Beef Stew with Tart Green Plums (Yeşil Erik Tavası)

If you have happened to be around someone from Turkey during the month of May then you probably know how people of Turkey are crazy about their sour green plums. (These tart, crunchy plums dipped in salt are enjoyed as snacks or sometimes as meze with raki/arak/araq throughout the Middle East.) We talk about it--how it's so delicious with salt; pre-order overnight shipments of it; or some determined ones try to schedule trips to Turkey specifically in May. Meanwhile, almost all the Americans I know don't like these green beauties and, even worse, do not understand what the fuss is about, and I am living with one but have no complaints having all the green plums to myself.

This May my thoughtful in-laws who frequent a Middle Eastern market in Arizona came across the plums below and, remembering my obsession, shipped them to me. I was very excited, of course, but whether from Arizonan heat or the trip, they were not crunchy enough to be salt worthy. I decided to cook with them. In the Western parts of Turkey, green plums are used for making compote only when they soften or turn yellow. However, in the Eastern provinces they are frequently used in meat stews for their tartness. Plums stewed with fresh garlic give an incredible flavor to beef. This delicious stew recipe is from Urfa and it made the American here appreciate green plums.  

serves 4-6 people
2 lb stew beef
1 1/2 or 2 lb tart green plums, seeded
1 tbsp red pepper paste (like this) or just use tomato paste
1 tbsp tomato paste
7-9 cloves of fresh garlic, peeled
1/4 cup olive oil
5 medium tomatoes, grated or crushed in a food processor OR 1 can of diced tomatoes
salt, ground black pepper, and red pepper flakes

-In a bowl mix stew beef, pepper paste, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, and pepper flakes with your hand. Make sure the beef is well coated with pastes and spices.
-Add seeded plums, garlic cloves, and tomatoes.
-Place the mixture in a wide and deep oven-safe casserole or in a cast iron dish.
-Add boiling water to barely cover the meat ~1 cup.
-Cook in a preheated oven at 370F for two hours.
-Serve with rice and/or bread (you'll need both to soak up the divine juice).

You can find green plums at Middle Eastern markets or online Turkish grocery stores.


 

Priest's Beef Stew (Papaz Yahnisi)

Since I haven't posted a new recipe in a while, I wanted to break the silence with a heavily delicious or deliciously heavy one: priest's beef stew or ragout. This succulent ragout recipe comes from the Aegean part of Turkey, and judging by the name, priest--not "yahni" since it is of Persian origin for meat and onion dishes--the dish must be originally Greek. Another clue about its Greek roots is the use of cinnamon. Although it is an indispensable spice in Turkish cooking, cinnamon is used for the most part in desserts, not in savory dishes and most definitely not in stews. But here we go, this stew asks for cinnamon and allspice, and in the end the beef braised for hours with these spices is just fantastic. If you are a meat eater, you will want to write this recipe down.    

serves 4-6, depending on the appetite 

2 lb stew beef

1 lb pearl onions, peeled (you can use frozen ones, but I really think they don't taste the same)

3 tbsp butter

1 head of garlic,8-10 cloves, don't panic it's good

3 tbsp red wine vinegar or 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 can of diced tomatoes or 3 tomatoes, grated

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice, ground

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp or more salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 c flour 

2 c hot water

parsley, finely chopped to garnish

-Place stew beef on a flat surface (a big plate or a tray), sprinkle flour on top, and make sure each piece is coated.

-Melt the butter in a stew pot, add stew beef, and on medium heat saute until they are all browned and crispy outside: ~6-7 minutes.

-Add pearl onions and garlic and stir for  another 6-7 minutes. At this point flour on the beef might stick to the bottom of the pot, but that's fine. Keep stirring; it'll go away once you add tomatoes and water.

-Add diced or grated tomatoes (I always put diced tomatoes in a food processor or a hand blender and pulse 2-3 seconds to have a smoother texture), spices, salt, and boiling water.

-Once it bubbles, turn the heat down to low, cover ans simmer for at least 2 hours, and get a beer &  go outside because the delicious smell will drive you crazy. 

-Serve with rice and/or crusty bread.

I started making papaz yahnisi based on a recipe that I read from a Turkish cookbook back in the day when I didn't have a blog and wasn't careful about my recipe sources. and now I cannot remember the name of the writer or the book. If I remember, I'll definitely cite it. 

