Ekinacea-Take One Everyday

Why do we need to eat at teatime? 

There is something special about teatime. It is a completely unnecessary mid-day meal. The foods associated with it takes eating just over the top. That is not what you are supposed to eat at that point in the day. Yet the combination of offerings different depending on the location, the female and the gossip heavy environment make this unnecessary hour a must. I used to enjoy these mid-day engagements. The way in which I got to enjoy these in earlier age was when I accepted the invitations of family members. Consisting of female family members who did not work, my mother huffed and puffed at the prospect of her only day that she did not work doing something with her distant family. She also did not find the conversation topics to be all that interesting. It was different for me as I both enjoyed the offerings different in every house hold coupled with the latest news from the family; who was cheating on who, whose kid was a bit too old to get married, who joined a cult and what did the cult required them to do (all real life conversation topics from family gatherings by the way) Some members of the family were cake makers. The cake makers know how to make their cake rise. My favorite cakes are the ones who are fluffy yet moist. Some make boreks and lentil meatballs. I never liked the ones who tried to be inventive. This is an hour whose food shall not be changed.

Due to changing conditions of health and the need to work, this is a meal I can no longer indulge in - unless on special occasions. Still someone who keeps me on the loop is Sedef Iybar, an amazing cook whose cakes are to die for. Unlike many bakers, she does not keep measurements but can bake from whatever is around the house. Her cakes are always delicious. One inventive cake I remember is the one we made at Lake Placid with mastic and lime. If you speak Turkish click here for her recipes. I am sure she will have an English site up soon as well.  She enjoys this hour and is a great friend to gossip with whilst the cake bite gets moister with the sip from our teas.

Below are four recipes that I associate with tea-hour. All four can easily be re-purposed as Sunday breakfast dishes. Each has a story as well. (so will all the recipes here)

This is what the pogaca looks like when properly filled!

Pogaca

Making pogaca is a sign of home-sickness. When in Turkey you can buy amazing pogaca from a store. When away it is not as easily available. There is a distinct taste to the home-made version. When done properly it brings the place missed when consuming this delightful pastry. 

Ingredients

3.5 cups flour

1 cup full-fat yoghurt

1 cup vegetable oil

2-3 teaspoons baking powder

2 eggs  + 1 egg yoke

1 teaspoon salt

If you have it a bit of black or regular sesame to sprinkle on top

Filling

A combo of crumbled feta + chopped parsley + dill

If you want to be inventive red pepper flakes and scallions can also be added

Mix the above ingredient for the dough. If you have a KitchenAid just add all and let it mix w the dough hook. Otherwise do it with your hand leaving the flour to the last. Once you have a slightly stick dough- first set your oven to 350-375 F (180 C) - preheat- take a baking pan and brush it with oil. Now you have a choice- if you are lazy you can throw in the filling materials and mix the dough. If you do so make small egg shapes and slightly press and place them in your pan. If you are not you take slightly larger than wallnut pieces into your palm-- move the dough around and extend it to one side put your filling and close the other half on top. Put these individual pieces onto the pan. After you are done with all (about 20-25 pogaca with these ingredients) brush them with the egg yolk. Sprinkle the top with black sesame and sesame.

Bake for 25-30 minutes. Watch your own. Little soft on the center- golden on top you are ready to go.

Yoghurt cake is very pretty when served with berries and creme

French Yoghurt Cake

In the lookout for the easiest cake ever and the healthiest cake ever? It is not the healthiest cake really but you can claim that it is as it takes no butter (instead yoghurt + olive oil) Great to serve with fresh berries. I saw this on a website and made it a bunch of times. The best thing about this cake is you mix all ingredients in one bowl. Whisk or mix well if you want your cake to rise.

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups full fat yoghurt

2/3 cup olive oil

1 1/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon (optional) orange or almond extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

PInch of freshly ground nutmeg

Preheat oven 350 (170C). Grease your pan. First whisk yoghurt, olive oil, sugar, eggs, vanilla. Then add flour, baking soda, salt. Whisk well until no lumps. Pour it into a round cake pan. Bake for 50-0 minutes. The last 10 minutes cover the top with foil so that the top does not turn brown.

I also make a lime cream that you can serve this cake with and that is simply

1 cup heavy cream

2 tablespoon conf. sugar

2 lime's zest

mix until the cream is before stiff. Goes great also with berries.

Lentil Meatballs 

I have lentil meatballs in my fridge often. Good for any occasion. Vegan/vegetarian. These are some I made recently.

A unique teatime and all day around recipe- very healthy as well. A relative, my mother's cousin's wife whatever that makes us would make these so perfectly and bring it to any teatime she attended. I awaited her arrival to down 4-5 of these when no one was looking.

Ingredients

1 cup lentil or 2 cups lentil (ratio is 1 cup lentil to 1/2 cup bulgur but you can up it)
1/2 cup bulgur or 1 cup bulgur
1/2 cup olive oil.
1 mid size white onion chipped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp pepper paste (Turkish style) -- if you do not have this nevermind! 
2-3 stems of scallions
Chopped Fresh parsley + Dill
Red pepper flakes
Sumac
Lemon Juice
Salt + Pepper

Add to 1 cup lentil 2 cup water. Let it cook until lentils absorb water and get mushy (15-20 minutes). When it is slightly still liquidy but cooked to point of mush add on to bulgur and immediately cover it with airtight cover. Let it rest for 15-20. Better to work with it when cold. In a pan sautee the onions w oliveoil + tomato paste and pepper paste. Sautee until the onions are soft. When the bulgur +lentil mix is cool- add on to the mixture olive oil, the cooked onions, lemon juice, spices, thinly sliced scallions, chopped fresh parsley + dill. If lazy you can eat it as if its rice. Amazing when it is cold. If not make slightly chubby finger shapes from it. Serve it with lettuce leace and or lemon. Juice a lemon on top before you put it into your mouth.

Last teatime recipe is...

Stomach Medicine --- Wet Chocolate Cake

During a sleepover visit to my aunt's I woke up in the middle of the night with something which I later on described as a stomach ache- I think really just a desire to have another slice of the delicious cake that I had before I went to bed. When caught I claimed that the consumption of the cake was due to a sudden stomach ache. I had to have the cake. So from then on, the cake was immortalized as my stomach medicine. 

Ingredients

Stage 1
250 gr melted butter
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon brandy or liquor of your choosing
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cacao
1 glass of milk

Stage 2
2.5 cups of flour
3 teaspoon baking powder
4 eggs

Mix the ingredients in stage 1. Separate a glassful from the mixture put it aside. Add to stage 1 mixture- 4 eggs - mix- one egg at time- Last but not least add flour and baking powder. Pre-heat your own around 375F (180C). Bake for 30-40 minutes or as my mother does it until a tooth pick you stick to your cake comes out clean. Once it comes out of the oven, when it is hot, pour the glass of liquid you retained from stage 1. Let it cool and absorb the liquid.