Only Turkish Food

Green Beans in Olive Oil

2008-08-23T11:00:00.008+10:00

Zeytinyagli Yesil Fasulye

This is a very much loved dish, and one of the most common ways of cooking vegies in olive oil. Do not shy away from using plenty of good quality olive oil in this dish. It is a great side dish, or a dish on its own when served with rice. In summer, it is often served cold, at times straight from the fridge. It can be made a day before.

Frozen green beans can be used, but fresh beans are always superior. Frozen version is quicker to prepare and cook, and also an option when green beans are out of season. One of the best green beans I recall using were straight from the garden patch of Isthmus Retreat (off Wilson's Prom, great owners, great spot).

Abla's restaurant serves also a very similar dish (see recipe in 'Lebanese Kitchen'). The recipe below is just an approximation of what I do - once you get used to this dish, no need to use a recipe. It's simple and variations in amount do not matter really (as long as there is enough olive oil, and not too many tomatoes).

One could replace onion with two garlic cloves. Add paprika or black pepper (or herbs, e.g., fresh parsley at the last minute, or dried mint). It also works if you have run out of tomatoes (or a tin of tomatoes) - just omit it, or one tablesp tomato paste could be used.

Try it also dropping some garlic yoghurt on to it before serving (mix crushed garlic with plain yoghurt, and adjust taste for salt).

1 tablesp olive oil
1 onion, diced up small
1/2 kilo green beans
2 diced tomatoes
1/3 cup additional olive oil
1 teasp salt
1 tablesp sugar
1/2 cup water

Use a medium sized pot with a lid. Gently fry the diced up onion in 1 tbsp olive oil. Once onion is soft and starts to turn colour, add the pre-washed and trimmed green beans, stirring a couple of minutes. Add tomatoes, additional olive oil, salt and sugar. Stir. Add water, cover. Cook for 30-45 minutes over low heat.

When cooked, the beans will have changed colour, turning into almost khaki green (if looking bright green still, add a tablesp of water, and continue cooking). The beans should not be crunchy, but feel soft and moist.

Upcoming Recipes

2008-08-12T20:25:00.006+10:00

I have several recipes to add. Here are the photos for now, recipes to follow...

Black-eyed bean dip

Peynirli Borek - Pastry with Cheese Filling

Güveç - Winter Casserole

Water Pudding with Rose Water - Su Muhallebisi

I have several recipes to add. Here are the photos for now, recipes to follow...

Chickpea Salad

2008-04-25T22:00:00.012+10:00

Nohut Salatasi

A similar version of this chickpea salad is in Claudia Roden's The book of Jewish food (under Sepphardic entries). I love chickpeas, and this is quite a nice salad. And the salad dressing is great to dip bread into.

For instructions on how to cook chickpeas, see steps 1 & 2 under humus.

2 cups of cooked chickpeas
1 or 2 roma tomatoes, diced
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 teasp cumin
1/4 teasp paprika (sweet or cayenne)
1 garlic clove, crushed
some fresh parsley, some dried mint, sprinkled

Mix all, serve and enjoy.

New Year, a Turkish cookbook, etc.

2007-12-25T11:04:00.001+11:00

I have come across with a new Turkish cookbook the other day at Readings. This is by the Lebanese chef Greg Malouf and his ex-wife Lucy. It is called Turquoise, full of nice photos from their trip in Turkey. I didn't buy the book following my pact not to buy any more cookbooks! But I did have a flick through. It's full of good recipes, although I was quite surprised by a pumpkin soup recipe with a touch of cumin. I must say in all of my life (yes in Istanbul, but have been to various parts of Turkey and tasted food from several regions), I have never come across with pumpkin soup. I did introduce it to my family on one of my recent visits, and it wasn't well-received. It really is not a Turkish taste, and I am curious to know if a small village happened to have a version, which is how the soup ended up in the book. Apart from this unusual (or I should say out of place) entry, Turquoise appeared to be a well-presented addition to Turkish cookbooks. My favourite in English is still a book with no photos by Ayla Algar from which I will try the potato salad sometime soon. And one day, I might perhaps take up my dream of writing up a Turkish cookbook.

Sütlaç - Turkish Rice Pudding

2007-12-09T15:08:00.001+11:00

There are many versions of rice pudding across the world, one my favourites being kheer (Indian/Pakistani version with almond meal and cardamom). The Turkish version is Sutlac, which I essentially grew up with. This version is nothing like the tinned rice pudding you get in the UK or Australia from supermarkets.

Sutlac had a well-deserved place in the Ottoman Kitchen, and was flavoured by rose-water (which you could try, just by adding a teaspoon of rose water before taking the pudding of the stove).

In Turkey, most patisseries serve their own version of sutlac, and one variation is firinda sutlac, i.e., baked rice pudding. The homemade version is often cooked on the stovetop, and for some reason, tastes best when made by my mum. I tried a batch last week, and was quite pleased to find out that my two-year old loved it, and the older one didn't reject it. So here is the recipe (after such a long break).

It is quite easy to make, best served cold, and can be sprinkled with cinnamon. You could increase/reduce the amoung of sugar according to taste.

1 lt milk
1/2 cup long-grained rice
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablesp cornflour

Wash and drain rice. Add the rice and milk into a pot. Cook over a low to medium heat stovetop, stirring occasionally. When the rice has softened, add the sugar and stir. Mix the cornflour with a couple of tablespoons of water until smooth, and then add to the pudding. Stir until the pudding just starts to boil. Pour the pudding to glass bowls, and let it cool in room temperature. Keep refridgerated. Sprinkle with cinnamon if you wish.

Tahini with Grape Syrup

2007-08-09T10:07:00.000+10:00

Tahin Pekmez

Only three weeks left before the end of winter in the southern hemisphere, and winter is already milder with 17 degree days in Melbourne and clear blue sky. But this is no excuse to skip tahin-pekmez, which is a Turkish breakfast spread and a great winter-warmer (is this a real word?). You simply mix tahini with grape syrup. It is a great nutty taste, but one that not everyone is into. It is partly to do with the fact that not everyone in Turkey eats sweet spreads for breakfast when there is the option of feta cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers to be eaten with fresh bread and tea. I usually start breakfast with a cheese slice (often feta) on bread, and finish with jam/marmalade or tahin pekmez with bread again (not a big breakfast though, as I cut one slice into half).

Tahini is a sesame seed paste that is available in most supermarkets, and often known as the base for hummus. Grape syrup is a type of molasse that is thick and full of nutrition.

