I Love Turkish Food

BAKLAVA, BOREK RECIPES

2007-12-21T22:41:00.000-05:00

For a really long time, I and my blog partner couldn't add any recipes here. I was busy with my English courses and my cake decoration classes. I was totally falling in love with cake decoration stuff. I spend most of my time with them. If you want to see some of my cake images you can click here but they are in Turkish. Minik Kus is very busy with her research that she is doing for her PhD degree. I hope we will not do this again.

Finally, I am adding some Turkish food recipes now. Today is our traditional "Kurban Bayrami". It is a religious celebration. I made them for Bayram for our guests. Enjoy!

Adopted from Ceylan
Borek recipe:
Ingredients:
For dough :

2 eggs (one of the egg yolks is for topping)
1 teaspoon salt
1\3 cups olive oil plus 1 tablespoon for topping
2\3 whole milk
1 1\2 teaspoon baking powder
flour (almost 4 cups)

For filling:

1 packet baby spinach (chopped small pieces)
1 big chopped onion
1 pinch salt and pepper
1 packet blue cheese (*my contribution)
2-3 tablespoon olive oil

Method:
Lightly grease a round 27 cm (10 inch) cake pan with olive oil
Preheat oven 350F
1. In a large pan, cook the onion with olive oil until it turns yellow. Add the spinach, cook until spinach dies down and add the salt and pepper. You can also use beef and potatoes for filling.
2. Next, in a large bowl, add all the ingredients but with only 1 cup flour. Start kneading. It should be very sticky, add flour one cup at a time and continue kneading until dough becomes soft and not sticky. Stop adding flour.
3. Dust the work surface with some flour. Make small balls from dough and roll each ball very thin 8 inch diameter. ( or little longer and narrower)
4. Pour 2 or 3 tablespoons filling and 1 tablespoon blue cheese one side of dough and make a tight roll. Make a ring and put it in the middle of the pan. And than start wrapping the roll from middle to out.
5. Brush the Borek with the egg yolk and olive oil, bake it until brown. Serve when it is almost hot.

Baklava Recipe: (updated)
Ingredients:
For filling:

12 filo dough sheets
3 cups walnuts very finely chopped
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2\3 cup unsalted melted butter

For syrup

1 1\2 cups water
2\3 cup sugar (or more sugar if you have a sweet tooth)
1 lemon zest strip
2 tablespoon lemon juice

Method:
Lightly butter 9-13 inch pan
Preheat oven 325F
1. In a small saucepan, mix water, sugar, lemon zest and juice and boil them properly and let it cool completely.
2. In a separate bowl, add the nuts and cinnamon, mix them well.
3. Next, in a lightly buttered pan, line the first filo sheet and brush it with butter. Tuck the overhanging parts in...and do it same thing to second and third filo sheets. Next, sprinkle nuts with spoon on the dough. And then line 3 more filo sheets as above and sprinkle nuts top of them. 2 more times do it same thing until you finish your ingredients. Remember to brush each filo sheets with butter. Brush the top of filo sheet. Finally, cut only the top 3 filo sheets diagonally across and bake until golden brown. Approximately 40 minutes.
4. When it is baked cut it all the way to the bottom using the same lines and pour the syrup on the baklava immediately. I like to eat Baklava when it is a little warm but normally it is served when it is completly cool. You can serve with extra nuts on the top, ice cream and with my favorite "Kaymak". Enjoy!

Irmikli Sutlu Tatli (Pudding with Semolina)

2007-10-05T00:31:00.000-04:00

I love deserts that are made of milk. After my number one dessert "sutlac", which we will give the recipe in future posts (hopefully), and number two fake chicken breast pudding, this one is number three. If you want to prepare something sweet but you're on a diet or you want something light, you should give this delicious pudding a try.

Ingredients:

12 tbs sugar
12 tbs semolina
0.26 gal (1 lt) milk
1/2 tbs unsweetened butter (or margarine)
1 tbs vanilla
Some small oreos (this is optional)

Method:

1. Stir milk, sugar and semolina in a pan.

2. Simmer the mixture by mixing it with a mixer or a spoon.

3. Add vanilla and mix it.

4. Put the butter into the mixture and melt it by mixing the pudding.

5. Pour some water into a pyrex (or a glass rectangular pin) and wash the inside. This will give you the easiness when you try to take the slices out.

6. Pour the half of the pudding into the pyrex. Put some small diet oreos, if you like, on the pudding. Then pour the remaining pudding.

7. You can decorate the top with oreos or with chopped walnuts.

Enjoy!

TURKISH NIGHT PART 6 and FINAL

2007-09-12T12:05:00.000-04:00

This is the end of the Turkish Night. We are so proud of sharing many Turkish recipes with you. This became a very good source. There are over 60 recipes in Turkish Night. Please don't hesitate and send me an email if you would like to have any of these recipes in English.

Here above, there is Turkish coffee. This is very specially coffee. One of my friends (Nane Limon) made it and I would like to serve you. We make it all the time for our guests. :)

Finally, I would like to thank everyone who sent me lovely recipes. Many thanks to Minik Kus and Suheyla for helping me translating the recipes.

Enjoy the final Turkish Night!

