Baked Zucchini with Feta (Fırında Peynirli Kabak)

Except for white cheese that's used to stuff zucchini halves, this recipe doesn't seem very Turkish or very authentic Turkish. However, I've never had this dish anywhere other than in Turkey. My mom and I usually had this kind of zucchini and baked zucchini as light summer lunches, yet I have seen it served to impress guests at parties numerous times.

























4 small-medium zucchinis
1/2 cup white cheese or feta
1/4 cup mozzarella or cheddar, grated
1 egg
1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped or 1/4 cup fresh mint, finely chopped
1/4 or 1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tsp black pepper
red pepper flakes
salt (depending on feta you are using)
olive oil, approximately 1 tbsp or less


-Wash zucchinis and boil them until tender but firm. Let cool down.
-Cut them in halves lengthwise to make boats. Scoop out the seedy part and save half of it to use for stuffing.
-In a bowl, mix egg, feta, mozzarella or cheddar, dill parsley, black pepper, and half of the seedy part of zucchinis until creamy.
-Load zucchini boats with the stuffing.
-Sprinkle a couple of drops of olive oil and red pepper flakes on each.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 10 to 15 minutes until cheese melts. Then broil for a couple of minutes to have a crispy top.
-Serve hot.

Bulgur Pilaf with Spinach and Fried Onions (Ispanaklı ve Kızarmış Soğanlı Bulgur Pilavı)

I like bulgur pilafs as light summer lunches , because they are easy and quick to make, and if cooked with olive oil, can be eaten cold or warm. Bulgur Pilaf with Spinach and Fried Onions recipe is introduced as a rural Arab recipe by Paula Wolfert in The Cooking of the Eastern Mediterranean. I decided to try it, because it reminded me of a Turkish pilaf recipe with white rice and spinach. It is a really tasty, refreshing recipe with a nice twist of fried onions. It goes well with red meat and/or yogurt.



























2-3 medium onion, halved and cut in thin half rounds
3 tbsp olive oil
1 pound fresh spinach, stemmed coarsely chopped (frozen spinach would be fine, too)
1 1/2 cup coarse bulgur
2 cups of stock (chicken, beef, or vegetable)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp allspice (I skipped this one)
1-2 tsp spicy crushed red pepper flakes (this was my addition)

-Heat 2 tbsp of olive oil in a skillet and cook the onions on high-medium covered, stirring frequently, until they are golden brown.
-While onions are cooking, heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pot and add spinach to wilt approximately 5-7 minutes depending whether it's fresh or frozen.
-Once spinach is wilted, stir in bulgur, stock, salt, and spices. Cover and cook over low until it soaks all the stock or bulgur is tender.
-Remove bulgur from heat and let stand, covered, for 5 minutes.
-Stir in the fried onions.

You can find more bulgur pilaf recipes here


This recipe is for a bulgur recipes event held over at Deryadan Lezzetler.

Fried Eggplant (Patlıcan Kızartması)

For a Turk, a summer without fried eggplant is simply impossible, unheard-of. Along with other eggplant dishes such as stuffed eggplant "split belly" , or its vegetarian version, "imam fainted," or roasted eggplant salad, fried eggplant honors our tables at least once every week. However, if you live or spend your summers on the coast, which is not very uncommon since Turkey is surrounded by seas (Aegean, the Marnara, Mediterranean, and the Black Sea), your eggplant intake might be daily; there's something about coastal weather and eggplant. Fried eggplant is the easiest eggplant dish in Turkish cuisine. The simplicity should not deceive you; it is as delicious as any complicated eggplant dish. It's always served either by a tomato or a yogurt sauce. Both sauces should be loaded with garlic.


