Melt-in-your Mouth Cheesy Poğaças (Peynirli Çıtır Poğaça)

Poğaça, a kind of savory pastry / bread, is a traditional baked good in Turkey and Eastern European+Balkanic countries that crossed paths with Ottoman culture and cuisine. Poğaça, pronounced as poa-cha, is the indispensable part of afternoon teas or on-the-go breakfasts when you grab your poğaça from your neighborhood patisserie on your way to work or school. Usually poğaças are made in half-moon shape. Several pieces of round dough, 3-5 inch in diameter, would be filled with stuffing (variations on stuffing are numerous: feta cheese, potato, ground meat, spinach, cheddar, onion, etc) and folded in to two for the half-moon shape, and sprinkled with sesame or nigella seeds. 

There are hundreds of different ways of making poğaças, with or without yeast, with or without meat, in rounds or almond shapes, etc. This particular recipe requires vinegar to have that delicious melt-in-your-mouth taste last a couple of days after they're baked.

makes ~24 poğaças

1 1/2 sticks butter (~200gr) at room temperature

2 eggs (save one of the yolks for brushing the tops) 

1/3 cup vinegar (red wine, apple)

1/3 cup olive oil

1,5 tsp salt

a heaping 1/2 cup yogurt

2 tsp baking powder

3 to 3 and half cups of flour

1/2 cup white/feta cheese for the stuffing

1/4 or 1/3 cup finely chopped parsley

sesame and/or nigella seeds for the top

-Mix all the ingredients except for one egg yolk, feta/white cheese, parsley and seeds.

-This is going to be a soft yet a non sticky dough. 

-Divide it into 24-25 parts. You can make them bigger or smaller.

-Roll them between your palms into balls first and then flatten them into a circle.

-Mash the white cheese with the back of a fork. Add parsley and mix well. 

-Place ~1-1,5 tsp cheese filling in the middle of the circles and close them by bringing the edges together to form a almond-like shape. Place on a lined oven tray.

-Finish forming all the poğaças and brush them all with egg yolk. 

-Sprinkle sesame seeds or nigella seeds or both on top. 

-Bake in a preheated oven at 390F for 25-30 minutes until golden.

-Let cool for a couple of minutes if you can and dig in!

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Crunchy Tahini Cookies (Tahinli Çıtır Kurabiye)

Let's start the new year on a sweet note. This "cookie" that is made with baklava phyllos is relatively new in Turkish dessert scene, yet it quickly became irresistible. The cookies are like dry baklava, less sweet and with tahini gorgeousness. My mom made them for the first time more than a decade ago when they had come to visit us and I remember how challenging it was to find tahini in US. Now, fortunately, even Trader Joe's has them as a staple. Now mom has to make them, trays and trays of them, whenever we see each other. I baked tens of these as gifts in lieu of traditional Christmas cookies this year; I got many compliments and recipe requests.   










1 box of phyllo or filo dough, thawed according to instructions on the box (there are many brands and they all usually have ~18-20 sheets)
1 stick (113 gr.) butter, melted
1-1 1/2 cup tahini
1 - 1 1/2 cup sugar
1,5 cup finely chopped walnuts 
powdered sugar to decorate

There's nothing written in stone when it comes to how much of these ingredients you need. You can use more or less of any one of them.

-Take 4 sheets from the phyllo box and cover the rest of the sheets with a kitchen towel to prevent drying. Place first sheet a dry surface long side facing you. Brush with melted butter to cover almost all the surface. 
-Place the second sheet on top and butter again. -Repeat with the 3rd sheet as well. 
-Place the 4th sheet on top and brush generously with tahini. If you prefer you can use a spoon to scatter tahini as well. 
-The next step is to sprinkle sugar and you can make this cookie/ roll as sweet as you wish. Sprinkle 3-4 tbsp sugar or a handful of sugar evenly.
-On top of sugar, sprinkle finely chopped walnuts ~1/3 cup. 
-Starting from the side close to you, start rolling the stuffed phyllo. Phyllo could be hard to work with; it might tear here and there, but it is fine. Just roll. 
-Repeat the process until you finish all the sheets. (If you have a 18 sheet box, cut the last two sheets in two and make shorter rolls.) 
-Once you have all the rolls, put them on a cutting board side by side. Using a long sharp knife--it really needs to be sharp--cut ~ 1.5 inch/ 4-5 cm long pieces. Some people go for a baklava feel and cut them diagonally. You can do that as well. When you are cutting them it will feel like you're flattening them with pressure; no worries, they will bounce back once baked. 
-If you have left over butter, you can brush the tops gently. 
-Bake in a preheated oven at 360 F (180 C) for ~15 minutes or until they turn golden brown. Be careful not to burn them.      
-Once they cool down, sprinkle them with powdered sugar. 
Bon appétit!

