky unfortunately. I actually used some "Ail violet de France" a very fresh and pungent garlic, with large cloves that my Mom sent me. The recipe was taken from one of my favorite culinary book collection as seen below:

Cooking halfway through:

 

 

A Turkish Wedding.....Menu!

Two weeks ago, we were invited to my husband's high-school friend wedding.

As a "typical Istanbul" wedding, it was held in a beautiful mansion-type on the Asian side overlooking the Bosphorus. The view was absolutely amazing!

The guests matched somehow the upscale setting and table decoration. After the civil wedding part, we were invited to our tables, "sumptuously" decorated for the occasion. Oh and please please please, excuse the bad quality of the pictures as it was obviously night-time and I took the pictures with my Iphone.

The funny thing was that the guests at our table were surprised by me taking pictures of the food :) So I explained..." well I write a food blog....oh and I am a foreigner..." (the second part of my sentence was more satisfactory it seemed).

The four-course menu included a nice variety of dishes and flavors, although it seemed quite "standard" as a  wedding menu  (so to speak):

Saray Lezzetleri Tabağı: üçgen peynir, çerkez tavuğu, somon, enginar dolması, fava, domates patlıcan salatasi

(Palace-style plate: triangle of Turkish white-cheese, Circassian walnut-chicken spread, artichoke dolma, broad-bean purée, tomato-aubergine salad)

***

Ispanakli, tulum peynirli ve cevizli vol au vant, domates sos eşliğinde

(Spinach, Tulum-cheese and walnut vol-au-vent with tomato sauce (typo error in "vol au vant")

***

Kuzu Tandır, iç pilav, ve beğendi ile

(Lamb Roast with Pilav and aubergine purée)

***

Hurmalı Incir Tatlısı

(Date and Fig Dessert)

Unfortunately, I only thought about taking pictures after the second course. The first course, the "Palace-Style Plate" was a nice assortment of mezze in small portions. All were quite tasty except for the tomato-aubergine salad which had a strange smoky flavor that I didnt' quite like.

The second course, was the spinach vol-au-vent, (wikipedia entry vol-au-vent, which explains the name reference to the crispiness and lightness of this puff pastry,  that can be "blown by the wind", nice no?). 

I liked the Tulum cheese-spinach-walnut stuffing but the dish needed more of the tomato sauce, as overall this entry was a bit dry.

The third-course and main dish, was the traditional Kuzu Tandir (TR) - Lamb Roast (EN) -  Gigot d'Agneau (FR) - خروف محمر (AR).

A typical wedding meal in both Turkish and Arab cultures. The meat was tender to perfection, although slightly fatty but it is lamb so......

The accompaniment was a perfect Pilav rice with black-currant and roasted pine nuts. In addition,  one of my favorite Turkish recipe Patlıcan Beğendi. This latter consists of roasted eggplant, that are skinned, seeded off and pureed. Then a béchamel sauce is prepared with flour and butter, and mixed to the aubergine purée.

Finally, the last course was surprisingly delicious, as as I told my husband "this is MY type of dessert". A perfectly sweetened and smooth mix of dried figs and dates, topped with vanilla ice cream, and an almond-flavored cream.

As for the pictures, as we say in French "je me suis bien amusée", I had indeed quite of lot of fun taking different pictures as the spot lights were changing colors....Disco!

An enjoyable evening indeed, with nice food and drinks, good music and dance. 

Wishing E & D all the happiness!

Summer Time, Summer Time

It is hot again and  I must say, I like it!

So to freshen-up, here are three nice recipes:

- My father's recipe, homemade frozen strawberry sorbet

Recipe: 

Blend about 500g of strawberries, with juice of  half lemon (or less), sugar to taste, and 1-2 fresh mint leaves (optional)

In order to obtain a smooth texture, do the following: blend the sorbet - freeze it - blend  it - freeze it :)

- a homemade fresh-mint lemonade

Recipe: completely up to you, as long as you mix freshly squeezed lemons, water, fresh mint and sugar then refrigerate and serve cold!

- a homemade peach flavored ice-tea

Recipe: very important to start with boiling water in order to infuse the tea, drop some peach slices and sweeten with some sugar or preferably some Üzüm Pekmez  ("grape molasse", my ultimate discovery in Turkey and absolutely loved ingredient)

Cool down to room temperature (by letting the tea infuse for 4-5 min max) then refrigerate before serving cold.