Hungry about everything.
Fennel and pork borek is redolent of Italian sausage, with the scent of fennel seed and a tiny hit of heat from chilli flakes. I gently cooked the fennel so it was mellow and sweet before browning the meat separately with the spices. Everything gets more muted once wrapped in pastry so don’t be shy with the seasoning.
Leftovers are either a delight or a bane on your life. I only like to eat the same thing about three times in a row. Any more and I end up balefully staring at the remainders in the fridge, wishing they’d disappear of their own accord. Which is why I plan to upgrade my fridge in the next few months so I can have a larger freezer to portion out food. My fridge is tiny and the freezer compartment is even smaller.
On Sunday morning I woke up ravenous and had two options. Cook or walk down to the nearby farmers markets. I really need to save a bit more money since I’ve been wishing to renovate my kitchen for over a year now with no progress in sight. So I opened the fridge and decided to make my own take on a sausage and egg muffin. I love English muffins. Toasted, then topped with a dollop of hummous, a slice of ripe tomato, fresh herbs and cracked pepper? Hmm, delicious. Okay okay, I have to focus!
A few days beforehand I’d baked a borek and I had a small amount of leftover filling. I’d based the flavours loosely on an Italian sausage so it contained fresh fennel, pork, onion, fennel fronds and spices. I toasted my muffins, fried up an egg and gently heated some of the filling in the same pan. A squeeze of sriracha over egg and voila! A breakfast that tastes good in its own right.
A glass of juice completed the meal and I think we can safely say that these particular leftovers fall firmly into the delight category.
I was thwarted recently with my plans to bake a multitude of pies but you didn’t think I’d give up so easily did you?
This past weekend I held a second Pie day, inviting three friends over to eat the results. I’d been hankering to try my hand at a borek and since my other pie was a traditional beef and red wine number, settled on a vegetarian one. 
Boreks ;(sometimes spelt burek) are a savoury pastry eaten in Macedonian, Bulgarian and Greek cultures to name a few but the general consensus is that they’re of Turkish origin. The wide culinary influence of Ottoman cuisine stems from the spread of the Ottoman empire which existed for over 600 years and controlled the spice route. I’ve seen it claimed quite a few times that the great cuisines of the world are French, Chinese and Turkish. Not that I’m taking any sides! When it comes to my stomach, I’m very much equal opportunity.
jibuyabu 