Stuffed Zucchinis with Ground Meat (Etli Kabak Dolması)

I was surprised to see that I haven't posted this recipe before, since it's one of my favorite summer time dolma dishes. Now that zucchinis are everywhere, especially round zucchinis that are perfect for stuffing, it's time to stuff zucchinis.




























makes 12 zucchini dolmas

12 round zucchinis or 6 thickish zuchinis
~1 lb ground meat (preferably beef)
2 onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup rice
1/4 cup olive oil
salt
1-2 tsp black pepper
1 cup finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh dill
2 tomatoes, grated
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 1/2 cup hot water

-If you're using globe zucchinis, wash them, cut tops off, and carve out each carefully. If you're using regular zucchinis, wash them, cut them in half and carve out each half carefully. Save the carvings for dishes such as Baked Zucchini Fritters or Baked Vegetable Fritters
-Slightly salt inside of all and set aside.
-In a bowl mix well ground meat, onion, rice, olive oil, parsley, dill, salt, black pepper, and 1 grated tomato.
-Loosely stuff each zucchini with the stuffing half inch to the top and place them in wide pot.
-Cover the tops with a tomato slice. (You can place the globe zucchini tops on tomato slices if you wish)
-Mix 1-2 cup of hot water with the remaining grated tomato and pour on top.
-Let it boil first, then cook on low for 50 minutes to 1 hour.

It goes well with yogurt.

Bowl Kebap (Tas Kebabı)

Bowl kebap is one of my mom's specialties. Although I have been very picky about red meat dishes all my life, bowl kebap is something that I never said no. I have been craving it recently and noticed that I had never made it here. Almost four weeks ago I was on the phone with my mom getting the details of her recipe. The same day one thing let to another and I ended up buying plane tickets to Turkey and a couple of days later I was there having bowl kebap for dinner with my parents. My trip was not for bowl kebap, of course, but I definitely asked my mom to make it a couple of times in two weeks before I flew back. After green plums (something I cannot find here) of which I ate one pound a day, bowl kebap was the food of my short trip to Turkey.



Bowl kebap is a very simple recipe. Preparation time is approximately 15 minutes, but you need to cook the meat over an hour for tenderness and deliciousness. Since you cook this dish in a bowl that sits in a pot, make sure you have the right utensils before you start chopping.


































 serves 4-5 people

1-1.1 or 1.2 lb stew beef or lamb
2-3 potatoes, peeled and diced
2-3 onions, diced
1 tsp or more black ground pepper
1 tsp salt
2-3 tbsp tomato or red pepper paste
3 tbsp olive oil or 2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tbsp butter
2 cups of boiling water































-For this dish find a bowl that is resistant to heat and would hold all the ingredients. Next find a pot that the bowl would fit upside down, as in the pictures.
-Place potatoes at the bottom of the bowl.
-In a different bowl mix meat, onion, salt, pepper, olive oil, and tomato or red pepper paste with your hands. Make sure meat gets coated with all.
-Add the meat mix to the bowl, on top of the potatoes.
-Place butter on top.
-Put the pot on top of the bowl. Securing both the pot and the bowl with your hands, turn the pot upside down so that the bowl will be sitting in it upside down.
-Since this is how we will be cooking the bowl kebap and we don't want the bowl to move, place a heavy container on top to seal or stabilize it: a pitcher, teapot or a pot filled with water.
-Pour 2 cups of boiling water in the pot, between the bowl and the pot.
-Start cooking on high. Once you see bubbles on the sides of the bowl, turn it down to low and cook between 75 to 90 minutes.
-When you turn it off, you need to move the pitcher, teapot or whatever you placed on top, and slowly remove the bowl leaving the ingredients in the pot to mix with the water which has turned in to delicious juice now. If you do not remove the bowl when it's still hot, it will be sealed to the pot and almost impossible to move.
-Serve bowl kebap with any kind of rice, although white is my favorite, and/or bread.

Spinach with Eggs (Yumurtalı Ispanak)

For many reasons I am not cooking lately and when I cook I am craving comfort food; I try to choose the ones that are easy, delicious, and definitely nutritious. Back in the day, one of my housemates was an egg-freak lazy cook and made this dish annoying number of times. Mainly because of that I'd never made spinach with eggs in years. Today, when I realize I was running out of my options for easy and nutritious comfort foods, I remembered it.

