Pumpkin Soup with Red Cabbage and Cumin Seeds (Balkabağı Çorbası)

3 cups of baked and mashed pumpkin
1 onion, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, sliced thinly
1/2 cup red cabbage, chopped finely
1 banana pepper, chopped
3 cups of vegetable stock
1/2 cup yogurt
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp black mustard seeds
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp pepper flakes
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp rosemary
salt



















-We cut the pumpkin you see above into two, took the seeds out with a spoon, and placing the two halves on an oven pan baked them until soft. (with one half, Aaron made a pumpkin pie, the other half got into this soup)
-Heat the oil in a big pot and stir in the onion and garlic. After 3-4 minutes, add in red cabbage, banana pepper, mustard seeds, and cumin seeds. Stir for 8-10 minutes.
-Add paprika, stir for a minute and then add pumpkin puree, vegetable stock, yogurt, black pepper, pepper flakes, thyme, and rosemary, and salt. Simmer for half an hour.
-I smoothened the soup with a hand blender, my soup master; however, if you want a chunky soup, you don't need the soup master.

Menu for Hope

Menu For Hope, now in its third year, is an annual charity event to raise money for a good cause. This year, it will support the United Nations World Food Programme. The creator of this generous event is Pim of Chez Pim and Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen is one of the hosts in States.

My contribution to this event is two jars: one is filled with Turkish semi moist, delicious smelling, hot, flaked red peppers from southeastern part of Turkey. You can use it while cooking or sprinkle it on your foods.
























The second jar is full of fresh grape leaves for dolmas and also comes straight from Turkey. I personally picked them at my uncle's vineyard in northwestern Turkey. There are no preservatives added; leaves are folded and squeezed in this jar with absolutely nothing. Seriously, you won't believe how fresh they will smell! It will come with a recipe for dolma and a how-to guide for preserving grape leaves. There are enough grape leaves in the jar to make a big pot of dolmas.






















To impress family and friends with delicious dolmas, here's what you need to do: write down the code for this prize --> UC01

1. Go to the donation page at First Giving.

2. Make a donation. Each $10 will give you one raffle ticket towards a prize. Please specify which prize or prizes you'd like in the *Personal Message* section when confirming your donation.

3. If your company matches charity donations, please remember to check the box and fill in the information so A Menu for Hope can claim the corporate match.

4. Please also check the box to allow us to see your e-mail address so we can contact you in case you win.Your e-mail address will not be shared.

5. Check back at Chez Pim on January 15 to see who the winners are.


Thank you!

Turkish Feta-Potato Rolls (Fırında Sigara Böreği)

Sigara Böreği literally means "cigarette pastry" in Turkish and they are usually deep fried. However, I didn't want to have a heavy snack, so instead I baked them with instructions from my mom.

Yufka, Turkish filo dough, is not as thin as the Greek one that you can find frozen at the stores here in States; it is usually round 15-20 inches in diameter. It is not easy to find Turkish filo dough here, but the Greek one is too thin and delicate for me to handle. So I decided to go online; the Turkish filo dough I used for these cigarette pastries is available at Tulumba.

1 pack of Turkish triangle filo dough (there were 28 pieces)
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tbsp yogurt
2 eggs (put aside one egg yolk to brush the tops)

for stuffing
2 medium size potatoes, peeled and boiled
1/2 cup crumbled feta
1/3 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp black pepper (optional)

black seeds
sesame seeds

-Mash the potato, feta, parsley, and spices with the back of a fork (you can use only potato or feta for stuffing. you don't need to salt the stuffing if you'll use feta, but if not, make sure you salt it)
-Mix olive oil, yogurt, and 2 eggs(-1 egg yolk; we're saving one egg yolk for brushing). Put one layer of filo dough and brush with the mixture. Put the second one on top and brush it again (not to have dry pastries, we need two layers of filo dough wetted with oily yogurt sauce). Place one spoonful of stuffing on the wide side of filo dough. Fold the sides and roll. (Wet the tiny end with the yoogurty sauce if it doesn't stick) Place them on a greased oven tray.
-After you roll all of them, beat the egg yolk that you set aside. Brush it on top of rolls and sprinkle sesame or black seeds, or both.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 375 F for 20-30 minutes until they're golden brown.


























If you want to try them deep fried, you don't need the olive oil+yogurt+egg sauce. Take only one layer of filo dough, put the stuffing, roll, and deep fry it in a ligther oil like vegetable, corn, or canola oil until golden brown. ( Wet the tiny end of filo dough with water to stick) Place on a paper towel to soak excessive oil.

These pastries are good for breakfast or/and with tea. They're good for storing for emergencies, too. Just put them in the freezer seperately until frozen, then gather them in a bag/box until they're needed.

I don't know if you like savory and sweet things together, but you should try dipping your cigarette pastry in any kind of jam (my favorite is cherry), which is, I guess, a very Thracian thing to do in Turkey.

Tomato Soup with Greek Noodle Nests (Yunan Şehriye Toplu Domates Çorbası)

I found these Greek thin noodle nests at an international market. They looked so cute that I had to buy them. On the package it was suggested to cook the noodle nests in water with a little bit olive oil and salt, and to serve as a soup with lemon juice. That recipe sounded blend to me, so I decided to use them in tomato soup, and the result was very tasty. The only drawback, which is not actually a drawback, was that I had to eat my soup with the help of a fork. As you can see from the picture below noodles were a bit long for a spoon!



























