Instant Coffee and Raisin Cake (Neskafeli ve Üzümlü Kek)

Although Turks are known to be a coffee --especially Turkish coffee--
drinking nation, we are actually obsessed with tea. Besides, it wouldn't be wrong to say that since late 80s Turks have become more of a Nescafé drinking nation. Instant coffee is cheap, easy to make, and tasteless compared to Turkish coffee. As a matter of fact Nescafé is consumed so widely that Turkish coffee became "the other" in its own land. 15-20 years ago, before globalization poked our lives, "coffee" meant Turkish coffee in Turkey. These days you have to specifically ask for "Turkish" coffee (Türk kahvesi) at a coffee house, restaurant, etc., because now "coffee" usually means Nescafé.

When my family was visiting, my aunt insisted on having instant coffee. After she left, the coffee container remained untouched for weeks until I decided to transform it into a new identity: cake mix. Apparently instant coffee can be flavorsome in baking.

1 1/2 stick butter or margarine, at room temperature
powder sugar, a little less than 1 cup
2 - 2 1/4 cups of flour
3 eggs
4 tbsp milk
8 tbsp instant coffee
1 cup of raisins
2 tsp baking powder


-Beat well powder sugar and eggs with a mixer until it becomes creamy (approximately 4-5 minutes)
-Add butter, milk, and instant coffee. Keep mixing.
-Add flour and baking powder. Mix all of them.
-Finally add raisins and stir with a wooden spoon.
-Pour cake mix in a greased cake pan.
-Bake at a preheated oven at 350-370F for 35-40 minutes.
-When it's done, wait for 5 minutes and then take the cake out.
-Once it cools down, sprinkle powder sugar on top.

Vegetarian Potato Casserole with Green Lentils (Mercimekli Patates Oturtma)

Back in the 80s, when I was in the elementary school, to support farmers who couldn't sell their produce Turkish government had bought hard-to-melt-down amount of lentils. The government's solution for agricultural crisis created another problem: warehouses stocked with lentils.

Government's solution to this new lentil crisis was Ayşe Baysal, professor of nutrition and dietetics, aka "auntie Ayşe" or "auntie lentil." Auntie lentil appeared every single day, seriously, for months on TV, on the only channel of the time--the state's channel TRT1, and gave a lentil recipe. Behind this obsessive non-stop lentil recipe creation was, of course, the determination of government and auntie Ayşe to reduce the national surplus of lentils.

Turkish public learned from "auntie lentil" that 100 gr. lentils is equal to ? gr. ground meat; how to make phyllo dough pastries (börek) with lentils; or how to make dolmas with lentils. Some of these recipes inspired Turkish people to cook more with lentils, and some scarred us; they became a nation's nightmare or a part of its dark collective unconscious like "baklava with lentils"!! The idea annoys me to this day. (I wonder if anyone tried)

I remembered auntie lentil a couple of days ago when I wanted to make a traditional Turkish recipe, potato casserole, which requires ground meat. I am not really fond of ground meat and I was thinking about how or with what to replace it when I clearly remembered auntie lentil saying over and over again that lentils are perfect substitute for ground meat. And here we go...


























1 cup green lentils
5-6 potatoes, cut in 1/2 inch rounds (This time I used red potatoes, but any potato is fine)
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 big red Italian sweet peppers or 2 green chilies, finely chopped
2 tomatoes, diced
2 tbsp tomato paste
1 cup chopped parsley
3 - 4 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 bay leaf
crushed red pepper flakes
ground pepper and salt

-Boil green lentils with 1 tsp cumin, 1 bay leaf, and 5 cups of water until cooked. Rinse.
-Boil potato rounds in salty water for approximately 10 minutes. Don't let them get mushy; they should be cooked but firm.
-Heat oil in a pan. Add onions and garlic. Cook for 5-6 minutes until onion is softened.
-Add peppers and cook for 3 minutes.
-Add tomato paste and cook for 2 more minutes.
-Stir in tomato and lentils. Add salt and pepper (and optional crushed red pepper flakes).
-Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes. (Add a little bit of water if it dries out)
-Grease an oven dish and place potato rounds. Cover potato rounds with lentils. Pour 1/4 cup of water.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 20-25 minutes.
-Sprinkle parsley on top before you serve.

The recipe turned out really good. We tried it with yogurt the first day; we loved it. And next day we heated it up in the oven with cheese on top. That was delicious, too.

This lentil recipe with my favorite herb parsley is for "auntie lentil" as well as for Simona of Briciole, my favorite lexiconist food blogger who is hosting Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging.

Milky Celery Root Soup (Sütlü Kereviz Çorbası)

When it's really cold outside my mom would make the traditional tarhana soup (a fermented soup mix with tomato, yogurt and flour) with milk. In Turkey I wouldn't even try the milky tarhana, but here since I cannot find it, I crave it. This milky celery soup is a result of longing for tarhana. It turned out very good and is really perfect for cold weather.

1 cup cubed celery root
2 carrots, chopped in rounds
2 potatoes, cubed
5 cups of water
2 bay leaves
pinch of ground cumin
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp flour
1 cup milk
salt


























-Place celery, carrot, potato, cumin, salt, bay leaves, and water in a pot. Cook until vegetables are cooked.
-Take out bay leaves and with a hand blender or a blender smoothen them.
-Put butter and flour in a frying pan. Make roux constantly stirring. Add milk and keep stirring until smooth. As soon as it starts boiling, pour this into soup.
-Stir well.