In Turkey spinach with eggs is usually made with ground meat, however thanks to my boarding school cafeteria I learned to dislike ground meat and try to avoid it as much as possible. Fortunately, this is a very flexible dish; you can make it vegetarian or with ground meat or use beef franks, TVP, or any ground meat substitute you prefer.


























serves 1 person

1/2 lb spinach, fresh or frozen
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 eggs
2 tbsp butter or olive oil
1/4 lb ground meat OR 1 beef frank, thinly sliced OR 1/8 cup TVP, soaked in hot water and rinsed OR simply skip this ingredient
1 tsp red pepper flakes
salt and pepper



























-Heat butter on low-medium in a skillet that has a lid.
-Add onion, red pepper flakes, and ground meat, beef frank, TVP if you are using any.
-Stir until ground meat is cooked. If you are having a plain one with no meat, stir until onion is cooked.
-Add spinach and sauté until spinach is tender and changes color.
-Season with salt and black pepper.
-Prepare two holes on the spinach bed for eggs.
-Break eggs into these holes.
-Put the lid on and cook until eggs are cooked.
-Serve with crunchy bread. Spinach with eggs is also very good with Tabasco or any spicy sauce on top.

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves with Ground Meat (Etli Lahana Sarması)

Stuffed cabbage leaves come directly from the kitchens of the Ottoman palace. There are different versions of this dish: with ground meat, with olive oil aka vegetarian one, with chestnuts, with bulgur, with mussels, etc. Although stuffed cabbage leaves are, I must say, absolutely delicious with chestnuts and mussels, meaty one is still my favorite. The reason why I haven't posted it so far is that they're usually gone before I can take a picture. These are actually the last three of the last batch I made. It might seem hard to deal with cabbage leaves, yet they are very forgiving. So don't be scared to try.




























1 medium (leaning towards big) cabbage [Pick one that is not rock hard, but kind of soft when press on top, they're easier for taking the leaves out)
1/2 ground meat (beef - ~80% lean)
1/2 cup short grain rice
2 medium onions, very finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped parsley
1/3 cup chopped dill
1 heaping tbsp tomato paste
1 tsp or 1/2 tbsp black pepper
1 tsp olive oil
1-2 tbsp butter
juice of half lemon
salt




























-Put ground beef, onion, rice, tomato paste, parsley, dill, black pepper, olive oil, and salt in bowl and mix well.
-Cut the 1 1/2-2 inches from the bottom/stem of the cabbage. Carefully try to take the leaves out one by one. [Check this site out for step by step how-to pictures]
-Boil some water with salt in a big pot.
-Boil the cabbage leaves 4 0r 5 at a time depending on how big a pot you are using for ~5 minutes flipping them over once. Take them out and place on a tray or a flat plate to cool down.
-Once the leaves cool down. Place one on a flat surface. Cut the big vein of the leaf out; it might be too stringy for rolling. If you have a very big leaf, cut it into two.
-Line the bottom of a pot with the cut out veins and the very outer leaves.
-Add 1 1/2 to 2 tbsp of rice and ground meat filling to one cabbage leaf, closer tot the bottom. Fold sides of cabbage over the filling. Roll it up starting from the stem end, it looks something like this. Repeat the same for the remaining leaves.
-Place rolled cabbage leaves in the pot lined with cut out veins and leaves in an orderly fashion.
-Chop butter in small pieces and scatter it on top. Pour lemon juice and hot water to cover the stuffed cabbage.
-Place a flat-ish plate on top of stuffed grape leaves so that they won't move around.
-Let it boil first on medium. Then cover and cook on low for 30-35 minutes.

İnegöl Meatballs (İnegöl Köftesi)

One of the renowned kofte recipes in Turkey, İnegöl kofte, was created by Mustafa Efendi, a Bulgarian immigrant to İnegöl in Bursa in the late 19th century. Just lile Tekirdağ kofte, you can find İnegöl kofte all around Turkey, however you can eat the best kofte in İnegöl.

