The Plan
Jenn and I ate at the Mediterranean Cafe in Lexington and I had the Kofta dish, and I couldn't stand that Jenn couldn't have any due to her lack of eating mammals. I decided then that I had to adapt a recipe with ground turkey for her, but I couldn't just leave it at turkey Kofta, I wanted to make a burger. I scoured the interwebs in search of something similar to my idea - a burger on flat bread or pita, maybe even a pita pocket. To no real avail. I decided that I wanted to make my own Tzataziki Sauce, Hummus, Oliveda, and instead of lettuce - shredded grape leaves.
Turkey Kofta
2 lbs Ground Turkey
2 Tablespoons Coriander
2 tablespoons Cumin
2 tablespoons Turmeric
2 tablespoons Allspice
2 tablespoons Cayenne Pepper
1 tablespoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon Sea Salt
1 tablespoon Ginger
1 tablespoon Cinnamon
1/2 Cup Fresh Diced Parsley
1/2 Cup Italian Bread Crumbs
Mix all ingredients together working everything together in a large bowl. Cover and allow to sit refrigerated for thirty minutes. When ready pat meat into 4 ounce thin patties (for my purposes, I used a George Foreman grill, and it only took around 4 minutes or so for them to cook). Makes eight 4 oz. servings.
Tzataziki Sauce
2 cups plain Greek Yogurt
1 cucumber seeds removed and diced
1/4 cup minced dill
1/4 minced mint
1/4 cup lemon juice
Really good, and really simple sauce. Basically, cut the cucumber in half and remove the seeds with a spoon and dice it into small centimeter sized cubes, and then mix all ingredients together.
Oliveda
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata Olives minced and strained
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 dash olive oil
Dice the olives finely and strain off any additional juice with a sieve or pat dry with a paper towel and combine other ingredients.
Greek Potatoes
3 large Russet potatoes diced
1/4 cup of olive oil
2 tablespoons of paprika
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoons sea salt
1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
Rinse and dice the potatoes, mix all ingredients together making sure to coat potatoes with oil and consistently with paprika, bake at 350 degrees until tender.