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Baklava

Of all the sweets that come from Turkey baklava is probably the most famous and delicious. Although there is no consensus on the history of the dessert, it is believed that baklava descended from an Assyrian dessert consisting of dried fruit in between two layers of pastry. There are numerous debates about the "original origin" of baklava, most famously between Speros Vryonis, professor of Greek and Byzantine history, and Charles Perry, food historian and journalist. While Vryonis claims the dessert has Byzantine roots, Perry insists on its Turkish/Turkic origin.

Regardless of its origin, baklava, a closer version to the one we know today (with multiple layers of thin pastry), came from Damascus to the Turkish city of Antep (Gaziantep), and from Antep to the rest of Anatolia. By the end of its journey it came to perfection at the Ottoman palace kitchens. It became so prominent in the palace tradition that by the end of 17th century a ceremony called "baklava alayi (parade)," during which janissaries walked to the palace on the 15th day of Ramadan to fetch trays of baklava--one for every ten soldiers--  prepared by the palace cooks, was already established.

Today baklava is still a specialty and sold at stores that specializes only on baklava. In these baklava stores one can find different versions of layered thin pastry desserts with different ingredients and different cuts. Turkish baklava is made by very thin layers of pastry made from wheat starch and a sugary syrup that does not contain honey or spices.

Antep being the city that spread baklava to the rest of Turkey preserves its prestige over the dessert. Almost all baklava store owners/chefs in Istanbul or elsewhere claim to be from Antep, the baklava and pistachio capital of Turkey.

Among the Turks the biggest debate over baklava seems to be the stuffing: some like walnut and some pistachio, and it can be a heated one. However, the hazelnut baklava from the Black Sea region is also noteworthy.

Being totally on the walnut camp, I will give you an easy-to-make walnut baklava recipe that you can make with store bought phyllo dough.























1 box store bought thin phllyo dough (every brand has different number of sheets in box. As long as you have ~20 sheets, it fine)
2 1/3 sticks of butter (yep, you read that right!)
3 cups of walnut, chopped (not coarse and not minced)

for the syrup
3 cups of water
3 cups of sugar (if you like it really sweet go for 3 and a half cup)
2 tbsp lemon juice (to prevent crystallization of sugar)





























-Thaw the phyllo dough following the instructions on the package.
-Grease the baklava tray. The tray can be slightly smaller than phyllo sheets.
-Melt the butter.
-Place a layer of phyllo sheet at the bottom and drizzle 1 tbsp butter on top.
-Spread the half of the phyllo sheets on the tray, buttering them one by one.
-Sprinkle the ground walnuts on top of the middle layer.
-Cover the walnuts with the other half of phyllo sheets, again buttering every single one.
-When the sheets are finished, with the help of a knife push the edges inwards into the tray.

Now the hardest part: cutting the baklava. Baklava has to be cut before it is baked. The most traditional cut is the diamond cut. But you can go for triangles or simple squares.  
-For diamond cut. First find the sharpest knife in your kitchen and cut baklava into 4 or 5 equal pieces lengthwise. Then cut it diagonally at 1 inch intervals.
-Drizzle the remaining butter on top.
-Bake baklava in a preheated oven at 350F until golden brown.

-For the syrup, mix sugar and water and cook stirring constantly until sugar dissolves. First bring to a boil then let it simmer on low for ~20-25 minutes.
-Add lemon juice 10 minutes before you take it off the stove.
-Turn it off, and let it sit for 15-20 minutes, until it comes down to room temperature.

IMPORTANT: The syrup should be cooled down to room temperature and Baklava has to be hot out of the oven when you pour the syrup. So, you can make the syrup beforehand and let it cool down.

-Pour the syrup on top slowly, one cup or scoop at a time and let it soak. Wait at least 1 but better 2 hours to cool and absorb the syrup.

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Flaky Spinach Pie (Ispanaklı Tepsi Böreği)

After gathering courage to make my mom's zucchini börek, I now am familiar with using phllyo dough for other various börek recipes. As I mentioned before börek is a common term for all pastries that use Turkish yufka i.e. phllyo dough. Depending on the filling, the shape and sometimes the region the term börek is preceded by a descriptive noun: kabak böreği (zucchini börek), ıspanak böreği (spinach börek), kıymalı börek (börek with ground meat) or su böreği (water/boiled börek), tepsi böreği (layered börek) etc.

