While everyone is busy baking and cooking for my Blogevent I really can't be sitting back idly just watching.
That is why I rolled up my sleeves and made Peynirli Poğaça for you guys.
These are Doughballs filled with a sheep cheese dill mixture. Very popular among Turks – especially enjoyable along with a cup of tea. I particularly like them, because you can conjure countless variations of them, by changing the filling. Popular are also spicy minced meat fillings, potato cheese filling or suçuk cheese filling. There are no limits to the imagination.
So far so good, but now I have to confess something. I have never made Poğaça myself. I always ate it when my mother made it, or when we were out visiting someone. So this was my first time.
I was always afraid that I would screw up and all my effort would be in vain, because what you should know about the Turkish cuisine: Turkish recipes know no units of measurements.
Turkish women are freestylers – very much to my own dismay, because I, being the weenie and measuring cup-user that I am, can't make much sense of specifications like „knead as much flour as needed into it“ or „bake until they are slightly browned, but not too dark“.
You always have to rely on your gut feeling and your senses and when you have no experience, you just might look like a complete fool. Just like me. ^^ So I called my mother to write down a fail proof recipe.
Mom: Alloooo?
Me: Hi mom, I am just in the kitchen and finally want to do Poğaça myself. Can you give me the recipe again, please?
Mom: Ahhhh, very easy. You take flour, yoghurt, oil, salt, baking soda, egg white, you make mix, then you knead very nice soft dough. And then you fill what want.
Me: Hmm, okayyyyyyy, I already know that, but how much flour do I need, how much of the yoghurt and so on, you know, I need exact measurements.
Mom: Measurements?? You make with gut feeling. Put so much dough until become soft like earglobe.
Me: Hm, mom, its called earlobe! What kind of useless information is that?
Mom: You no have sensitivity in hand?
Me: Okayyyyyyy, I got it, you were of great help, thanks mom!
Mom: I wanted to show you in kitchen, when you were child, but you always play Aisha-head-in-the-air. Now not able!
Me: Play Aisha-head-in-the-air?
Mom: Hahahaha, I make wordplay! You not Johnny. Hahaha!
Me: That's true, I am not Johnny, more like a Jack. A Jackass.
Mom: Huh?
Me: Ah, it's all good. The Aisha will now go knead earglobes. See ya!
So after this enlightening conversation I plucked up all my courage, heroically fought my way through and kneaded everything together by judgement of eye and gut feeling and every now and then put some nice, sticky dough on my earlobe.
At some point I became tired of kneading in flour by the spoon and simply decided that the dough was just about right.
Luckily I took precise notes and reweighed everything after finishing, so you don't have to go through the same hardships. But first and foremost so you won't find yourself in the awkward situation of having to open the door for your neighbour with semi dry dough on your earlobes and sending him away distraughtly.
And why do I tell you all of this? I just wanted to let you know what kind of trials and tribulations I went through – just for you.
Please consider this when you post comments, rave reviews and laudatory speeches!!^^
But now, the recipe for about 20 pieces:
350 grams of flour
250 grams of natural yoghurt
100 ml of oil, neutral in taste
1 egg (egg white for the dough, egg yolk + 1 sip of milk for brushing
1 pack of baking soda
1 teaspoon of salt
150 grams of feta cheese
1/2 bunch of fresh dill
Sesame for sprinkling
In addition:
1 teaspoon of oil in a small bowl
First crush the feta with a fork, then chop the dill and mix it up with the feta cheese and put it on the side.
Thoroughly mix the yoghurt, egg white, oil and salt in a separate bowl.
Thoroughly mix the yoghurt, egg white, oil and salt in a separate bowl.
If the dough is still very sticky, add the rest of the flour by the spoonful and knead it.
The dough should be soft and malleable, but it shouldn't stick to the fingers anymore.
If you have achieved the desired consistency, form balls the size of a table tennis ball.
I was able to make 20 pieces out of it. Put 1 tbs of oil in a small bowl. Place baking paper onto a baking tray. You don't have to preheat the oven for this one.
Take a small board, put a doughball on it, dip your fingertips carefully into the oil and slowly drag the dough apart until it is small, round and spread out.
Put 1 Tbs of the filling into the dough, close up the dough again, form it to a round ball and put it back onto the baking tray.
Don't put the balls too close to each other, because they will rise in the oven later.
When you are done brush the doughballs with the egg yolk milk mixture and sprinkle sesame onto it.
Put the baking tray into the cold (!) oven and bake the whole thing at 175°C (350 Fahrenheit) upper/lower heat for about 20-25 minutes.
I wish you a lot of fun and a nice rest of the day!
Stay hungry!
Your Sibel
