Oven baked zucchini patties

I believe this is the best time for all food lovers because now it's the time when all the vegetables are ready to be made and they are easily available in all stores. So this time I tried to make zucchini kind of pancakes just instead of frying I made then in oven. So a bit less calories... That is what I just love!!!

What we need:

2 zucchinis
2 tbsp of chopped parsley
2 tbsp of chopped dill
1 tbsp of chopped mint
2 medium onions, chopped
100 gr grated cheese
2 eggs
4 tbsp of flour
1 tbsp of baking powder
salt and pepper to taste
red pepper flakes

What we have to do:

1. Grate zucchini, mix in chopped herbs and onions.
2. Add grated cheese, eggs and flour, baking powder, salt and pepper, red pepper flakes and mix it well.

3. Put baking paper on a tray and add zucchini batter with a spoon.

4. Preheat the oven 200C and bake for 40 min. Serve with herbed yogurt or any fresh dip you like! Enjoy!

Chicken salad with cherries

A simple salad that I was craving for all morning!

What we need:

some lettuce
1 cucumber
baked chicken breast
red pepper
cherries
black sesame seeds
salt and pepper to taste
lemon juice
olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Put some lettuce leaves on a serving dish.
2. Add slices of cucumber, pepper, chicken and cherries.
3. Sprinkle some black sesame seeds.
4. Mix lemon juice, salt and pepper, olive oil and drizzle over the salad. Serve and enjoy!!!

Tomato Cobbler

Cobbler is a traditional dish in both the United States and United Kingdom. It can be with either fruit or meat filling with a batter on the top which while baking rises and forms a crust or so called biscuit. This time I chose a recipe from Martha Stewart Show - Tomato cobbler. I liked the idea of baked tomatoes and some crust. But I still felt I needed more flavour, so I added traditional tomato friends - basil. Though I reduced the amount of tomates and it wasn't a good thing to do as I would have prefered more juice. Still it is a great vagetarian dish!!!

What we need:

8-10 tomatoes

1 tbsp of cornstarch

salt and pepper to taste

some fresh or dry basil

1 cup flour

1 cup corn flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

100 gr of unsalted butter

1 egg

150 ml of milk or buttermilk

 What we have to do:

1. Cut tomatoes in quarters. Season with salt and pepper, and basil. Add cornstarch and mix it well.

2. Mix flour with cornflour, add butter, beaten egg, milk and baking powder. Mix it well.

3. Put tomatoes in a baking dish. With a spoon put the batter on the top. Leave some spaces to help the steam go out.

4. Preheat the oven 180C and bake for 50-60 min. Enjoy!!!

Cherry Clafoutis

Clafoutis or clafouti is a baked French dessert made by baking fruit and batter, somewhat similar to pancake batter, in a baking dish. It's a perfect breakfast or weekend brunch dish which brings out all lovely fruit flavours. Originally clafoutis is baked with full cherries , that means with all pits as they give nutty flavour. But personally I prefer de-pitted cherries as it is much easier to eat and less leftovers on the plate. Anyway, various fruit can be used instead of cherries, so I'm really waiting for pear season...

What we need:

400 gr of cherries
30gr of flour
30 gr of sugar
300ml of milk
3 eggs
30ml of rum ( I didn't use)
20ml of butter

What we have to do:

1. Preheat your oven 180C. And brush baking dish with butter.
2. If you want, pit the cherries. and place in a baking dish.
3. Mix flour, sugar, eggs and milk. Whisk carefully and pour over cherries.
4. Place in the oven for 30-40 min. Serve and enjoy!!!

Peach pie

Finally I can find perfectly ripe and absolutely delicious peaches in my neigbourhood. So the first thing that came into my mind ( after enjoying fresh peaches) was a pie!!! The recipe comes from a magazine Lezzet, July edition.

What we need:

For pie crust:
2,5 water glasses of flour
0,5 glass of sugar
0,5 glass of corn flour
115gr of butter
a pinch of salt
100ml of water
2 tbsp of lemon juice

Filling:

5-6 peaches ( in original recipe they used blueberry and peach combo)
3/4 glass of sugar
2 tbsp of brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinammon
1 pack of vanilla sugar
3 tbsp of corn starch

For a brush:

1 egg yok
2 tbsp of milk
1 tbsp of sugar

1 tbsp of almond flakes ( I didn't have, so I didn't use)

What we have to do:

1. Boil milk and add lemon juice. Leave for 15 min. ( I have no idea what this does to the crust).
2. Mix cold butter, flour and corn flour, sugar and salt in a food processor, then slowly add milk until the dough combines. Then make a ball and place in a fridge for 35 min.
3. Cut peaches in slices. Pour over sugar, cinammon, vanilla sugar and cook in a pot for 5 min then add corn starch and cook again for 3 min.
4. Roll out the pie crust and cover the pie dish. Put the filling and add some crust slices on the top. Brush with egg/milk mix and sprinkle some sugar and almonds on the top.

