Couch Culture Club - Turkey

Selam, join us in Turkey for this weeks couch culture club!

Famed for incredible cuisine, fairy chimneys, ancient ruins and monuments join us in the enchanting destination of Turkey for this week’s Couch Culture Club.

Transport your taste-buds to Turkey by creating one of their most famed dishes Gozleme, a traditional savoury Turkish flatbread and pastry dish. Pair that with the Turks take on the cosmo, the Swinging Sultan cocktail. Finish the night off with a trip to the icy mountain tops of Cappadocia, with this weeks film selection Winter Sleep.

If you’re headed with us this week, we would love to see your photos you can send them to us on Facebook or via email

Turkish Gozleme

INGREDIENTS

For Dough

• 2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1/2 cup Greek yoghurt plain

• 1/2 cup water

For Filling

• 1 small onion chopped

• 2 cloves garlic minced

• 250g lamb mince

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 170g spinach frozen, thawed and chopped

• 1/2 cup fresh mint chopped

• 2 green onions chopped

• 1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped

• 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled

• 1 medium tomato chopped

• lemon wedges and olives to serve

METHOD

Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the centre and stir in the yoghurt and water. Continue mixing with a spoon until everything is well combined. Flour your work surface and knead the dough for about 3 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Cover with plastic wrap or a clean tea towel and set aside.

In a skillet, heat 1 tbs olive oil over medium heat then add the chopped onion and garlic. Saute onion and garlic for 3-4 mins. Add the lamb and cook until browned. Stir in the tomato paste then add salt and pepper to taste. Add the spinach and cook for another 2 mins. Let the meat mixture cool slightly.

In the meantime divide the dough into 4 equal portions. Roll each piece into a rectangle. Spoon about 3 tbsp of the lamb mixture in the middle of the rectangle and spread it out a bit. Add some fresh mint, green onions, fresh parsley, 1/4 of the crumbled feta, and some chopped tomato. Fold over the edges of the dough to seal. Repeat with remaining dough pieces.

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Depending on the size of your skillet, add 1 or 2 of the gozleme and cook on each side until golden brown and crisp. Cut each gozleme in half diagonally and serve with lemon wedges and olives.

Swinging Sultan

What you’ll need

• 1 shot vodka

  1. 1/2 shot Yen Raki

  2. 1 shot Triple Sec

  3. 1 shot fresh lime juice

  4. 80ml pure pomegranate juice

  5. Orange twist for garnish

How to make it

Combine vodka, Yen Raki, pomegranate juice, Triple Sec and lime juice in a large shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for five to ten seconds. Pour into two martini glasses

Garnish with an orange twist!

Winter Sleep

Cannes Film Festival award winner from Turkish director Nuri Bilge Ceylan, Winter Sleep is this weeks film selection. The film tells the story of a retired stage actor who now runs the isolated rural hotel with his young wife. In winter as the snow begins to fall, the hotel turns into a shelter, but also an inescapable place that fuels their animosities. You can watch it for free on SBS on Demand by Clicking Here