Mint Turkish Delight Food

MINTED TURKISH DELIGHT MARINADE

Steps:

• Whisk yogurt, lemon juice and peel in small bowl until smooth. Add mint, garlic, salt, cinnamon, cayenne and allspice. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Cover; chill.)
• Marinate lamb or chicken in half of marinade at least 1 hour or up to 4 hours in refrigerator. Remove from marinade, leaving thin coating of marinade on lamb or chicken. Grill. Passing remaining half of marinade separately.

MINT TURKISH DELIGHT

Steps:

• Oil an 8-inch square baking pan and line with plastic wrap. Oil plastic wrap.
• In a small bowl sprinkle gelatin over 1/2 cup cold water and let soften. In another small bowl stir together 1/8 cup cold water and cornstarch.
• In a 4-quart heavy kettle stir together remaining 1 1/4 cups cold water, granulated sugar, and mint and bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Stir in gelatin and cornstarch mixtures and boil over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spatula, 10 minutes (mixture will be very thick). Stir in food coloring. Pour mixture into baking pan, smoothing top with spatula, and cool. Chill confection, loosely covered, until set, about 4 hours.
• Sift 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar onto a work surface. Invert confection onto sugar and peel off plastic wrap. Cut confection into 1/8-inch cubes. Sift remaining confectioners' sugar over cubes and toss to coat. Wrap cubes in parchment paper (do not use wax paper, plastic wrap, or airtight containers because confections will weep) and chill. Turkish delight may be made 2 weeks ahead and kept chilled, wrapped in parchment paper.
• Just before serving, recoat Turkish delight in additional confectioners' sugar.

TURKISH DELIGHT

Steps:

• Oil a shallow square metal or silicone baking tray, about 18 x 18cm. Put the sugar in a pan with the cream of tartar and 500ml water and heat gently at first, stirring so that the sugar melts. Then, turn up the heat and boil for 10-15 mins until the mixture is a little more syrupy. If you have a sugar thermometer, it should reach 115-118C.
• Stir the cornflour into 150ml water, then, whisking all the time, pour it into the sugar syrup. Keep whisking, until everything combines to make a smooth, gloopy mix. Take out the whisk and start to stir with a spatula or spoon over a medium heat. Keep stirring until the mixture is thick enough to see a clear line drawn through it with the spoon and it starts to leave the sides of the pan. It will be very thick and make big bubbles that burst as it cooks, so be careful. This can take up to an hour. Test the mix by dropping a small amount into very cold water; it should form a ball that can be pressed gently when cold and that will feel a little springy.
• Stir in the rosewater or rose syrup and the food colouring, if using, then pour everything into the tray and level the top. Leave to cool and set completely. Sieve some cornflour and icing sugar together over a board and carefully turn out the Turkish delight. Cover it with more icing sugar and cornflour and cut it into cubes with a sharp knife. Dust with yet more of the icing sugar mixture and move the pieces apart so they can dry. Can be stored openly or in small cardboard boxes or bags for up to 1 week.