To make tahin-pekmez, simply add 1/2 measure of grape syrup to 1 measure of tahini. Mix until the grape syrup is soaked into the tahini. Spread on a slice of white bread. Don't hesitate to change ratios, depending on whether you like it more nutty versus sweet.

To purchase tahini and grape syrup online, visit Turkish market online.

Pilav with Bulgur

2007-07-15T16:15:00.000+10:00

Bulgur Pilavı

Bulgur is a traditional ingredient for making pilav or pilaf in Turkey (burghul in Arabic). Turkish often accompany main meals with pilav either of rice or bulgur. I have had this dish so often as I was growing up, and my mum often diced up fresh and really tasty tomatoes on top of it. I often make bulgur pilavi at home, and not always alongside Turkish food - it goes well with food from other kitchens as well. This recipe is for this weekend's herb blogging event hosted by Foodblogga.

Bulgur pilavi often includes onions diced and lightly fried. There are various versions, for example, with different vegetables or green lentils. The one in the photo has got capsicum and tomatoes lightly stir-fried with onions.

There are two types of bulgur, fine and coarse. To make pilav, you need the coarse type. The fine bulgur is used in salads or dishes such as red lentil balls. I wouldn't attempt pilav using fine bulgur, which might reveal a soggy kind of mash.

Preventing bulgur to stick in the pot is sometimes a challenge, better to use a deep non-stick pot.

But recently, I discovered that rice-cooker makes excellent bulgur pilavi! You need to prepare onions etc. on stove-top, and add in the rice-cooker after bulgur and water.

For a different taste stir through your favourite herbs in the end, and a teaspoon of butter.

1 onion, chopped

2 tablesp olive oil

2.5 cups of water

1 cup of bulgur

1/4 teasp salt

1 tbsp butter

Pre-rinse the bulgur using a strainer.

Lightly brown the onion in olive oil. Pour in the water, and bring to boil. Add bulgur and salt, cover and cook over high heat. When water begins to boil, lower the heat. After water is absorbed, place a thin cloth (or a clean teatowel) over the saucepan and let it rest.

Stir in the butter, and some herbs to your liking.

Note 1: As I previously wrote, it is a challenge to obtain well-absorbed bulgur pieces that have not stuck to the bottom of the pot. So for the rice-cooker method, first lightly brown the onion in a frypan on the stove-top. Then use your rice-cooker as you would for rice (i.e., add rice and water according to instructions), adding the browned onion in the cooker before starting it.

Note 2: If using rice-cooker, follow the amounts given for rice. My rice-cooker has a small cup, and requires at least two cups of rice/bulgur. After adding bulgur, adjust the water amount again according to the rice-cooker requirements. The size of the onion (small v. large) is left to preference.

Tomato Soup with Rice

2007-06-28T20:39:00.000+10:00

Domatesli Pirinç Çorbası

Since I last visited my blog, it's been two months and it's now winter in Melbourne. This week, it's been raining heavily, there are floods in the southeast, trees falling down, riverbeds overflowing. The good news is I am still busy but less so. This soup is a great winterwarmer soup again from Turkey, and also great for the Weekend Herb Blogging hosted by Kalyn's Kitchen this week. This soup is commonly made with fresh parsley, but dried mint also works well.

Fresh tomatoes are always better, but tinned tomatoes are practical and work fine. Another short-cut (great for weeknights) is to use one-day old leftover cooked rice. 1 cup is enough, and you only need to add the rice, and bring the soup to boil. If using cooked rice, adjust the amount of water to 3-4 cups.

If you like thicker consistency, stir 1 tablespoon of flour into the thickened tomato mixture and before slowly adding water.

Spice it to taste, sweet paprika, freshly ground black pepper, ras-el-hanout (I know it's not Turkish, but I love it).

2 tablesp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, diced
2 large tomatoes, crushed
(or a tin of crushed tomatoes, around 400 gr)
1/2 teasp salt
1/2 teasp sugar
1/3 cup uncooked rice
5-6 cups of water
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
(or 1/2 tabsp dried mint)

Lightly fry garlic in oil in a large saucepan. Before garlic changes colour, add the tomatoes, salt and sugar. Cook tomatoes for about 5 minutes until it is thickened. Add the rice and water. Cook covered, stirring occasionally for about 30 minutes until rice has softened. Add the parsley, cooking for a couple of minutes. Serve warm.

Croutons: Croutons are optional, not being part of the original recipe. To make your own croutons, dice one-day old bread, drizzle with olive oil and place in a microwave safe container. Microwave uncovered in high for 2 minutes. Stir, if necessary, microwave another 20 seconds, and another 10 if necessary. (Watch out, they burn quickly - so only increase time at short intervals).

Turkish Pide with Cheese/Meat Filling

2007-04-29T20:40:00.000+10:00

In Turkey, pide with various types of filling is sold in special restaurants. In Melbourne, almost all Turkish restaurants serve pide freshly baked on the day. Since I frequently buy pide from these restaurants, I have never thought of baking at home. Coming across with a recipe recently, I thought I should give it a try, and it turned out great.

The recipe was enough for four medium sized pide, and I filled two with cheese and the other two with lamb meat filling.

For the dough
3 cups of plain flour
1 tablesp sugar
1 teasp salt
2 teasp instant yeast (or 1/2 tablesp fresh yeast)
1.25 cup water

1 egg, lightly beaten, for glazing

For the filling
250 gr minced meat (preferably lamb)
1 onion, diced
2 tablesp vegetable oil
1 teasp tomato paste
100 gr capsicum, diced finely
salt and black pepper, to taste
1/2 teasp dried mint

1/2 teasp sweet paprika

400 gr grated cheese
salami, or sucuk (Turkish spiced-salami)

1. Mix flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water in a bowl, knead until well-mixed. Cover, and let it rest for an hour until it has risen.

2. For meat filling, stir-fry the onion, add meat, continue stirring from time to time. Add capsicum and tomato paste. Add salt and blackpepper to taste, along with paprika and mint. When the meat has cooked well (at least 20 minutes), set aside to cool slightly.

3. Set the oven to 200 degrees. Divide the dough into four pieces. (Rub some vegetable oil to your hands beforehand so that the dough is easier to handle). Using a rolling pin, obtain circular flat pieces. Then extend each piece from the sides, using your hands, and obtain oval shaped pieces.

4. For cheese pide, brush the flat dough with egg, sprinkle with grated cheese. Add salami, if using. For meat pide, spread the filling directly onto the flat dough.

