Turkish delight

For Easter Dave and I wanted to use the holiday to go somewhere a bit further afield and decided on Istanbul. We were absolutely blown away - the place is amazing, including the people. It's a crazy mix of European, Middle Eastern and Asian influences that create a dynamic and cultural city that is a fabulous to visit. The history and traditions are still so evident despite the city becoming increasingly modern. In between sightseeing we spent the four days eating as much food as we possibly could and we did a fairly good job at sampling everything! Highlights were fresh fish in bread rolls served off boats, the most amazing lamb doner kebab cooked with hot coals, pomegranate juice, fresh salads, equally fresh bread, coffee, apple tea, and of course, Turkish delight. I've never been a huge fan of the stuff but obviously I'd never tasted anything that actually even remotely resembles the real deal. Some are made with honey and they really are delightful. Pistachios are a common flavour but probably the most interesting we tried was pomegranate covered in black peppercorns - a sublime combination.

On our last day we visited the part of the city on the Asia side. We went to a restaurant called Ciya Sofrasi - if you visit Istanbul make the trip there, it's so worth it. It sounds naff but there's a salad bar so you can pile you plate high with beautiful fresh salads and there is an array of hot food you can order as well. It was the best way to try different foods.

One of the salads I had at the restaurant was particularly good so I tried to replicate it tonight as part of a Turkish feast! The combination of sundried tomatoes and pomegranate is not something I have ever tried before but I thought it tasted beautiful. I love it when the little jewels of pomegranate seeds pop in your mouth. I made falafel and Turkish pide bread to go with it, served with minted yoghurt. I've included the recipes for the salad and the bread below.

Take me back to Turkey.

Sundried tomato and pomegranate salad

Baby spinach
340 grams sundried tomatoes
1 pomegranate
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 red onion
1 clove garlic
handful of shredded mint
handful of parsley
tbsp red wine vinegar
tbsp olive oil
salt + pepper

Chop the sundried tomatoes, walnut and red onion and place in a bowl. Combine with baby spinach leaves.
Remove the pomegranate seeds and add to the salad along with the herbs.
For the dressing, whisk together garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt and pepper. Pour over the salad.

Pide bread

500 grams plain flour, sifted
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1.5 cups warm water
olive oil
sesame seeds
1 egg yolk

Combine flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the centre and mix to make a dough.
Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for about 15 minutes to make the dough smooth. Grease a bowl with oil and put the dough in it, lightly coating it with oil. Place a damp tea towel over the top and leave somewhere warm for an hour to an hour and a half to rise.

On a floured surface, divide the dough into two. Flatten out slightly and leave to rest again for 15 minutes.
Turn oven on to 230 degrees Celsius.

Stretch each piece of dough into a rectangle approximately 40cm by 20cm. Leave them on non-stick baking paper for 10 mins. Mix together the egg yolk and 1 tbsp of olive oil.

Place the dough onto baking tray and brush with egg yolk mixture. Using your fingers make indentations in the dough and sprinkle over sesame seeds. Cook in the oven for 10 mins or until golden. Serve with hummus.

Makes 2 loaves