I wasn’t even sure Trader Joe’s Gözlemes needed a review. What’s not to like about a Turkish flatbread stuffed with three cheeses? But it turns out, it doesn’t need so much of a review as a couple tips on cooking them. So, the box tells you to preheat a dry pan over medium low and cook them for 5 minutes a side. But it turns out, it’s a little more nuanced than that.
A couple things. I opted to use a nonstick pan. But if you follow the directions and preheat over medium low (on a gas flame, anyway), it ends up taking more like 8-11 minutes per side to get much of any golden brown going on them. So, preheat that pan over medium. Like really preheat it good. Not just a minute or two. I think this thing should almost sizzle when you put them in from frozen. Cook for 5 minutes on each side until you get the level of golden brown desired. Turn down the heat if you need to.
I could have gone for even more browning than this personally, because you want the dough cooked and crispy. But it was taking forever. The upside was, some of the cheese started to ooze out, so you get some nice crispy brown cheese. The dough is super thin and somewhat more similar to phyllo (versus say a tortilla) in its texture. So you see those white spots along the bottom of the second gözleme? They needed the browning. I also didn’t attempt them in an airfryer because I think it’s needs the flat contact from a pan.
I cut them in half and put them on a plate. And then thought, huh, maybe a dip would have been nice. Because while the cheeses are nice and salty, there’s not much more going on there. So grab a tub of Trader Joe’s Zhoug. Salsa would also do in a pinch.
Would I buy them again? Well, I only have one left (They come individually wrapped). So I have to buy them again to find out if more browning will really take them from good to great.
Check out some other We Tried’s from Trader Joe’s:
Lemon Mini Sheet Cake
Lemon Pesto