5. Fold one cm. of the dough from the sides. Bring together at the tips. Brush with egg. Cook on lightly greased oven trays at 200 degrees, for about 20 minutes until the dough starts changing colour, and the cheese is bubbling. When out of the oven, brush with olive oil or butter, before serving.

Turkish Meat Balls

2007-04-22T21:45:00.000+10:00

Köfte

Weekend herb blogging #79 is hosted at What did you eat?, and dried mint and lemon myrtle take their part in these Turkish meat balls.

Meat balls are one of the most common ways of eating meat at Turkish homes. They are especially liked by children. Spices can vary from person to person, but cumin and black pepper are the main ingredients. Dried thyme is also popular.

I always use cumin and dried mint, and may add quite a few other spices according to my mood. My recent additions are a North African spice mix called the Ras-el-hanout, and the Australian herb lemon myrtle (online order available at Spice Bazaar). I often make a big batch, and freeze some. Ask for double-minced lamb from your butcher, if you are after nice textured meat balls.

Meat balls are often served with rice, and often a tomato-based salad. This time, I served with Italian firm polenta, spicy tomato chutney, and beetroot salad.

1 kilo double-minced lamb

1 large brown onion, chopped finely

2 slices of bread

2 tablesp dried mint (& 1 teasp lemon myrtle, if using)

1 teasp, each of salt, black pepper, cumin and sweet paprika

1/2 cup fresh parsley (optional)

other spices (optional)

vegetable/olive oil for shallow-frying

Place bread in a bowl and cover with water. Once it soaks the water, squeeze the bread well to get rid of the water.

Press on the chopped onion to get rid of extra liquid. In a large bowl, add onion, bread, spices and herbs; and mix well. Add meat, and knead well. Make small patties.

Shallow fry in a pan in vegetable or olive oil, initially on high heat, and then at lower heat, until well-cooked.

P.S. If the lamb appears to have too much fat, add one egg to the ingredients.

Turkish Delight & Marzipan

2007-04-07T20:36:00.001+10:00

Lokum ve Badem Ezmesi

Back in Istanbul, I used to buy Turkish delights with double roasted pistachios, and marzipans from my favourite shop Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir. I am quite pleased to find out that Turkish delights from this particular shop are now being imported to Australia. I have come across with Turkish delight recipes in various cookbooks and magazines in Australia, yet I know noone back home who makes his/her own TD.

In Australia, there are a number of manufacturers that produce TD, yet I find them quite soft. Turkish delights should be slightly resistant to bite (al dente).

Marzipans in this picture are from one of my best friends, who visited me a couple of months ago. She brought a box of marzipans from Ali Muhiddin Haci Bekir, which has been around since the late 18th century. I have managed to take a photo before finishing the marzipans.

Visiting the website of the producers will take you to various other Turkish confectionary produced by this shop.

Poğaca (Turkish Cheese Pastries)

2007-04-01T20:45:00.000+10:00

These Turkish pastries are fairly easy to make, and delicious. They are typically filled in with feta cheese, or lor peyniri (Turkish cheese similar to ricotta), although mince based potato filling is also common. Preparation time of dough is short, but the dough needs at least one hour of rising time. Once it doubles its size, the dough should feel light and fluffy.

Turkish recipes rarely specify the amount of flour required. I used approximately three cups, adding in the flour slowly so that the dough feels soft to touch. According to Turkish way, it should feel as soft as the "earlobe".

1 cup milk
2 teasp dry yeast
1 teasp sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup butter, melted
1 teasp salt
flour, amount as required
1 egg yolk
Sesame seeds and/or nigella seeds

200 gr feta cheese
1 egg white
1/4 teasp paprika
fresh flat-leaf parsley or dill

Bring milk to room temperature. Add sugar and yeast, and stir until melted.

Add butter, vegetable oil and salt, and stir. Slowly add flour and stir. Once it starts to blend in, knead lightly. Dough is supposed to be soft to touch.

Cover dough, and put aside so that it rises (an hour or so).

Set oven to 180 degrees.

Once the dough has doubled in size, break it into egg-size pieces. Spread each piece in your palm to have a round shape. Put in some of the filling, and bring opposite sides of the dough together to cover the filling. Place onto a lightly greased oven tray. Brush with egg yolk, and sprinkle with sesame seeds and/or nigella seeds.

Filling: Break feta into pieces using a fork. Mix in egg white, paprika and fresh herbs.

Brown Lentil Soup

2007-03-24T21:45:00.000+11:00

Melbourne is a funny city in terms of weather. Temperature difference from one day to the other can be huge. Yesterday was a scorching 37.4 degrees, and today - 19 degrees! So I felt like some soup, and made this Turkish soup that is my father's favourite.

The original recipe uses eriste (semolina based Turkish egg noodles). I buy eriste from Turkish shops in Melbourne, although this soup can also be made with rice or risi bisi pasta.

1 brown onion, chopped
2 tablesp olive oil
1 teasp tomato paste
1 tablesp plain flour
4 cups of water or stock
1/2 cup of green lentils
2 tablesp of "eriste", rice or risi bisi
1/4 teasp salt
1/2 teasp dried mint
1/8 teasp sweet paprika

Lightly fry the brown onion in oil. Add the tomato paste, stir. Then stir in the plain flour until the onion pieces are well-coated. Add the water gradually. When it starts boiling, add the green lentils. Cook, stirring occasionally. When the lentils become tender, add in eriste (or `rice or risi bisi), and cook until the eriste is tender. Add salt, mint and paprika. Serve warm.

Feta Cheese Dip with Cumin

2007-03-12T15:53:00.000+11:00

Another great dip! Serve with Turkish pide or flat Lebanese bread.

1 cup feta cheese
2 tablesp Greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 teasp dried peppermint flakes
1/4 teasp redpepper flakes
1/4 teasp ground cumin

Mash feta cheese with a fork. Crush garlic cloves and add it to cheese together with the rest of the ingredients. Stir well, place on a plate and decorate with extra mint and redpepper flakes. Serve cold.

Black-eyed Bean (Pea) Salad

2007-03-02T20:43:00.000+11:00

Kuru Börülce Piyazı

Black-eyed beans are consumed both fresh and dried in Turkey. I love the former, but have found out about the latter only recently. During my mum's short visit early this year, we were inspecting the numerous dried pulses in our corner Pakistani shop. My mum spotted these beans and told me that they were dried "borulce". So we bought a big packet. I placed the dried beans in a large bowl overnight, and boiled them in the morning (beware, cooking time is shorter than it is for some other beans such as chick peas). I placed some in the freezer, and made a nice black-eyed bean dip (which was more Moorish than Turkish). This week, I took out another batch and made this Turkish salad, as my mum said the black-eyed beans made excellent "piyaz" (dried bean salad). The more common beans for piyaz is white beans, which is the version I know, although the black-eyed beans also made a very tasty salad.

