Grilled vegetable salad with feta

As my grill is on for the second day, I couldn't resist and made some of my favourite dishes. For this salad I chose eggplant, red pepper, and tomato ( a typical combo in Mediterranean region) and finished the dish with olive oil, lemon juice and garlic sauce with some crumbled feta. The good thing about grilling eggplant is that it doesn't soak oil and it gets soft from its own juice. Plus, a bit of smoky flavour has never made these vegetables worse!!

What we need:

1 eggplant
2 red peppers
2-3 tomatoes
60 gr feta
some parsley
2 cloves of garlic
1 lemon juice
2 tbsp of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

What we have to do:

1. Clean the eggplant and cut into slices. Sprinkle with salt and let it rest for 40 min. Then wash eggplant slices under water again and dry with paper towel. Drizzle some olive oil. Put the pieces on a hot grill. Grill until they are light brown and soft.
2. Clean the red pepper. And place on a grill too. Grill until the skin turns brown and burns a bit. When it's done, let it cool a bit and peel the skin.
3. Grill tomatoes cut in halves.

4. In a bowl mix lemon juice, olive oil, finely chopped garlic, salt and pepper, chopped parsley. Add the grilled vegetables. Mix it and let it drink up the flavour. Then put on a serving dish, add crumbles feta and garnish with some parsley.

Eggplant and red pepper salad

When grilling season is all around, I decided to share one of my favourite eggplant salads that I first tried in Turkey and since then the lovely smoky flavour makes me spend pretty much time on making this dish. If you ever go to any Turkish restaurant, you may be served this salad as a meze. Whatever you call it, it’s really worth making it!!!

What we need:

4 eggplants

2 red peppers

2 tbsp of chopped parsley

2 cloves of garlic

½ lemon

Salt

4 tbsps extra virgin olive oil


What we have to do:

1. Wash the eggplant and the peppers. With the help of a fork, make some holes in eggplants as they may explode. Then grill them or cook them in a broiler. (It’s very delicious if the vegetables are a bit burnt. You can also bake them in the oven and then burn on the open stove fire. Peppers can be just burned on the stove. However, if you are having a barbecue party outside, you can place the vegetables on the grill. The smoke with do its job!) It will take about 45 min for eggplants and 15 min for red peppers.

2. When vegetables are ready, remove the burned skin. Cut peppers into pieces, eggplant can be simply smashed with a fork. Put the vegetables into a bowl.

3. Chop some parsley, grate garlic, squeeze some lemon juice, add salt and olive oil. Mix everything well and serve.

Grilled chicken and vegetables

When it comes to grilling, the ultimate meat is chicken as it's so quick to prepare and the grilling time is not so long either. So one bottle of beer and the dish is ready!!! However, when we speak about the ultimate recipe for the grilled chicken it may take mush longer than you may expect. The inspiration for this recipe was Rachel Ray's show where she introduced one of the greatest grilling chefs Adam Perry Lang. I really liked the way he made chicken and beef chops. This time I chose chicken and to go with it I threw some vegetables on. In other words - one grill dish!!! And it took more than an hour... in Adam's words 'about 3 bottles of beer'!!! 

What we need:

for marinate:

120 ml dijon mustard120 ml water1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tbsp garlic salt
2 tbsps dark brown sugar

4 chicken pieces ( I used breasts)
vegetables of grilling: new potatoes, tomatoes, onion, green beans

for the BBQ sauce:

1 cup favorite BBQ sauce
100 ml pineapple preserves
2 tbsp dark brown sugar
1 tbsp Japanese soy sauce
120 ml water

2 tbsp of butter

What we have to do:

1. Mix all marinate ingredients and rub into the chicken. Leave it for at least an hour in room temperature or in a fridge overnight.

