Turkish Meat Gozleme

Every country has their own recipe of stuffed bread. This is one of the best. I normally do not like Turkish food. I feel it is too bland. But this recipe and the dish are awesome. My family loved it. I am going to be making more variations of it in near future :)

The original recipe is from here

Turkish Meat Gozleme (Meat stuffed bread pocket)

Meat and Spinach Gozleme

Ingredients

Gozleme Pastry

1. 3 cups all purpose 
2. 3 tablespoon  extra virgin olive oil
3. water
4. 1/2-3/4 tsp salt

Spiced lamb

1. 1 tbsp olive oil
2. 2 garlic cloves , minced
3. 1 onion , finely chopped
4. 1 lb beef or lamb mince (ground)
5. 1/2 cup frozen spinach squeezed of all water or  3 oz baby spinach
6. 1 teaspoon each of  cumin powder, paprika
7. 3/4 tsp each salt and pepper
8. 4 oz  feta cheese (I got Mediterranean blend)

Filling:

Cook beef in a hot pan without oil (if it has more than 90% fat) else add 1 teaspoon oil, breaking it up as you go.

Add cumin, paprika, cayenne (if using), salt, pepper and water. Cook for 2 minutes.

Add spinach, stir until wilted.

Cool before using.

Add the salt to the flour and add water to it as needed to make the dough. Add 1 tablespoon oil to the dish you made the dough and start kneading it for 5 minutes. Repeat 2 more times with the remaining oil until the dough becomes pliable, and smooth. If you have a hand mixer, mix the dough for 7 minutes.

Cover and rest for 20 minutes.

Sprinkle work surface with flour. Cut dough into 4 pieces.

Roll out into 35cm/14" x 20cm/8" rectangle.

Add the filling to the dough and sprinkle with feta cheese and close the edges.

Heat a griddle and add some oil to it. Fry the Gozleme for 3 minutes on each side. Enjoy

Meat empanadas

Lately I have been making things at home which the kids can just heat up in the microwave and eat and won't go bad super fast. This empanada recipe from the food network is my favorite and and filling is ofcourse my own recipe.

Meat Empanada (Meat turnovers)

Meat empanada

Meat or lamb filling

Ingredients for the crust:

1. 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2. 1 teaspoon salt
3. 1 teaspoon sugar
4. 3 tablespoons oil
5. 1 egg, beaten

Combine flour, salt, and sugar and mix well. Add the oil and mix. Add the egg and mix well and add water one tablespoon at a time until dough comes together and is pliable.Set aside.

Take a small golf ball sized dough and roll into 4-5 inch circle. Add 1-1.5 tablespoons filling. Dip your finger in water and run it over the edges and turoldnover on edge to cover the filling. Press the edges with a fork to create the pattern.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for 30-40 minutes until the empanadas look golden brown. Let it cool a bit before serving