Blog name: Diyalog Yemekleri
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Tavuk kebabı (chicken kebab)
Main ingredients: Please click for the recipe

Blog name: Muhteremle Afiyetle
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Etli Ekmek
Main ingredients: Flour, egg, ground beef, tomatoes, green peppers, onions, salt, black pepper, butter...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Nane ve Limon
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Bamya dizmesi
Main ingredients: Okra, onion, tomatoes, green peppers, lemon juice, ground beef, salt, black pepper, little bit flour...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Yanya-Evenez
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Hamsili pilav
Main ingredients: Rice, hamsi (fish), parsley, dill, onions, black pepper, salt and more spices...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Minik Kus
From: Florida-USA
Name of dish: Lahana koftesi
Main ingredients: cabbage, bulgur, ground beef, onion, tomato paste, salt, water, vegetable oil...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Bizim Pastane
From: New York- USA
Name of dish: Kandil simiti
Main ingredients: Dry yeast, sugar, water, flour, salt, mahaleb, butter, egg, heavy cream, sesame
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Laleden Seçmeler
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Bayram tatlısı
Main ingredients: sugar, flour, milk, vegetable oil, walnut, cinnamon, lemon juice, vanilla flavor
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Ganne Pişiriyor
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Firinda kofte patlican
Main ingredients: Ground beef, bread, eggplants, parsley, onion, garlic, spices, tomotaes and water
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Pastacı papatyalar
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Tost,
Main ingredients: eggs, sausage, cheese, bread, butter, spices...
For the full recipe, please email me.

PART 6.

Blog name: Guldenelkan
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Milfoylu borek, ciger sarma
Main ingredients: Puff pastry, egg, feta cheese, parsley
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Cafe Sardunya
From: Izmir
Name of dish: Izmir pilavi
Main ingredients: Rice, butter, chicken broth, vegetable oil, dry apricot, pine nut, currant, cinnamon, walnut, little bit sugar, black pepper, salt
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Nihanin tarifleri
From: Tiran / Albania
Name of dish: Kulak
Main ingredients: Flour, ground beef, onion, salt, yogurt, garlic, butter, paprika, butter
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Yarenle
From: Frankfurt\Germany
Name of dish: Lahana Rulosu
Main ingredients: Cabbage, ground beef, bulgur, rice, parsley, onion, tomato, vegetable oil, tomato paste, spices...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Ofis yemekleri
From: Istanbul
Name of dish:Guvec
Main ingredients: lamb, eggplant, potato, carrot, onion, tomato, green pea, vegetable oil, tomato paste, spices
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Lama mutfakta
From: USA
Name of dish: Aşure
Main ingredients: please click for the recipe

Blog name: Gune bakan tarlalari
From: Canakkale
Name of dish: Gözleme
Main ingredients: flour, egg, vegetable oil, yogurt, chard, feta cheese,
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Kizilcik surubu
From: Zurich\ Switzerland
Name of dish: Dolma, Tavuklu Bulgur
Main ingredients: Green pepper, rice, onion, tomato paste, tomato, olive oil, spices- Bulgur, chicken, chicken broth, vegetable oil, tomato paste...
For the full recipe, please email me.

TURKISH NIGHT PART 3-4-5

2007-09-04T12:02:00.000-04:00

Part 3.

Information about Turkish Night Event!

Blog name: Thesuuur
From: Hamburg/Germany
Name of dishes: 1. Guvecte Etli Taze Fasulye, 2. Sutlac
Main ingredients: 1. Green beans, beef, onions, tomato and pepper paste, tomatoes, water, olive oil... 2. Milk, rice, water, sugar

Blog name: Hunerli Bayanlar
From: Istanbul/Turkey
Name of dishes: 1. Icli Kofte, 2. Baklava
Main Ingredients: 1. Dried crushed wheat(Bulgur), onions, potatoes, semolina, flour, crushed red pepper, salt. For stuffing: ground beef, onions, crushed red pepper, salt... 2. For dough: Flour, water, vegetable oil, vinegar, baking powder. For stuffing: crushed walnuts. For syrup: sugar, water, lemon juice

Blog name: annemmutfakta
From: Istanbul/ Turkey
Name of dish: Kabak dolmasi
Main Ingredients: Squash, rice, onions, garlic, ground beef, parsley, tomato and pepper paste, vegetable oil, lemon, dried mints, salt, black pepper

Blog name: ceylandan
From: Baku/ Azerbaijan
Name of dish: Kisir
Main Ingredients: Dried crushed wheat(Bulgur), boiled water, onions, fresh mint, parsley, scallion (green onions), crushed red pepper, black pepper, salt, cumin, tomato and pepper paste, lemon juice and olive oil

Blog name:Fusunun Mutfagi
From: Kayseri/ Turkey
Name of dish: Stuffed Squash Flower
Main Ingredients: Squash flower, rice, onions, salt, pepper, cumin, dried mints, water

Blog name:Turkishfood
From: Canada
Name of dish: Yayla Tatlisi
Main Ingredients: This blog is in English, so please click for the recipe

Blog name: Sibelin Mutfagi
From:
Name of dishes: 1. Baklava, 2. Zeytinyagli Yaprak Sarmasi
Main Ingredients:1. Egg, vegetable oil, milk, vinegar, baking powder, flour. For stuffing:crushed walnuts. For syrup: Sugar, sater, lemon juice

Part 4.