2. Mix the glaze ingredients. 

3. Prepare the vegetables: clean them, cut into big chunks, then season with salt and pepper and add some olive oil.

4. Preheat the grill and grill the meat by brushing the glaze on each side. It may take about 45 min if you grill not on a direct heat. (Or about 15 min if you grill on an electrical grill, but then there will be no smoky flavour)

5. Then put meat pieces into aliuminium foil and add 1 tbsp of butter and a splash of water and cover it. Put it again on a grill and cook again for 45 min. It will soften the meat.

6. Finally take the chicken pieces  out of the fuil and back on the grill brush with the glaze and grill for some 10 min to get the crispiness. Meanwhile, grill the vegetables. And serve!!!

Grilled turkey rolls with asparagus

It's official!!! Our family has started grilling season. Well, I grilled this dish on an electical grill but this weekend I'm really looking forward to our grilling picnic. That's why I can call this dish a kind of rehearsal. Another thing is that it was the first time I made something with asparagus. In Turkey it's very challenging to find fresh asparagus. And I didn't!!! But still I was so eager to take part into this week's 'Skanios savaites' challange, that I bought some pickled ones. That's why to make the most of the situation I used fresh turkey breast and smoked turkey breast, plus, I grilled it and glazed with peach and soya sauce glaze. Tasted really good!!! Still, I believe with fresh asparagus, it would have tasted even better!

What we need:

1 turkey breast
100 gr of smoked turkey breast
5 pickled or fresh asparagus
salt and pepper to taste
some fresh rosemary
1 lemon juice
2 tbps of peach jam
1 tbsp of water
1 tbps of soya sauce

What we have to do:

1. Cut turkey breast into slices horizontally. I made 5 slices. Season with salt and pepper and chopped rosemary. Hammer each piece to make it thin and easy to roll.
2. Take a slice of turkey breast, add a slice of smoked turkey breast and one asparagus. Roll it into a roll. If necessary use a toothpick to keep the shape. It depends on how well the breast was beaten. Drizzle some lemon juice on.
3. Prepare the glaze by mixing peach jam with water and soya sauce.
4. Preheat the grill and place the rolls. Grill for 3 min on each side. Brush with the glaze.
5. Serve with vegetable salad. Enjoy!!!

Shrimps Tourkolimano

When I saw the recipe of this dish in Closet Cooking ( originally found on Kalofagos.ca), I knew I have to try it. Unfortunately, my dish wasn't as beautiful as they turned out for Closet Cooking and Kalofagos, but it tasted really great!!! Well, my shrimps were really mini mini... still... What's not to like?! Shrimps, lots of fresh herbs, and wine... With a slice of crusty bread... Super-licious!!!

What do we need:

400 gr of shrimps

salt and pepper to taste

3 spring onions

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

100 ml of olive oil

1 large tomato

150 ml  dry white wine

1 tbsp. dry oregano

some chopped fresh mint

some chopped fresh basil

1 slab of Greek feta, coarsely crumbled

chopped fresh parsley and chives for garnish

What we have to do:

1.Season your shrimps ( or prawns, they are bigger) with a little salt and pepper. Heat a skillet over medium-high heat and add your oil. Add your shrimps and saute for 2 min. Remove your shrimps.

2.In the skillet, add diced tomatoes, onion, and garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes. Now add your wine and herbs and shrimp and simmer for another 2 minutes while stirring. Turn off the heat and gently fold in the crumbled feta.

3. Cover and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes more. Garnish with parsley and chives and serve immediately with crusty bread.

Red pepper and wallnut dip

When just few days ago Kalofagos.ca posted Greek parsley salad, I remembered a very delicious dip I'd once tried while visiting some Turkish friends. The idea is very similar to the parsley salad, so if you are in a Greek or Turkish mood, have a go!!!

What we need:

300 gr wallnut
handfull of parsley
some fresh mint
1 lemon juice
about 200 ml of olive oil
200 gr of olives, seedless
200 ml of burned red pepper paste
1 big onion
4 cloves of garlic
salt and pepper to taste


What we have to do:

1. Chop onion, garlic, parsley and mint. Put them into a blender. Add lemon juice, olive oil and wallnuts. Blend it. If necessary add some more olive oil.
2. Finall, add red pepper paste, salt and pepper. Blend again until everything mixes. Serve it on a streak or as a bread spread.

