It is time for Asure! Here is the link for the Asure recipe!  This past weekend, I walked into my mom’s kitchen and to my delight she has already cooked and cooled her Asure, even before I had began mine!  My mother was extra delighted to see me and already prepared the table so that I can start clicking away! Since I did not know she was making Asure and that she wanted me to take and post the pictures, I took these pictures with the iPhone 4S! They came out amazing, don’t you think so?  Wishing you all a wonderful Asure Day & an even better week!

After dinner during the month of Ramadan, I look forward to drinking my tea and feasting on dessert.  As much as I say my husband loves desserts, I must admit I equally do as well. He prefers milk desserts like pudding and ice creams, my preferences are mostly of cakes, cookies, chocolates and several different traditional Middle Eastern & Turkish desserts.

Revani or Basbousa as known as in Arabic, amongst many other Turkish desserts, happens to be one of my absolute favorite dessert.  Over the summer, I started looking for a good recipe and to my surprise stumbled upon a recipe on Epicurious.com.  This recipe was a bit different from the traditional Turkish recipes as it called for semolina then flour creating a dense sponge cake soaked in syrup.

Even though both Eids have past, this is a great recipe to have and make for anytime of the year. Especially when you are expecting company and want to creat a special dessert.

REVANI
adapted from Epicurious | July 2009
by Carol Robertson  – Turkish Cooking: A Culinary Journey through Turkey

Ingredients:

Syrup:

• 3 cups of sugar
• 4 cups of water
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

Cake:

• 9 eggs, separated
• 3/4 cup sugar
• grated rind from 1 lemon
• 2 cups semolina or farina (cream of wheat)
• 1/3 cup flour
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup heavy cream, whipped with 1 tablespoon sugar (I did not serve with whipped cream)
• 1/4 cup ground nuts or 1/4 cup of dry coconut

To make the syrup:
Bring sugar, water, and lemon juice to a boil, simmer 15 minutes. Cool.

To make the cake:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F.
2. Beat the egg yolks, sugar and lemon rind with an electric beater for 5 minutes or until pale yellow.
3. Wash and dry the beater.
4. Fold the semolina and flour into the beaten yolks until well blended. Set aside.
5. Beat the egg whites with the clean beater until stiff.
6. Alternate gently folding the egg whites and the melted butter into the yolk and flour mix.
7. Pour batter into a well greased and floured 9×12 inch or 10×12 inch baking pan.
8. Bake in a preheated 350°F oven for 40 minutes, or until a pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9. Pour the syrup over the hot cake. Let it stand for several hours until the syrup is absorbed and the cake is cool.
10. Cut the cake into squares.
11. Serve with whipped cream and sprinkle nuts or dry coconut on tops.

Asure known as ”Noah Pudding” is one of the oldest and most traditional desserts of the Turkish & Middle Eastern cuisine. Plenty of Asure is cooked in every household during it which is both served to the guests and distributed to the neighbors and relatives.  Growing up I would beg my mom to make this sweet nut filled pudding, regardless of what day of the year it was.  As the sweet cooks the whole house smells of cooking barley, currants with scents of sweet rose water mixed with citrus flavor.  Simply irresistible to resist! 

Asure signifies many events for Muslims, amongst the most significant being the day Noah’s Ark set on dry land.When the Flood finally subsided and the Noah’s Arc settled on Mount Ararat in Agri, those on the vessel wanted to hold a celebration as an expression of the gratitude they felt towards the God. But alas, the food storage’s of the ship were practically empty and so they made a soup with all the remaining ingredients they could find and thus ended up with the asure. Following the legend, asure is today prepared by cooking together 15 or more ingredients. In some regions a piece of the sacrificial meat is saved and added to the pot while asure is being cooked. Rice can also be substituted for wheat or it can be used in combination with it. The pudding can be enriched with almonds, hazelnuts and currants. In addition to dried white beans and chickpeas, dried broad beans and dried black-eyed beans can also be added. In some regions molasses replaces sugar.

The most important ingredient in making Asure is to have the ‘Intention’ and the ‘Will’ to make this sweet pudding, in Turkish we say ‘Niyet Etmek.’  With this on my mind I set out to make my “Asure.” I a sure you, it is simple and quick.

