Simit Recipe

My daughter was home for a whole wonderful week over the holidays.  I fed her well.  She misses my cooking.  I love making big Turkish breakfasts.  Everything is so fresh and tasty.  I made these fried eggs seasoned with salt, pepper and red pepper flakes.  And I pan fried some sucuk to go along with them.  It is a flavorful, lean beef sausage seasoned with cumin and we all love it.

I have been wanting to make simit for quite some time and I finally did.  Simit are sort of like Turkish bagels though the dough is not boiled.  Pour 1-1/2 cups of water in your mixer bowl.  Add 3 tsp. of rapid rise yeast.  Mix in 1-1/2 tsp. of salt and 3-1/2 C. flour.  Mix and knead until you have a smooth ball of dough.

Turn the dough into a greased bowl and cover it.  Let it rise for about 1-1/2 hours.  I used the recipe from Ozlem's Turkish Table.  She has wonderful recipes and you can find her blog here:  http://ozlemsturkishtable.com/

When it has risen, plop it out on your counter.

Cut it into 10 equal pieces.

Roll each piece until it is 22 inches long.

Fold it in half.

Using your fancy gold nails, twist it and then form a circle.  Pinch the ends together.

The recipe calls for pekmez which is a molasses made from fruit.  I used a bit of regular molasses mixed with some Turkish pomegranate molasses and water.  Dip each ring in the molasses and then into a plate of sesame seeds.

Place them on a parchment covered cookie sheet.

Bake them at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes.

I made an olive salad using some of the Turkish vinegar my friend Joy sent to me!  Thanks so much Joy!

I used green olives, celery, onions, feta and some of my roasted red peppers.  I sprinkled it with olive oil, white balsamic vinegar and the Turkish vinegar.

Then I sprinkled it with ground sumac.

Some meats and cheeses, salad and smoked salmon with onions and capers.

It all was perfect served with the freshly baked simit.

Yum!