Mushroom and tomato tart

When I have no time to look for inspiration, I generally cook from what I find in the fridge. This time I found some puff pastry leftovers from my Chicken Pie and some mushrooms. So why not to make some tarts. The mustard idea I borrowed from Kevin ( Closet Cooking) and it really added lovely flavour.

What we need:

1 sheet puff pastry

2 tbsp dijon mustard

100gr of cheese

10 mushrooms

5 cherry tomatoes

salt and pepper to  taste

1 egg to brush the pastry

What we have to do:

1. Roll the puff pastry out into your favourite shape ( I made 10X10 cm squares)

2. Brush the sides of the tart and add stripes of puff pastry onto them. Brush them again. The shape should remind a well or a basket.

3. Brush the center of the tart with dijon mustard.

4. Add some grated cheese.

5. Put some sliced mushrooms.

6. Put some cherry tomatoes.

7. Season with salt and pepper.

8. Preheat the oven until 200C and bake the tarts until golden brown for about 20 - 25 min. Enjoy!!

Sweet corn with sauteed mushrooms

Finally I can get fresh sweet corn in our vegetable market. So when I saw this, I grabed several cobs. And this was the first idea that came to my mind. I must admit, delicious one!

What do we need:

1 corn on the cob
2 tbps of butter
about 10 mushrooms
1 onion
some spring onion
fresh oregano and dill
100 ml of cream or butter milk
salt and pepper to taste

What we have to do:

1. Boil cord on the cob in salted water.
2. Melt butter in a skillet and add mushrooms. Fry them for 10 min. Then add chopped onion and simmer a bit.
3. When corn is done, scrape them from the cob with a sharp knife.
4. Add the corn to the skillet with mushroom and onion. Season with salt and pepper.
5. At the very end add chopped spring onions, oregano and dill. Simmer for 2 min and turn it off. Serve!

Mushrooms stuffed with goat cheese and Turkish Pastırma rolls

Pastırma is highly-seasoned air-dried cured beef in the cuisines of the former Ottoman countries. Turkish pastırma has a distinctive favour, that's why you either love it or hate it. The interesting thing is when I read some Turkish cookery books, each recipe replaces smoked bakon with pastırma. Of cource, pork isn't eaten by Turkish, still replacing smoked bacon with pastırma completely changes the intended flavour. Anyway, in the next few weeks I'm going to try some recipes with pastırma that cought my eyes.

What we need:
10 mushrooms
5 slices of pastırma
100 gr of goat cheese
1 tbsp of butter
salt and pepper
thyme

What we have to do:

1. Clean mushrooms, take out the stems. Season with salt, pepper and thyme.
2. Cut goat cheese into small cubes.
3. Cut each partırma slice into half horizontally.
4. Roll each cheese cube into pastırma slice and stuff the mushrooms with them.
5. Put stuffed mushrooms onto aliuminium foil. Add butter. Some fresh thyme. Cover mushrooms with one more sheet of aliuminium foil.
6. Preheat the oven 180C and put the mushrooms. Bake for 15 min then remove the foil. And bake for 10 more min. Serve with vegetable salad.

A very delicious pizza

Last week's pizza with caramelized onions was really delicious so that my hubby called me again from work and asked for one more pizza with onions. But I was already planning to make mushrooms. So what I made was onion pizza with mushrooms. And the result, as my dearest said, this is Our Favourite Pizza!

