Black-eyed Peas with Sujuk (Sucuklu Tane Börülce)

The colder the weather gets, the more I cook with beans and grains. This is a hearthy, spicy, and belly warming stew from Central Anatolia. I was lucky to find fresh black-eyed peas, but you can start from dry black-eyeds or use canned peas.

Sujuk is Middle Eastern beef sausage dried with several spices black pepper, cumin, garlic, paprika, etc. You can find sujuk at Middle Eastern stores.

1/2 lb black-eyed peas
1/2 or 1/3 sujuk, sliced (I never tried but probably, you can substitute sujuk with pepperoni or kielbasa)
2 tbsp butter
1 onion, cut in thin half moons
2-3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp sugar
4-5 tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup chopped parsley
salt and pepper



























-Heat butter in an earthenware. Stir in onion, garlic, sujuk, sugar, and cumin seeds. Cook for 3-4 minutes until onion is softened.
-Add tomato, salt, and ground pepper. (optional add pepper flakes) Cook for 2-3 minutes.
-Add black-eyed peas. Add enough water to cover the peas.
-If you started with an earthenware, cover and bake at 375 F for 40-45 minutes.
-If you use a regular pot, cover and cook on low for half an hour.
-After turning it off, add chopped parsley.
-Serve with rice, brown rice, or bulgur pilaf.

For parsley's refreshing power, the stew is for Weekend Herb Blogging which was founded and is hosted this week by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen.

Bulgur Risotto with Beet and Beer (Bira ve Pancarla Bulgurlu Risotto)

We've been obsessed with risotto lately. Once I got familiar with the ins and outs of making risotto, I felt like I gained the authority to explore with the "genre." I wanted to make an almost Turkish fall risotto. The recipe gets its Turkishness from bulgur, and its fallness from beet, beer, and walnuts.

I used Negra Modelo, a non-hoppy dark lager. I didn't want to bitter up the risotto with hops. Beets have somewhat sweet flavor that goes perfect with tarragon. This was one of the best risottos I've ever had and I'm not saying this because I made up this recipe.




























1 1/2 cups coarse bulgur
1 cup Negro Modelo
4 cups of stock (I used vegetarian stock)
1 onion, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 spring onions, chopped
1 cup of grated beet root
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup Romano or Parmesan
1/4 cup feta cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
2 tbsp tarragon
salt
black pepper


-Bring the stock to a boil and then turn it down.
-Heat the olive oil in a pot and stir in onion, garlic, and green onions. Cook until onions are soft.
-Add bulgur. Stir for a minute or so until bulgur is coated with oil and vegetables.
-Slowly add beer and and wait until it totally evaporates.
-Add in grated beet, tarragon, black pepper, and salt--be careful with salt if you're using already salty kinds of cheese. Stir for a minute or two.
-Start adding the hot stock into the pot 1/2 cup at a time. Simmer each 1/2 cup stock until absorbed, stirring frequently.
-Add cheese, walnuts, and 1 tbsp butter. Mix well. Wait for 5 minutes and serve.


With the perfect harmony of tarragon and beet, "Bulgur Risotto with Beet and Beer" is for Weekend Herb Blogging that was founded by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and is hosted this week by Truffle of What's on My Plate

Red Lentil and Wheat Berry Soup (Kırmızı Mercimekli ve Buğdaylı Çorba)

1/2 cup wheat berries
1 cup red lentils
6 cups of beef or vegetable stock/broth
a pinch of saffron
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried mint flakes
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt

-Boil wheat berries with 4 cups of water until soft. Rinse excessive water.
-In a pot boil 6 cups of beef or vegetable stock. Add first saffron threads, boil for a minute and then add wheat berries and red lentils. Cook for 20-25 minutes until lentils are cooked.
-Heat oil in a pan. Add mint and pepper flakes. Let it sizzle for a bit.
-Pour oil mix either into the pot or into every soup bowl on top of soup.

Veggie Oven Bag Stew (Fırın Torbasında Türlü)

A nice and easy fall stew.

1 eggplant, cubed
1 zucchini, cut in quarter rounds
1 carrot, cut in small half rounds
1 cup baby okra
2 green chilies, chopped
1 potato, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 big onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 cup water
2 tbsp tomato paste
salt
pepper
1/2 cup parsley,
chopped
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
and
1 oven bag



























-Mix all the ingredients except for water and tomato paste in a big bowl. (if you want to add any kind of meat, you can add it raw and it will be just fine)
-Put the mix in an oven bag.
-Dissolve tomato paste in 1 cup of warm water.
-Add it into the bag.
-Tie the bag with a twisty tie and place it in an oven dish. Make one or two small holes in the top part of bag.
-Bake it in a preheated oven at 400 F for 60-75 minutes.
-Serve with rice or fresh bread.


This recipe is for Kalyn's WHB which is hosted by The Expatriate Chef this week.

Peppers with Cheese (Lorlu Biber)

Another great Thracian specialty! Just like menemen, peppers with cheese can also be served as a side dish, main dish, or a breakfast treat. Many people enjoy lorlu biber for breakfast, but in my family we usually have it for dinner with fresh bread. it's really easy to make, and almost impossible to make it bad.

For this recipe you can use as many peppers and as much cheese as you want. Traditionally lorlu biber is made with banana peppers. However, we got so many different kinds of peppers from this week's farmers market that I was tempted to try at least one; Hungarian wax pepper.

























1 lb banana peppers, chopped in rounds (seeds taken out)
1/2 cup ricotta or farmers cheese (this can easily go up to 1 full cup)
1 cup frying oil (canola, corn, etc)
salt if needed

























-Heat oil in a deep pot.
-When it's really hot, add chopped peppers and fry until they get slightly brown (If you don't want to deep fry peppers, you can stir them with 2-3 tbsp olive oil until slightly brown and then add cheese)
-Take the peppers out with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to soak excessive oil. (If you will fry two different kinds of peppers and one of them is spicy; first fry the non-spicy one. Otherwise, all the peppers will be spicy)
-Put 1 tbsp of the frying oil into a non-stick frying pan. Add peppers and cheese.
-Stir until cheese starts melting.
-Serve with bread.