1 cup boiled black-eyed beans

2 tomatoes, chopped

1 small red onion, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1/4 cup flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1 teasp dried mint

salt and pepper to taste

juice of half a lemon

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

Mix the beans and vegetables. Add the parsley, dried mint and seasoning. Mix the dressing and pour over the salad. Gently mix, and serve.

Lemon Zucchini in Olive Oil

2007-02-25T14:47:00.000+11:00

Zeytinyağlı Ekşili Kabak

Vegetables cooked in olive oil form an important part of Turkish kitchen. The vegies are well-cooked in that some may find them overcooked, but in the process, the juices are released in the olive oil and provide great flavours when combined with herbs, spices or lemon juice (as in this case). In this dish, zucchinis and lemon juice go well together forming a sour olive oil dish. Worth a try, and best served with white rice. The recipe comes from one of my cookbooks in Turkish.

I used half of the ingredients, as one kilo makes plenty. This dish can be served warm, or cold - straight from the fridge.

1 kilo zucchini (courgette)

1 cup olive oil

2 brown onions

1 or 2 green peppers

1 clove of garlic

2 tomatoes

juice of a lemon

1/2 teasp sugar

1/4 teasp salt (or to taste)

1/2 cup of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

1. Wash, peel and chop zucchinis into cubes. Chop all vegetables including garlic.

2. Brown the onions until light golden. Add the green peppers. When the peppers are lightly fried, add the garlic and tomatoes. Let it simmer for a few minutes. Then add the zucchinis. Close the lid of the pot, and let it cook until zucchinis change colour from bright into dull green. If necessary, add some water (or shorten the cooking time by using microwave oven)*.

3. Add the lemon juice, sugar and salt. Let it cook for a few minutes. Check for seasoning. Add parsley, stir and let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.

* Zucchinis take a long time to cook! If you are short for time, pre-cook them in the microwave oven. Simply add 3 tablespoons of water into a bowl suitable for microwave along with the zucchinis, cover, and cook for 7 minutes on High (100%). Then proceed with the recipe.

Turkish Vegetable Omelette

2007-02-17T20:28:00.000+11:00

Menemen

This dish is simply eggs scrambled with vegetables. Rather than breakfast, it is served at lunch, or dinner as a light summer dish.

1 medium brown onion, finely diced

3 tablesp olive oil

2 green peppers or 1 capsicum, finely diced

3 tomatoes, finely diced

6 eggs, lightly beaten

1/4 teasp salt

Lightly brown the onions in olive oil. Then add the pepper, and stir occasionally until soft. Add the tomatoes, stir once, and close the lid of the pan. Once the tomatoes are well-cooked, add the eggs and salt to the vegetable mixture. Stir for a few minutes. Serve with fresh bread.

ROASTED HAZELNUTS

2007-02-13T09:54:00.000+11:00

For a while now, I have been making Egyptian Dukkah (a seed and nut-based spice mixture) at home, and the recipe calls for roasted hazelnuts. Whilst dukkah is not Turkish, roasted hazelnuts are very common in Turkey.

One of the food specialty shops in Turkey is the Kuruyemişçi. These shops sell nuts and dried fruits, displayed behind glass counters, and sold by the gram, filled in paper pags. Children grow eating nuts, especially sunflower seeds, which one has to deshell (requiring good mouth and hand coordination, and dexterity). Having grown up in Turkey, I am often amazed to find out how home-grown Australians are into lollies (Jaffas in particular), but nuts are served often with "drinks" rather than being considered as snacks.

My favourite nuts are walnuts (hence my nickname ceviz), and hazelnuts. Having discovered that the roasted hazelnuts I prepared for dukkah were no different to kuruyemisci-bought ones, I now roast extra hazelnuts, which I fill in a jar for (healthy-) snacking.

I should also add that hazelnuts are grown in the north, the Black Sea coast of Turkey. A recent event regarding hazelnut growers led to Turkish foodbloggers to join hands, and compile over a hundred hazelnut recipes on a website called Fındık Fındık (hazelnuts hazelnuts). The recipes are now in the process of being published as a book!

To roast hazelnuts:

Spread any amount of hazelnuts in a flat oven tray. Roast in 180 degrees for 5-8 minutes keeping an eye not to burn them. Once slightly browned, remove the tray. Wrap hazelnuts in a teatowel while warm, and rub them so that the brown skin falls off. Once cool, store in an airtight container.

Try mixing equal amounts of hazelnuts and dried white mulberries (or walnuts and mulberries).

TURKISH RED LENTIL BALLS

2007-01-27T21:47:00.000+11:00

This week's herb blogging event is hosted by Tomato, and coincides with the Australian Day weekend. My dish, red lentil balls, uses flat-leaf parsley together with green onions.

Kırmızı Mercimekli Köfte

These red lentil balls originate from eastern and south-eastern regions of Turkey. They are easy to make, and are delicious, especially when wrapped in lettuce leaves. Serve warm as a nice vegeterian dish; or cold, as a salad or side dish. Do not hesitate to adjust the amount of spices and herbs to your liking (e.g., exclude cumin, add cayenne pepper, etc.).

The bulghur variety in this dish is the fine version (as opposed to the coarse one) - available at Middle Eastern shops. You may also try this dish with green lentils, but they take longer to cook, so will need more water.

2 cups water
1 cup red lentils
1/2 cup fine bulghur (cracked wheat)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 large onion, chopped finely
1 teaspoon of tomato paste (optional)
1 teaspoon cumin (optional)
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 cup fresh, chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup green onions (scallions)

Bring two cups of water to boil in a pot, and add the lentils. Cook in low heat until the water is absorbed, and the lentils are mushy. Turn off the stove, and stir the bulghur into lentils. Let the mixture rest for 15 minutes to allow the bulghur to soften and expand.

In the meantime, fry the finely chopped onion and minced garlic in olive oil until lightly browned. Add tomato paste at the last minute, stir and turn off the stove.

Add the fried onion and garlic into the lentil mixture along with the spices and salt. Lightly knead until the ingredients are mixed. Taste, and adjust salt and spices. Add the parsley and green onions, and lightly knead. Shape the mixture into egg-shaped balls. Sprinkle with paprika, and serve with lettuce leaves.