4 Greek thin noodle nests (the brand I got was Misko)
1 can of organic diced tomatoes processed in a food processor OR 3 tomatoes, processed / blended OR 2 cups of tomato juice
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, sliced (optional)
1 banana pepper or red pepper, chopped
4 cups of vegetable stock or water
1 tsp paprika
1tsp of peppercorns (optional)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 bunch parsley, finely chopped

-Heat the oil in a broad pot. Saute onion and pepper until soft. Add paprika and constantly stir for at most a minute (burnt paprika is useless)
-Stir in the tomato. Bring to a boil. Cook for 5 minutes. Add vegetable stock, black pepper, pepper flakes, and salt. Bring to a boil and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn down to medium.
-Place the noodle nests. Cook for 5 minutes on low-medium. Do not let it boil vigorously and do not cook more than 5 minutes, you may lose the nest shape.
-After 5 minutes, turn it off and add parsley.

I switched back to parsley again for Weekend Herb Blogging which is founded and hosted by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. Kalyn is also among the hosts of the Menu for Hope event. For more information visit either Kalyn's blog or Chez Pim.

White Beans (Kuru Fasulye)

White beans with rice is the traditional Turkish dish. It is to us what pasta is to Italians. If you have pickled vegetables, especially cabbage, with it, you cannot expect more. There are variations of this recipe based on what kind of meat you want to use, or you may completely skip the meat part as I do. You can cook white beans with stew beef or lamb, with ground meat, pastrami (pastirma), and/or soujuk (sucuk, Turkish sausage). My favorite kuru fasülye is with pastrami.

Very traditioanl version of Turkish white beans would definitely have stew meat, beef or lamb, and would probably not have green pepper. Since I wanted to make a vegeterian dish, I replaced meat with peppers.

2 cups of cooked cannellini: white kidney: fazolia
beans
or
even better dermason/whit beans(it's always tastier to use dried beans, but if you'll use canned beans do not forget to rinse them well) or 2 cans of those beans
3 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 onions, chopped
2 banana or red peppers, chopped
2 tomatoes, diced (If you want to use canned tomato, prefer petite diced one)
1-2 cup of water
1 tsp pepper flakes
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp salt
dried chili peppers (only if you like spicy food)


























-Soak beans in water over night and then the next day, boil them until soft OR pressure cook dried beans for 35-40 minutes OR use canned beans.
-Heat oil in a pot and sauté onion and pepper until soft: 7-8 minutes. Add tomato paste and stir for another 2 minutes.
-Pour in first beans, then tomatoes, and then water until the water level is 1/2 inch above the beans. Add salt, black pepper, and pepper flakes. Stir once or twice very gently (do not forget the beans are tender now and we don't want to smash them). If you will use dried chili peppers, place them on top. Cover and simmer on low for 25-30 minutes.
-Serve with rice, especially on top of rice. Turkish style white beans are awesome with pickled vegetables like white cabbage, cornichons, carrots, etc.

Celery Root à la Turque (Zeytinyağlı Kereviz)

Who likes celery root? It's a complicated issue. People who think it has a very strong smell can handle celery stalks. And there are also people like me who cannot have even a single bite from celery stalk because of its smell, but love celery root. So you have to try to see if you like it or not. As if having one strong smelling plant is not enough, this recipe requires another one: dill, the odor of which, to some, is less agreeable than many other herbs like fennel or cilantro. Although some fictitious characters like Beavis and Butt-Head use "dillweed" as an insult, the term "dill" comes from an Anglo-Saxon word, dylee, that means to lull or soothe. Strong smells of celery root and dill create a perfect harmony. Celery roots usually look like this when they are not cooked:



























1 medium size celery root, peeled and diced
1 big onion, diced
2 carrots, cut in quarter-rounds
1 potato, peeled and diced
1/3 cup olive oil
1 can of green peas (15 oz- 400 gr.) or frozen peas
1 tsp sugar
salt
1 bunch dill, chopped
water

-Pick a strong knife to peel and chop celery root; it's a little bit hard. And make sure among all the ingredients it's the last thing to chop. Peeled celery root darkens pretty fast.
-Put everything except for dill in a broad pot. Add water to barely cover the ingredients.
-Cook on low for 25-30 minutes. To see if it's cooked taste the carrots.
-Let it cool down. Garnish with dill.

This recipe of celery root is an olive oil recipe, and it is best when it's served cold. However, it's good when it's warm, too.


This is another dill recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging created by Kalyn and hosted by Haalo of Cook (almost) Anything at Least Once . Just like fava beans, to serve celery root without dill would be a crime.

Ezo the Bride Soup (Ezo Gelin Çorbası)

Ezo was a real person who lived in the south eastern part of Turkey, close to Syrian border, in early 20th century. She had two miserable marriages, and died in Syria, homesick. There are films based on her hard, unfortunate life. But I have no idea why this soup is named after her.

