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Recipes with cos lettuce

3 recipes that use cos lettuce, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Balık ekmek, takes 20 minutes. It is most often cooked with lemon, lemon juice and red onion.

Run out of cos lettuce? Any crisp salad leaves, same amount.

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Renga (smoked herring with lemon and tahini)

On Sham el-Nessim, the spring festival Egyptians of every faith celebrate on the Monday after Coptic Easter, families head to parks and the Nile banks with coloured eggs, spring onions, lettuce and fish, and renga is on almost every picnic cloth. Golden smoked herring is skinned, boned and flaked, then dressed with plenty of lemon, raw onion, chilli and a garlicky tahini sauce, so the salty, smoky fish is cut by sharp citrus and creamy sesame. It is scooped up with baladi bread and crunchy greens. Shop-bought renga is cold-smoked and eaten without cooking, so it is not for pregnant women, young children or anyone with a weakened immune system unless you heat it first (see the last step). Buy it sealed from a reputable shop, within its date. Chef's tip: soak the fillets in cold water for 10 minutes to tame the salt before dressing them.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Balık ekmek

At Eminönü, by the Galata Bridge, boats rocking at the quay grill mackerel fillets over charcoal and pass them up in half a loaf with raw onion, lettuce and a squeeze of lemon; you eat it on a low stool with a cup of pickle juice. It is the simplest fish sandwich imaginable and depends entirely on fresh, oily fish and a hot pan. Serve with turşu (pickles) and a salgam or ayran. Chef's tip: grill the fillets skin side down for most of the cooking time; the skin crisps and protects the soft flesh so it doesn't stick and tear.

by KrazyBadal 0 views

Arni fricassee

When cos lettuces and spring onions flood the markets around Easter, Greek cooks make arni fricassee: lamb braised slowly with mountains of greens and dill, then thickened at the last moment with avgolemono, the frothy egg and lemon sauce. The result is tender, tangy and fresh, a lighter alternative to the roast lamb of Easter Sunday, served with crusty bread to mop up the sauce. Common mistake: pouring the eggs straight into the bubbling pot, which scrambles them; temper them with hot broth first and keep the pot off the heat. Chef's tip: shake the pot to swirl the sauce in rather than stirring, so the lamb and greens stay whole.

125 minGreekMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with cos lettuce