Hummus (Humus, Tahini Chickpea Dip)

2007-01-19T19:21:00.000+11:00

Hummus is among my favourite dips, as I love chickpeas. The homemade version is almost always superior to the shop-bought ones, so it is worth the effort, especially if you precook chickpeas instead of using tinned ones. I precook dried chickpeas, and freeze them in small portions, some of which I use for hummus and the rest in chickpea dishes (sometimes vegeterian and other times with diced lamb or chicken).

This tahini dip is well-known in the Middle East, and more common in the southeastern parts of Turkey, bordering Irak, Iran and Syria. In fact, the southeastern Turkish kitchen has more in common with the Middle Eastern kitchen than it has with the western regions of Turkey. The recipe below comes from Abla Amad's Lebanese Kitchen. This recipe makes enough to use over two days. Do not hesitate to adjust the amount of lemon juice v. tahini according to your liking. I sometimes use less tahini to reduce the amount of oil in the dip.

Try spreading it on a piece of bread, and lining it with a slice of cheddar cheese.
Try sprinkling it with dukkah or za'tar.

1 1/2 cups dried chick peas (or 3 cups canned chick peas)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 teasp salt
1 clove garlic
1 1/4 cups tahini
2/3 cup lemon juice
4 tablesp water (optional)
1/2 teasp paprika
1 tablesp fresh parsley
1 teasp olive oil

1. Cover chick peas with water, add bicarb of soda and soak overnight (I normally don't add bicarb of soda, which is said to cut the cooking time by half). They should double in volume. Make sure that the bowl is reasonably large, as the chick peas expand considerably when soaked (Use more chick peas, say 1/2 kilo, if you wish to freeze the rest in smaller portions).

2. Next day, drain chick peas, cover with fresh water and bring to a boil in a large saucepan. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes or until chick peas are very soft. Drain.

3. Crush salt and garlic together in a food processor, add cooked chick peas and blend until smooth, gradually adding tahini and lemon juice. When blending, stop to combine mixture and scrape down the sides. Add water if you prefer a thinner consistency.

4. To serve, place humus on a small platter or in a bowl. Sprinkle with paprika, arrange parsley around the edges and pour olive oil over.

POTATO SALAD

2007-01-13T20:34:00.000+11:00

Patates Salatası

This salad is full of potatoes, but very tasty and light - common home Turkish cooking, yet rarely served at restaurants. The recipe is from Ayla Algar's Complete book of Turkish Cooking. (Her books, if you don't mind the lack of photos, are among the best Turkish cookbooks). Her recipe does not have sumac, which I always add following my mum's method.

1/2 kilo potatoes
1 red onion
1/2 bunch of parsley or dill, chopped
1/2 cup olive oil (or less)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon dry mustart
sea salt and black pepper, to taste
1 dozen black olives
1 tablespoon sumac

1. Half the onion lengthwise, then slice paper-thin. Rub with sumac.

2. Cook the potatoes in boiling water until tender. Peel and slice very thin into a salad bowl (I prefer dicing). Cool. stir in the onions, dill or parsley. (Alternatively, for a quicker version, wash, peel and rewash the potatoes. Dice them, and cook for five minutes in microwave oven set on high, covered and with a few tablespoons of water.)

3. Combine the oil with the vinegar, lemon juice, mustard, salt and pepper to taste. Blend well. Pour enough dressing over the salad to moisten; mix thoroughly. Adjust the salt and add more vinegar if necessary. Garnish with black olives. Serve at room temperature. 6 servings.

Note. Ayla Algar's book above is out of print. I had purchased mine on biblio.com. Her more recent book Classical Turkish Cooking is quite similar, and available on amazon.com.

Note2. I have recently come across with a very similar version by Bill Granger in one of the delicious. magazines. I suspect it was a slightly altered version of this Turkish salad.

Herb Zucchini Fritters (Mücver)

2006-12-21T14:22:00.000+11:00

These fritters are one of my favourites, from my mum. She serves them as is. This version is served with garlic yoghurt following a recipe from one of my cookbooks. You could even top it up with a tomato-garlic based homemade sauce. It can be served as a side dish, or starter. It is just as nice served cold, and makes a light main dish in summer.

5 eggs
2 medium-sized zucchinis, peeled
4 tablesp. white flour
1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped
1/2 bunch of dill, finely chopped
4 tablesp. oil

Sauce:
Mix one cup of Greek yoghurt with a clove of crushed garlic.

1. Break the eggs in a deep bowl.
2. Grate the zucchinis. Squeeze the water off. Add the grated zucchinis to the eggs together with the parsley and dill. Mix all using a fork.
3. Add the flour, continue mixing. Add the salt.
4. Heat the oil in a shallow non-stick pan. Add spoonfuls of mixture into the heated oil. Cook until pink on both sides.
5. Transfer to a plate. Serve warm topped with garlic yoghurt.

Alternative: For a lighter version, spread the mixture in a shallow oven tray (greased and dusted with flour), and cook in 180 degrees. Slice prior to serving.

Muhammara (Fenugreek Dip)

2006-12-12T15:06:00.000+11:00

There are several recipes for muhammara, but my favourite is my mum's. She uses fenugreek, which is worth sourcing if only for this recipe. I know some people are partial to fenugreek, but noone I know has shown dislike to this dip. Best to make it a few hours ahead.

Serve it with another yoghurt based dip such as the carrot or the beetroot dip.

2 slices of two-day old bread
1 teaspoon red pepper paste
1 tablesp tomato paste
1 tablesp dried mint
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
juice of lemon
1/2 teasp fenugreek powder, increase according to taste
1 clove garlic, crushed
2-3 tablesp walnuts, crushed
2 tablesp feta cheese (optional, or parmesan)

Wet bread. Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. Drain the bread and squeeze to get rid of the water, and add to the bowl. Mix all ingredients until the bread takes the colour of the paste. According to taste, you may increase the amount of fenugreek.

P.S. You may use mashed roasted red pepper instead of red pepper paste.

Potato and Carrot Dish

2006-11-30T22:57:00.000+11:00

Potatoes cooked with vegetables is a typical Turkish vegeterian dish, with many variations. This version is from one of my best used Turkish cookbooks. The combination of potatoes, carrots and green peppers is great, and feel free to play with the amounts below. You may add spices to your liking towards the end of cooking time (e.g., black pepper, ras el-hanout, nutmeg).