Blog name: Thewellseasonedcook - Susan
From: NY Metro Area / USA
Name of dish: Anise Turkish Delight
Main Ingredients: This blog is in English, so please click for the recipe

Blog name: Yemegimle
From: Germany
Name of dish: Ispanakli Kofte Canagi
Main Ingredients: Spinach, onions, ground beef, egg, crushed bread sticks, salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano

Blog name: Inciceylan
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Un Helvasi
Main Ingredients: Flour, sugar, milk, vanilla, unsweetened butter

Blog name: Turklokumu
From: Austin/Texas/USA
Name of dishes: 1. Pide, 2. Kiymali Borek
Main Ingredients: 1. Flour, active dry yeast, salt, sugar. For stuffing: cheese, ground beef, pepperoni... 2. Phyllo dough, eggs, sparkling water, olive oil. For stuffing: Ground beef, onions, tomatoes, green pepper, black pepper, salt

Blog name: Borulce
From: Ankara/Turkey
Name of dish: Zeytinyagli Kuru Dolma
Main Ingredients: Eggplants, bell peppers. For stuffing: rice, onions, olive oil, sugar, dried mints, cinnamon, cumin, black pepper, salt, lemon juice

Blog name: Bir Demet Feslegen
From: Ankara/Turkey
Name of dish: Peynirli ve kiymali pide
Main Ingredients: Instant yeast, flour, egg, milk, vegetable oil, salt, water. For stuffing: cheese, ground beef

Blog name: Asotu
From: Kocaeli/Turkey
Name of dish: Kesme asi
Main Ingredients: Flour, green lentils, eggs, salt, crushed red pepper, butter, basil

Blog name: Reyyanlaannesi
From: Ankara/Turkey
Name of dish: Cezerye
Main Ingredients: Carrot, walnut (crushed), tea biscuits, sugar, crushed coconut

Blog name: Bir fincan keyif
From: Ankara
Name of dish: Kozlenmis patlicanli tavuk kasari
Main Ingredients: Eggplant, chicken, mushroom, cheese

Part 5.

Blog name: Alacarte
From: Istanbul/Turkey
Name of dish: Fincan Boregi
Main Ingredients: Phyllo dough, beef, onions, parsley, butter, salt, black pepper, eggs

Blog name: Serinmavi
From: Istanbul/Turkey
Name of dishes: 1. Arpa Sehriyeli Kuzu, 2. Sogan Dolmasi
Main Ingredients: 1. Orzo, butter, water, salt, black pepper, beef, onions, tomatoes, green pepper... 2. Onions, rice, tomatoes, vegetable oil, garlic, ground beef, salt, black pepper, crushed red pepper, cumin, parsley

Blog name: Nalan Mutfakta
From: Istanbul/Turkey
Name of dish: Katmer
Main Ingredients: Flour, vegetable oil, salt, water, feta cheese

Blog name: Calimero
From: Manisa/Istanbul
Name of dish: Saksuka
Main Ingredients: Eggplant, potatoes, green peppers, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil

Blog name: Bocuruk
From: Izmir/Turkey
Name of dish: Mirik Koftesi
Main Ingredients: Crushed wheat, semolina, egg, flour, salt, water, green lentils, plain yogurt, garlic, butter, red pepper

Blog name: Sarikus
From: Bursa/Turkey
Name of dish: Etli kabak ve biber dolmasi
Main Ingredients: Squash, bell peppers, rice, tomatoes, onions, ground beef, tomato paste, salt, black pepper

Blog name: Yemekbahane
From: Istanbul/Turkey
Name of dish: Kozlenmis patlicanli karniyarik
Main Ingredients: Eggplants, tomatoes, garlic, onions, green peppers, ground beef, salt, black pepper, tomato paste, vegetable oil

Blog name: Kirpikteki Gozyasi
From: Istanbul/Turkey
Name of dish: Kisir
Main Ingredients: Dried crushed wheat(Bulgur), boiled water, parsley, scallion (green onions), crushed red pepper, black pepper, salt, cumin, tomato and pepper paste, lemon juice and olive oil

Blog name: Birdilimbirtutam
From: Berlin/Germany
Name of dishes: 1. Keskul, 2. Dugun Pilavi
Main Ingredients: 1. Milk, sugar, corn starch, salt, crushed coconut... 2. Rice, chick peas, raisin, onions, beef, butter, salt, black pepper, cumin

For the full recipes, please e-mail me.
yamantarifler(at)gmail.com

TURKISH NIGHT PART 1

2007-09-01T00:22:00.000-04:00

Have you ever been to a Turkish Night?
If you haven't, this post will give you an idea.
Turkish Night is all about food, dance and having fun.

In Turkey, Turkish Nights are big tourist attractions. Almost every touristic site throws a Turkish Night party at least once a week. They serve Turkish food with folkloric costumes with traditional music. Also, it is not a Turkish Night unless there is belly dancing.:)

There is a small tour of my country I added photos of our famous places, our restaurants and some shopping places and also you can watch one of our famous Turkish dance show, too. :)

We have a rich variety of recipes coming from all around the country.
Here comes the food!
I hope you will enjoy.

Blog name: Illede Yemek
From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Carsaf Boregi
Main ingredients: Flour, water, olive oil and for the filling cheese...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Mutfakta Hos Seda

From: Istanbul
Name of dish: Kofteşir

Main ingredients: Dried crushed wheat(Bulgur), meat, yogurt with garlic...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Ananenin Kuzusu
From: Istanbul

Name of dish: 1.Badem Corbası, 2.Coven Kremalı Kerebic,

Main ingredients: 1. Flour, almond, milk, water of meat, basil, spices...2.Coven herbal, confectioner's sugar, butter, flour, pistachio

For the full recipes, please email me.