5. Pre-heat the oven 180 C and bake for 40 min. Then take it out and leave for 20 min to cool down. Then finally serve!!!

Turkey with eggplant and fresh pea pilaf

This dish was inspired by simple sesam turkey breast recipe which I had in one restaurant a few weeks ago. But I decided to use some Indian flavours, that is why I chose nigella seeds, mustard, some cinamon. Interesting mix of spices, but that's what is Indian cuisine all about. And I love it!!!

What we need:

1 turkey beast sliced in stripes

2 teaspoons of nigella seeds

2 tbsp of mustard

1/3 of teaspoon of cinammon

1 teaspoon of honey

1 lemon zest and juice

salt

chilli pepper

For fried eggplant:

2 eggplants/ aubergines, slices

2 tbsp of oil

1 teaspoon of salt

some nigella seeds

for mustard sauce:

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp of mustard

2 tbsp of yogurt

salt and pepper to taste

fresh chopped parsley

lemon juice

For pilaf:

1,5 water glasses of rice ( 1 glass= 220ml)

1 water glass of fresh or frozen peas

2 tbsp of olive oil or butter

salt

What we have to do:

1. Cut turkey breast in stripes. Season with salt and a mix of spices, mustard and honey. Drizzle some lemon juice. Then fry in oil or grill the meat for 4 min depending on the size of the meat.

2. Cut eggplant in slices. Season with salt.Leave for 20min and then wash with cold water and drain. Use the same oil where you fried turkey ( just to get the same flavour) and add some more oil and at the end sprinkle some nigella seeds. When eggplant is ready, place the pieces on a paper towel.

3. Make the sauce by mixing yogurt, mustard, chopped garlic, parsley and add lemon juice and salt. Mix it cool for 10 min.

4. Make pilaf. Wash and drain rice. Preheat olive oil in a pot and then add rice and fry them for 3 min by mixing. Then add 2,5 glasses of water and peas. Boil for 10 min and then cover with a lid and turn the heat off.

5. Serve with fresh bread or fresh vegetables. Enjoy!!!

Tomato and cheese snack for breakfast

Breakfast is definitely one of the most important meals in Turkey and Middle East countries, such as Syria, Saudo Arabia, etc. Generally, on a Middle Eastern breakfast table you will find olives, cucumber and tomato, humus with fresh bread, fried or boiled egg, jam, different cheeses or snacks with cheese. As my husband's mother has some Arabic origin, time from time she makes this snack. And because my husband grew up eating such food, so every now and again I make something Middle Eastern. Usually lor peynir ( similar to riccota cheese with some added flavour) is used. In Hatay region you can buy lor cheese mixed with various spices and wrapped up in balls. This time I had pure lor cheese and made a simple snack for breakfast.

What we need:

100gr of lor cheese/ riccota cheese
some fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon of fresh or dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon of fresh or dried mint
some red pepper flakes
salt and pepper to taste
1 lemon juice
1 chopped tomato
1 small onion (optional)
2 tbsp of olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Cut tomato and onion into small cubes, add salt and pepper,red pepper flakes, thyme, mint, chopped parsley. Mix it well.
2. Add cheese into vegetable and spice mix, drizzle lemon juice and mix it. Finally garnish with more fresh parsley and drizzle some olive oil. Serve with fresh bread or fried eggs. Enjoy!

Grilled chicken with sumak onion relish

Grilling is always assosiated with summer and holiday... When you just put a piece of meat on a grill and carry on enjoying wonderful weather. This time we grilled chicken with some Middle East flavours.

What we need:

chicken breast cut in halves
smoked paprika powder
dried tomato in olive oil
garlic
lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
some green peppers

For sumak onion relish:

onion
1 teaspoon of sumak
parsley
salt and pepper
lemon juice
a drizzle of olive oil

What we have to do:

1. Blend dried tomatoes in olive oil, garlic, smoked paprika and lemon juice. Spread the mix over chicken breasts.. Leave for half an hour and grill for 7 min on each side. Grill some green or red peppers to serve.