What we need:

For the dough( you can make one family sized pizza, or two/three smaller):

1 pack of dry yeast (7gr)

1 glass of warm water ( 235 ml)

about 1 tbsp of salt

1 tbsp of sugar

2 - 3 water glasses of all purpose flour

2tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp of natural yogurt

For topping:

3 big onions

salt and pepper

1 tbsp of olive oil

cheese ( use your favourite, but still cheese is optional)

2 spicy green peppers

5-6 mushrooms 

some fresh rosemary

What we have to do:

1. Mix the yeast with sugar and salt, add warm water. Let it rest for 30 min until the yeast activates.

2. Add 2 glasses of flour into the bowl, make a hole in the middle, add 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil and the bubbling yeast, and yogurt. Mix it until it turns into the dough. Let it rest for at least 1 hour in a warm place. Don't forget to cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel or any clean plastic wrap.

3. Roll out pizza pad. Use a fork to make some holes. Add the topping.

4. For the topping, cut the onions into slices. Preheat a frying pan, add some oil, place the onions, season with salt and let it fry slowly until onions turn light brown and soft for about 15 min. Be careful not to burn!!! Then start putting the topping on the pizza pad.

5. First put some grated cheese, then add caramelized onions, then add green pepper stripes and sliced mushrooms. Add some chopped rosemary. Season with some salt and pepper.

6. Preheat the oven and bake it for 20 min in 180C temperature.

Spring Chicken Noodle salad

I love salads as they are so quick to make and you can add whatever you feel like. This time I decided to try soya bean noodles that I brought from Lithuania more than a month ago. I added some chicken as grilled chicken is soooo delicious!

So what we need:

some soya bean or rice noodles
lettuce
cucumber
cherry tomatoes
radish
grilled chicken breast
basil
salt and pepper
lime juice
1 tbsp of soya sauce
olive oil
crushed garlic

What we have to do:

1. Season chicken with salt and pepper and grill it for 5 min on each side. When it cools a bit, cut into slices.
2. Pour boiling hot water over soya bean noodles and leave it for 15 min.
3. Cut cucumber, tomatoes and radish into slices. You can also add carrot.
4. In a serving dish put drained noodles, then add some lettuce leaves, sliced cucumber, tomato and radish. Season with some salt and pepper. ( If you decide to use soya sauce, don't put too much salt)
5. Mix lime juice, soya sauce, crushed garlic and olive oil. Pour over the salad, let it get the flavour for 5 min and serve.

Waldorf Salad

Originally created around 1893 at the Waldorf Hotel in New York City, this salad can be called one of the American cuisine classics. It's also a very simple snack with sweet and savory flavour!

What we need:

1 apple
2 celery stalks
100gr of chicken ( fried or boiled)
50 gr of wallnut
50 grams of dried or fresh grapes
some lettuce leaves
2 tbsp of mayonnaise
2 tbsp of lemon juice
black pepper

What we have to do:

1. Cut chicken, peeled apple and celery stalks into small chunks, add crushed wallnut and grapes ( I used dried grapes). Mix mayonnaise with lemon juice and mix into the salad.
2. On a serving bowl put some lettuce leaves and place the salad. Garnish with some parsley. Add some black pepper if you want. Serve!

Chicken pie

It was my first chicken pie!!! I've seen so many amazıng photos around the blog-world but have never tried any. I've never even tasted any!!! So yesterday I decided to experiment - a little bit of this, a little bit of that... and this is what I have. Well, it was really delicious!!! I especially liked the puff pastry and sauce mix with rosemary flavour! Yummy! 

What we need:

3 pieces of chicken breast
1 big onion
2 big carrots
1 bell pepper
220ml of fresh or frozen peas
one small zucchini
200ml of cream
100ml of milk
1 tbsp of flour
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes
nutmeg
some fresh dill
puff pastry
egg for brushing the pastry
fresh rosemary
2 tbps of oil

What we have to do:

1. Season schicken breast with salt and pepper, chopped rosemary, brush it with oil and grill it ( or fry in a pan) on both sides for about 5 min or until it's almost done.
2. Cut vegetables and add them to a frying pan witha drizzle of oil. Add salt and pepper. When they are almost done, add peas, nutmeg, dill. Then add 1 tbps of flour, mix it and pour over cream and milk. Let it cook for 2-3 min. Finally add cut chicken pieces.
3. Take puff pastry and put one sheet on the casserole dish. Then pour in vegetable and chicken filling, then put one more layer of puff pastry. Brush with beaten egg and sprinkle some fresh rosemary on the top.
4. Preheat the oven (190C) and bake the pie for about 25 min or until the pie is golden brown.

