Friday, March 27, 2009

Warm food for a cold day


This morning we awoke to several inches of snow on top of several inches of ice. And Dave's work is cancelled, so we are having a bonafide snow day even though it is almost April! Last night as the cold front began blowing in, I had a a hankering for warm food, and several requests have come in for recipes. So, here is last night's dinner. It's a good one for chilly weather!

Pide (Turkish flat bread)
This recipe is courtesy of Elsa, who retrieved it from a web site somewhere and thought it very much like what she ate in Turkey. We loved it.

1 pkg yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 3/4 cup warm milk
4 cups flour
1 TBS salt
1 TBS olive oil

In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast and sugar in 1/4 cup of the warm milk. Stir well to dissolve, and let sit and bubble for 15 minutes.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour and salt. (I might use a little less salt next time...) Add in the bubbly yeast mixture and the rest of the warm milk. Mix, then place on a lightly floured surface and knead about 5-10 minutes, until smooth. Coat the inside of a clean bowl with some of the olive oil, place dough in bowl, and top with the rest of the olive oil. Cover with a damp tea towel and allow to rise about 1.5 hours.

Punch down the dough to remove the air, then cut the dough into 4 equal pieces. Knead each piece and shape into a ball shape. Cover with damp tea towel and let rest another 15 minutes, then roll out each one with a rolling pin until flattened and thin. Poke several holes in each pide with a fork. (Next time, I will poke a bit more vigorously.) Place each pide on parchment paper on a cookie sheet, and bake in a 450 degree oven that has a dish of water place in the bottom, for about 10 minutes. Then enjoy!

Lentil-Barley Stew (this is one of my standards from the More-with-Less Cookbook)

Saute 1/4 C. margarine, 3/4 C. chopped celery and 3/4 C. chopped onoin in a large pot. (Alternatively, brown pork sausage or pork shoulder, draining most of the grease, then add the onion and celery and cook until soft.)

Add 6 C. water and 3/4 C. lentils, and cook for 20 minutes.

Add 1 qt diced tomatoes (I use a little more, about 2 14-oz cans), 3/4 Cup barley or brown rice (we LOVE the barley!), 2 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. pepper, 1/2 tsp. rosemary, and 1/2 tsp. garlic salt. Simmer for 45-60 minutes.

5 minutes before serving, add 1/2 C. shredded carrots. Enjoy!

Wilted Spinach Salad
This is something new I tried last night, and liked!

Heat a little olive oil (enough to cover the bottom of your frying pan) Add a clove of garlic, crushed or chopped, and heat for a few minutes. (I think you could add a little onion here, too, and it would be good.) Add several handfuls of fresh baby spinach- enough to feed your family. Toss and heat this until the spinach is wilted slightly. Turn off heat, and add a little balsamic vinegar (we used white balsamic last night, and it was yummy!) In a small bowl toss fresh, diced veggies, dried fruit and nuts. (Last night we used cucumbers, cashews, snap peas and craisins). Serve the spinach on a plate or bowl, topped with the veggie/fruit/nut mixture. An added benefit is that the dressing is GREAT to dip the hot pide in!

Now I have to think of another warm, inspiring meal for tonight.

4 comments:

The Minnesotan with the German-Irish Name said...

Here's the website I got the recipe from: http://www.turkishcookbook.com/.

I've loved everything I've tried from there, and it seems very authentic.

MagistraCarminum said...

Thanks, Elsa! This looks great!

Jenny said...

Thanks Chris and Elsa for the recipes. Looks like we may use them today, we're expecting 2-4 inches of snow here in St. Louis!

Jenny

Jenny said...

Well the meal was a hit! I didn't get to the pide,so I bought flatbread at the store. Thanks for sharing.