Yasemin's Kitchen

Mediterranean Recipes with a Turkish Flair

Rainbow Fruit Tower

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Rainbow Fruit Tower

 

Here’s a refreshing fruit dessert that looks appetizing and tastes heavenly.
It is easy to make, easy to serve. It makes a great breakfast/brunch dessert as well.
I’m very thankful to Gonul hanim for this wonderful recipe. Enjoy!
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Walnut Stuffed Figs – Cevizli Kuru İncir Tatlısı

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Walnut Stuffed Figs – Cevizli Kuru İncir Tatlısı
I grew up in the Western part of Turkey. The region we lived in (Aydin) is famous for its figs. When I was a kid, figs were never sold in the market or stores. Most everybody in our town had fig groves. For those families like mine who were not farmers, your neighbors would send you baskets full of fresh figs almost every morning. They were huge baskets (or maybe I was little), lined with grape leaves at the bottom to serve as a cushion for the fruits, a layer of grapes on the leaves and figs on the top. They only pick the very ripe ones and so early in the morning that there would still be dew on the fruit.

Figs are very rich in fiber. For this reason I guess, adults used to warn us kids that if we drink too much water after eating figs, we would have diarrhea. Luckyly nobody ever listened to the advise. We did eat figs and drank water to our hearts’ desire, and of course, nothing happened.

Come winter, we had dried figs. Most evenings, for dessert, people used to eat dried figs with walnuts stuffed in them. I call them fig bombs. They are delicious though not exactly your low calorie snack.
Figs stuffed with walnuts: Fig Bombs!
My grandmother used to make this dessert with dry figs at least a couple of times every winter.
Ingredients:
  • 1 lb dried figs
  • 2 cups warm water to soak the figs
  • 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
  • 1 cup milk
  • 1 cup water
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 table spoon unsalted butter
  • Handful of walnuts for garnish (optional)
Directions:
Wash and drain the figs. In a bowl, let the figs soak in warm water for 30 minutes.
Put butter in a shallow pot. Heat the pot until butter melts. Spread the butter to the bottom as evenly as possible. Turn off heat.
Remove figs from water. Cut the tops. Open up a hole at the top. Fill each fig with walnuts. Place them in the shallow pot with the openings at the top.
In a separate pot, combine milk, water and sugar. Warm it, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Add the milk mixture to the figs. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat, let it simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from heat. Let it cool to room temperature. Transfer to a serving plate. Garnish with walnuts.
Dry Figs
Tops removed, ready to be stuffed
Coarsly chopped walnuts
Figs stuffed with walnuts
Stuffed figs cooking in milk-sugar mixture
Walnut Stuffed Figs – Cevizli Kuru İncir Tatlısı

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Apricot Jam – Kayisi Reçeli

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Apricot Jam
With their velvety skin, “melts in your mouth” taste and fantastic aroma, apricots are undoubtedly one of the delicacies of summer.
Apricot jam is great on bread for breakfast, but you can also use it as a refreshing fruit sauce over ice cream. Recipe below calls for 2 cups of sugar, but depending on how ripe or tart the fruit is, you may need to add more sugar to it.
Apricots
Ingredients:
  • 1 lb apricots
  • 2 cups sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
Directions:
Wash apricots, remove pits and cut each one into 4 pieces. Place apricot in a bowl. Pour sugar over apricot. Leave for about 2 hours or overnight. Apricots will release their juices, forming a syrup. Place apricots with the syrup in a pot. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil over medium heat. When it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and let it simmer. Remove any foam that might form on the top with a spoon. Take a small spoonful of the cooking mixture, place on a plate, let it cool and taste to see if it is sweet enough. Add sugar if necessary, stir gently. Cook until apricots are translucent and the syrup thickens, about 20 minutes. Let it cool to room temperature. Place in a glass jar and keep in the refrigerator.
Apricots cut into pieces
Apricots covered with sugar
Apricots release their juices
Apricots cooking in their syrup
Apricot jam
 Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Fruit Salad with Nuts

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Fruit Salad with Nuts


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup blueberries
  • 1 mango, cubed
  • 1 orange, cubed
  • 3 small mandarin oranges
  • 1 cup strawberries, cut in quarters
  • 1 cup pomegranates, seeded
  • 1 apple, cubed
  • 1 cup blackberries
  • ½ cup walnuts, chopped
  • 2 table spoons Cointreau or similar orange liquor (optional)
  • ½ cup toasted sliced almonds

Directions:

Simply mix all ingredients except the toasted almonds. Transfer into serving dishes and top with toasted almonds as garnish. Enjoy!

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Poached Pears with Walnuts, Apricots, Currants

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Poached Pears with Walnuts, Apricots and Currants
Ingredients:
       Poached Pears
  • 1 bottle of red wine
  • 1 + 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 2 cinnamon sticks (canela)
  • 1 teaspoon cloves placed in a tea diffuser
  • 1 tablespoon lemon zest, finely grated
  • 6 whole Bosc or Anjou pears, peeled, cored, and hollowed
  • Parchment paper
      Stuffing

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
  • 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon dry currants
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
      Garnish:
  • Vanilla ice-cream (optional)
  • Sprigs of fresh mint
Directions:
Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. Add nuts and cook, stirring, until nuts are lightly toasted, 2-3 minutes. Add chopped apricots and currants. Cook, stirring, for 1 more minute. Add brown sugar and cook mixture, stirring constantly, 1 more minute. Remove from heat, let it cool. 

Chopped walnuts and apricots with currants
Stuffing made with roasted walnuts, apricots and currants

Wash pears. Cut a thin slice at the bottom of each pear so that it could stand on its bottom. Using a mellon baller core the pears removing seeds. 

Pears
Bottoms cut to provide a flat surface
Hollowed pears with seeds removed
Pears hollowed and peeled, ready to be cooked

 
Combine wine, 1 cup of sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon sticks (canela), cloves and lemon zest in a pot. Cook over medium heat, stirring, until sugar dissolves. Add pears and 3 cups of boiling water. Place parchment paper over the pears to keep the them submerged in liquid. This way the color will be even all around the pears. Let it simmer over low heat until pears are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove pears, set aside let them cool to room temperature. 

Pears in liquid with sugar and spices
Parchment paper is used to submerge the pears in liquid
Pears cooked, ready to be stuffed

In a small pan combine 1 cup of the left over liquid. Add 1/2 cup sugar. Simmer on low stirring for a few minutes until the sauce thickens. Set aside for garnishing.

Stuff the pears with the fruit and nut mixture. Pack tightly. There will be some stuffing left for garnishing.
Chill stuffed pears in the refrigerator at least 30 minutes before serving.

Stuffed Pear

To serve, place a pear in a serving dish. Drizzle some of the sauce over the pear, let it drip down to the plate. Place a scoop of vanilla ice-cream next to the pear. Sprinkle left over apricot/currant/walnut stuffing over the ice cream. Garnish with a sprig of mint.

 

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

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Yasemin Ari

I love cooking, especially cooking with friends and family.

I believe that some of the best conversations take place around the kitchen counter... [Read More]