5. Serve the pie when it's hot with salad. We ate with simple tomato-cucumber-lettuce-spring onion-radish-parsley salad with balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Enjoy!

Dumplings with spinach and feta

Yes, yesterday it was a dumpling day in my kitchen. I've already posted a recipe of strawberry dumplings and today have a look at a more savory version. I used the same dough recipe but the filling and the sauce were different. And of course, it tasted really great!!!
What we need:

for the dough:

500ml of flour
2 eggs
5 tbps of milk
a pinch of salt

for the filling:

a handful of fresh spinach
100 gr of feta
2 cloves of garlic
pepper
for the sauce:
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbps of butter
1 tbsp of flour
200ml of cream or milk
some spinach
permesan cheese ( optional)
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of nutmeg
What we have to do:

1. Mix the dough ingredients and knead until it forms a ball of daugh and then leave it to rest for 30 min.
2. Chop clean spinach and pour boiling water on them. Then drain the water and mix spinach with crumbled feta. Add chopped or grated garlic and pepper.
3. Roll out the dough. Cut into squares and add a teaspoon of filling onto each square. Then fold each square to form triangles. Press the sides carefully.
4. Put the dumplings into a boiling salted water and boil for 3-4 min. Then drain.
5. For the sauce, melt butter in a pan. Then add chopped garlic. One minute later add flour and mix it well. Then add milk, salt and pepper and nutmeg. Boil for 3-4 min.
6. When serving put the dumplings in layers with sauce and fresh spinach. Grate some permesan on the top if you are in a cheese mood!!! Enjoy!

Cold beetroot soup for a hot day!!!

If I was asked to tell the most delicious dish that we have in Lithuania, I would definitely say - it's this cold beetroot soup!!! But after moving to Turkey, some problems occured. First, it's pretty difficult to find beetroots and usually they are expensive ( compared to Lithuania), secondly, it's impossible to find sourmilk, thirdly, everyone finds this soup so strange for the pink colour, and generally they don't dare even to try! Well, my hubby was brave enough... He thinks this soup is just like Turkish Cacik ( yoghurt-cucumber-garlic-parsley- lemon-oil -water appetizer), but just pink. Anyway, it's still the most delicious thing to eat on a hot day as today!!! Summer's started in Turkey!

What we need:

2 boiled beetroots ( pickled beetroot is fine as well)
1 cucumber
some spring onions
fresh dill
1 boiled egg
500 ml of sourmilk ( I used yogurt)
300ml of milk
salt and pepper to taste
boiled new potatoes to serve with

What we have to do:

1. Cut spring onions, dill and cucumber. Mix it with salt and pepper. Add grated beetroot. Mix it again.
2. Add sourmilk and milk. Mix it.
3. Cut boiled egg and mix it in.
4. Put the soup into a fridge to cool.
5. Serve with boiled or fried new potatoes garnished with fresh dill. Enjoy!!!

Dumplings with strawberries

When my husband brought about 3 kg of strawberries last night, I decided that Eurovison night is going to be great!!! And it was!!! I guess most of European girls are already in love not just with a fairytale but Alexander Rybak from Norway, too. Sweet song, great performance, and cute young man - that brought victory to Norway!!! Congratulations!!! But the dumplings were made today, most probably fairytale brought some childhood memories, when my mother used to pick some strawberries up in her garden and then she used to make similar dumplings for my brother and me... When my husband tasted them today, he said, ' Good, very good, very very good!'