The most important trivia about Ezo Gelin soup is that you cannot find a single Kebapçı (Kebab Restaurant) in Turkey that doesn't serve this soup. It's the best starter before kebap-you have to have the soup, and whatever you do at home, Ezo Gelin soup is always better at a Kebapçı, even at a sloppy one. Also, it's famous for being a perfect hangover cure, after Tripe Soup (İşkembe Çorbası).

traditional ingredients:
1 cup red lentils
1/3 cup rice or bulgur
1 tbsp pepper paste
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 tbsp dry mint leaves
1/4 tsp black pepper
pepper flakes, as much as you want
1 tbsp olive oil
salt
60 oz water

optional ones:
I usually add 1 small potato and 1 carrot

-If you have a pressure cooker and a hand blender, put everything in pressure cooker (chop onion, potato, and carrot in reasonable pieces) and cook for 25 minutes on medium heat. Then, use the blender to smoothen the soup.

-If you don't have a pressure cooker, you can still boil everything together until lentils and rice are soft.

-If you have neither a pressure cooker, nor a blender then you need to finely chop the onion; make sure it's really finely chopped. You can also finely chop the potato and carrot, but I prefer grating them. Garlic should be minced. After all the chopping and grating, recipe is the same: put everything in a pot and cook until lentils and rice are soft. Stir every 5 minutes.

For the sauce:
-Heat olive oil or butter (1 tbsp for 2-3 servings) in a skillet
-When oil starts sizzling (if you're using butter, try not to burn it) add 1/2 tsp paprika and after approximately 30 seconds remove from the heat. Pour over the soup.

-Squeeze lemon on the soup before you eat

Zucchini with Beef and Garbanzo Beans (Kabak Bastırması)

I saw this recipe in a Turkish food blog, chez Ayşenur, and immediately decided to make it. Garbanzo beans and zucchini: how could it be bad? It certainly is delicious. Ayşenur says that this is a local recipe from Kilis, a city in Turkey near the Turkish-Syrian border.

2/3 cups of garbanzo beans
1/2 pound stew beef (I preferred beef but y0u can also use lamb)
2 zucchinis, medium size cut in half-rounds
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 banana peppers or 1 bell pepper, chopped
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp spicy pepper paste
3 cloves of garlic, minced
juice of one lemon
1 tbsp dried mint flakes

-Soak garbanzo beans overnight. The next day cook garbanzo beans and stew beef in a pressure cooker with 5-6 cups of water for 45 minutes. If you don't have a pressure cooker, then you should cook them for at least an hour or until the garbanzos are soft. Or if you want to use canned garbanzo beans then cook them for approximately 30 minutes (until the beef is cooked). Take the garbanzos and beef out and keep the water; do not throw it away.
-In a big pot heat the oil and add onions and pepper. Stir until they're soft.
-Add the tomato and spicy pepper paste, stir for a couple of minutes. (if you cannot find spicy pepper paste, just use tomato paste and pepper flakes)
-Now it's time to add garbanzos, beef, and zucchini. Add 3-4 cups of the water you saved from garbanzos and stew beef. Salt to your taste. Cook for 30-40 minutes or until zucchini is tender on low.
-Mix minced garlic and lemon juice and stir in when zucchini is cooked. Simmer for 2-3 minutes and turn it off. Sprinkle dried mint , cover, and let it sit for 10 minutes before you serve. You won't believe how tender the beef will be.

Ayşenur suggests that it should be served with bulgur pilaf. I have a bulgur pilaf recipe, but it would be too flavorful for this. You can also serve it with white rice. But if you want to try it with bulgur, here's how to make a simple bulgur pilaf: Heat 2 tbsp butter in a pot. Add bulgur and stir a minute (the ratio of bulgur you will use to water should be 1:2). Add 1 tbsp tomato paste (or more) stir for another minute. Add water and salt, bring to a boil, and then cover and cook on low until bulgur soaks the water.

Cinnamon Tea (Tarçın Çayı)

It's dark, cloudy, cold, rainy, in other words, miserable outside. Perfect time for cinnamon tea.

2 cinnamon stick
4-5 cloves
honey

-Pour 2-3 cups of boiling water on 2 cinnamon sticks and 5-6 cloves. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Cover the teapot or French press with a towel to keep it warm. Sweeten with honey.












optional: add 4-5 black peppercorns

Pastirma-Leek Potato Gratin (Pastırmalı Pırasalı Patates Graten)

This is an "almost" Turkish recipe because of the pastirma. It is not easy to find Turkish or middle eastern pastirma in states, but it's not imposssible either. I buy pastirma from international markets. To see what pastirma looks like click here.

-pastirma is optional

1 pound/bag of baby potatoes, red or golden peeled and sliced thinly
2 leeks, chopped finely
10 strips of pastrami, cut in thin slices (you can have more or less)
1 cup cream
1 1/2 cup vegetable stock
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 bay leaves
black pepper
pepper flakes
salt
1 cup or more crumbled feta or grated cheddar cheese

-Grease an oven pan (I used an 11 X 9 inch one) and place one layer of potatoes. Season with salt, black pepper, pepper flakes, and garlic. Sprinkle half of the leeks and pastrami. Put another layer of potatoes. Season with salt, black pepper, pepper flakes, and garlic. Add the other half of leeks and pastrami. Finally, put the last layer of potatoes. (With less ingredient, you can easily have only two layers of potatoes)
-In a little pot mix cream, stock, and bay leaves. First bring them to a boil and then turn it off.
-Top with grated cheese. Pour the creamy mixture on top (take the bay leaves out). Bake in a preheated oven at 400 F for 40-60 minutes loosely covered with an aluminum foil. For a crispy top, uncover and broil for 5 -10 minutes or until lightly brown.