An İnegölian friend Apo used to make delicious İnegöl kofte for us. After he moved back to Turkey, I tried to find the recipe online. Traditionally İnegöl kofte has no spice or bread crumbs, yet most of the recipes I found had either one or both. Apo was so kind to e-mail his recipe. In the last year I made multiple batches of İnegöl kofte from the following traditional and not-so-traditional recipes. We and our friends liked them all. Therefore I decided to post them all in an order that I like them. These meatballs are seriously delicious, you won't regret trying.



























İnegöl Meatball Recipe #1 (traditional)

2 lb ground meat (%20 lamb and %80 beef)
1 1/2 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp salt
1 onion, grated

-Knead groundmeat well with salt and baking soda. Cover and put in the fridge and let rest for one full day.
-Next day, 2-3 hours before cooking add grated onion and mix well. Put back in the fridge and let rest until it's time to cook.
-Take walnut-size pieces of ground meat and roll into small balls, and press slightly in between your palms, or give it a fat finger shape.
-You can either throw them on the grill, or broil them until cooked on one side and then flip them over, or cook them on a non-stick pan on both sides on medium with no oil.
-Use as many as you need. The rest can be placed on a flat surface, a plate or a tray--they should not touch each other, and then put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once frozen, you can take them off the plate and put in a freezer bag and back in the freezer for future use.

Apo's recipe



























İnegöl Meatball Recipe #2 (with bread crumbs)

makes ~40-45 small meatballs
2 lb ground beef (%80 lean, %20 fat)
1/2 cup stale bread ground into crumbs
1/2 cup water
1 tbsp salt
2 heaping tsp baking soda
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
2 medium onions, grated

-Put ground beef, bread crumbs, water, and salt in a bowl and knead for 10 minutes.
-Let it sit in the fridge for 24 hours, i.e. forget about it for a whole day.
-The next morning, mix baking soda and lemon juice in a small cup and pour it over ground meat mix.
-Add grated onion and mıx well.
-Cover and put back in the fridge for a couple of more hours.
-Take walnut-size pieces of ground meat and roll into small balls, and press slightly in between your palms, or give it a fat finger shape.
-You can either throw them on the grill, or broil them until cooked on one side and then flip them over, or cook them on a non-stick pan on both sides on medium with no oil.
-Use as many as you need. The rest can be placed on a flat surface, a plate or a tray--they should not touch each other, and then put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once frozen, you can take them off the plate and put in a freezer bag and back in the freezer for future use.

adapted from evcini's recipe



























İnegöl Meatball Recipe #3 (with spice)

makes 40-45 small meatballs

2 lb ground beef (%80 lean, %20 fat)
1/2 cup + 3 tbsp milk
1 tbsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1-2 tbsp lemon juice
1 medium onions, grated
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp oregano leaves
1 tsp cumin powder

-Put ground beef, milk, and salt in a bowl.
-Mix baking soda and lemon juice in a small bowl, and add it to ground mear mix.
-Knead it for 10 minutes. Cover and put in the fridge for approximately 12 hours.
-The next day or after 12 hours, add black pepper, cumin, oregano, minced garlic, and grated onion. Knead well. Let sit in the fridge for an hour or two.
-Take walnut-size pieces of ground meat and roll into small balls, and press slightly in between your palms, or give it a fat finger shape.
-You can either throw them on the grill, or broil them until cooked on one side and then flip them over, or cook them on a non-stick pan on both sides on medium with no oil.
-Use as many as you need. The rest can be placed on a flat surface, a plate or a tray--they should not touch each other, and then put in the freezer for a couple of hours. Once frozen, you can take them off the plate and put in a freezer bag and back in the freezer for future use.

adapted from Derya Ünal who gave the recipe in a comment she posted on evcini's inegöl köfte recipe.

Do not forget the most important thing in making İnegöl kofte is to let the meat rest.

Baked Zucchini Mousakka (Fırında Kabak Musakka)

There is something about mousakka recipes; they always turn delicious, even at the sloppiest restaurant. One of the best eggplant zucchini dishes I've ever had was at my boarding school's cafeteria where even a boiled egg could be a disaster. The reason why mousakka dishes are tastier out at a restaurant is the amount of oil used. Usually it's tastier when it's greasier. Although I love to eat greasy mousakkas out, I prefer healthier ones at home. For this recipe, in stead of deep frying zucchini rounds, I baked them. If you want a vegetarian mousakka, replace ground meat with TVP or try mousakka with garbanzo beans.


























