Turkish coffee for breakfast - you must be joking!!!

I took this photo while walking in a so-called Rose Park in Istanbul... but definitely not roses impressed me most but exotic birds jumping from one tree to another... The weather was really cold and I was wondering about the strange rules of nature... Without going deeper into my contemplations, I'm going to make some morning coffee. Unfortunately for me it's going to be Turkish coffee as I ran out of my Lavazza... What can I say about Turkish coffee... it's great and all the Turkish are so proud of it but this is the coffee after dinner, not the morning coffee...

If you want to make real Turkish coffee, you need special set. Here's the exact set I used myself, just my coffee cups are not that beautiful!!! :(

How to make it ( two cups):

1. Take two tea spoons of Kurukahveci Mehmet Efendi Turkish coffee ( you can order on-line or grab one while on holiday in Turkey) and put it into an Ibrik, a special coffee cezve, or any small pot and add two cubes of sugar and two serving cups of spring water. Mix it.

2. Place the Ibrik above a cooker and wait until the coffee starts bubbling. Pour into small cups and serve. Generally, Turkish coffee is served really strong and with a glass of water. Enjoy your exotic moments... and don't forget to put the coffee cup upside down when you finish it... and use your magic powers to read your fortune... :)

Spinach and Feta spring rolls with Zazziki

The idea to make this snack or dish came to my mind after looking into my fridge and seeing leftovers of phyllo, feta and spinach... Such a simple and easy snack to make!!!

Ok, Let's start from Zazziki, Greek sauce though Turkish share a similar recipe and call it Cacik! :)

What we need for zazziki:

200ml of yoghurt
2 cloves of crushed or chopped garlic
1 small seeded and grated cucumber
salt and pepper
1/4tea spoon of cumin and oregano
1 tbspn of olive oil
1 tea poon of chopped dill or parsley

What we have to do:

1. Mix yogurt with garlic, salt, pepper, cumin, olive oil and dill.

2. Add cucumber, mix and chill. 

Now it's time for spring rolls:

What we need:

phyllo sheets cut into triangles

spinach

feta, crumbled

small onion

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

oregano

oil for deep frying

What we have to do:

1. Cut phyllo into trianges and brush with water ( it helps to keep the shape of roll when frying).

2. Fry onion and garlic, then mix with frozen or fresh and boiled spinach, add feta, salt and pepper. Mix it.

3. Take a bit of the filling and put on a wider part of a phyllo triangle, bend the sides and roll to the end. 

4. Preheat the oil and deep fry the rolls for 2 - 3  min. Serve!

Vegetable and Cheese Tart

Tart is a pastry dish, usually sweet, with an open top and usually filled with fruit or any sweet filling. However, recently savory tarts are becoming more and more popular. I like tarts because it's like pizza but has more topping. Today I made a tart with vegetables ( zuccini, cauliflower, onion and tomatoes) and cheese ( mozzarella, feta and gauda cheese), but instead of making crust I used phyllo ( tr. yufka). It's a quick and delicious dish!

What we need: 

2 big phyllo sheets or make a crust from flour, butter, salt and pepper and some drops of water.

butter or olive oil for brushing phyllo sheets

Filling:

cauliflower

zuccini

onion

garlic

spinach

tomato

cheeses: feta, mozzarella, gauda

2 eggs

salt and pepper

basil

thyme

rosemary

( I didn't write the amount of vegetables as you can use as much as you want or choose other vegetables!)

What we have to do:

1. Take phyllo sheets and a tart dish. Brush the dish with olive oil or butter, add one phyllo sheet, trim or cut or bend to make the shape of a dish. Brush with oil again and put 4-5 layers of phyllo.

2. Cut cauliflower, zuccini, onion and garlic. Fry in a pan until they become soft but not done yet. Add salt and pepper and herbs. Mix in spinach ( can be fresh or frozen)

3. When fried vegetables cool, add most of the cheese and beaten eggs and pour into a phyllo dish. Add tomatoes and remaining mozzarella. Sprinkle a bit of salt ( very little as feta cheese is usually salty) and pepper. 

4. Bake in 180C oven for about 40 min. Enjoy!!! 

Small salmon with sauteed spinach and pine nuts

This dish was partly successful as the spinach was absolutely delicious but the salmon turned out a bit too dry. Well, it's fishmonger's and my fault! As he cut off all the good salmon fats and I fried the fish while instead I was supposed to steam it. Anyway, our family just loves fish and I still got compliments from my husband! He even told me, 'I don't know if I'll want to eat my mother's sarmas after this dish'...  But I guess he'll have to because that's what his mother going to make this evening... Or maybe I'll come up with something beforehand... :)

This recipe is borrowed from Martha Stewart's website. I read it quite a while ago and it was in my mind since then. Yesterday I bought a huge bag of fresh spinach and had a go...

