Today’s tidbit is a hats-off to gorgeous, meaty-thighed women everywhere. For in Turkish cuisine, voluptuous female thighs are so revered that they have a kofte named after them – kadInbudu, or ladies’ thighs. Indeed there is no higher honor! Once I asked my brother-in-law and medical researcher, Koray, (note:  my husband, under such interrogation conditions, simply cannot be trusted for an objective, empirical response) how it was that such shanks as my generous Italian backside could be desirable, but he reassured me of an authentic cultural appreciation for “nice buns” and thighs. And he concluded his affirmation with a shrug and straightforward medical response, “it’s not healthy to look hungry.”

So for all my lady-friends and family, here’s how to make (and sustain!) those kadInbudu, courtesy of Anne’s expert cooking:

Ingredients:

• 1 pound beef
• 1 medium-sized onion, minced
• 1/4 cup arborio rice
• 2 tbspn olive oil
• 4 eggs
• mix of all-purpose flour and unseasoned bread crumbs
• salt
• pepper
• canola oil for frying

Instructions:

1. mince onion (I use a food processor because chopping onions makes me cry!) and sautee on medium heat in 2 tablespoons of olive oil
2. add 1/4 cup of rice, coating the grains with the onion/olive oil mix (special note:  my mother-in-law always measures in Turkish tea glasses, which was confusing at first, but I’ve settled on the following conversion:  1 tea glass=1/2 cup)
3. add 1/2 cup water
4. add 1 tsp salt
5. cover and cook over low heat until rice is soft

In a separate pan,

1. cook 2/3 of the meat with 1/4 cup of water on medium heat until water has evaporated
2. add 1/4 tsp salt
3. mix both pans together, and let cool

Last part,

1. mix remaining 1/3 cup of uncooked meat with 1 egg and 1/2 tsp black pepper
2. form small, oval-sized burgers (about 3″ long, by 2″ wide and 1″ deep)
3. in one bowl, whisk 4 eggs, in another bowl add a mix of all-purpose flour, unseasoned bread crumbs and 1/4 tsp salt
4. dip/coat each kofte in the flour mix first, then dip into the egg (I like to do a double-dip for extra crispy coating!)
5. fry in canola oil until golden brown (my mother-in-law fries in a pan on the stove, I use a deep fryer – either works just fine)
6. …and while you have your deep fryer out, you may as well do a few potatoes to go with!