Spinach börek is definitely a nation-wide favorite. It's made for and served at afternoon tea gatherings; sold by street vendors or patisseries early in the morning for breakfast; or can be a whole meal for lunch or dinner served with a yogurt beverage, ayran, or coke, but 95% of the time with tea.

Although spinach börek can be made in different styles such as bundles, rolls, or spiral, the most common version is layered, tepsi in Turkish which literary translates as "tray."




















20 phyllo dough sheets (1 packet usually has 40)
1 lb fresh or frozen spinach
1/2 cup white cheese or feta
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/3 cup olive oil (I prefer olive oil, but others can be used too)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (optional)
black seeds (nigella seeds)















-Thaw phyllos according to the instructions on the package.
-Put fresh spinach in a bowl. Sprinkle a little bit of salt. Rub spinach leaves with your fingers until wilted. Drain excessive water. (If you're using frozen spinach, let it thaw first. Squeeze to drain excessive water. Sprinkle salt and rub spinach leaves with your fingers. Drain excessive water once again)
-Add feta, black pepper, and crushed red pepper to spinach and mix well.
-In another bowl beat the eggs and add milk and olive oil. Mix well.
-Grease an 8 X 11.5 pan (or in a pan that's approximately the same size with phyllo sheets)
-Layer half of phyllo dough sheets in the pan by brushing every single layer generously with the egg+milk+oil mixture.
-On the 10th phyllo sprinkle spinach mix.
-Cut the 1 tbsp butter in to small pieces and sprinkle on spinach.
-Keep layering the rest of phyllos by brushing each layer with the mixture.
-After putting down the last phyllo, pour whatever is left from the egg+milk+oil mixture on top.
-Sprinkle the pie with black (nigella) seeds or sessame seeds or neither.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 390F for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown.
-Wait for 10-15 minutes and then cut into square pieces.

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Zucchini Börek (Kabak Böreği)

Börek is a common name in Turkey and neighboring regions that were influenced by Ottoman cuisine for a pie made with flaky pastry: phyllo or yufka. Börek can be made in different forms (bundles, rolls, rounds, squares, etc.) and with different fillings (eggplant, ground meat, milk, potato, spinach, and white cheese).

This particular recipe is my mom's signature dish. This is the dish that I asked her to make every time I went back home from boarding school, college or from the States, and that my friends ask her to make whenever they come over for tea, for dinner, or for a visit. I haven't made zucchini börek before simply because it is hard to find Turkish yufka here and phyllo doughs that you can find in the stores are too thin (harder to deal with), starchier (fit better for baklava than börek), and come in rectangles rather than rounds as we have them in Turkey. However, for the first time I haven't been to Turkey over a year now. I decided that I couldn't wait for another year for zucchini börek.



~30 sheets of phyllo dough=1 box (since they're really thin, a couple will be lost along the way)

for the filling
2-3 zucchinis, grated approximately 4 cups of grated zucchini
3 eggs
1/2 cup finely chopped dill
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh mint or 3 tbsp dry mint flakes
1/2 cup crumbled Turkish white cheese or feta
1 tbsp paprika (or Hungarian paprika)
1 tbsp or less black pepper
salt (depending on how salty the cheese is)
1 tsp spicy red pepper flakes (optional)

for brushing phyllos
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup plain yogurt (nonfat, reduced, or whole)

-Thaw frozen phyllo as indicated on the package.
-Mix well all the ingredients for the filling in a bowl. Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
-It will be a juicy mixture. Squeeze the mixture and pour that excessive juice into a smaller bowl. Add 3 tbsp olive oil and 1/2 cup yogurt into the juice and mix well. You will use this to brush phyllos.
-Place a phyllo, wide side facing you, on the counter. Brush it with the mixture and put another phyllo on top and brush it, too. Since phyllos are too thin, it's better to use two at a time).
-Place filling ~one seventh of zucchini filling on the long side of phyllo and roll up to make a long cigar.
-Grease ~ 11 X 13 or ~11 X 11 oven tray.
-Hold one end of the long cigar and coil roll around to form a spiral shape as in the picture above.
-Repeat brushing, filling, rolling, and coiling until there's no more filling.
-Pour whatever juice left in the brushing and filling bowls on the börek.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 380-390 F until golden brown. Approximately 50 minutes.
-Cut into triangle pie slices. Serve with tea or soda for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

It is not a common practice throughout Turkey, but where I come from, Thrace, we love to eat our savory börek by dipping it into jam, especially into cherry jam.