2 lb zucchini, cut in 1/3 inch rounds
1/2 lb ground meat
2 medium onions, finely chopped
2 banana peppers or 1 bell pepper, chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tomatoes, sliced in rounds
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup fresh dill, chopped
salt and black pepper


























-Bake zucchini rounds in a preheated oven at 400F for ~30 minutes.
-Heat olive oil in a frying pan. Add onion and green pepper, and cook until soft.
-Add ground meat. It will release some water. Cook until meat soaks the water.
-Add tomato paste. Stir for a minute.
-Add diced tomato and cook for 5 minutes.
-Turn it off and add salt, pepper, pepper flakes if you wish, and fresh dill.
-Layer half of the zucchini rounds in an oven safe dish. Cover with half of the ground meat sauce. Make the second layer of zucchini rounds and pour over the rest of sauce.
-Add 1/3 cup hot water.
-Place tomato slices on top.
-Bake at preheated 375F for half an hour.

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.

Pressure Cooker Steak (Düdüklüde Biftek)

Another family favorite. Growing up I wasn't an enthusiastic red meat eater but I would never resist pressure cooker steak. It is always tender delicious with green pepper and oregano flavor. Usually my mom prepares the dish according to the ingredients I list below. However, once in a while she uses grated tomatoes in stead of sliced ones and adds 1 tbsp of tomato paste.

for four
4 steaks, cut ~1/4 inch thick
3 potatoes, peeled and thickly sliced
3-4 tomatoes, thickly sliced
4-6 green chilies, banana peppers (I used anaheims), seeded
1 tsp oregano leaf
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
salt


























-Place steaks at the bottom of the pressure cooker; it's ok if they overlap.
-Place potato slices on steaks.
-Cover all with tomato slices.
-Put green peppers on top.
-Sprinkle salt, oregano leaf and black pepper.
-Pour 1 tbsp olive oil.
-Pour water to barely cover steaks and vegetables.
-Cover and pressure cook on meat or high setting on medium to low heat for 20-25 minutes. If you have not-so-good-cut of steak, cook for 30 minutes.
-Serve with rice and/or crusty bread.


Do not let the simplicity of pressure cooker steak mislead you; oregano is the key ingredient.
This recipe is my contribution to Weekend Herb Blogging founded by Kalyn. WHB is hosted by Ahn of Food Lover's Journey.

Stuffed Onions (Soğan Dolması)

In order to promote circulation sales, once in a week most newspapers in Turkey come with a supplementary booklet loaded with recipes by TV celebrity chefs. Sad but true! Turkey has witnessed worse; in the past, newspapers offered even non-reading related "things" to increase their sales. Among those were vacuum cleaners, radios, TVs, dinner sets, silverware, cameras, bikes, etc. Unfortunately people subscribed for months to certain newspapers not for their content, political views, or their columnists, but for the items those papers were offering. Compared to TVs and plates, recipe booklets seem less harmless since you need to "read" those recipes.

My mom had packed a couple of food magazines and those recipe booklets when they came to visit us last April. One of the booklets is by a TV celebrity chef, Emine Beder whose dishes I usually find too greasy, and recipes unexciting. However, I have to give her credits; her measurements are very peculiar and when followed strictly, recipes turn out as expected--no surprises.

I found her recipes after the move while unpacking. Flipping through the pages, I found this jewel among ordinary recipes. I changed the recipe here and there, but remained loyal to it in principle. The result was magnificent. I think I will give her recipes another chance.


























2-3 red onions (try to pick large ones--the recipe called for regular onions, I chose to use red ones)
1/3 lb ground meat (beef or lamb)
1/4 cup rice
1 1/2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp red pepper paste (if you cannot find it, use tomato paste)
1/3 cup crushed dried sumac
1 tsp dried mint flakes
1 tsp oregano leaves
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp or more crushed red pepper flakes
1 cup hot water
salt

- Cut the bottom parts of onions 1/4 inch and peel.
-Boil them until soft, but not too soft. Rinse and let cool down.
-Squeeze each one to get every single layer. You will be stuffing those layers. If slippery, use a clean kitchen towel to grip and squeeze.
-Wash rice in plenty water and rinse.
-Soak sumac in hot water for 15 minutes and drain. Save the water.
-Heat butter in a frying pan. Add pastes, spices, and salt. Mix well and cook for 3-4 minutes.
-Take the pan off the fire. Add ground meat, rice, and sumac. Mix well.
-Stuff onions with the mix and place them in a broad pot.
-Pour in sumac water.
-After it starts boiling, simmer covered on low for half an hour.
-Serve hot with crusty bread. We loved it, especially with yogurt.