4 tablesp. olive oil
2 onions (preferably red)
3 or 4 carrots
3 or 4 tomatoes
3 or 4 green peppers (or 1 capsicum)
5 or 6 potatoes
1 teasp. white vinegar
1/2 teasp salt
3 tablesp flat-leaf parsley

1. Chop onions, green peppers and carrot. Lightly stir-fry with olive oil in a pot.

2. Add diced, or grated tomatoes, until simmering point.

3. Add diced potatoes, salt, vinegar along with water until the top level of vegetables. Cook in medium heat, until potatoes and carrots are well-cooked, occasionally stirring. The cooking time is approximately an hour.

4. Divide into individual bowls, and sprinkle with chopped parsley prior to serving.

Beetroot Salad with Yoghurt

2006-11-27T10:13:00.000+11:00

This beetroot salad recipe is from the Turkish section of Claudia Roden's Arabesque. Roden provides great Turkish recipes in her book and a comprehensive preface on Turkish kitchen, though, I must say with incorrect translations of titles (i.e., incorrect use of grammar). Not ever having tried this salad, and having recently roasted some beetroots in the oven (a la Stephanie Alexander), I decided to use some of the beetroots on this recipe. I loved the chunkiness of beetroot with garlic yoghurt and with good quality olive oil. On another occasion, tinned beetroots also worked well.

For a richer flavour, make the salad at least two hours prior to serving. The recipe below gives Roden's instructions. The amount of ingredients can be reduced at least by half (I used one third). The garlic is optional, but unless you are against garlic, do not leave it out.

1 kilo beetroot

2 garlic cloves, chopped (optional)

500 gr strained Greek style yoghurt

2 tablesp lemon juice

6 tablesp extra virgin olive oil

salt

handful of chopped mint, or flat-leaf parsley

For the beetroots: Cut the stems and leaves about 2 cm above the beetroot.

TO BOIL, cook them in plenty of boiling salted water until tender - small ones will take about 30 mins, larger ones about 1,5 hours.

TO ROAST, put them on a sheet of foil on a baking sheet, cover them with foil, and roast in an oven pre-heated to 200 degrees (400 F/ gas 6) for 2-3 hours, depending on their size, until one feels tender when cut right through with a knife.

You could cut them in half (lay them cut side down) and reduce the cooking time considerably (my note: cutting prior to cooking bleeds the beetroots - so better not to). When cool enough to handle, peel the beetroots.

For the salad: Cut the beetroots into 1 cm rounds or half-moon slices. Wear rubber gloves to avoid staining your hands. If using tinned beetroots, buy sliced beetroots.

Beat the chopped garlic (if using) into the yoghurt and spread the mixture on a serving plate. Arrange the beetroot slices on top. Beat the lemon juice with the oil and a little salt, stir in the mint or parsley, and spoon over the beetroot slices.

Variation: A Lebanese version uses 1 1/2 tablespoons of tahini beaten into the yoghurt.

Super Souper Challenge

2006-11-25T19:14:00.000+11:00

Turkish Wedding Soup (Düğün Çorbası)

This traditional soup is rich and nutritious. Although it is one of my favourites, I do not make it often due to preparation time it requires. However, the outcome is definitely worth the effort. The soup has four stages: meat preparation, soup base, egg mixture, and the sauce. Despite the meat and the egg, the soup is not heavy at all, and is a mix of great flavours. I think it is timely for the upcoming soup event.

1 litre meat stock (or water for a lighter version)

250 gr lamb, diced into small cubes

2 tablesp. butter

3 tablesp. flour

3 egg yolks (two also works fine)

juice of 1 lemon

Sauce:

2 tablesp. butter

1 teasp. paprika

1. Cook the finely diced up meat in a pot with a cup of water for about 20 minutes, skimming the froth occasionally. Add the meat with the leftover water into the stock, and cook the soup base until boiling.

2. In a separate pot, heat the butter, and add the flour, stirring until the flour changes colour. Add some of the meat stock into the flour gradually, stirring so that the mixture is thick and homogeneous.

3. Blend the egg yolks and lemon juice together in a nonreactive bowl. Add some of the soup mixture to the egg mixture, stirring it at the same time. Add some more soup mixture, and repeat. The aim is to prevent the egg mixture from curdling. Then return the egg mixture back into the soup. Cook until it has just started boiling.

4. For the sauce, melt the butter in a frypan, add the paprika. Cook until it bubbles, but watch out that it doesn't burn.

5. Pour the soup into bowls with equal pieces of lamb, and add a spoonful of sauce before serving.

Semolina Pudding: The Turkish Version

2006-11-22T11:59:00.001+11:00

Semolina is used in a variety of regions, in particular Middle Eastern and Asian, for making pudding or helva. The Indian and Pakistani mix semolina with vermiccelli and make a milk-based pudding along with local spices such as cardamom. The Turkish variation uses semolina, often alongside walnuts, cinnamon and/or rose water. It is the lightest version, therefore my favourite. It is easy to make, as it requires only stove-top cooking. The recipe is from my mum, and always works well.

1 lt milk
8 tablesp. semolina
16 tablesp. sugar (8, for a lighter pudding)
1/2 cup of walnuts, crushed
2-3 tablesp. grated coconut (optional)
2 tablesp. rose water (optional)

Mix milk, semolina and sugar in a pot, and stir until it thickens. Spread the rosewater, if using, in a glass or ceramic round (25 cm.) bowl. Pour half of the semolina mixture into the bowl. Wait until it cools down. Sprinkle the walnut over the first layer. Pour over the rest of the pudding on top (you might need to warm it slightly beforehand, if too thick to work with). Level it with a spoon. Sprinkle the coconut over the surface. Keep it in the refridgerator for a couple of hours, and serve in slices.

This time, I did not use coconuts, and spread the walnuts on the top surface only.

TURKISH CARROT DIP

2006-11-20T16:27:00.001+11:00

This dip is so easy to make and so refreshing. It is made with raw carrot, but there is also another version that uses cooked carrot. I prefer the raw version, I like the crunchiness of the carrot pieces in the dip.

1 carrot, washed and peeled
1 clove garlic, peeled
6 tablespoons of Greek yoghurt
a pinch of salt

Cut the carrot into a few chunks, and put in the food processor along with the clove of garlic. Process for about a minute, ending up with tiny pieces of carrot. Transfer to a bowl. Add the yoghurt and salt, and mix. You may adjust the amount of yoghurt to your liking. Sprinkle with dried mint (or other herb), if you wish.

Serve with Turkish pide/ thin Lebanese bread/ water crackers.

This dip accompanies the babaganoush dip perfectly. It can also be served as a side dish with the red kidney beans in olive oil.

