Tavuk Gögsü: 1st Edition

For Turko, the Valentine's day present was supposed to be his favorite Turkish dessert. He raved about the smooth creaminess of tavuk gogsu, a vanilla pudding with bits of sliver-fine shredded chicken. So, sneaky girl that I am, I found out how to spell it, then typed it up while he wasn't looking and saved it. A few weeks later, the holiday was the perfect time to pull this trick out of my sleeve. But where to start?

This website was one of the first I found on the subject. Apparently, this dish was high society back in medieval Europe. The Turks probably adopted it from them around that time and made a few changes along the way. However, at the bottom of the page, after she painstakingly went through the whole recipe, she actually warned you away from making it, saying it was too foreign for modern tastes. Well, that's a bit fershwunkedy in my book.

So I moved on to two other sites and a youtube video. All of them are modern Turkish recipes, so I figured why not? I picked up some rice flour from the local asian grocery, mixed a few of the recipes together and tried to go with it.

So here was the setup:



And my tenuous butter with cooked flour debacle that started the ultimate clumpiness.





And some shredded chicken for the bottom.



Now, while it tasted good, it was very runny. And clumpy. Plus I added way too much chicken. It looked pretty before I stuck it in the fridge though. Did it set? No. Not at all. Even a bit. Nope. I was highly dissapointed considering it was going so well flavor-wise before the whole not turning into pudding part. This post is really the longest (and most illustrated) way possible to say this: If you don't know what you're doing, maybe you shouldn't mess with the recipes. You know, just for now.



Verdict: It tastes good for sweet chicken soup. But it's soup. Not pudding.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel

While cat sitting for a friend, I realized that said friend had been very remiss in leaving 3 bananas on the counter. Since they were almost dead anyways, I took the liberty of whisking them home. Of course, once I got home, I realized that the only thing I could use them for was banana bread. However, this time I wanted to shake things up a bit.

After a bit of searching, I found this lovely looking recipe for a banana bread coffee cake with streusel. Having no mixer or whisk isn't too much of a problem, so I forged ahead. It turned out lovely and moist. Of course, I cooked it in the wrong dish, so it too much longer to cook in the middle, thus being hard to get out of the dish in one piece. As you can see.

Still, it tasted very nice. Especially with all that chocolate on top. Why not try one with your next batch of soon to be dead bananas?

Gulab Jamun

This is a recipe I've meant to make for years now. The main thing holding me back was that I wanted to be "authentic", meaning I wanted to buy a whole storeful of milk, then boil it down into powder. You know what they call that? Powdered milk! Yes, I realize I'm insane at times. Once I finally got over that, I decided now was the time to do this.

For those of you who've never had them, the base is a dough made powdered milk based dough rolled into balls then fried in oil. After being fried, you let them sit in a sugar syrup that's been flavored with spices. Sound good? It is. Don't let the powdered milk part scare you off, it's really very mellow and really helps soak up that good syrup.

This first time I ever had gulab jamuns (Glob Jah-mun) was from a can that I bought in an international foods store. Why do I remember this? Well, for one they tasted unlike anything I'd had before and the texture was incredibly strange. More than that, I poured sugar syrup all down my front while in the car. Luckily I had some raggedy pajamas in the backseat (no idea why) that I could change into. Unluckily, I had an hours sticky drive back home.

Barring that drive, all my other experiences have been good. So when the inspiration to make them struck me down, I went with it. Realizing that starting from scratch was insane, I chose to use powdered milk for the basis. I had all the ingredients on hand including the whole cardamom pods and saffron. Is that strange for a college student?

Once you've made your "milk dough", you have to roll them in little balls and fry them. No big deal. I just happen to forget that dough expands when it cooks. Yeah, roll these smaller than you think you'll want them. Unless you want to be attacked by the Giant Gulab! These had a much better texture than the packaged ones. More doughy and less like styrofoam. Floated in some of the lightly spiced syrup, these were awesome. They actually reheat in the microwaves like champs too.

Why don't you try something different for dessert tonight? Of course, if you do, let me know how it goes.

Turkish Breakfast

I'm currently dating a Turkish fellow who decided it was time that I discovered the joy of a decent Turkish breakfast. Generally, this includes some meat, tomatoes, olives, cucumbers, green peppers, cheese, bread, and whatever else you can throw together. Our meal started with frying up a little sucuk (garlic sausage pronounced soo-jook) in a pan, then cracking a few eggs on top.

Add some Turkish feta, olives, tomato, and bread. Pour some coffee or black tea and water. Done.

Since I'm always complaining about American breakfasts full of the same old crap that's too sweet for that time of day, this was perfect. Best breakfast I've had in a long time. Plus, I didn't even have to do dishes.

In the spirit of food I didn't make, why don't you check out these gorgeous henna-inspired spice cookies over at Sprinkle Bakes?

Or think about busting out an edible bouquet for your next party buffet?