Blog name: Binbir Cesni
From: Kocaeli Gebze
Names of dish: 1 Mualle, 2 Dogaba

Main ingredients:1. Eggplant, green lentil, tomato, onion, green pepper, garlic

2. wheat, meat, yogurt for the meatball; ground beef, rise, spices...
For the full recipes, please email me

Blog name: Yeşimce Yemek
From: Izmir

Name of dish: El acması borek

Main ingredients: Flour, water, olive oil for the filling herbal, cheese...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Bahar Cicegi
From: Kayseri

Name of dish: 1.Karnıyarık, 2.Zeytinyaglı yaprak sarması

Main ingredients: 1.Eggplant,onion, ground beef, tomato paste (Turkish Salca), spices...

2. Grape leaf rolls (vegetarian): grape leaves, rise, onion, raisin, spices...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Burçin'in Denemeleri
From: Istanbul

Name of dish: Sütlaç

Main ingredients: Rise, sugar, vanilla, milk and water
For the full recipe, please email me.

Thank you very much for all your recipes...
note: My email address is yamantarifleratgmail.com

TURKISH NIGHT PART 2

2007-09-01T00:21:00.000-04:00

Blog name:Sofra Ozlemi
From: Istanbul

Name of dish: "Islama"

Main ingredients: Chicken, pyhllo dough, butter
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Selince
From: Izmit

Name of dish: "Zeytinyagli top tabak dolmasi"

Please check her blog she has an english recipe of the dish.

Blog name: Leziz Ozlem
From: Istanbul

Name of dish: 1 Sutlac, ayva tatlisi

Main ingredients: 1 Rise, sugar, vanilla, milk and water, 2 quince,sugar
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Lezzet Duragı
From: Istanbul

Name of dish: Pabucaki

Main ingredients: Eggplants, egg, tomato, onion, cheese...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: hashaslicorek
From: Kocaeli

Name of dish: Kete

Main ingredients: Flour, milk, water, yeast, salt
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: "Işıl ışıl tatlar"
From: Ankara

Name of dish: Asure

Main ingredients: milk, wheat, chickpea, bean, sugar, rose water, dried fruit...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: hayatintatlari
From: Istanbul

Name of dish: Sacaklı

Main ingredients: chicken breasts, egg, flour, water,
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Yaman mutfak
From: Istanbul

Name of dish: Fırın sutlac

Main ingredients: Rise, sugar, vanilla, milk and water
For the full recipe, please email me.

Blog name: Almura,
From: Izmir

Name of dish: Bamya

Main ingredients: Okra, beef, onion, tomato, lemon juice...
For the full recipe, please email me.

Thank you very much for all your recipes...
note: My email address is yamantarifleratgmail.com
List of illustrations: İstanbul Fotoğrafları, Maxionline, Kocaeli Resimleri, Kayseri,
Ankara Ata Kule, Şirince,

Acma (Turkish Bagel)

2007-08-28T12:05:00.000-04:00

I'd like to start with a question: Do you like bagels? If you do, try to cook a Turkish style bagel, namely Acma (it is read as "achma"). Actually, acma is a little bit different from a bagel but I think bagel is the most appropriate word that can describe acma. My mom bakes acma so nice that every time she has guests, acma is one of the most popular foods among the guests :) Now, I'm living far far away from my mom, so it is time to bake acma by myself.

My first try was not that good because I make the dough wait too long :( But every bad experience teaches you something good. So, my second try was good and tastes almost like my mom's acma :) My guests also like it, and now they always ask me to bake some acma when I invite them to my house. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup warm-hot milk
1 1/2 tbs dry baking yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cups sugar
1 cup vegetable oil (I prefer canola oil) (2/3 cups for dough)
1 egg (separate yolk from the white)
1 tea spoon salt
4-6 cups of all purpose (or bread) flour
1 tbs oil
2 tbs black cumin

Method:

Pour warm-hot water into a large bowl. The water should be between hot that when you put your fingers you should be able to bear with it. Add the sugar and yeast and stir it with your fingers or with a spoon that is made of wood for just 5-6 seconds. Wait for about 5-6 minutes. during this time the yeast will grow. Add the milk, white of the egg, 2/3 cups of oil and salt, and mix them. Then add some flour until your fingers can separate from the dough. But still some of the dough should remain on your finger. I mean the dough should be thick but it still needs to be sticky. This is the thickness that we want. I don't give the exact measurement because the amount of flour that is enough for our dough changes with the brand of the flour. But I usually begin with pouring 3 1/2 cups of flour, and add 1/2 cups each time if I need more flour. You should use your fingers to feel the correct thickness.

Then cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel or with the bowl's cover if it has :) Wait until the dough rises and doubled in volume. Grease the pan or use baking shhets. Put the remaining (1/3 cups) oil into a plate. Grease your hand with this oil and take some dough that is as big as your hand. Make a long cylindrical dough like you are making a bagel. Then twist this cylindrical dough and wrap it around your hand until the two sides mashed. Put it on the pan. Do the same procedure until you use the entire dough.

Now mix the yolk of the egg and 1 tbs oil and brush acmas with these mixture. Be generous and brush all the surface of acmas that is seen from outside. Sprinkle black cumins or sesame seeds and bake them in a prehetaed oven. The temperature should be 380F~400F. When the tops become brownish take acmas out oven and let them cool. That's it, enjoy!

Nisasta Kurabiyesi (Starch Cookies)

2007-08-20T12:05:00.000-04:00

I made these cookies for the foodie blog event between Turkish food bloggers. These cookies have a funny story. I ate these cookie in my sister's house. Every summer, my sister cooks these cookies and we eat them during the tea-cookie time (5pm is the traditional tea-cookie time in Turkey :) ). Then, when our friend announced the May's event as a cookie event, these starch cookies are the only ones that I wanted to cook.