Red Kidney Beans: with mince, or in olive oil

2006-11-17T10:55:00.000+11:00

Kıymalı Barbunya, veya Zeytinyagli Barbunya

Pulses/ legumes have a central place in Turkish kitchen, among these are the beans! In Turkey, white and borlotti bean varieties are common, while red kidney beans are less well-known. In Melbourne, red kidney beans are abundant, tinned or dried. I have gotten used to them over the years, and buy them more often than the whiter versions. This dish is typically made with roman or borlotti beans, I have just replaced them with red kidney beans.

I was surprised to find out that raw, undercooked red kidney beans can be toxic. So make sure you precook the beans well.

Turkish cook dried beans in two ways: 1. Olive oil; 2. with meat. The one in the photo is the meat version. I used mince, but it can easily be replaced by diced lamb. Although I prefer the olive oil version, the meat version was because it might have been more appealing for my six year-old daughter. I was wrong, but we enjoyed them with rice and yoghurt (there is often a dollop of natural yoghurt alongside Turkish dishes).

I cook 1 kilo of dried red kidney beans in advance, and freeze them in small portions. It is then a matter of defreezing them on the day of cooking. You can easily substitute tinned (canned) beans, less nutritious but practical and works well. Worth trying different brands, as some are tastier than others.

The recipe below is for the mince version. Stroll down for the olive oil variation. They taste quite different.

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 brown onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic (optional), diced
1 teaspoon of tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon of red pepper paste (optional)
1/2 cup of lamb minc, precooked (or diced lamb, if you prefer)
2 tomatoes, crushed (or 1/2 tin of tomatoes)
2 cups of precooked red kidney beans (or 1 large tin)
2 cups of water
salt and black pepper to taste
1 teaspoon dried mint

Cook chopped onion in olive oil until lightly browned. Add garlic, stir. Add tomato and red pepper paste, stir until the onion is coated. Add precooked mince meat and tomatoes, stir until well-heated. Add red kidney beans with water. Add salt, pepper and mint. Put the lid ajar, and cook in low-medium heat until the beans are well-heated, and the sauce is boiling (about 20 mins).

Serve with rice and yoghurt. The rice in the photo is cooked with risi pasta.

Precooked mince allows for shorter cooking-time for the red kidney beans. I cook 1 kilo of mince meat, divide into portions, and place in the freezer. I use the portions for red kidney beans, other dishes and spaghetti bolognaise!

Red kidney beans in olive oil:

In the above recipe, increase the amount of olive oil to 6 tablespoons, dice a carrot, and add right after the onions. Add 1/2 teaspoon of sugar together with the salt. Omit the meat.

Dishes of Comfort

2006-11-10T11:16:00.000+11:00

Yoghurt Rice Soup (Yayla Çorbası)

This Turkish soup was already in my list of recipes to post, and fit well with the Dishes of Comfort one-off blog event (hosted by Cream Puffs In Venice).

The literal translation of this yoghurt rice soup is the plateau soup. It is a traditional soup well-known in rural Turkey but also common in the cities. It is a great winter-warming soup. My mother made this soup quite often, which I have always enjoyed. It was a kind of staple in our kitchen, so it goes with my childhood. I now make it myself from time to time, but my mum's soup tastes different for some reason, and I continue to enjoy hers on my return visits to Istanbul. I suspect it's a combination of factors, the difference in the ingredients back at home, and the mother effect.

6 tablespoons rice
6 tablespoons natural yoghurt
2 eggs
3 tablespoons plain four
2 cups of chicken stock (or water with stock powder, if you prefer)
3 cups of water
1 tablespoon of butter (or olive oil)
juice of 1/2 lemon
1 teaspoon of dried mint (this is a must)
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
salt to taste

1. Wash the rice until the starch runs off. Boil it in a pot with three cups of boiling water. Cook until the rice is soft, put aside. Do not dispose of the water.

2. In a ceramic bowl, beat the eggs, while adding the flour in small amounts. Then add the yoghurt, and the lemon juice, mix a little more until you have a thick mixture.

3. In a deep pot, heat the two cups of chicken stock. When it has warmed up, add a few spoons of the stock into the thick egg mixture, so that the mixture becomes runny. Then, add the egg mixture back into the chicken stock slowly, and mixing continuously until the soup begins to boil.

4. Add the rice along with its water into the soup. Add salt to taste. Close the lid of the pot, and bring it to boil once, before turning off the stove.

5. In a separate pan, melt the butter together with the mint and the cayenne pepper. When heated, stir a few times, and stir the butter sauce into the soup. Serve in soup bowls.

PS. I often short-cut, and use a day's old leftover rice. Then I boil the 3 cups of water with the stock in stage 3, and add the cooked rice as above in stage 4.

Turkish Candle Rings (Kandil Simiti)

2006-11-08T14:24:00.000+11:00

These rings are savoury, and are sold in patisseries and bakeries all around Turkey on special religious festivals (muslim holy nights) called Kandil (= candle). There are five kandil nights throughout the year, during when the mosques are illuminated. At the time of Kandil, these simits are bought from shops, whilst helva or another religious desert cooked at home is given to the neighbours and friends. Given that most Turkish people live in apartment blocks with an average of 8-10 units per block, imagine the number of plates per household after all the handing out is completed.

I love the patisserie food in Turkey, it's what I miss the most. And when it comes to Kandil Simiti, it is what I used to eat for lunch at uni throughout the week surrounding Kandil, together with ayran (equal parts of yoghurt and water mixed).

This is the first time I baked Kandil simiti at home, after combining two recipees. The simits were nice!

As with most Turkish recipes, the recipe did not have any indication for the amount of flour needed ('as much flour as the mixture takes in'). The Turkish way of ensuring that the dough is at the right consistency is to have it as soft as the 'earlobe'. I used my kitchen scale, and ended up using approximately 470 gr flour. So make sure that a 1/2 kilo of plain flour is at hand. I used the South Australian organic Laucke flour (which I find excellent for breadmaking - it is sold in 10 kg packs).

110 gr butter
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup milk
1 egg white, lightly beaten (keep aside the yolk for glazing)
1 teasp white sugar
1 teasp. mahlebi/mahlap
1 teasp. salt
1.5 table spoon baking powder
Approximately 3.25 (3 + 1/4) cups plain flour (~ 475 gr)
Sesame seeds AND nigella seeds (black sesame seeds)

Set the oven for 180 degrees.

