Foodbuzz

Tonight’s dinner

April 05th, 2006 | Category: Meat, Chicken & Seafood, Turkish Cuisine

I don’t always have the time to cook when I arrive home from work. And if there isn’t anything left over from the previous day, my choice for a quick & light dinner is usually a sandwich with cacik on the side. Tonight’s sandwich was smoked turkey with avocado.

Smoked Turkey and Avocado Sandwich

Sandwich & cacik

Ingredients (serves 1)

2 slices of rye bread
2 slices of smoked Gouda cheese
4 slices of smoked turkey
1 teaspoon tahini*
1/2 avocado
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1/2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon red wine vinegar

Method

Toast the bread lightly. Mash the avocado, mustard, olive oil and vinegar together with a fork. Spread tahini on one slice and the avocado mixture on the other. Place slices of cheese and turkey and cut the sandwich in half. Enjoy!

* Tahini is a paste made from ground sesame seeds. You can find it from your local Middle Eastern food store. If you can’t, you may replace it with peanut butter.

Interesting facts:

- The first recorded sandwich was by the famous rabbi, Hilel the Elder, who lived during the 1st century B.C. He started the Passover custom of sandwiching a mixture of chopped nuts, apples, spices and wine between two matzohs to eat with bitter herbs.

- The sandwich was named after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, an 18th century English aristocrat. It is said that Lord Sandwich was fond of this form of food because it allowed him to continue playing cards at cribbage while eating, because he did not want to get his hands sticky from eating meat with his bare hands.

Cacik

Cacik (closest pronounciation is “Jahjik”) is a traditional Turkish meze (appetizer), which is made of yoghurt, cucumber, water, garlic and your choice of spices. It is much more diluted than its Greek version Tzatziki.

Its consistency, the way cucumbers are chopped, amount of garlic and your choice of spices added all differ according to individual taste. You will find below my version of this extremely refreshing goodness.

Sandwich, cacik & Fernando

Ingredients (serves 2)

2 cups yoghurt
1/4 cup water
4 ice cubes
1 clove of garlic (minced)
1 medium sized cucumber
1 tablespoon dried mint flakes
1 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Method

Transfer yoghurt, water, garlic and dried mint flakes into a bowl and mix thoroughly.
Skin the cucumber, dice into tiny pieces (you may also grate them) and toss them into the mixing bowl. Taste and add salt to your liking.
Divide it into two serving bowls. Throw in two ice cubes for each bowl (this will keep your cacik cold until you finish it).
Mix the cayenne pepper with extra virgin olive oil, drizzle on top and garnish with extra mint flakes. Enjoy!

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Comments

Baking Fairy on April 6th, 2006

Come’on! Your readers demand veggie recipes!!!
keiko on April 11th, 2006

Hi Cenk, your site is lovely - I like tzatziki and am intrigued by this cacik too! Happy blogging and look forward to more of your beautiful posts (love the second picture, really sweet :))
Ozlem Cankaya on May 2nd, 2008

I like the dog in the pic. you have good sense of humor.