What we need:

For sauteed spinach:

a good pile of spinach

2 cloves of garlic

salt and pepper

a handful of pinenuts

2 tbsp olive oil

a squeeze of lemon juice for garnishing

For salmon:

salmon fillet

chopped dill

lemon juice

salt and pepper

What we have to do:

1. Clean the fish, add dill, squeeze lemon juice, season with salt and pepper. Leave it for some time. Steam it ( or fry but for a very short time!!!).

2. Put the spinach without stems into a big bowl add cold water and let all the soil wash out. Take out the spinach.

3. Preheat the pan, add oil and garlic. When it turns light brown add pine nuts and soon afterwards start adding spinach. Cover with the lead and let it steam in their own juice. The add the remaining spinach. Mix it and turn the heat off. The spinach should still hold the green colour! 

4. Serve spinach with fish or as a side dish. Add some lemon juice to add freshness to the dish. Enjoy!!!

Hot Cauliflower and Zucchini soup

For a cold evening I made figure friendly soup!!! To make my hubby happy, I made it really spicy with  chili pepper. Great way to warm up!

What we need:

half of medium-sized cauliflower

1 small zucchini

1 onion

1 lt of chicken or vegetable stock

salt and pepper

oregano

half of grated carrot ( optional)

chili pepper

What we have to do:

1. Put cauliflower, zucchini and onion into a pot and pour chicken stock. Boil for 10 min and blend it.

2. Add carrot and season the soup. Boil for 5 more min and serve!

Simple Tuna fish salad

When it's pretty cold even in Turkey, definitely it's not time for anything light but why not!!! It won't make you warm but few weeks later you'll jump with joy when trying a smaller size dress... :)

Simple Tuna fish salad:

What we need:

1 can of tuna 

several leaves of lettuce

onion

tomato

cucumber

olives ( green or black)

olive oil and lemon juice for dressing

salt and pepper

oregano

What we have to do:

1. Cut the veggies and but them into a salad bowl. 

2. Add tuna fish flakes.

3. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and add the dressing.

4. Enjoy!!!

Playing with German and Lithuanian Potato salad

Today it's Shrove Tuesday and as traditions go we should eat at least seven times because the other seven weeks will be leaner... And who really like to eat and eat a lot and really heavy food... if not Germans. Just think of their Oktoberfest! But today it's not October, it's February and here's what I came up with...

Potato salad. When I spent nine months in Hagen, Germany, I tried this salad several times. It included boiled potatoes, sausage, parsley, onion, mayonaise and some lemon juice. Really heavy but it's quite ok for winter or a quick bite.

Lithuanians also have something like that just sausage or meat is optional, extra we add boiled carrots, pickled peas, and pickled cucumber, boiled egg. Sentimental dish, absolutely not healthy but no party without it!!! :)

What I came up with was a mixture of both: German and Lithuanian potato salad.

What we need:

4-5 medium potatoes

2-3 medium carrots

1 water glass ( about 220ml) of canned peas and sweet corn

parsley and dill

boiled chicken sausage

mayonaise and yoghurt ( to make it lighter)

onion

salt and pepper

What we have to do:

1. Boil potatoes and carrots. Cool them and dice in square pieces.

2. Chop parsley and dill.

3. Put vegetables into a bowl in layers ( optional): potatoes, caroots, peas, again potatoes, sausage, parsley and dill, sweet corn, parsley.

4. Season with salt and pepper and add the sauce.

5. Sauce I made by chopping onion, dill and parsley. Mix them with yoghurt and light mayonaise. 

6. Serve!!!

King Pancakes for Pancake/ Shrove Tuesday

'King pancakes' I called because of their size. Actually it happeded by mere accident as I made the pancakes without any recipe just used what came to my mind. On the other hand, tomorrow is Pancake day and I needed some kind of practice beforehand. But I guess tomorrow I won't make any as after these supersize pancakes I won't have any for at least a month!!! :) Anyway, they are really worth a try!

What we need:

1-2 bananas

4 tbsp flour

0,5 glass of milk

1 egg

a pinch of salt

1 teaspoon of sugar

0,5 tbsp olive oil + some extra olive oil ( or butter) for frying

Vanilla or almond extract

0,5 tea spoon of baking powder

Honey or syrup or jam for serving

What we have to do:

1. Put the flour into a bowl, make a hole in the middle and add salt, sugar, baking powder and egg. Pour half of milk and start mixing. Add oil and mix again. Add the rest of the milk ( but keep the batter pretty thick if you want thick pancakes).