This is a recipe I tried for a Turkish food blogging event "Patates Ye" (Eat Potatoes) which is hosted by Evren of Annemin Mutfak Kokusu (the smell of my mom's kitchen).

Fava Beans à la Turque (Zeytinyağlı İç Bakla)

I wasted 25 years of my life without eating fava/broad beans, but I had my reasons. The first time I tried fava beans, they were not podded. The pod has a weird fuzzy feel and I sure cannot stand it. Years after that first experience, I tried podded fava beans, and it's been one of my favorite olive oil dishes ever since. I still cannot eat them in the pod.

The only place I found fresh fava/broad beans in pod here in the states was Seattle Pike Place Market, but I haven't been trying hard. I buy them frozen and podded from an international market here in Bloomington.

1 pound frozen or fresh fava beans
1 big onion or 2 medium ones, finely chopped
1 bunch of green onions, finely chopped
1 bunch dill, chopped
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 bunch fresh mint, chopped or 2 tbsp dried mint
1 tsp white sugar
salt, a little more than 1 tsp
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup of water
1 tsp pepper flakes (optional)

-Mix well all the ingredients except for water in a pot. Choose a broad pot; you don't want your fava beans to get too intimate and as a result fight, break, or be smooshed.
-Add water; water should barely cover the beans. Bring it to a boil on medium and then turn it down to low and simmer for 35-40 minutes.
-Let it cool down before serving, because like all Turkish olive oil dishes fava beans are served and best when cold.

This dish is usually served with a garlicy yogurt sauce, but it's still delicious without it. By now I'm well aware that the idea of (plain) yogurt with garlic doesn't sound good to most of the Americans; however, you should give it a try, at least with fava beans.

Garlicy Yogurt
For every cup of yogurt use 1/2 clove minced garlic. If you can handle garlic, raise the amount. Do not go beyond 1 clove per 1 cup of yogurt; others may not handle the garlic on you. Mix yogurt and garlic well, salt to your taste, and serve this sauce on the side of fava beans or on top.

This is my second dill recipe for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Meeta of What's for Lunch Honey? this week. Although dill is not the only herb in it, the recipe cannot survive without dill. A fava bean dish without dill is simply unheard-of.

Chicken in a Bag (Fırın Torbasında Tavuk)

This is the easiest and yummiest chicken ever. You need whole chicken legs, thighs, drumsticks, or wings--bonny and fatty parts of chicken. This recipe doesn't go well with less fatty parts like breast.

6 chicken thighs
1 oven bag
juice of 2 lemons
paprika, enough to cover the thighs
1 tbsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp oregano leaves
3 cloves of garlic, minced
salt

-Place the chicken in a big bowl and squeeze lemons on top. Make sure every piece is covered with lemon juice. If you don't like the chicken smell like me, lemon juice takes it away. Add paprika(don't be stingy with it), oregano, black pepper, garlic, and salt. Mix them well with chicken. Let marinate for at least half an hour. Do not forget, the longer you marinate it the more tender it will become.
-Place an oven bag on a oven dish/tray so that its opening will be facing the side. Put marinated chicken in the bag side by side. Close the bag with a twisty tie. Make a couple of small holes on top with a knife. Bake it in preheated oven at 400 F for 45 minutes.
-If you want a very crispy top, after 45 minutes cut the oven bag on top and broil the chicken for 5-10 minutes.
-After you put the chicken in the bag, if you still have room put a couple of potatoes (cut in halves) and carrots (chopped into two or three pieces). They will be very very delicious.

Garbanzo Beans with Vegetables (Sebzeli Nohut)

1 cup dry garbanzo beans or 1 can of organic garbanzo beans
1 big onion, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 cup fineley chopped cabbage
1 carrot, garted
1 potato, grated
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp pepper paste (optional)
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp pepper flakes
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup vegetable stock
salt and pepper

-If you want to use dry beans, either soak them over night and then boil them until soft or use a pressure cooker. I pressure cooked 1 cup of garbanzo beans with 6-7 cups of water for 40 minutes. If you're using canned ones, just open the can.
-Sautee onions and peppers with olive oil in a pot until soft. Stir in cabbage, carrot, potato, and cumin seeds. Cook for 4-5 minutes.
-Add tomato / pepper paste and stir for another minute.
-Add garbanzo beans, salt, blackpepper, pepper flakes, and stock. Add water just to cover the beans. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes.
-Serve with any kind of rice.

I usually cook garbanzo beans Turkish style, but this time I tried something different. I had a small amount of cabbage in the fridge from a pickling experiment that I couldn't throw away, and I was trying to find a way to use it. Since I had cooked garbanzo beans with grated celery root once, I thought they might be good with cabbage as well. I was right; it turned out to be delicious. However, you don't have to cook with cabbage. You can make variations. Vegetables to be experimented on might be zucchini, squash, celery root, celery, turnips, etc.

Dill-Feta Poğaça (Dereotlu Peynirli Poğaça)

Poğaça, a kind of savory pastry / bread, is a traditional baked good in Turkey and Eastern European+Balkanic countries which at some point in history were under the Ottoman rule long enough to adopt its cuisine. Poğaças are best with (black) tea. In Turkey, people would have them for breakfast from a neighborhood patisserie on their way to work or school, or for afternoon tea time.