Asure – Noah’s Pudding

Ingredients
~ Items can be found at any Whole Food Markets or Middle Eastern Store -

• 1  cup of barley whole wheat
• 6 cloves
• 1 can of chick peas
• 1 can of white kidney beans (or red kidney beans)
• 3/4 cup of black dried currants
• 3/4 cup of yellow raisins
• 3/4 cup of almonds (slivered, sliced or whole)
• 1/2 cup of pignoli nuts - aka pine nuts
• 1/2 cup of cranberries
• 1/2 cup of dry coconut
• 6 dried Turkish Apricots - cut in quarter
• 1 tablespoon of rose water
• 2 1/2 cups of sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 lemon zest 
• the juice of 1 lemon
• 9 – 12 cups of cold water
• 4 tablespoons of corn starch
• Cinnamon for topping
• Save some pignoli, currants & coconut for topping.

Preparation:

One day Before: Soak 1 cup of barley whole wheat in 3 cups of water the night before. This will allow the barley to soften.

Day of:

1. Drain the soaked barley, pour into a deep cooking pot fill with 8-10 cups of cold water leaving about 2-3 inches of the top.
2. Over a medium to high bring the pot to broil – will take about 15-20 minutes and continue to broil an additional 20 – 25 minutes.  The barley will have cracked open and have become white and soft to touch and taste.
3. In a small sauce pan with a cup of water - add in the cloves  and bring to boil. The water will turn a light brown color this means the cloves have released their flavor into the water. Discard the cloves & set the water a side to add into the pot later.
4. Drain and wash the can of chick peas and kidney beans, add both into the broiling pot.  Stir well.
5. In a small sauce pan, bring the water to broil  add in the black currants, drain the dark water and add the current into barley, kidney beans and chick pea mixture. Stir well.
6. Add in the rest of the dry ingredients - raisins, cranberries, quartered apricots, dry coconut, almonds and pine nuts. Stirring again.
7. Add in the 2 cups of sugar and giving the mixture a nice stir, continuing to cook over medium heat.  Let the sugar dissolve, if not sweet enough for your taste add in the addition 1/2 cup.
8. In a small mixing bowl with a cup of water mix the corn starch well, leaving no lumps.  Then add the corn starch mixture into your boiling pot of asure. Stir well.  (The corn starch is thickening agent for the asure.)
9. Finally add in the zest of the lemon, juice of the lemon, clove water and rose water and pinch of salt.
10. Stir everything well continue to cook for another 5-8 minutes.
11. Let cool for about 15 minutes, ladle into serving bowls.  Top with cinnamon, nuts and dry fruit. 
12. Asure can be served warm, at room temperature or cold.

Note: Asure  covered with plastic warp will last for a both a week in the refrigerator. 

This turned out to be one of my favorite salads.  Very simple, easy and filling, as anything with bulgur tends to be. 

Corn & Bulgur Salad
adapted slightly from Food & Wine

Ingredients

• 1 cup of fine or coarse bulgur*
• 1 cup of corn (frozen defrosted or freshly cut from the cob)
• 1.5 cups of boiling water for bulgur (.5 cup of water if using coarse bulgur)
• 1.5 cups of boiling water for corn
• 1 medium red onion – finely diced
• 1 medium tomato – finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons of Pomegranate Molasses
• 2 tablespoons of lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons of extra-virgin olive oil
• salt to taste
• 3 tablespoons of parsley chopped

Preparation

1. In a large mixing bowl, add the one cup of the fine bulgur, top with one teaspoon of salt and the pour one cup of the hot boiling water. Cover with plastic saran rap and set a side.
2. Add the defrosted or freshly cut corn into the 1.5 cups of broiling water.  Cook the freshly cut corn until soft.  For the defrosted corn, add it into the broiling water and then drain well and dry.  (This method allows the corn to loose the frozen taste.)
3. Uncover the plastic wrap from the bulgur, add in the pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and mix well and set aside for 5 – 10 minutes to allow the bulgur to absord the flavors.
4. In the meantime chop and dice the red onion, tomato and parsley.
5. Into the bulgur mixture, add in the corn, red onion, tomato, parsley, and salt for taste.  Mix well and throughly.
6. Pour into a nice serving bowl, cover and chill several hours.  Can serve at room temperature as well.

*Fine & coarse bulgur is available at A&D Food Market & many Middle Eastern or Natural foods stores.
*The salad can be made a day in advance.