1. Melt the butter. Mix butter, olive oil, milk and sugar in a deep bowl. Mix the lightly beaten egg white.

2. Add the mahlebi, baking powder, and sifted flour. Mix with a wooden spoon. Towards the end, knead the dough lightly. Adjust the amount of flour until soft and not sticky.

3. Rest the dough for 5-10 minutes.

4. Take walnut-size pieces from the dough. Roll each into a sausage shape, and bring together the ends to achieve a ring shape. Put each ring onto lightly greased tray (or use baking paper). Brush each with egg yolk. Sprinkle some of them with sesame seeds and nigella seeds, and have some without seeds. The recipe yielded around 32 simits on two trays.

5. Bake in moderate oven until colour is golden. Approximate cooking time is 20-25 minutes.

** You may use 2 cups of self-raising flour, and the rest white flour. Don't forget to reduce the amount of baking powder.

Sour Leek in Olive Oil

2006-10-25T21:30:00.001+10:00

In Turkey, the best known leek dish is the leek in olive oil made with leek, rice and carrots. I found this sour version from a Turkish cookbook, and it is different! It has no rice or carrots but onions instead. The reason I tried the recipe was I had simply run out of carrots. The result was impressive.

It is best served as a side dish, together with rice and meat/chicken, and a dollop of Greek yoghurt.

1 kilo leek
1/2 cup olive oil
2 onions
1 cup of water
1 teaspoon sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
1 teaspoon tomato paste
a pinch of salt
European parsley

Wash the leek carefully to get rid of any soil. Cut into 7-8 cm.s pieces, and cut each into thin stick-like pieces.

Add olive oil into a pot, and lightly stirfry the onion. Then add the leek, and continue stirring. Close the lid, and cook further for a few minutes.

Add the water, tomato paste, salt, sugar, and lemon juice. Cook in medium heat until the leek is soft.

Turn off the heat. Serve it when it has cooled down, topped with parsley.

You may want to try mixing through a teaspoon of sumac prior to serving.

Tahini Eggplant Dip (Baba Ghanoush)

2006-10-24T16:08:00.000+10:00

Baba Ghanoush is one of the most famous dips of Lebanese Kitchen, well known to Melbournians, and it is yummy. It is also well-known in the Southeastern Turkey. In other, particularly western parts of Turkey, this dip is made with olive oil instead of tahini. Both are equally nice, and different enough to try. The tahini one is nice as a dip, whereas the olive oil one is better served as a sidedish especially with fish.

The recipe is from Abla Amad's Lebanese Kitchen.

1 kilo eggplants (aubergine)
1 teaspoon salt
1 clove garlic
2/3 cup tahini
1/2 cup lemon juice

1 tablespoon olive oil; sumak; dried mint, to garnish

1. Roast the eggplants on the stovetop until black blisters appear, turning occasionally. Abla suggests that you peel the eggplants under cold water. I place them on a plate and peel them with a sharp knife. Dice the eggplant.

2. Add the eggplant pieces, garlic, tahini, lemon juice and salt together into the food processor, and mix for about two minutes. Make sure that the tahini is stirred well into the dip.

3. Transfer to a serving bowl. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle sumak and dried mint. Or serve with fresh diced tomatoes and European parsley.

Serve it with Turkish pide. It goes well with the beetroot dip.

Red Capsicum and Zucchini in Olive Oil

2006-10-18T23:26:00.000+10:00

On my last trip to Istanbul, my mum cooked 'red pepper in olive oil' several times, as red peppers were plenty in the market. I loved the dish, and here is my variation of it with zucchini added, as I had to use the last zucchini in the fridge. Olive oil brings out the true flavour of red pepper, so do not opt to use other oils.

5-6 tablespoons olive oil
1 clove garlic, crushed
3 sweet red peppers (or 1 large capsicum), diced
1 tomato, diced and crushed
1 teaspoon tomato paste
3 small zucchinis (or a large one), diced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

Fry garlic lightly in olive oil. Add pepper, and stir until mildly fried. Add crushed tomato and tomato paste, and stir. Add diced zucchini, then salt, sugar, and two cups of water. Cook until zucchini is well-cooked in a pot with lid semi-closed (it has to turn colour into deeper green).

P.S. Because zucchini takes a long time to cook, cooking time can be shortened by microwaving the zucchini beforehand. To do so, put diced zucchini in covered microwave dish along with 2-3 tablespoon of water for about 5 minutes. If so, only add 1 cup of water to the recipe above.

Beetroot Dip

2006-10-18T10:52:00.000+10:00

This dip is available at any Turkish restaurant in Melbourne. I have never seen its recipe in a Turkish cookbook. Nor have I come across with the dip in Turkey! I got the recipe from a friend two years ago, and since then, have made on several occasions. I use tinned beetroot, and have also noted the recipe on one of the tins. It is very easy to make and so tasty. Great with Turkish pide or water crackers, and goes well with hummus.

This recipe is for fresh beetroots.

3 beetroots
5 tablespoon of Greek yoghurt
1 clove garlic
a pinch of salt

Boil the beetroots (or cook in microwave oven with two spoonfuls of water, covered for four minutes). Let it cool. (If using tinned beetroot, drain the liquid, and proceed).

Mix the beetroots and the garlic clove in the blender.

Place the mixture into a bowl, add salt and yoghurt.

Sprinkle dried mint and drizzle with olive oil for serving.

P.S. Last time, I added a teaspoonful cayenne pepper. It gave a nice bite to it.

The Turkish recipe is here.

Mum's Chilli Cheese Cookies

2006-10-13T19:53:00.000+10:00

These cookies are savoury and very nice. The recipe is from my mum. You can adjust the level of chilli according to taste. They are nice as afternoon snacks, and go well with black tea.

100 gr. butter
80 gr. canola oil
2 eggs (seperate 1 yolk for glazing)
1 cup grated cheese (mix cheddar and feta)
2 teaspoons pepper paste
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
3 cups plain flour (I exchanged 1 cup with wholemeal)
3 teaspoons baking powder

Nigella seeds (black sesame seeds)

Oven: moderate 180 degrees.

Melt the butter until soft. Mix with 2 egg whites, and 1 egg yolk. Add all the ingredients except flour, and mix. Sift the flour, and knead lightly into a soft dough.

Roll the dough to 1 cm thickness, using a rolling pin. Cut out circles with a special cutter.

Place the cookies onto the lightly greased tray. Glaze with egg yolk using a brush. Sprinkle with nigella seeds. Used two trays, and placed in the oven twice. Made approximately 30 cookies.

Bake in moderate oven for about 20 minutes. Cool in trays.

The Turkish recipe is here.