Cabbage Stew with Beef (Etli Kapuska)

Kapuska is a hearty traditional Turkish stew whose name is derived from, I believe, "cabbage" in Russian. Although the name is imported, the dish is truly Turkish, or Turkish version of a multi-faced cabbage stew common in Russia and Eastern Europe. Kapuska is widely known and eagerly consumed in Thrace, as a result of Eastern European impact i.e. Albanian and Bulgarian immigrants, and also in the Black Sea Region of Turkey thanks to our next door neighbor, Russia.

Kapuska is cooked in different ways in Turkey: with garbanzo beans, bulgur, rice, ground meat, lamb, beef, or vegetarian. This recipe is based on how my mom and aunt, the Thracian part of the family, make kapuska.




















1/2 pound stew beef or lamb
1 medium cabbage, coarsely chopped
3 medium onions or 2 big ones, diced
3 tbsp butter or you can also use olive oil
3-4 tomatoes, diced or 1 can diced tomatoes
2 tbsp pepper paste (use tomato paste if you cannot find red pepper paste)
1 tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp paprika
1 1/2 cups of water
salt and pepper
red hot chilies or any hot chilies you want

-Heat butter in a pot on medium heat and add stew beef. First meat will get juicy and soak the juice in.
-Once it loses its moisture, stir in onion and cook until soft (approximately 5 minutes)
-Add pepper paste, red pepper flakes, and paprika. Stir for a couple of minutes.
-Add tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes.
-Add 1 cup of water and simmer for 50 minutes to an hour until the meat is tender.
-Meanwhile chop the cabbage coarsely, wash, and rinse.
-When meat is cooked, stir in cabbage. Add 1/2 cup of hot water. Simmer for half an hour.

Serve with crusty bread to soak the delicious juice.

kapuska is tastier if it's spicy.

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.

Artichoke Heart and Lamb Stew (Kuzu Etli Enginar)

Artichoke and lamb stew is a very common dish in the western Aegean part of Turkey, where Turk and Greeks lived together for years. The original recipe requires artichoke heart, lamb, onion, and, the most important of all dill. Yet, I find the mix of just artichoke and lamb to be very heavy, so I modified the recipe by adding carrot ands green peas.


























serves 4-6

1 pound lamb
8-10 small or 4-6 big peeled artichoke hearts, cut into 4-6 pieces
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped in half rounds
1 pound fresh green peas or 1 can green peas
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil or 4 tbsp butter
1 1/2 tbsp flour
juice of 1 1/2 lemon
1 tsp sugar
water
salt

-Soak chopped artichoke hearts in a bowl with lemon juice until you cook them. Otherwise, they will darken.
-Heat olive oil or butter in a broad pot and add lamb. Stir for a couple of minutes until it's cooked on each side.
-Add onion and carrot. Stir until onion is softened. Add flour and stir for another minutes.
-Add artichoke, green peas, lemon juice, sugar, and salt. Add water to barely cover vegetables.
-Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer on low for almost an hour.
-Add dill after your turn it off.
-Serve with rice.

With the harmonious friendship of artichoke and dill, the recipe is for Weekend Herb Blogging, founded by Kalyn and hosted this week by Pille of Nami Nami

Kidney Beans with Beef Franks (Sosisli Kırmızı Fasülye)

This is a delicious fall stew with kidney beans.

1 1/2 cups dry red kidney beans
3 tbsp butter or olive oil
1 big onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 red peppers or 1 red bell pepper, chopped
4-5 beef franks, cut in 1/2 inch rounds
1 potato, cubed
2 tbsp tomato paste (+ 1 tbsp pepper paste, optional)
4 bay leaves
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp oregano leaves
2 tsp black pepper
salt
water



























-Soak kidney beans in water overnight. The next day, boil them lots of water and two bay leaves until soft. Discard bay leaves and rinse beans well.
-Heat butter in big pot. Add onions and garlic. Stir for 4-5 minutes.
-Add peppers. Stir for 3 minutes.
-Add beef franks, cumin, oregano, and black pepper. Stir on medium heat until they're cooked on both sides, approximately 7 minutes.
-Add paste and cook for another 2 minutes.
-Add kidney beans and two (new) bay leaves. Cover beans with water. Add salt. You don't want to break the beans, so mix them once and cover. Cook on low for 30-40 minutes.
-Serve with rice or bulgur pilaf, or with bread.