Thanks God, I cook them like my sister. Both the appearance and the taste are exactly the same. I don't know the name of the cookies so I just entitled it as starch cookies. After I posted the recipe, my aunt called me and told me the real name of these cookies: wife silencer or mother in law silencer :)))) The reason is that if you try to eat these cookies alone, without coffee or tea or anything liquid, you might be choked because of the starch. You know the contention between the bride and the mother in law is classic in almost every culture. So, the brides that want their mother in laws to be shut up, they can cook these cookies and serve them without any drink :) Of course it is just a small joke, but who knows may be one day you need something like that, huh?

Ingredients:
2 sticks unsweetened butter
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 all purpose flour
1 package of baking powder
3-4 cups corn starch

Method:

1. Butter should be at room temperature, so take them out of the refrigerator at least 1/2 hours before starting. Mix butter and powdered sugar in a large bowl.

2. Break the eggs into butter-sugar mixture and mix them.

3. Add flour and baking powder, and mix.

4. First add 2 cups of starch. Then add 1/2 cups each time until you get a cookie dough that is not sticky. To understand if the starch is enough, take a small pieces of dough into your hand. If dough does not stick to your hand, it means your dough is ready.

5. Take small pieces into your hand at a size of golf ball. Roll up between the palms of your hands and make balls.

6. Lay baking sheets and put the balls onto the sheet.

7. Cook them in the preheated oven (330F) until their surface become pink.

8. Serve them cool with a coffee or tea. Don't forget the drink, otherwise you couldn't be able to swallow even a bite :)

Enjoy!

Turkish Night

2007-08-13T16:26:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

I just would like to let you all know that I will have a "Turkish Night" event in my Turkish cooking blog on 30 August 07. After that day I am going to carry all the delicious Turkish food here in English.
So you can check many pictures and recipes from here.
What do you have to do? It is very simple only come over on 1st of September and enjoy our "Turkish Night".

And also there would be a small tour of my country I will add photos of our famous places, our restaurants and some shopping places and also one of our Turkish music which is adapted into many language. :)

I hope everything goes well and we can meet here. If you have some Turkish recipe you are welcome to share it with us by sending it to yamantarifler@gmail.com

Please don't miss the Turkish Night!

Food in Film: Chicken Sandwich and Cherry Dessert

2007-08-06T12:01:00.000-04:00

There is a lovely event at the well-seasoned cook by Susan. When I saw the announcement I thought we should join the event "Food in Film".
I chose two movies and two recipes for this event. I made a delicious chicken sandwich for "Big Night" (above) and cherry dessert for "Woman on Top" (below). I hope you enjoy them!

The first movie is "Big Night". It is a lovely comedy-drama and also a yummy foodie movie. It is about two Italian brothers. They own an Italian restaurant called "Paradise". Their restaurant's popularity is going down so they tried to make a big come back again by throwing a big party. Definitely worth watching!!

Here are the recipes for Italian flat bread Focaccia and chicken sandwich! Che bello!Muahh! :)

Focaccia
Ingredients;

2 packages (5 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
1 3\4 cups warm water (105-115 F)
1 teaspoon sugar
3\4 cup extra virgin olive oil
5 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1 teaspoon coarse sea salt (optional)

Method;

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
Add the sugar, 1\2 cup of the olive oil, the flour, and the fine sea salt and stir with your hand or a wooden spoon until a rough ball forms.
pour the dough out onto a floured work surface and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, 5-7 minutes.
Add up to 1\2 cup flour to the work surface while kneading to prevent the dough from sticking.
Form the dough into a ball, transfer it to a lightly oiled bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft- free spot until it doubles in bulk, 1-11\2 hours.
Pour the remaining 1\4 cup oil evenly into a half-sheet pan. Turn the dough out into the pan. Press the dough evenly into the pan. If it is too elastic to spread without springing back, let it rest for 5 minutes. Cover the pan loosely with a dry kitchen towel. Let the dough rise in a warm, draft-free spot until it doubles in size, about 1 hour.
Position a rack in the lower third of the oven, and preheat to 450F. Dimple the dough by pressing your fingertips all the way into it a 1 inch intervals over the entire surface. Sprinkle it with the coarse salt, if desired.
Bake the focaccia until golden brown, 20-30 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool in the pan. Cut it into squares and serve warm or at room temperature. Store tightly wrapped in a aluminum foil at room temperature for up to 1 day or freeze fpr up to 2 weeks. Reheat at 375F for 10 minutes.

The Focaccia recipe is from my first baking book Williams-Sonoma (Essentials of baking). I totally love this cooking book. I don't remember how many recipes I tried and fell in love with.

Chicken Sandwich
Ingredients;

2 boneless, skinned chicken breasts
~ 1 1\2 cup fine chopped cabbage
~ 1 1\2 cup grated carrot
1 cup plain Yogurt
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 grated garlic
2 tablespoons butter
A little bit salt and black pepper

Method;

In a frying pan, fry the chicken breasts with butter until cooked well and slice them thin.
In a large bowl, put the cabbage, carrot, yogurt, mayonnaise, garlic, salt and pepper mix them well.
Cut the focaccia into four-inch squares. Then split them in two and put the chicken and salad between them. Serve with Big Night movie. :))

The second movie is "Woman on Top".
Isabelle (Penelope Cruz) is a beautiful girl who has a talented for cooking but she is also a control freak. She needs to control everything and if she is not in control like cars, elevators, planes she gets ill. Her target is become the top chef in a famous restaurant but when she falls in love with Toninho her mind changes. When Toninho cheats on her she leaves him and moves to San Fransisco to become the chef that she has always dreamed of.