2. For relish, finely slice onion. Add salt and roughly smash it with a fork or hand. Then add pepper, sumak and lemon juice with olive oil, some chopped parsley. Mix it well and serve!

Quick chicken and potato stew

This dish I made on the first evening in the summerhouse. As we were tired of the trip and all packing and unpacking, I quickly borrowed the idea from traditional Lithuanian potato stew which can be called a peasant's meal. But with a touch of spices, the dish was great and we still were on time to enjoy the sunset!!!

What we need:

2 chicken breasts or thigh meat
2 big potatoes ( I used new potatoes and they boil much quicker)
1 onion
1 red pepper
100gr of green beans
2 tomatoes
parsley
salt and pepper to taste
bay leaf
a pinch of ground all spice
some oil
200ml of chicken stock

What we have to do:

1. Cut chicken meat in cubes and fry them in a skillet. Add onion and peeled and cubed potatoes. Let it fry for 3-4 min.

2. Add cut pepper, green beans, cut tomato and chicken stock, spices and simmer for 10 min or until potatoes turn tender. Sprinkle some parsley and enjoy!!!

Here's one more photo... Enjoy this beautiful sunset from the terrace.

Shopping in Yalıkavak, Bodrum street market

After talking to some holidaymakers that were staying in our neighbourhood, they suggested us going to street market ( tr. pazar). And when we arrived, it was clear that all the town gathered in there. Some of them were shopping, some of them were enjoying some Turkish fast food or just drinking tea in some local cafes. In above collage you can see a variety of spices, a woman selling gözleme ( Turkish yufka/fresh phylo with various fillings), another woman selling home-baked Turkish bread and a cheese stall. Though prices were higher compared to Istambul street markets but we couldn't resist fresh smelling bread, olives stuffed with garlic ( the best olives I've ever tried!) and a variety of fresh fruit. Though if you ever go there, have in mind that it isn't a typical Turkish street market as it was kind of adopted to tourists taste as there are many foreigners living in summerhouses around Yalıkavak.  Still, it's full of fresh ingredients that Turkey can really be proud of!!!

Grilled spicy fish

Yes, cooking on holiday is generally very quick and doesn't require too much effort. Although it was quick to make, this recipe turned out really great. It was really spicy but lemon freshened up the fish so it was really mouthwatering!!!

What we need:

1 fish ( choose your favourite, I used sea beam)

1 teaspoon of smoked paprika

1 teaspoon of dried chilli

1 teaspoon of dried onion powder

1/2 teaspoon of honey

1 lemon zest and juice

some lemon slices

salt to taste

What we have to do:

1. Clean the fish.

2. Mix spices with honey and spread over the fish. 5 min later pour over lemon zest and juice.

3. Cut the fish in several places and add lemon slice in the cuts.

4. Preheat the grill and put the fish on for 5 min on each side.

5. Serve with vegetable salad or yourr favourite side dish!

Below you can see a variety of fish that was displayed next to one of Bodrum's restaurants!!!

Just from holiday in Bodrum

I've abandoned my blog for more than a week as I was enjoying Turkish sun and heavenly blue sea in Bodrum. So above you can have a look at a painting of Bodrum castle. I took the photo of the painting in Yalıkavak, a town not far from Bodrum, as there was a lovely tiny Art street with many artists painting just on the street. Unfortunatelly, I wasn't able to find out the author of the painting but still it shows the beauty of the symbol of Bodrum! And it's really worth visiting!!!

Below I added some more photos of Yalıkavak, the place where we stayed. It is a small town and this area if full of summer houses and popular with British and French summer house owners. Tourist influence was so visible when we went to a Thursday street market. Though it sells everything that you can find in any other street market in any other part of Turkey, but still you can find many things that are more for Europeat taste, e.g. great variety of spices ( Turkish generally use just red pepper flakes, thyme, oregano, black pepper, mint and cumin), special souvenirs just for tourists... and of course prices are a bit higher that let's say in Istanbul. But what I really enjoyed in there was olives stuffed with garlic!!! I wish I had bought more of them!!!

In the next few days I will post some photos of the market and what I made with the ingredients bought over there. Well, it was holiday, so I didn't spend much time cooking, but as our summer house was quite far from the main town, there was no choice as I'm not keen on fast snacks or canned food. Anyway, I hope all of you are enjoying summer!!!