Usually poğaças are made in half-moon shape. Several pieces of round dough, 3-5 inch in diameter, would be filled with stuffing (variations on stuffing are numerous: feta cheese, potato, ground meat, spinach, cheddar, onion, etc) and folded in to two for the half-moon shape. This recipe, however, doesn't require the traditional half-moon shape.

1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup oil (vegetable, corn, or conola)
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs (egg yolk of one should be set aside to brush the tops of poğaças)
2 tsp baking powder
2 1/2 - 3 cup flour
1 cup crumbled feta
1 bunch dill, chopped finely
1/4 cup (Turkish) black olives, pitted and sliced
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper flakes (optional)
black and sesame seeds


















-Except for one egg-yolk and black + sesame seeds, mix all the ingredients.
-Using your hands make small balls of dough and place them on a greased baking sheet.
-Brush them with egg-yolk and sprinkle black or sesame seeds on top.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 350°F for 40-50 minutes or until the pogacas are slightly brown.






















Try definitely with tea.

This week's Weekend Herb Blogging is hosted by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen who is the founder of the event. After three recipes with parsley, I decided to give a chance to another precious herb: dill.

Sparkling Chicken (Maden Suyuyla Tavuk)

8 boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite size pieces
1 little bottle of Perrier or 1-1 1/2 cups of any sparkling (mineral) water
1 tbsp chopped dill
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp paprika / red chili powder
1 tsp ground black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, chopped thinly in rounds
any kind of fresh pepper, chopped (I used small sweet yellow Italian peppers)
mushroom, chopped - as much as you want
juice of one lemon or lime
1 tbsp flour
2 tsp peppercorns
salt

The main ingredients for this recipe are chicken and onion. You are free to add fresh peppers, mushroom, corn, carrots, etc. I try it with different ingredients every time, but fresh peppers and mushroom are the best.

-Marinate the chicken in a bowl for 20-30 minutes with sparkling water, 1 tbsp olive oil, dill, garlic, paprika, and ground black pepper.
-In a deep skillet, heat the oil and add onions. Stir for a couple of minutes and add peppers and mushroom. Drain the chicken and add in the skillet with peppercorns when mushroom looks cooked.
-In a small bowl, mix well 1 tbsp flour with juice of one lemon. Add this in when the chicken is cooked. If it gets pretty sticky with flour, you can add a little bit of hot water. Stir for 2-3 minutes and your sparkling chicken is ready.

Moist Cocoa Cake (Kakaolu Islak Kek)

1/2 cup milk
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 cup flour
1/2 cup oil (vegetable, corn, or canola)
2 eggs
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup crushed walnuts
1/4 raisins
1/2 petite diced apple

These ingredients are for a 9.5 X 4 inch cake pan.





















-Mix eggs, sugar, milk, oil, and cocoa in bowl. Set 1/2 cup of this mixture aside; you will need that mixture to moisten the cake.
-Add flour, baking powder, walnuts, raisins, and diced apple in the bowl. Mix well. Grease the bottom and sides of the cake pan and pour the batter. Cook in a preheated owen at 350°F (175°C) for 35-45 minutes or until a knife inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean.
-Right after you take the cake out of the oven, pour the 1/2 cup cocoa mixture that you set aside over evenly. To have the cake absorb the mixture, you can make tiny holes on the cake by inserting a knife.
-Let it cool down and serve with coffee.

Pub Style Bulgur Pilaf (Meyhane Usûlü Bulgur Pilavı)

Bulgur pilaf, a highly traditional central Anatolian dish, can be pretty boring, at least for me, when cooked regular way: with only tomato paste, oil, and maybe onions. However, pub style bulgur (my mom calls this recipe pub style, but I have no idea why) is rich in flavor + vegetables, is fun and a wholesome meal on its own.

I don't know how many different kinds of bulgur there are elsewhere, but in Turkey we have two types: fine and coarse. Fine bulgur is usually for desserts and salads like kısır (tabbouleh); and coarse bulgur is perfect for rice.

1 cup coarse bulgur
1 small onion, diced
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
2-3 banana peppers or any fresh pepper, chopped
1 tbsp tomato or pepper paste
2 tomatoes, diced
1 potato, diced
1 tsp pepper flakes
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp mint flakes (if you have fresh mint, even better!)
3 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups water
salt
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped

optional:
1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced and added with the onion
carrot, chopped in rounds or half-rounds
corn

-Heat the oil in a pot and add the onion. Stir for a couple of minutes and add pepper. When they are soft add first the paste, stir for a minute, and then diced tomato.
-When tomatoes are cooked, add the water, bulgur, potatoes, pepper flakes, ground black pepper, mint flakes, and salt.
-Wait until the water boils. Then turn the heat down all the way to very low and cook until the water is absorbed and bulgur is tender.
-Since parsley doesn't really need to be cooked, add it after you turn off the heat and mix well.
-Bulgur can be sticky, so you better stir it every now and then. Once it's cooked, cover the pot by putting a paper towel or a clean kitchen cloth between the pot and the lid to absorb the moisture. Let it sit for at least 5-10 minutes like that before you serve.

You can serve this delicious pilaf with yogurt, cold beer, meat, or with anything you want. I like it warm, but since it's cooked with olive oil it can be served cold as well. A lot of people I know eat it cold, actually.

