Recipe Update...

I've been slacking, I know. There's been a lot on my mind and a lot of general life stuff happening. Obstacles basically. I have a little bit of time so I'll post my weekend dinner.

I decided to experiment with Turkish food and made borek. This particular borek dish is a pasrty filled with a feta cheese mixture. It is delicious! In order to make this, I used some authentic ingredients bought at a Turkish market in Queens. I'm sure any area of the country where a Turkish community resides has one of these markets. But just in case, I will give alternatives that can be substituted... The recipe calls for yufka pastry sheets, which are thicker than filo. Both can be used but I would double up the filo to make it thicker. Also, the great thing about this recipe is that yufka is so long after its rolled up with the filling, it can be spiraled, or rolled into a rose shape in your baking dish. It makes it look very fancy, even if its not perfect. If using filo, this is nearly impossible because filo is so delicate. I would suggest just rolling filo into cigar shapes and placing the rolls up against each other in the baking dish. You can still get a cool effect once its served.

Baked Spiral Feta Cheese Borek

Ingredients:
Yufka pastry sheets (or regular filo sheets if you cannot find yufka)
Labne, a Turkish style yogurt (can use greek yogurt)
1 egg yolk
1 stick butter, melted
sesame seeds (optional)

filling:
1.5 cups Feta cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1 egg
1 garlic clove
1 heaping tablespoon Turkish labne (can use plain greek yogurt or lightly strained sour cream)
1/4 teaspoon black pepper.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. In a mixing bowl combine all filling ingredients. Mix until well combined.

3. Because Yufka sheets are huge, and round, you need a lot of counter space for it. Cut the yufka in half. Set the straight end closest to you. This is where you place the filling. if using filo, place it in front of you so the longest side is where you will place the filling
4. Use a pastry brush to spread the melted butter all over the top of your pastry piece. Spread a "bead" of filling on the long edge.

5. Gently roll the edge towards the rounded edge. Don't make it too tight, it can rip. Rolled too loosely the filling may ooze out or you will have too much "air" once its baked.
6. After you have your long rolled piece, gently spiral it. If it rips a little, or looks stiff, don't worry it will still look and taste awesome!
7. Do the same thing with another piece of pastry and just add it to the end of the other rolled piece and continue the spiral. You can add as many layers to the spiral as you want. The bigger the borek, the cooler it looks. You can also roll individual small spirals with each yufka you fill. These will be individual portions and look quite elegant. I chose to use only two pieces, so one whole yufka round.

8. In a smaller bowl, mix the egg yolk, a tablespoon of labne/yogurt and some melted butter. I used a wisk to mix these ingredients and created a mayo-like consistency which was very easy to paint onto my borek with the pastry brush. You can make it more liquidy if you prefer.

9. Finally, before placing it in the oven you can sprinkle the top with sesame seeds for a nutty hint. It will make it look beautiful.
10. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until crust has turned a dark gold.

11. Let cool for a few minutes before serving on a pretty plate.

I chose to serve my borek with roasted veggies and my green salad. It can be served on its own as an appetizer or with a meat dish. You can slice the whole spiral into wedges/slices or pull the tubes apart and make it finger food. Most importantly, it should be enjoyed because it is heavenly. I made it two days in a row!

* Don'k know what to do with that left over yufka? You can seal it in a ziploc with as little air as possible, and freeze it for a later date, or make more borek! It can have virtually any filling you can imagine. I decided to make some ground chicken with onions, garlic, mushrooms and a hint of tomato paste, sauteed in butter. Once cooled, I filled the left over yufka. I had a lot of ripped pieces but managed to make cigar shaped rolls and placed them next to each other creating a rectangular pie. They were delicious!

Don't fear the kitchen! Be creative with food!!!






*If you have a lot of parsley and don't want to waste it, add some to your salad for a hint of excitement for the taste buds. Also, it can be chopped and placed in an ice tray (approx. 2 tablespoons per ice mold) with a small amount of water.

Freeze it without covering it and once frozen transfer to a ziploc. Thawed, it will give you that fresh parsley taste all year round!