Turkish Meal Mondays:Gözleme and Çoban Salata

Turkish Meal Mondays are a glimpse into the food we enjoy here in Turkey, accompanied by a recipe.  Mondays are one of our favourite days, because they're Market Days. Ever since our first market day a year and a half ago we have only missed two, due to torrential down pour a few weeks ago.  Our trips to the market will continue to focus on selecting fresh and delish produce to use in our weekly Turkish recipes.  Get ready... This blog just became appealing to foodies. 

 This week we're making a favorite fast food here in Turkey: Gözleme. The name actually means "observation" or something similar to that. It is basically the Turkish version of the quesadilla, but it could be embellished in anyway you want it to be, oh the possibilities.

You can see stands like this at many restaurants
 staffed by a Turkish "Habla"ready to make your treat.

First step is to make the dough. It's a basic dough:

1 cup flour
1/2 cup room temp water
1/2 tsp salt

Mix them together until a dough forms and let sit for 15-20 minutes.

 

While you wait you can prepare the filling. I made the original version for this blog:

1/2 cup white cheese (feta will work)
1/4 cup fresh parsley

Mix together.

Now comes the rolling of the dough. There is a special technique used for rolling this dough that involves rolling the dough over the stick and then unrolling it the other way.  I've tried it unsuccessfully several times ending up with a clump of dough stuck to my "rolling pin". (A regular rolling pin will work just fine.)

Roll half of the dough into a pretty thin flat circle. Then you can stuff one side with half of the filling and fold the other half over. You can pinch the sides together however you see fit.

At this point I brush both sides with olive oil and put in a medium heat pan until the sides start to develop the brown "eyes" that actually give the food it's name. Turn and repeat.

Then you can remove it and enjoy it with some çoban salata, a mixture of cucumbers, tomatoes and parsley topped with some olive oil and lemon juice. Together these two make a great fast easy meal.

I often add other things to the gözleme mix like left over mashed potatoes and spinach. I originally took the recipe from Binnur's Turkish Cookbook, this site also has some alternative fillings listed if you want to be adventurous. We long for the days when we get back to America and we can add some bacon.  Shhh.