Finally, this is another recipe that is blessed by parsley for Weekend Herb Blogging started by Kalyn and hosted this weekend by Fiber of 28 Cooks

Turkish Pumpkin Dessert (Kabak Tatlısı)

Pumpkin dessert is a very easy-to-make popular and traditional recipe. If you don't have a big company, you can use butternut squash in stead of pumpkin.
pumpkin or butternut squash
sugar
4-5 cloves
crushed walnuts
The ratio of pumpkin to sugar is 1 to 1/2. I used 3 cups of squash and 1 1/2 cups of sugar. Peel the pumpkin, cut it into big chunks, and put in a pot. Put sugar on and let it sit over night. It will release water, so you don't need to add water when you're cooking it. The next day, add 4-5 cloves in to the pot and cook on medium until the pumpkin is soft, approximately 30 minutes. Let it cool and garnish with walnuts or grated coconut.


For an Irish touch, serve with Guinness.

Barbunya Beans (Barbunya Pilaki)

Barbunya is a very common and popular olive oil dish (which is cooked always/only with olive oil and served cold) in Turkey. Delicious fresh barbunya beans appear in farmer's markets in midsummer. What people usually do is to buy large amounts of barbunyas, pod them, and then keep them in the freezer for the winter. Fresh barbunyas are always preferred to dried ones. However, since it's impossible to find fresh barbunyas here in the States, I learned to love dried barbunyas. After years of uncertainty and confusion I am finally positive that barbunyas are roman / red beans.


If you cannot find barbunya (roman) beans, you can try the same recipe with pinto beans, which look exactly like barbunyas. Pintos taste different than barbunyas, but still may surprise you with this recipe.

2 cups of dried barbunya beans

2 big fresh tomatoes diced or 1 can petite diced tomato
2 medium onions, diced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 green (preferably banana) peppers, seeded and chopped
2 carrots, cut in rounds or half rounds
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tsp sugar
2 cups hot water
1/2 bunch parsley, leaves coarsely chopped.
salt

-Soak barbunyas in water over night and before cooking boil until soft, approximately for an hour. If you have a pressure cooker you don't need to soak them overnight; pressure-cook dried barbunyas for 35 minutes. Drain and rinse
-Heat oil in a big pot. Add onions, garlic, and green peppers. Stir for 4-5 minutes
-Add the carrots and cook until carrots get kind of soft.
-Add the tomatoes and cook until they turn darker red (basically until they're cooked).
-Add barbunyas and stir for 5 mins. Add salt, sugar, and water. Turn down the heat. Cover and cook for 30 minutes
-Garnish with parsley and lemon slices



















You can try it warm, but Barbunya like all Turkish olive oil dishes is served and best when it's cold.
Squeeze lemon juice on barbunyas before you eat.

PS: Most people use potato (one, peeled and diced added with carrots) when they cook barbunyas, but I prefer not to.

This is also another recipe that owes its reputation to parsley for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Pat of Up a Creek Without a Patl

Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Swiss Chard Sauce (Pazı Soslu Makarna)

1 pack whole wheat spaghetti
1 bunch red Swiss chard, leaves washed and chopped into 1/2 inch wide strips (if you don't want to waste the stems, you can use them ina soup)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 anaheim or banana peppers, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed pepper
2 fresh tomatoes, diced or 1 can petite diced tomato
2 tbsp yogurt or milk
1/2 cup coarsely crushed walnuts
2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

-Cook spaghetti in salted water according to the instructions on the package
-In a big pot heat the oil. Sautee onion, garlic, and pepper for 4-5 minutes until onions are soft.
-Add first paprika (stir for almost a minute) and then Swiss chard. As the chard cooks, it will release water. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until the water is almost soaked. Add yogurt or milk and stir for a minute (sometimes greens like spinach taste like metal to me because of iron and I discovered that if I cook them with a little bit of milk-or yogurt if I don't have milk-it helps with the metal taste). Then add the tomato, black pepper, crushed pepper, and salt. Simmer until tomatoes look cooked
-Mix the sauce with spaghetti in an owen dish. Sprinkle crushed walnuts over evenly and then top with grated cheddar
-Bake in a preheated owen at 375F until cheese melts and is slightly brown

Red Lentil Soup (Kırmızı Mercimek Çorbası)

for the soup:
1 cup red lentils
1 medium size onion
1 carrot
1 tbsp tomato or pepper paste (or you can do half&half)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp crushed pepper or red peppercorns
6 cups of water

for the sauce:
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 tbsp sweet or spicy paprika

-With a pressure cooker: Put everything (onion and carrot coarsley chopped) for the soup in the pressure cooker and cook on medium for 15 minutes and then smoothen the soup with a blender
-With a regular pot: Put everything for the soup in a big pot and cook on medium heat until the lentils are soft and mushy, for about 20-25 minutes. Smoothen it with a blender.
-If you don't have a hand blender or if you want to have a chunky soup, chop the onion finely and grate the carrot before you cook them.
-Previous two are, in a way, healthier ways of making this soup. If you want to try the tastier way, sautee the onion with 1 tbsp oil for 3-4 minutes. Add the paste and cook for a couple of minutes, and add the rest of the soup ingredients. From this point on, everything will be the same. Sauteed onion and paste will make quite a difference, though.
-Before serving the soup, heat the oil in a skillet and when it's hot add the paprika. Stir for 5-10 seconds. Pour a couple of scoops of the oil+paprika sauce on the soup bowl.
-Squeeze a little bit of lemon juice on top.