2. Dice banana.

3. Preheat the pan, drizzle a bit of olive oil. And put 2 table spoons of batter. Add banana pieces on the top. Fry until bubbles start to rise and turn the pancake upside down. Repeat the turning if you feel the pancakes are not done yet. Fry for about 5 min.

4. Repeat with all the remaining batter. I made big 4 pancakes and it's perfect for two hungry people!!!

5. Serve with honey and extra bananas! Enjoy!!!

Have fun tomorrow!!!

Friendship cake

Today I received a huge collection of cookery e-books and here's what I found in one of them. The title of the book was Secret Recipes... 

Friendship cake

1 c. greetings

1/2 c. smiles

1 lg. hug

2/3 c. love

1 tsp. sympathy

2 c. hospitality

Cream greeting and smiles thoroughly. Add hugs separately. Slowly stir in love. Sift sympathy and hospitality and fold in carefully. Bake in warm heart. Serve often.  

Photo

Brownie cupcakes

Well it's too strong to say cupcakes as I  wasn't even planning to put icing on the top, as I just  used a simple brownie recipe and poured into cupcake baking tray. But these chocolate delights were really great and really diet killers! Most probably  about 1000 calories in one... The recipe was borrowed from blog 'Beatos Virtuve' 

When I made it for the first time I used a simple tray and to tell you the truth it tasted a bit better because I followed the recipe from A to Z. But this time my kitchen drawer was a bit empty ( no nuts, no white chocolate) and I really wanted to try my new baking tray. Anyway, the biggest problem was that I simple overbaked my brownies and they turned too dry. Still great!!! Next time I'll bake only for 15 min or so as 25 min was far too much when baking in a cupcake tray.

What we need:

200gr butter

300gr chocolate

2 eggs

120gr sugar

220gr flour

vanilla extract ( I used vanilla sugar)

nuts ( I used rasins this time)

white chocolate bars to put on the top ( I had none! :( )

Plus I used a tea spoon of baking powder.

What we have to do:

1. Melt chocolate and butter over a boiling pot ( in steam).

2. Whisk eggs and sugar. When chocolate with butter melts and cools a bit, add to the egg and sugar mixture.

3. Add vanilla and baking powder, nuts and flour. Mix it.

4. Pour the batter into a tray and add some broken pieces of chocolate!

5. Bake in 180C oven for 15-25 min depending what kind of tray you are using. Just don't overbake, brownies must be moist! Enjoy!!!

Gnocchi with Pesto

Gnocchi somehow remind me of my childhood when potatoes were served for every dinner and that little potato and starch combo with it's soft texture brings me back to my mum's kitchen. However, gnocchi is definitely an Italian dish but in many cuisines you can find something similar. Yesterday I had to make a dinner in 15 min so I used dried package of gnocchi from my favourite Beylikdüzü ( Istanbul) supermarket REAL. I'm not advertising or something, it's just one of few places in my neighbourhood where you can get something more than just Turkish.

What we need:

for Pesto:

1 bunch  of fresh basil

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 glass of grated parmesan cheese

2 tbsps pine nuts

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 glass of extra-virgin olive oil

for Gnocchi:

1 kg of  boiled potatoes

1 egg

300gr of flour ( you can mix it with starch)

a pinch of salt and pepper

a spoon of olive oil

OR buy ready made frozen or dried Gnocchi at any supermarket

What you have to do:

1. Put all pesto ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.

3. Make gnocchi. ( Watch the video how to make fresh gnocchi)

2. Boil gnocchi for 2-3 min ( if it's ready made, just until they go up in the boiling water).

3. Pour pesto over gnocchi and add extra fresh herbs and parmesan cheese. Enjoy!!!

Quesadillas with guacamole

I borrowed this recipe from Jamie Oliver's Valentine day menu because it looked quite easy to make and I absolutely love avocado. Another reason was that I wanted to try something with a Mexican touch and you can find tortillas at our home any time. Anyway, when Quesadillas were made, my Turkish family called them 'börek' as almost everything that has flour and is fried is called börek ( even my pancakes!)! Ok, let's say this dish is Quesadillas/ Börek with Mexican and Turkish taste...plus guacamole sauce :D

What we need:

for Quesadillas:

3-4 homemade or bought tortillas

any cheese ( I used gauda and cheddar cheese mix)

fried onion

chilli pepper

salt and pepper

a pinch of thyme and chopped parsley

( you can make any filling you like, it was just my vegetarian version)

a drizzle of oil for frying

for guacamole:

1 ripe avocado ( when you buy it may be a bit hard, so leave it in a sunny place for a few days, it will get softer)

2 tomatoes

1 onion or some spring onions

chilli pepper

dried coriander ( fresh would be even better)

salt and pepper

some parsley ( optional)

lemon or lime juice

What we have to do:

1. Spread tortillas with shredded cheese and fried onion, add salt and pepper, parsley and thyme. Cover with another tortilla or bend one tortilla in a half and fry in a pan with just a bit of oil or butter. Cut into triangles when ready and serve with a sauce.

2. Cut avocado in half, scoop the green soft part and put into food processor or a blender. Add tomatoes, onion, spieces, lemon juice and blend it. When ready put into a bowl and serve! If you like it chunky, chop some extra onion or tomato and add after blending. Enjoy!!!

Pancakes with cherry yoghurt

When a little girl Ella (my husband's niece) comes to our house, I know it's pancake time!!! And here's what she and I made: the simplest pancakes, the way my mother used to make.

What we need:

1 glass of flour

0,5 glass of milk

2 eggs

1 tbsp of sugar

a pinch of salt

1 tbsp of butter

What we have to do:

1. Whisk all the ingredients except butter.

2. Melt a bit of butter and pour two spoons of batter into the pan. Fry for 1 min on each side.

3. Serve with yoghurt, jam, honey, nutela or anything you like!

Shape is not so important as it's much more joyful to see a little girl smile!!! 

Red ( purple) cabbage salad

My mind goes wild when I buy red cabbage... Hope you'll like this sald too...

What we need:

Small head of red cabbage

3 tbsp of red grape vinegar

a pinch of salt and pepper

1 carrot grated or cut into stripes

a glass of sweet corn

2 tbsp of olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Cut cabbage into pieces the way you like it. Pour vinegar and salt. Mix it. Then pour boiling water and leave the cabbage for 15 min.

2. Grate the carrot. 

3. Pour out the water and add carrot and corn into the bowl with cabbage.

4. Add pepper and olive oil. If you want stronger taste add some more vinegar.

5. Enjoy!!!

Sauteed Chicken / Saute de Poulet

This recipe I chose specially for the weekly challange '52 skanios savaites'. This week's challange is French cuisine! I chose this recipe from the book called ' Cooking French way'.

What we need:

1 chicken cut into serving pieces

0,5 glass of flour with 0,5 tbsp salt, 0,4 tbsp thyme and 0,4 tbsp pepper

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil

0,5 tbsp thyme

1 bay leaf

2 cloves of chopped garlic

1,5 glass of chicken broth

500gr of fresh mushrooms

What we have to do:

1. Put seasoned flour into a palstic bag. Place chicken pieces in the bag, one at a time, and shake to coat with flour.

2. Heat butter and olive oil in a large pot or skillet. Add chicken and brown on both sides over medium high heat. Turn the chicken.

3. Sprinkle chicken pieces with thyme, bay leaf and garlic. Slowly add chicken broth and mushrooms into the skillet.

4. Stir gently. Cook over low heat for about 30 min.

5. Enjoy!!!

Leek and Carrot Stew

For a real Lithuanian this dish may look really strange as we always need a big piece of meat for dinner and vegetables are served  ( if served at all) only as a side dish! But this leek and carrot stew was a dish that after trying it I thought, ' Hmmm...!?! Tasty!?!' Currently Turkish supermarkets are loaded with leek, so time from time I really enjoy this vegetarian dish!

What we need:

0,5kg of leek

2 big carrots

3 tablespoons of rice

1 glass of water

1 table spoon of olive oil

1 table spoon of tomato paste

salt and pepper

red pepper flakes

bay leaves ( optional)

What we have to do:

1. Cut the leek and carrot into pretty big pieces.

2. Preheat a pot with oil and place the vegetables and add salt. 2 min later add water and rice. Let it cook for 10 min.

3. Put tomato paste, pepper and bay leaves. Simmer for 2-3 min and serve.

4. It's tasty warm and cold! It can be served as a main dish and as a side dish! How flexible it is!!! :)

Chinese sweet and sour chicken

This dish is definitely Chinese classics and one of my favourite dish from Chinese cuisine! But the key is to make sweet and sour sauce which is served with any fish or meat. But personally, I prefer chicken!!!