Chicken Parmigiana

This is one of the few recipes I decided to make during the last months of school drudgery. I wasn't cooking much back then, so I needed something simple but tasty. In a salute to all these great recipes I've tried lately after convincing myself it was okay to cook crowd pleasers instead of gourmet flops, I settled on Parmesan chicken.

As you can imagine, I was a little too busy to take pictures. Well, honestly I was too hungry, but you get the idea. Anyways, I whipped up some Bobby Flay chicken parm with a little salad and it was dinner ahoy! Of course, looking back on it, they were tasty. However, it I ever make them again, I think I'd replace the bread crumbs with just straight Parmesan cheese. They weren't quite cheesy enough as is. Also, I might end up adding more sauce because it tasted a whole lot better smothered in rich tomatoes. Otherwise, nothing to complain about here.

Chicken Parmigiana

Ingredients

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded thin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour, seasoned with salt and pepper
4 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons water and seasoned with salt and pepper
2 cups panko bread crumbs
1 cup vegetable oil or pure olive oil
Tomato Sauce, recipe follows
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan
Fresh basil or parsley leaves, for garnish
Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

--Season chicken on both sides with salt and pepper. Dredge each breast in the flour and tap off excess, then dip in the egg and let excess drip off, then dredge on both sides in the bread crumbs.

--Divide the oil between 2 large saute pans and heat over high heat until almost smoking. Add 2 chicken breasts to each pan and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a baking sheet and top each breast with some tomato sauce, a few slices of the mozzarella, salt and pepper, and a tablespoon of Parmesan. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through and the cheese is melted, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the oven and garnish with basil or parsley leaves.

If you follow the link to his recipe on the Food Network, he also lists his recipe for the tomato sauce. I have to admit that I cheated and bought bottled sauce. Still just as tasty but much quicker and less cleanup.

Eggnog Cupcakes

Oh, Christmas was hectic this year. I was trying to graduate, trying to job search, and trying to move. Needless to say, the Christmas baking was severly limited. In fact, no actual homemade goods were given. Period. It hurt my heart a little bit.

Still, goaded on by the lusciousness that is Starbuck's eggnog latte, I wanted more eggnog in my life. Once I found this recipe for eggnog cupcakes on the baking bites site, I knew I had to try them right that second.

Picture? No. My camera was mostly MIA for that whole time period. I can say that they were good though. Let's discuss: the cupcakes were supposed to be vegan. Well, I used real eggnog, so they weren't anymore. Since the recipe used vegan substitutes though, they weren't as moist on top as normal. They almost had a chewy quality on the top. The real downer was the frosting. Her recipe looked great and I bet it would have tasted that way. However, I used butter that had been subjected to my refrigerator for way too long, hence the frosting tasted like eggnog and the hell that is my fridge. Not so tasty. Alas.

However, next year I think I'll try them again and maybe even get to enjoy them. If you'd like to try, here's the link. I wish you fresh buttery joy.

Also, I've added a word verification setting for post comments. I've been seeing a huge increase in spam. I hope this doesn't deter anyone from leaving me a message or talking with other readers.

Banana Bread: No Mixer Needed

There are several recipes backed up that I wanted to write about first. However, I've had this blogging malaise settle over me and can't quite seem to get my fingers moving to type them up. However, however, I've got three bananas that won't wait any longer to either be baked or explode. So banana bread it is.



If you've been with me for a while, you'll have noticed that while it's not one of my favorites, banana bread just keeps getting made. I've tried quite a few recipes in the past, but here's another one. Simply Recipes is a good go-to blog for nearly no-fail recipes. Plus, since I'm in a temporary residence, this doesn't require a mixer which *sob* is packed.

After a very stupid flour argument which went basically like this: "I don't have enough flour! Wait, maybe I do. No, it won't make it" then of course I ran to the store, picked up a bag, and "Oh shit, I did have enough." Aside from that, it was very easy to put together. I reduced the sugar to 3/4 cup as suggested and added half a bag of chocolate chips that needed to be used.

The result? Very tasty. I overbaked, so it was a little harder than I like on the edges, but nothing that would stop me from eating every tiny piece. Excuse the crap photo below, I'm rusty.

Hello!

How is everyone doing? I'm very well, and as you may have guessed, there have been many changes going on over here. I have officially graduated with a Bachelors in finance, I'm moved out of my old apartment and into a temporary residence, and have been searching for a job for the last few months without success. Barring the last part, things have been good. Plus, with my internet FINALLY hooked up, I can post to my heart's content.

Not that I have anything of importance to say, of course, except that I've made quite a few lovely recipes that I did not take pictures of. However! I can offer you links, witty commentary, and pointers should you like to try them yourself. Also coming will be pictures of my current kitchen (which is awesome), pictures of old recipes I've neglected to post, and hopefully some new things I want to try and try again.

Just give me a little more time to settle in and restart a routine. Promise, I'll be back with good stuff. Until then, mes amis!