optional: sprinkle parsley on top

Potato Salad à la Turque (Patates Salatası)

Another parsley recipe for this week's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Sher of What Did You Eat? Although parsley seems to be the dominant herb in this salad, the recipe shows the friendship of herbes

4 medium potatoes--in Turkey this is made with yellow potatoes since we don't have red ones over there; however, I love it with red potatoes,too--peeled and diced (actually the number of potatoes depends on how big a salad you want)
1 small onion
1/2 bunch green onions, chopped
1 cucumber, cut in quarter rounds
2 banana peppers (or any other green/red pepper), chopped finely
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1/4 cup dill, chopped
1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped or 2 tsp dried mint flakes
1/2 tsp red crushed pepper
1 tsp sweet paprika
1 tsp sumack
1/2 tsp black pepper
juice of one and a half lemons
1/3 cup olive oil
salt

-Peel, dice, and then boil the potatoes in salted water for approximately 10 minutes. Drain and let cool
-Cut the onion in half lengthwise and then chop it into very thin half moons. Put the chopped onion in a bowl and knead it with 1 tsp salt until the onion is soft. Rinse the salt off the onion
-Mix all the ingredients in a big bowl

Serve as an appetizer, salad, or as a side dish for meat

Lamb Stew (Kuzu Güveç)

If you want this to be a vegetarian stew, all you need to do is to skip the meat part.

lamb, diced. Use as much meat as you want 1/2 pound or 1 pound (you can also substitute lamb with beef or use half lamb + half beef)
1 big onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic
1 carrot, chopped in rounds
1 eggplant (not a huge american one though), peeled in striped pattern and diced
1 zucchini, diced or cut in half rounds (or summer squash or both)
1 or 2 potatos, diced (depends on how much you like potato)
1/2 pound (or less) green beans
1 can of green peas (or frozen ones)
3-4 banana or any kind of peppers, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil (or butter)
1 tbsp pepper or tomato paste
1 can diced tomatos or dice 3 fresh tomatoes
salt & black pepper (or pepper corns)
crushed pepper

optional:
mushroom
dried mint
parsley or dill
dark beer

-Chop all the vegetables and pick the biggest pot you have
-Cook the lamb with a little bit oil on medium heat. Lamb/beef will relaease water. Cook until water is (almost) soaked
-Add the rest of the oil and pepper paste. Stir for an other 3-4 minutes.
-Make a layer of everything you chopped in this order: onion, garlic, pepper, mushroom, carrots, green beans, eggplant, zucchini, potato, and green peas.
-If you want to add beer or bourbon to your stew, now it's a good time. Dark beers, such as Guiness, would go well with this stew. Depending on the size of your pot, you can pour a whole bottle or half. Be more moderate with bourbon.
-On top of everything pour tomatoes and add hot water. Water level should be 1/2 inch below the surface.
-Add salt & pepper, mint, parsley or/and what other spices you want.
-Bring to a boil and then turn it down to low. Place a flat plate (something that fits in the pot) to press the vegetables down.
-Cover and seal the top of the pot with aluminum foil good and tight, and put the lid on.
-Cook on very very low heat for at least 2, at most 3 hours. You don't need to stir or check on it during those long 3 hours.

PS: You don't have to use every single ingredient I listed except egglant; lamb and eggplant are great together. Use whatever you have in the fridge.

Adzuki Bean Stew (Adzuki/Japon Fasülyesi)

3 cups adzuki beans, cooked or canned (I used dried adzukis and pressure-cooked them for 10 minutes)
1 cup TVP chunks (optional)
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 red pepper (anaheim or sweet Italian), chopped
2 carrots, cut in quarter rounds
1 red potato, diced
2 tbsp pepper paste (or tomato paste)
2 tbsp fresh dill,chopped
3 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
salt

-Soak TVP chunks in hot water in a bowl for app. 20 minutes. Drain and squeeze the excess water
-Heat oil and sautee onions, garlic, and TVP for 3-4 minutes
-Add peppers and carrots. Cook for another 3 minutes
-Add paprika, stir for half a minute and add the paste. Cook for 2 minutes
-Add the potato, adzukis, black pepper, salt, 1 tbsp fresh dill (the rest is to garnish), and enough water to cover
-Cook on low for 30 minutes
-Garnish with dill before serving

Adzuki beans are really delicious and taste kind of like brown lentils.

Adana Style Stuffed Eggplants and Zucchinis (Adana Usulü Patlıcan ve Kabak Dolması)

Years ago, my mom went to Adana--one of the "kebap" capitals of Turkey--to visit her cousins. In stead of kebap, she brought back this eggplant + zucchini dolma recipe. In Adana, they usually use sundried eggplants and zucchinis; however, in the northwestern part of Turkey it's not easy to sundry vegetables as it is in the southeastern part, so we modified the recipe by replacing sundried vegetables with fresh ones.

With the following ingredients I stuffed 12 big dolmas (6 eggplants + 6 zucchinis). If you're not planning to stuff so many of them, use half of it.