I decided to make a dessert that would go with the movie.I put all the cherry , chocolate, coconut on the top of my dessert. :))

Ingredients;

1 package cherry pudding (I used strawberry pudding)
3,5 cups milk
1 1\2 package plain biscuit (tea biscuit)
For toping decoration; a half pound cherry, 2 tablespoons coconut, 1\2 cup chocolate chips

Method;

In a sauce pan, cook the pudding according to package directions with 3,5 cups.
Place the biscuits side by side on bottom of 8x8 inch pan. And than pour 1\3 pudding on the top of biscuit. Continue to make the dessert until you finish all the biscuits and the pudding. Let the dessert cool and than put it in refrigerator.

Yalanci Tavuk Gogsu (Fake Chicken Breast Pudding)

2007-07-26T21:33:00.000-04:00

Finally, we're in foodie blogroll :) If you haven't heard about the blogroll, I strongly recommend you to visit JennDZ's blog and read this post. This blogroll's aim is helping foodies find each other on the web. Also she opened a forum, so you can visit and share your recipes with others :) I think, she did a great job. You can find this blogroll on the left hand side of our blog :)Thanks again!

Now, it is time to give a new recipe :) In Turkish cuisine, one can find plenty of desserts that are made of milk. Personally, I love this type of desserts, especially sutlac (this is another dessert, hopefully we'll give its recipe soon). The name of this dessert is Tavuk Gogsu which means, literally, chicken breast. The original of this pudding contains some chicken breast. It sounds weird, doesn't it? But it is not. Actually, you don't taste the chicken because chicken breast is cooked very well, and it is cut into very small pieces (like smashed into fibers). The originality of this pudding comes from the fiber of the chicken breast. When you try to put some pudding into your spoon, you will see the fibers. But, I cook this pudding without chicken breast which makes it fake :) (like fake manti :))

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tbs unsweetened butter
1 cup of all purpose flour
0.26 gal milk (1 lt milk)
1 1/2 cups of sugar

Method:

Put the butter into a pan and melt it. Then pour the flour into pan and roast it until its color changes to yellowish-brownish color. Then add sugar and mix it. Begin to add some milk while stirring the mixture with a hand mixer. Do not add the entire milk at the same time, try to pour little milk each time. Also, you need to stir it all the time. If not, the mixture will get lumpy. After you add the entire milk and the mixture boils, take the pan away from oven. Stir the pudding with an electrical mixer for about at least 5 minutes. You will see that the pudding becomes smooth. By the way, don't worry if despite all of your effort the mixture gets lumpy. The mixture will become smooth after this stirring procedure. In the end, pour the pudding into a pyrex (or oven proof glass pan) and cool it down. Pour some cinnamon at the top and refrigerate it over night. The pudding is ready to serve :) Enjoy!

Turkish Appetizer

2007-07-20T12:00:00.000-04:00

I invited my friends from my English class to our house last month. My friends are from all over the world. They didn't know much about Turkish food. So I wanted to cook some Turkish food, so that they have some idea about our foods and culture. I thought the best trick was preparing Turkish appetizers for my guests. It was like an appetizer buffet. They loved everything :)
After buffet, we had Turkish tea and some dessert. One of my friends has never tasted Turkish tea. He didn't want to drink at first because the weather was so hot. But when he tried he couldn't make himself stop :)

Here is some of my recipes. Also, I forgot to take pictures of some of my foods. I prepared more different salad and desserts. Anyway I hope you will enjoy!

Eggplant Salad
Ingredients;

2 large eggplants
1 tomato
1\4 cup chopped parsley
1 lemon juice
2 crushed garlics
salt, a little bit black pepper, olive oil.

Method;
Prepare the oven to 350 F. Line a sheet pan with a piece of aluminum foil. Make a few cuts to egg plants by using a knife. Cook the eggplants until they become very flabby. Then let them cool. Peel the skin and mash the eggplants. Add lemon juice, garlic, salt, black paper and olive oil; then mix together. Decorate your salad with cut tomatoes and parsley.

Potato Salad
Ingredients;

6-7 potatos
a half bunch of parsley
2-3 fresh green onion and also if you like you can put finely chopped onion, too
1 tablespoon mild paprika
1 lemon juice
black pepper, salt, olive oil as you taste
2 cups of chopped romaine lettuce

Method;
In a large pot, boil the water. Cook the potatoes until the toothpick goes in easily. Let them cool.
In a large bowl, chop the parsley, green onions, romaine lettuce, mix them with lemon juice, paprika, black pepper, salt, olive oil. Peel the skin of potatoes. Cut into squares. Add into salad. Mix well but do not mash potatos. Serve cool.

Borek with spinach
Borek with Cheese
Borek is the main appetizer as my partner mentioned in her last post. Of course, I always serve borek for my guest. I made the same borek as Minik Kuş made. And also I made borek with spinach and cheese.