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Puff Pastry Bundle (Üçgen Milföy Börek)

Börek is a general name for phyllo pastry filled with various things most common of which are feta cheese, ground meat, potato, and spinach. It's usually easy to find phyllo dough in Turkey since there's a yufkacı, phyllo dough store, in every neighborhood. However, if it's a Sunday or a vacation day when yufka places are closed or if it's an emergency (an unexpected guest for tea) or if you're out of Turkey where it's hard to find phyllo dough, then you have puff pastry. They're easy to handle; just follow the instructions on the package to thaw and bake them. You can fold them into squares, rectangles, or triangles. The choice is yours.

I made these puff pastry bundles for tea time and used two different stuffing: black olive and feta cheese.


























2 square sheets of puff pastry
1 egg yolk
black seeds

black olive stuffing
1/3 cup pitted black olives
1 roasted red pepper
1 small tomato, diced
1 green onion, chopped finely
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, chopped finely
1 tsp pepper flakes (optional)

-Coarsely blend the olives and roasted red pepper in a food processor.
-Add the rest of the ingredients and mix.

feta cheese stuffing
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 tbsp fat leaf parsley, chopped finely
1 tbsp dill, chopped finely
1 tsp pepper flakes

-Smash feta with the back of a fork.
-Mix with parsley, dill, and pepper flakes.














For triangles, I divided each puff pastry sheet into 9 equal squares. I filled first 9 squares with olive stuffing and folded them into bundles. Brushed them with beaten egg yolk and put black seeds on top to tell them apart from the feta ones. I filled the other 9 squares with feta stuffing, again folded them into bundles, and brushed the tops with egg yolk.
Bake them at 400F until golden brown.

This recipe with flat leaf parsley and dill is perfect for tea time as well as breakfast, and also for Weekend Herb Blogging which was founded and is hosted by Kalyn of famous Kalyn's Kitchen.

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Turkish Feta-Potato Rolls (Fırında Sigara Böreği)

Sigara Böreği literally means "cigarette pastry" in Turkish and they are usually deep fried. However, I didn't want to have a heavy snack, so instead I baked them with instructions from my mom.

Yufka, Turkish filo dough, is not as thin as the Greek one that you can find frozen at the stores here in States; it is usually round 15-20 inches in diameter. It is not easy to find Turkish filo dough here, but the Greek one is too thin and delicate for me to handle. So I decided to go online; the Turkish filo dough I used for these cigarette pastries is available at Tulumba.

1 pack of Turkish triangle filo dough (there were 28 pieces)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp yogurt
2 eggs (put aside one egg yolk to brush the tops)

for stuffing
2 medium size potatoes, peeled and boiled
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/3 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper (optional)

black seeds
sesame seeds

-Mash the potato, feta, parsley, and spices with the back of a fork (you can use only potato or feta for stuffing. you don't need to salt the stuffing if you'll use feta, but if not, make sure you salt it)
-Mix olive oil, yogurt, and 2 eggs(-1 egg yolk; we're saving one egg yolk for brushing). Put one layer of filo dough and brush with the mixture. Put the second one on top and brush it again (not to have dry pastries, we need two layers of filo dough wetted with oily yogurt sauce). Place one spoonful of stuffing on the wide side of filo dough. Fold the sides and roll. (Wet the tiny end with the yoogurty sauce if it doesn't stick) Place them on a greased oven tray.
-After you roll all of them, beat the egg yolk that you set aside. Brush it on top of rolls and sprinkle sesame or black seeds, or both.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F for 20-30 minutes until they're golden brown.


























If you want to try them deep fried, you don't need the olive oil+yogurt+egg sauce. Take only one layer of filo dough, put the stuffing, roll, and deep fry it in a ligther oil like vegetable, corn, or canola oil until golden brown. ( Wet the tiny end of filo dough with water to stick) Place on a paper towel to soak excessive oil.

These pastries are good for breakfast or/and with tea. They're good for storing for emergencies, too. Just put them in the freezer seperately until frozen, then gather them in a bag/box until they're needed.

I don't know if you like savory and sweet things together, but you should try dipping your cigarette pastry in any kind of jam (my favorite is cherry), which is, I guess, a very Thracian thing to do in Turkey.

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