Translate

Friday, February 22, 2013

"I have come to the conclusion that these are not bagels" - boyfriend

Don't these look delicious?  And you don't even know what they are yet!
Last week, I told someone that I didn't think I wanted this blog to be all about food.  Then I waited until I made something super delicious to write anything.  I'm working against myself, I guess.

Anyway, as outlined in my first blog, Turkey changed my food tastes.  That might not be entirely true, but getting older, changing my eating habits, and going to Turkey all coincided in a perfect way.

When we Americans go to theme parks, baseball games, or any place where we may desire a hot, salty, carb-filled snack, we go for a hot pretzel (and if you're me, that fake cheese sauce whose deliciousness can't be explained).  When we Americans walk around Istanbul, a place filled with all sorts of awesome things and historical sites, pretzels can't be found.  Not to worry, though!  There is an answer to this need or carbohydrates and it is called simit!

My first simit in Istanbul!
It looks strange at first and I have to admit that, I was afraid to try it.  I didn't think I'd like it, but they smell amazing!  That and street vendors, shop owners, and  my stomach are all more demanding in Istanbul, especially after having been awake for thirty-two hours.

Wednesday, after much preparation, I decided to try my hand at simit.  I don't often admit this, but I'm sort of terrified of dough.  It's odd, considering how much I love to make cut-out sugar cookies and how often I helped make bread as a child, but there's something about the combination of stickiness and goopiness that gets to me.  After my week of gozleme, though, I thought I might have conquered the fear - especially since this doesn't require any rolling out of dough.

Mine turned out different in looks from the street simit I enjoyed for the first time nine months ago, but the taste is pretty spot-on.  I followed the recipe from Binnur's Turkish Cookbook, but since the pictures there are a bit hard to follow, I'll just elaborate a bit.

If you're anything like me, you don't have some of these ingredients at home, so you should head on out to your local grocery store and maybe - for a better price on sesame seeds - to your local Middle Eastern food store.

Dough:
-7g dried instant yeast
-1 Tbsp sugar
-1/4 cup warm water
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
-3/4 cup warm water
Topping:
-water (enough to dunk the simit rings in)
-un-toasted sesame seeds (I think I used about a half cup total)

1)  Mix the yeast according to the instructions on the packaging.  They should be as outlined in italics above: yeast, a tablespoon of sugar, and a quarter cup of warm water.  Let that sit for about 15 minutes.  It'll get all bubbly and delicious-smelling!
Yeast after 15 minutes!
2)  While you're waiting, put the flour, salt, and olive oil into a bowl.
Dry ingredients + olive oil

When the yeast is all bubbled, slowly add it, along with 3/4 of a cup of water, kneading it all into a dough.
Simit dough in its first (of many) forms!
After all of the dry ingredients from the sides of the bowl have been incorporated, slap that sticky dough onto the counter and knead it for 15 minutes.  Simit is, apparently, all about timing.  Obviously, after I started kneading with both hands, pictures weren't an option!


3)  I found it helpful to ask for some assistance in this next step, as my hands were super sticky.  Oil a large bowl with about 1 Tbsp olive oil.  I think Pam or any other spray oil would work just as well, probably, but this is what the directions say - and what I had on hand!  Put the dough into the oiled bowl, cover it with saran wrap, and kiss it good-bye for one hour - at "room temperature."  I put mine on a shelf out of sight so I wouldn't get antsy about it. 
Before
After!
It should about double in size.  This is the first of many waiting games you'll play with simit, so it might be a good idea to have an easy-to-abandon distraction to go back and forth to between shifts.

4)  Take it out of the bowl, put it on the counter, and punch the air out.  I don't have any pictures of this, but a video was taken.  However, upon viewing, I determined it to be far too unflattering to post for the world to see.  Anyway, punch the air out.  I got a little too into it, but all of my frustrations from the day disappeared into oblivion, so that was a nice side-effect!  Or, it was, until the next step appeared!