What we need:

for the dumpling dough:
500 ml of flour
2 eggs
5 tbps of milk
a pinch of salt

for the filling:

10 strawberries
1 tbps of sugar
1 teaspoon of cornstarch

What we have to do:
1. Mix milk and eggs with salt, then add flour and start kneading until the dough is ready. Then cover it and let it rest for 30 min.
2. Clean strawberries, remove their leaves, add sugar and cornstarch and mix it.
3. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and roll both of them. Cut the dough into 5X5 cm squares. Place one strawberry on one square and cover it with another square. Press the sides with hands and then a fork.
4. Fill in a pot with water and let it boil. When it's boiling put the dumplings into it. They should sink down. When they rise up, boil for 1-2 min and take them out.
5. Serve with yoghurt or blended strawberries with sugar. Enjoy!!!

Pizza for Football night

I like pizza and my favourite ones are with meat. But as I'm trying to cut down on eating meat, I'm always looking for a vegetarian version. And I would say this caramelized onion pizza is the winner up to now!!! Tradicionally I made the same dough, but the topping idea I had found in Martha Stewart website. My husband also liked it a lot!!! And the football match has started... Good luck to Beşiktaş!!!

What we need:

For the dough( you can make one family sized pizza, or two/three smaller):

1 pack of dry yeast (7gr)

1 glass of warm water ( 235 ml)

about 1 tbsp of salt

1 tbsp of sugar

2 - 3 water glasses of all purpose flour

2tbsp of extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsp of natural yogurt

For topping:

3 big onions

salt and pepper

1 tbsp of olive oil

cheese ( use your favourite, but still cheese is optional)

2 spicy green peppers

5-6 cherry tomatoes

some fresh rosemary

What we have to do:

1. Mix the yeast with sugar and salt, add warm water. Let it rest for 30 min until the yeast activates.

2. Add 2 glasses of flour into the bowl, make a hole in the middle, add 2 table spoons of extra virgin olive oil and the bubbling yeast, and yogurt. Mix it until it turns into the dough. Let it rest for at least 1 hour in a warm place. Don't forget to cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel or any clean plastic wrap.

3. Roll out pizza pad. Use a fork to make some holes. Add the topping.

4. For the topping, cut the onions into slices. Preheat a frying pan, add some oil, place the onions, season with salt and let it fry slowly until onions turn light brown and soft for about 15 min. Be careful not to burn!!! Then start putting the topping on the pizza pad.

5. First put some grated cheese, then add caramelized onions, then add green pepper stripes and some cherry tomatoes. Add some chopped rosemary. Season with some salt and pepper.

6. Preheat the oven and bake it for 20 min in 180C temperature.

Fresh Pea Humus

Today in Turkey there is a very important football match between two very strong ( maybe the strongest) football teams - Beşiktaş ( our favourite) and Fenerbahçe ( our least favourite). As my hubby is very into football, I already know our evening plans. Football Fiesta next to our huge TV!!! So I decided to make some snacks. One of them is pea humus - a little spring twist on a traditional chickpea humus. Hope you'll enjoy it too as it has such a fresh flavour!

What we need:

1 water glass of boiled fresh peas ( 220ml)
0,5 water glass of boiled chickpeas
2 tbps of chopped parsley
1 tbsp of yogurt
a bunch of chopped spring onions
3 tbsp of lemon juice
1 teaspoon of cumin
3 tbsp of olive oil
salt
bread for serving

What we have to do:

1. Peas and chickpeas put into a food processor and blend until it turns into small chunks. Then add parsley, spring onion, olive oil, lemon juice. Blend again. Finally add salt, cumin and yogurt. Blend again.
2. Transfer pea humus into a serving bowl. Garnish with parsley and serve with fresh or toasted bread. Enjoy!!!

