Foodies: Holiday Recipes from Joy!

Foodie Coordinator Joy Ludwig-McNutt shares two of her delicious holiday recipes below.  Enjoy!

Gingerbread Truffles

½c.      Heavy cream

1tsp.    Ground ginger

½tsp.    Ground cinnamon

¼tsp.    Freshly grated nutmeg

¼tsp.    Ground cloves

5oz.       Dark chocolate, 64% or 70%, preferred, chopped

1T.          Butter, room temperature

Dark chocolate melted for dipping

Cocoa powder, pre-sifted for coating

1.  In a small pot, bring the cream and spices to a boil.

2.  Immediately, pour over the chocolate in a metal bowl. Let rest for about a minute, and then whisk together to combine until smooth. 

Add the butter, and stir to combine. ( If your chocolate is not completely melted, place the bowl over a small pot of simmering water.)

3.  Pour the ganache into a shallow 8-inch dish or pie pan. (This will help cool the ganche down faster since it’s a more shallow surface area.) Cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until mixture is very cold and set but still pliable, about 30 minutes.

4.  Then, using a teaspoon or a 1/2-inch melon baller or a smaller cookie dipper, scoop balls of the ganache, transferring them to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper as you work. Refrigerate truffles 10 minutes.

5.  Using plastic gloved hands or hands dusted with cocoa powder, dip each truffle in cocoa powder to coat, then quickly shape truffle into a rough round.

6.  Melt extra chocolate in a metal bowl placed over a small pot of simmering water. Then, hand roll each truffle in the chocolate to “precoat” it, being careful not to form a “foot” on the bottom of the truffle. Set on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Rest until the chocolate is set.

7.  Using the same process, coat each truffle in a second layer of melted chocolate. When finished, roll the truffles in 1 c. of confectioner’s sugar sifted with 1 T. of  ground cinnamon. Or for a more chocolate taste, add the cinnamon to cocoa powder instead.

8.  If not using immediately, refrigerate the truffles in an airtight container until ready to serve, up to 2 weeks.

20-Minute Dried Cranberry Sauce

Serves: 10-12+ people

Ingredients:
3 c. dried cranberries
6 oz. fresh pomegranate juice
6 oz. fresh orange juice
1 ea. zest of an orange
2 ea. cinnamon sticks
pinch salt
1 T. cornstarch mixed with enough water to make a paste

In a medium sized pot, place all the ingredients, except the cornstarch, cover with a lid and bring to a simmer for 10 minutes.

Pour the cornstarch into the pot along the side while whisking. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add a bit more juice or water to adjust the consistency of your sauce.

For a smoother sauce, use a stick blender and puree, after removing the cinnamon stick and orange zest.

Foodies: Thanksgiving

Often, the Foodies group hosts monthly get-togethers at cafes, restaurants or bars in Istanbul. Sometimes, there is a theme to the events such as truffle making for Valentine's Day, beer outing for St. Patrick's Day or a full Ramazan dinner in August.

In November, PAWI friends, family members and even some husbands gathered for a wonderful Thanksgiving meal at Molly's Cafe. Molly treated the group to a full spread of turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, salad and more. The cafe was closed for our PAWI Foodies event.

Molly also made two beautiful pies for our dinner - pumpkin and apple. Both were delicious! Thanks to Molly and her staff for the delicious food and hard work!

Thanks to everyone for coming! Watch for the next Foodies event in the new year!

If you have any suggestions for upcoming events, please contact Joy or Banu.

Foodie Group Coordinator: Jade York

Food plays such an important role in every culture, and here in Turkey, where people sit down to fresh, home-cooked meals every day with their extended families; where people are fiercely proud of their cuisine; where no matter how little food you have, it is generously shared with strangers; food plays an integral part of Turkish culture.

As an American living in Turkey, food continues to be an important part of my life here, from learning how to cook Turkish cuisine, to sampling Turkish food from all the different regions of Turkey, to searching out new restaurants, and in preserving my own culture's and family's recipes and trying to recreate them here.  I remember my first days here, getting to know my new Turkish mother-in-law by watching her expertly cook a variety of dishes from simple pilaf (pilav), vegetables slow-cooked in olive oil  (zeytinyağ yemekleri), wholesome soups (çorba), to labor-intensive stuffed grape leaves (yaprak sarma) and hand-formed meatballs (köfte).  She spoke no English and I had just begun to learn Turkish, but the language of food and cooking is universal and food has a wonderful way of bringing people together.

When I moved to Istanbul 3 years ago from New York City, my life completely changed.  PAWI helped me to adjust to my new life here, and is an amazing social network which brings people together.  Priceless advice is shared on all topics, and if you are interested in food and want a great restaurant recommendation, or hunting for a specialty food item, or need a useful ingredient substitution, just post it to the group.

My name is Jade York, and as one of the PAWI Foodies group coordinators, I invite all our members to share their favorite recipes from home or here, and any difficult to find specialty food items they may spot while out shopping or a great ingredient substitution they have used when cooking. Please send to me and I will add it to the PAWI google site for everyone's reference.
Afiyet olsun!