6 small eggplants (as seen in the picture)
2 huge zucchinis (I cut each in three equal pieces)

for stuffing:
1/2 pound ground meat
2 cups of white rice (never use basmati rice)
3 onions, chopped
2-3 tomatoes, grated or 1 can of diced tomato
1 bunch parsley, chopped
1 bunch dill, chopped
1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped or 1/3 cup dried mint flakes
1 tsp black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt

for the sauce:
8 cloves of garlic, minced
6 tbsp olive oil or butter
2 tbsp dried mint flakes
2 tbsp hot pepper paste
1 tsp or more pepper flakes
juice of two lemons










-In a big bowl mix well all the ingredients for the stuffing
-For the eggplants: cut the tops off, peel them in striped pattern, and carve them with a potato peeler or a spoon. After carving, put the eggplants in a bowl filled with salty water to prevent darkening. Make a little cut at the bottom or on the side of eggplants and zucchinis with a knife so that they can cook thoroughly
-For the zucchinis: I picked 2 huge zucchinis to make carving easier. The zucchinis were from farmer's market and organic, so I did not peel them. I cut them into three equal pieces and carved them with a potato peeler and it was very easy. In the end they looked like weird coffee mugs
-Stuff the eggplants and zucchinis with the stuffing and place them in a big wide pot facing up. Add water to the pot. It shouldn't cover the dolmas; the water level should be 1 or 1 1/2 inches below the top












-Cover and cook on low to medium heat (boiling vigorously would crack the dolmas) for 40 -45 minutes
-In a skillet heat the oil and stir in garlic. After a a couple of minutes add the paste and mint flakes. Stir for another 1-2 minutes. Pour in lemon juice, stir, and turn offthe heat
-Pour the sauce on dolmas with a spoon at the end of 45-minute cooking and cook for another 10-15 minutes.

Bread Topped with Tomato-Parsley et al (Fırında Domates ve Maydanozlu Ekmek)

When I was a kid, the biggest torture for me was to have stale bread for breakfast, and this recipe was my mom's genius invention to market stale bread to us. It worked well; it is still my favorite breakfast. Everything you expect from a Turkish breakfast is here on a slice of bread: tomatoes, feta cheese, olives, parsley, banana peppers, and eggs. Those little slices loaded with deliciousness go well with (Turkish) tea at both breakfast and afternoon-tea time.

Must-haves of this recipe are stale "real" bread (never ever use any kind of toast bread or freshly baked "real" bread, since they both get really soaky with tomato juice), fresh tomatoes, banana peppers, feta cheese, parsley, and an egg. The rest is up to you; you can add, remove, or modify the ingredients.

1 French baguette, sliced (I use French bread, because it tastes more Turkish to me than any other bread; however, you can also use sourdough, whole wheat, whole grain, etc.)
2 fresh tomatoes, petite diced
1 banana peppers, chopped
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/3 cup black olives, pitted and chopped
1 egg
1/3 bunch parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp crushed pepper
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tbsp olive oil
salt (how much salt you will use depends on what kind of feta cheese you have; if it's a really salty one you may not even need salt)

With these ingredients, I could top 18 slices of French baguette.












-Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Place the tomato mixture on bread slices with a spoon. If the bread is "really" stale, use the juice from the bottom of the bowl to wet the top of the bread slice. Place the bread slices on a broiler tray
-There will be some juice left in the bowl. Put some on top of each slice
-Broil 6-7 inches below heat until slightly brown. Approximately 8-10 minutes

Pear Experiment #2: Poached Pears with Bourbon (Armut Tatlısı)

Hey Nolan, I don't want to make you envious, but there's an ABC Bourbon night this Friday. Inspired by Rustic apple dessert and bourbon night, I came up with this pear dessert. I applied Betül's cooking and coloring ideas for apples on pears, and it worked just fine.

4 firm pears, peeled and cored (you can core the pears either before cooking or while eating; it's your call)
2 cups of water
1 1/2 cups of sugar (if you want a really sweet pear, you should use 1/2 cup sugar for each pear)
2 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp lemon peel
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
few saffron threads
2 tbsp bourbon (I used Maker's Mark)
(I tried to avoid cinnamon, but you can use a cinnamon stick if you like the flavor)

















-Peel the pears, but leave the stems, and core them from the bottom. I'm sure there are more appropriate and professional kitchen tools for coring pears, but I used a potato peeler. It was pretty easy. Keep the peeled pears in a bowl filled with water and a little bit lemon juice or they might darken
-Mix the water and sugar in a big enough pot to host the pears (When you place them in the pot, pears should not be too intimate and friendly with each other). Simmer on medium heat. When it's steaming, but not boiling-never let it boil!, stir in ginger, saffron threads, vanilla extract, lemon peel, and bourbon. Mix well and put the pears, stems up. If you cored them, you should let the syrup go in first, otherwise they might resist standing still. The syrup should cover the pears. If not, add half cup of water. If it still doesn't cover, add another half cup. Simmer on low until the pears are cooked, approximately 25-30 minutes.
-After the pears are cooked, take them out with a slotted spoon and let them cool. Do not let them cool down in the syrup; they might get mushy
-After you take the pears out, turn up the heat and boil the syrup for 10-15 minutes. This way, you'll have a thicker syrup

This can be a light or a heavy dessert based on with what you serve it. Choices are numerous:
On lighter side: serve with the syrup OR ice cream or both
On the heavier side: serve the pears stuffed with mix honey and crushed walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, or pistachios OR with whip cream OR (my favorite) Nolan's Famous Hot Fudge with coffee liquor