Chicken and Celery Stalk Salad

Yesterday we were having Eurovision Song Contest night that's why we needed a snack... not too heavy... And again it was time for Turkish cookery magazine Lezzet... As in the last edition it has surprisingly good ideas!!! And again this snack was really delicious!!! I especially liked chicken and celery combo!!!

What we need:

4 celery stalks
2 tbps of cream cheese
3 tbps of mayonaise ( I used less)
1 tbps of lemon juice and lemon zest
2 tbps of chopped fresh parsley and dill
2 chicken breasts ( boiled or roasted... leftovers are perfect as well)
1 tbps of fresh peas, boiled
a bunch of spring onions
salt and pepper

What we have to do:

1. Cut celery stalks in 5-6 cm chunks.
2. Cut chicken meat in small pieces, put into a bowl. Add chopped parsley and dill, spring onion, boiled fresh peas.
3. In another bowl mix cream cheese, mayonaise, lemon juice, zest, salt and pepper. Mix it well and pour over chicken salad. Mix it well again.
4. Place a spoon of chicken salad onto celery stalk, garnish with fresh dill and serve!!!

New Potato cups with Herbed Yogurt

I haven't done any shopping after we came home from our trip to Çanakkale so today when I was thinking what to have for lunch, I remembered a recipe from Once upon a plate where similar potato cups/nests were served with cream cheese and smoked salmon. But I filled them with what I had in a fridge... yogurt, herbs, cucumber, lemon... almost zazziki... But not completely!!! If you decide to make these potato cups - be creative!!!

What do we need:

2 new potatoes ( they are just much more delicious!!!)
olive oil for brushing muffin tray
salt and pepper
crushed dried rosemary

for the filling:

4 table spoons of natural yogurt
1 cucumber
a bunch of herbs ( I used mint, parsley, dill and thyme)
some spring onion
salt and pepper
2 tbps of lemon juice
1 tbps of olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Wash and scrub new potato skin. Cut potatoes in stripes or use a special cutter.
2. Season with salt, pepper and rosemary. Brush muffin tray with oil and place some of potato stripes into each hole. Shape a cup with your hands. Don't try to make them perfect as the worse the shape, the better they look!!!

3. Preheat the oven 190C and place the tray for 20 min. After taking out leave the cups in a tray for about 10 min. - it will keep the shape better!

4. Make the yogurt filling. Grate the cucumber and drain the juice. Mix with salt and pepper, chopped herbs, spring onion. Then add yogurt, lemon juice and olive oil. Mix it well and fill in the cups. Garnish with dill or cucumber. I believe that radish would go well, too. Enjoy!!!

A weekend away - Çanakkale

I love having weekends away!!! And I absolutely loved our last weekend away to Çanakkale - a northwestern province of Turkey. Sometimes Çanakkale is called small Istanbul as it is situated on both European and Asian parts and is connected/ seperated by Dardanelles strait. But this area is most known for archeological site of Troy. That's why the most popular names of hotels, restaurants or shops are Truva ( eng. Troy) and the most popular symbol is Troy horse. If you expect to see the Troy horse you may be surprised to see even two!!! One is in the centre of Çanakkale ( given as a present to the city by Warner Bross production after shooting the movie 'Troy') and the second one - in the archeological park about 20km from the city, which was built mainly for adventurous children. Definitely there's no historical value in those horses so if you ever go to this area, be sure there's mush more to see than the famous Troy Horse! European part of Çanakkale is popular among Turkish people as there are many monuments, cemetaries and statues of soldiers who died in 1915 battles.

What I enjoyed most of all was the nature. As it's late spring no, all the flowers show its beauty making fields so colourful, even the mountains pleased my eyes with hundreds shades of green, and of course the amazing colours of the Marmara and Aegean seas.
Speaking about the food, it doesn't differ from other areas of Turkey - you can enjoy different varieties of kebabs, döners, köfte, great fresh bread, simit, poğaça, baklava, kadayif and so on. But I can't imagine eating anything when you are in a seaside resort if not seafood. So below, a quick snap of Saturday dinner.