Although this is a simple dish, there are a couple things to be careful about when cooking with eggplants. Buy eggplants right before you cook and pick the firmer ones. Eggplants tend to get soft in the refrigerator. Even though its skin is thick and sometimes bitter, do not peel it all the way; peel it lengthwise in 1/2 inch stripes. Once peeled eggplants darken fast. To prevent this you can take out the spongy middle part with seeds and keep eggplants in salty water until you cook them.

























for 4 people
3 eggplants-I used regular American big eggplants, peeled as described, and diced (I prefer diced eggplants, but you can also cut them in 1/3 inch thick rounds or slices)
1-2 cups of frying oil (vegetable, corn, canola, etc.)
salt

for tamato sauce
3-4 tomatoes, petite diced or grated (or 2 cans of diced tomato--it's better if you put in a blender for a couple of seconds)
1 clove of garlic for each tomato (this is optional; you can use more or less garlic), minced
salt

for garlicy yogurt sauce
2 cups any kind of plain yogurt
2 cloves of garlic, minced

-Keep diced eggplant in a salty water until ready to fry them. Drain the water, squeeze eggplant, and dry them in a clean kitchen towel.
-Heat oil in a pot. When it's really hot put eggplant in and fry in portions.
-Fry until golden brown.
-Put a paper towel at the bottom of a plate. Take out eggplant with a slotted spoon and put over the paper towel.
-For the tomato sauce, put grated tomato, minced garlic, and salt in a pot and cook for ~30 minutes until tomato is cooked.
-For the garlicy yogurt sauce, mix well yogurt and garlic.
-You can either pour the sauce on fried eggplant on the serving plate or on your plate, the choice is yours. But do not have it without sauce. What brings the beauty of this dish is definitely garlic.
-Serve fried eggplant as a side with meat or rice. My favorite way to eat fried eggplant is to have in a fresh crusty bread. mmmmmm

bon appetit!


This recipe is my contribution to Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted this week by Cate of Sweetnick.

Green Bean Stew with Meat (Etli Taze Fasülye)

Although not quite favorable as its vegetarian version simmered in olive oil, green bean stew with meat provides a warm getaway from cold olive oil summer dishes of Turkish cuisine. Fresh green beans and ripe tomatoes picked from the farmer's market, cooked with lamb or beef, and served with white buttery rice and cacık makes a strong case against any style of bean dish.

1 lb green beans, ends snapped and cut into 1 inch pieces (or 1 lb frozen beans)
1/2 pound stew lamb or beef
1 big onion or 2 medium ones, chopped finely
2-3 tomatoes, diced or 1 can of diced tomato
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp butter
salt and pepper


























-Put butter and meat in a pot and cook to draw out its own juices. Wait until its juices cook down to a rich brown.
-Add onion and stir for 2-3 minutes.
-Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
-Add diced tomato and 2 cups of water.
-Cover and simmer on low-medium heat for 30-40 minutes.
-Add green beans, salt and pepper. Add hot water if it cooked down to barely cover the beans.
-Cover and simmer for another half an hour until beans are cooked.
-Serve definitely with white rice and crusty bread to soak its delicious juice.

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers (Zeytinyağlı Kırmızı Biber Dolması)

It's almost summer and I cannot help but cook summer dishes. Dolmas simmered in olive oil, i.e. vegetarian dolmas, are perfect summer dishes. They can be served as the main dish for lunch. Also there's nothing like a cold delicious dolma as a side dish for dinner.

stuffs 8-10 medium size red bell peppers

1 cup white rice
2 medium size onions, finely chopped (you can use a food processor)
2 tomatoes, grated or 1 can of petite diced tomato
1 tomato (this one is for covering the tops of red bell peppers after stuffing)
2 tbsp pine nuts
2 tbsp currants
1/2 tbsp all spice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 tbsp mint flakes or ¼ cup fresh mint, chopped finely
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1 tsp white sugar
salt
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive

optional
1 tbsp basil flakes (it goes really well with the sweetness of red bell peppers)

-Mix well all the ingredients (except for peppers and 1 tomato) in a bowl.
-Wash peppers and take out the top part and the seeds.
-Stuff the peppers with the rice mix with a spoon or your hand.
-Cut small pieces from 1 tomato to cover the top parts of peppers. Press the tomato slice down a bit so that it won’t come out.
-Place the dolmas in a pot. Pour water. Make sure water is 1 inch below the dolmas.
-Let it boil on high heat then turn it to medium and cook for 35-45 minutes.

-You can serve it hot, but olive oil dishes like dolmas taste better when they cool down and taste even better the next day.
-Try them with yogurt.

*If you end up with extra stuffing, you can either freeze it for another time or stuff whatever you have in the fridge: potato, zucchini, tomato, etc.