Six little pre-simits!
Now you're supposed to shape it into a "baton bread shape."  I tried, but it was really far too sticky.  Then, this really smart guy walked into the kitchen and asked if I'd like him to oil the counter.  I was hesitant, but it worked like a dream!  Putting a little counter oil on my hands helped a lot, too!

Cut the dough into 6 pieces, then shape them into balls.  Put them on an oiled section of counter, then cover them with plastic wrap.

Leave these alone for 20 minutes.

During this wait:
-Set up your finishing station, which should include a bowl of water and a bowl or plate of sesame seeds.
You'll need a lot more sesame seeds than that, but I didn't know and wasn't about to waste them!
-After you've prepped that, it's a good idea to get your baking pans ready.  Line two pans with parchment paper.  I used oiled foil, but next time I'll be sure to pick up some parchment!

5)  Now it's time to make simit rings!  The saran wrap will have stuck to the dough, take it easy and you'll get most of it off with little difficulty!
Waiting to be baked.

Again, oiling the counter and my hands helped make this step much easier!  Roll each ball into a long strip approximately 15 inches long.  It's a little tricky (and again, not the easiest thing to photograph with oily/doughy hands), but it's fun!  Then stick the ends together to make rings.

Now, one by one, to the the finishing station!  Dunk each ring into the water for a quick dip, then dip them in the sesame seeds until fully coated with the little guys.  I also made one plain simit, but I think the one who requested that understands now that the seeds are what give this the majority of its flavor.

Put three sesame-ed rings on each pan and let these site for 45 minutes.



During this wait:
-Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 20 minutes.  That means you can either do it right away or, like I did (because I had yogurt incubating!) wait until 25 minutes into your wait.
-Fill a spray bottle with cold water.  (I didn't have one, so I sprinkled mine with water in subsequent steps, but I think a spray bottle would more evenly distribute the water.

6)  Spray/spring the rings with cold water, then pop them in the oven.  Two pans wouldn't fit side by side, so I had to alternate their rack placement accordingly.

Bake them at 450 degrees for 7-8 minutes, then reduce the heat to 425 degrees for 18-20 minutes.  Mine got done more quickly than this, around 13 minutes or so.  I suggest monitoring them closely, especially if you're dealing with a (always!) finicky electric oven.
This is a beautiful thing.
This is why I bought un-toasted seeds!
Around the same time I pulled
the simit out of the oven, I checked
the yogurt,which turned out even better
than last time!  Hardly any whey! I'm
curious about what variable made the
difference:  I used my own starter,
wrapped it in a dishcloth, and its
last hour of incubation was in a
fuzzy blanket, not the oven!

7)  Remove from oven, then remove from pan.  They don't need to cook anymore and you don't need to wait anymore!  Eat them!

Although we sampled the plain one right out of the oven, breakfast the next day was the real treat!  We discovered that they toast really well on low!
Someone who shall remain nameless went for American bacon
and eggs with the Turkish simit.
I went for a totally Turkish inspired meal:
simit, homemade yogurt, and fruit!

Reflection:  I cooked a lot of stuff on Wednesday.  No, seriously, we're talking a whole Mexican thing with marinated chicken, guacamole, and pico de gallo, a half gallon of yogurt, strawberries cleaned, cut, and dusted with a bit of sugar, and simit.  I shopped for most of the stuff on Wednesday morning.  It was a busy day.  Without a job, people have been telling me I have too much time on my hands and that I shouldn't be so interested in these things.  I understand that I need a job, world!

While I'm looking, though, what's the harm in rediscovering that I love to cook and write and take care of the people I love?

I'm really proud of the stuff I've been making lately and the purest kind of joy I get out of watching the snow fall, finding out my yogurt turned out with a perfect texture and light tanginess, and smiling like a little kid when I become and airplane for the first time in sixteen years.  I feel like I'm getting to enjoy life for the first time in a long while.  I'm not living an expensive existence, but I'm living a pretty full one.  I'm applying for jobs, spending time with loved ones, venting my feelings to caring ears, and remembering parts of myself I so often forget, and eating a lot of yummy things.

Life can be delicious in every way!

No comments:

Post a Comment