What we need:

One chicken breast cut in pieces

2 tbsp of corn starch

3 tbsp of vegetable oil

For the sweet and sour sauce:

1 big carrot

1 big onion

1 big green bell pepper

1 can of pineapples  (about 200gr)

2 cloves of garlic

1 glass of water or chicken broth

4 tbsp of rice vinegar

2 tbsp of sugar ( I used brown sugar because I like the colour it gives)

2 tbsp of tomato sauce or 0,5 tbsp of tomato paste

1 tbsp of corn starch

salt and pepper

1 tbsp of oil

What we have to do:

1. Pour the starch over the chicken pieces and mix it. Let the starch cover the meat. Fry in oil for 5 min and take it out onto paper towel.

2. Cut carrot, onion and bell pepper into big chunks. Add oil into a pan and put the garlic. When it turns light brown, add the veggetables and let it cook for 4 min by stiring time from time.Season with salt and pepper. Add chopped pineapples.

3. Pour water and when it starts boiling add vinegar, sugar and tomato sauce. Cook for 3 min.

4. Mix starch with 2 spoons of cold water and pour into the sauce. When it thickens, add the  fried chicken and simmer for 2-3 min. 

5. Serve it hot with rice and salad if you want. Enjoy!!!

Crepes or big French pancakes :)

A crêpe is a type of very thin, cooked pancake usually made from wheat flour and usually eaten during brekfast with fruit and maple syrup. Nowadays it's so widely spread not just in Brittany  the origin place) but all over France and I won't be wrong to say worldwide. This morning I had sweet version of crêpe with strawberries, grapes and honey. A great way to start a day and to bring a bit of France to your home!!!

Here's how I made it:

What we need:

1 water glass of all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 glass of milk

1/4 teaspoon  of salt 

2 teaspoons of sugar

1 tablespoon of oil

2 tablespoons of butter, melted

What we have to do:

1. In a bowl whisk eggs and milk and gradually add flour, sugar and salt. At the end add oil. Whisk carefully!

2. Preheat the frying pan and melt a bit of butter. 

3. Pour the batter onto the pan, using approximately 1/4 of glass for each crêpe. Tilt the pan with a circular motion so that the batter coats the surface evenly.

4. Cook the crepe for about 2 minutes, until the bottom is light brown. Loosen with a spatula or a knife, turn and cook the other side ( Here you can practice your pan skills by throwing the crepe into the air and catching it!!! :) )

5. Serve hot with fruit and syrup or honey or cream.

Note: You can make a savory version by adding less sugar and serving with sausages or any other meat or veggies! Enjoy!!!

Au revoir!!!!

Kadayf rolls

Last Thursday my Lithuanian friend and I were walking around Turkish street market ( tr. pazar) and my eyes caught fresh kadayf! I was delighted as it's not so easy to find it fresh in Istanbul. Generally it's sold dried which is perfectly good for knefe. But if you want to make rolls or something else, only fresh would do. Below you can see how fresh kadayf looks like!

So if you want to make rolls you need:

400gr shredded pastry - kadayf

200gr  of nut mix ( any nuts you like, I used pistachio and wallnut mix)

200gr of melted butter

For syrup:

2 water glasses of water

2 glasses of sugar

0,5 glasses of honey

1 cinammon stick

2 cloves

1 lemon ( juice and zest)

What you have to do:

1. Melt the butter and brush the tray or any heat proof dish.  Put the rest of butter aside.

2. Cut the kadayf or tear it into stripes, place a spoon of nuts and roll it. Plate it in a tray and brush again with butter.

3. Bake kadayf for an hour in 180C.

4. Make syrup. Mix all syrup ingredients and let it boil. Then simmer for 15 min.

5. Let the kadayf rolls cool and then pour the syrup. Leave it for an hour or so and then enjoy!!!

Classical salad: Tomato, mozzarella and basil salad

Sunday wasn't my day in the kitchen but I wanted to make at least something, that's why I grabbed mozzarella and here we go... Classical salad with Roman lettuce.

What we need:

a lump of mozzarella

2 tomatoes

small leaves of Roman lettuce

fresh basil

salt and pepper

lemon juice

olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Wash and drain the veggies. Cut tomatoes into small pieces.

2. Cut mozzarella into small pieces.

3. Chop basil.

4. Mix tomato, mozzarella and basil. Season with salt and pepper. 

5. Mix olive oil with lemon juice andf sprinkle over the salad.

6. Serve on lettuce leaves ( optional).

7. Enjoy!!!