Hummus
Ingredients;

1cup chickpeas
2 tablespoons tahini (crashed sesame seeds)
1 large lemon juice
3 grated garlics
salt,a little bit black pepper, olive oil
Hot water

Method;

The night before, put the chickpeas in the hot water. In a large pot, boil the water and add a little bit salt, olive oil and chickpeas. Boil until cooked. The best way for cooking chickpeas is using pressure cooker or you can use canned chickpeas. Because it takes a long time to cook.
When chickpeas are ready, mash the chickpea with blender and add a little bit hot water if it needs. It shouldnt be dry. Add tahini, lemon juice, garlics, salt,a little bit black pepper, olive oil in it, mix them well.
Bon appetite!

Peynirli Borek (Cheese and Parsley Pastry)

2007-07-11T00:05:00.000-04:00

Hey Folks,

We were thinking about preparing some posts on traditional Turkish food for you. Actually we have lots of different recipes but most of them require lots of effort. For the beginners we want to give a relatively easy recipe. I don't know if you ever heard about Turkish borek. If you have a Turkish friend, I'm sure he or she has already cooked some borek for you. It tastes like soufflé that we like to eat for breakfast in Panera Bread. I just translate borek as a pastry, but I'm not sure if it is a correct translation. Actually, I don't know what kind of word can explain it correctly, so if you have any idea after you read the recipe, you can offer a different English name that you think will be more appropriate.

Borek is one of the main dishes that we prepare for our guests. Of course it is not a main dish for dinner, but just like an appetizer or a side dish. We sometimes prepare borek for breakfast. If you haven't tasted it yet, take a chance and try it. I'm sure you won't regret it. One more side info; borek was one of the popular food in our Turkish cooking class that we held in University of Florida in the last three semesters.

I'll give you the recipe of cheese and parsley borek, but you can prepare different types of borek by changing the stuffing. Spinach cheese borek is one of my favorites.

Ingredients

2 rolls of phyllo dough (a package of phyllo dough contains 2 rolls of dough)

2 1/2 cups of milk

1/2 cupsof vegetable oil (I prefer canola oil)

2 large eggs

16 oz crashed feta chese

4 oz chopped parsley (curly or Italian)

Beat the eggs in a bowl. Add milk and vegetable oil and mix them. Lay two sheets of dough in a rectangular pyrex or in a baking tin. Pour 4 or 5 tablespoons of the liquid mix onto sheet evenly. Then lay two more sheets and apply the same procedure until you use all of the sheets in a roll. At the same time mix feta cheese and chopped parsley in another bowl and spread it over the last sheet of first roll that you lay. Then lay two sheets from the second roll of dough and pour 4-5 tablespoons of mix. Continue until all the sheets in the second roll is used. Pour the remaining mix at the top. Cook borek in a preheated oven (350F) until the top becomes brown. After letting it cool down, cut borek in squares and serve warm.

I hope you like it :) Bon appetite!

Icy Pyramid With Chocolate And Strawberry

2007-07-04T07:47:00.000-04:00

This is our first Monthly Mingle. My blog partner and I are very excited about it. Actually, I am not sure how this monthly mingle works but I hope, we did right and Meeta can accept my icy dessert.

I went to farmer's market and I just got a packet of strawberry from there for my icy pyramid. I like buying vegetables and fruits from farmer's market rather than supermarket. I love being outside. It is nice to feel, touch and smell vegetable. However, I can't find any market in Orlando as big as what we have in Turkey.

This icy pyramid is a very simple dessert. You don't need to cook anything. If you have a guest and don't have much time to make a cake, this recipe will be very helpfully to you, especially at summer. You can change the recipe easily. You can add what ever you want. For example, this dessert might be nicer with nut, dried fruits and also some juice as orange or cherry. My mom used to make this icy pyramid a lot. I added chocolate and strawberry in it. Here is my recipe, enjoy! :)

Ingredients:

1 1\2 package plain biscuit (tea biscuit) (200-250gr)
1 cup whole milk
1\2 cup unsalted butter
1 tablespoon brown sugar
4 tablespoons cacao
1\3 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chopped strawberry

Method:

In a medium bowl, melt butter and add the milk. Stir together and beat well. After then add the cacao and mix them together.
Break the biscuit into large pieces. Add the broken biscuits and the chocolate chips to the mixture above. Mix them lightly, but be careful don't mix them into a paste. Biscuits pieces should remain intact.
Pour out the mixture on a parchment paper. Spread evenly with a spatula.
Sprinkle the strawberry on the mixture.
Lift the parchment paper from both sides and make a pyramid shape by hand.
Cover all sides with parchment paper and put in the freezer over night or at least for 3 hours.
Take out the dessert at least 20 minutes before serving.
Cut it into slices.
Serve cold.

Manti and Fake Manti Recipe :)

2007-06-30T11:40:00.000-04:00

I love eating Manti more than making it. Wonderful taste, it takes a bit long time to make but eating takes 5 mins. Not fair! :)

My husband, of course, loves it, too. He was always bugging me to cook it soon. Finally, I cooked it. Everyone is happy now.:)

In my country, you can find different types of Manti. Recipe varies region to region. I learned it from my grandma and my mum. They used to make the way I described below. Hopefully, one day, my kids can learn it from me! :))

My grandma has a lot of grandchildren. I remember her making Manti for all of us, when I was a little girl. We used to help her. She used to put a few chickpeas inside the Manti. The idea was if you could find the chickpea while eating, you will be the luckiest grandchild. We loved this game. :)
Now, I honor the tradition by putting two chickpeas when I make it. My husband is very lucky not just because he has me, but also he found the first chickpea in the first spoon today.:)))

Here are my first recipes, I hope you will enjoy them.

Manti Recipe:
Ingredients:

3 cups all purpose flour
1 cup water
1 large egg
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

For the filling:

250 gr ground meat
1 large onion (chopped in very small pieces)
Salt and black pepper

Yogurt Sauce 1:

2 cups plain yogurt
2-3 cloves of garlic
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon salt

Red Pepper Sauce 2:

6-7 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons red pepper ( hot or mild, its up to you)

Method:

In a large bowl, stir together the flour, water, egg, olive oil and salt.
Knead them very well until the dough is formed. The dough should be smooth and not sticky. If you feel it is sticky, add a little bit more flour.
Cover the bowl with some plastic wrap and let stand at cool room temperature for an hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the filling. In a medium bowl, put onions, meat, salt and black pepper. Knead them together for one minute (do not cook.)
Lightly dust a work surface and a rolling pin with flour. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. Roll out each ball into sheets as thin as you can roll out, but be careful don't tear it.
Cut each sheet into squares of about 1.5"x1.5".Put a very small piece of filling at the center of each square. Continue until the dough is finished.
As you see below, bring the opposite corners together and make a triangle or, fold them to make a rectangle. Both works fine. Press the sides firmly. (Don't forget to hide your chickpeas for the game. :)
Bring two of the adjacent corners together as shown in the picture.
In a large pot, boil the water and add a little bit salt, olive oil. Add Manti and stir. Cook for about 15 minutes. Please check while cooking. Don't overcook.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauces. Firstly, in a small bowl, grate cloves of garlic and add yogurt, water, salt. Stir them together. Secondly, in a separate sauce pan add olive oil and red pepper, stir together and cook them only for half a minute.
When Manti is ready, you can drain well or not, the way you like, it is up to you.
Serve warm with yogurt sauce and red sauce.

Fake Manti:

Also, there is another option for Manti. In Turkey, we call it Fake Manti. It doesn't taste the same as original Manti, but pretty close.
Lazy girls, like me, love it :)

You only need; shell pasta instead of dough.
Enjoy Fake Manti, too.

Burma Baklava (Twisted Baklava)

2007-06-25T10:12:00.000-04:00

Hi all,

We’re starting with delicious traditional Turkish Burma Baklava :) I know y’all very curious about the recipe. Now, it is time to reveal the top secrets about Burma Baklava. Don’t worry it is not that hard. It just takes a little bit time, but the final taste will make you forget the time you spend for preparation. In Turkey, we have different kinds of Baklava. Burma Baklava is one of them. Hopefully, we will give more recipes about the other kinds in the future. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1 rolls of phyllo dough (1/2 of a package of phyllo dough)
4-5 cups of chopped walnut (not too chopped, the parts should be at least as big as sweet peas)
2 sticks of unsalted butter
3/2 cups of sugar
3/2 cups of water
1/2 tbs fresh lemon juice

First, take out the phyllo dough from the freezer at least two hours before you begin. If you forget to take it out or just decide to cook Baklava, don’t worry, you can defrost it using a microwave. However, you should be careful if you use microwave. We want the dough just defrosted, but not hot and melted. Take two sheets of dough and put it on a table. Scatter 3-4 tbs of chopped walnut to every place of dough like I do in the picture (picture 2). By the way, you can just click on the picture below to expand it :). Then, wrinkle the dough by using your fingers (picture 3), bring the sides to the middle (picture 4). Then bring two opposite sides together on top (picture 5). Twist it, like you are sharpening a pencil by using sharpener, starting from the right by using your right hand and support the dough by using your left hand. It will look like picture 6. Then put the twisted dough in a pyrex or in a deep baking tin.

Apply the same procedure to remaining dough. After you finish this step, cut the dough inti small pieces as in picture 8. Then, put butter in a pan and melt it. After it is melted, continue heating it. Butter will begin to boil. Boil it for 5 minutes. During this time, mix the butter with a spoon. Then pour the melted butter onto twisted dough equally. Put the tray in a preheated oven. The heat should be 325F. Cook it until the color of the dough becomes brownish (picture 9). After the dough is cooked, you can start to prepare its syrup. Put sugar and water in a pan and heat it. After it begins to boil wait 5-6 minutes. Then pour the lemon juice and boil it one more minute. Turn off the heat and wait just 5 minutes, During this 5 minutes, the syrup will be cool down a little bit. Then pour the syrup onto dough equally. Don't forget, the dough should be cold or warm but not hot while you're pouring the syrup. Wait at least an hour for dough absorbs the syrup. Burma Baklava is ready to serve. Bon appetite!

Welcome

2007-06-24T21:54:00.000-04:00

Hi guys,

We’re two Turkish ladies living in Florida, one (minikkus) in Gainesville and the other (ayseyaman) in Orlando. We both have cooking blogs in Turkish. Our friends keep asking us about the English version of our blogs. Finally, we decided to combine our powers and have a joint cooking blog in English. We’re still preparing new posts for you. Let us give you some food names that are on preparation for you: Burma Baklava (twisted baklava), Manti (Turkish meat pastry), Pogaca (pastry with cheese filling), Yaprak sarmasi (stuffed grape leaves), Karniyarik (stuffed eggplant), Borek (cheese Pie), Tavuk Gogsu (a kind of Turkish pudding), Gozleme, different kinds of breads, pies, tarts, cookies, hummus and more :)

Since we're living in the States, we have a great opportunity to meet with international people and to learn about their culture and cuisine. Also, we both like trying new recipes, so you'll find different recipes from all over the world in this blog.

Follow the great smell, you will find us here :) Enjoy!