With bay leaves this recipe is for WHB which was founded by Kalyn and is hosted by Susan this week.

Stuffed Eggplants (Karnıyarık)

Another "certified Turkish" recipe from my mom: karnıyarık which literally translates as "split belly." Karnıyarık is widely made and dearly loved almost in every part of Turkey. But by going over the ingredients and cooking method, I believe it's from southeastern and eastern Mediterranean regions of Turkey. I must warn you; this is not a light dish, but it is absolutely fantastic and if you haven't had karnıyarık before, it will change your ideas on eggplant dishes. Enough said to advertise eggplant.

There are a couple things to be careful about when you're cooking with eggplants. Buy eggplants right before you cook and pick the firmer ones; eggplants tend to get soft in the refrigerator. And for this dish, do not use huge American eggplants. Try to find cute little ones or Asian eggplants.

1 lb eggplant, peeled in stripes lengthwise
1/2 ground meat
2 onions, cubed
1/2 bunch parsley, finely choppped
1 tomato, petite diced (for the stuffing)
1 tomato, sliced in half moons (for the top)
green banana peppers, as many as eggplants
ground pepper
salt
2 tbs olive oil
frying oil
1 cup hot water

-Peel eggplants leaving lengthwise stripes and then put them in salty water for 10 minutes. Dry them well and fry them as a whole in a deep pot with canola or corn or vegetable oil, whichever you're comfortable with. (Make sure oil is really hot before you place eggplants, otherwise eggplants will soak tons of oil)
-Once they're fried, first soak the excessive oil by resting them on a paper towel, and then place eggplants on an oven dish.
-In a deep frying pan, heat olive oil. Add onions and stir for 3-4 minutes.
-Add ground meat. Cook until ground meat soaks all the juice it lets out.
-Add diced tomato. Stir until cooked. Turn it off.
-Add chopped parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix well.
-With the help of two spoons, slit eggplants into two. But leave the tops and bottoms attached.
-Stuff eggplants with ground meat mixture.
-Place a slice of half moon shaped tomato and a green pepper on top of each split belly eggplant.
-Pour 1 cup of hot water on top and bake them in preheated oven at 400F until green peppers are nicely baked.

Serve with rice and yogurt.

Another eggplant recipe with parsley for Weekend Herb Blogging which was founded by Kalyn and is hosted this week by Katie of Thyme for Cooking.

Eggplant-Meatball Casserole (Fırında Köfteli Patlıcan)

This delicious eggplant and meatball recipe was highly inspired by another recipe I found at one of Turkey's most popular and successful food blogs: portakal ağacı. In her blog Hatice, tells that she got the recipe from an aunt (in Turkey you call all the elderly ladies "aunt X or Y" for respect regardless of your blood relation to them) and that it's called "Antep kebap" (Antep Kebabı). I liked the idea of having meatballs and eggplant--my favorite vegetable--but I didn't follow the recipe strictly. I think this is the good side of casserole dishes; they give you room for flexibility. In the end it turned out to be a light and tasty recipe.

I particularly like meatball casserole dishes, because (1) they are really easy to make and (2) in the end they are delicious. I usually make meatballs from 2 lb of ground lamb and beef. Later I freeze meatballs and use them whenever I need them. As you can imagine, when you have already made frozen meatballs, making any kind of meatball casserole dish takes almost no time.

























2-3 eggplants, peeled in stripes and cut in 1 inch rounds
2 tomatoes, sliced
1 or 1/2 banana pepper for each meatball
1 big onion, chopped
5 cloves of garlic, sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
salt

for meatball (I used half of the meatballs from this batch for the recipe; the other half went straight to the freezer)
1 lb ground meat
1-2 slice of stale bread, processed in a food processor or grated
1 eggs
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1 big clove of garlic, minced
1 onion, grated or finely chopped
1/2 parsley, finely chopped
(the original recipe didn't ask for cumin, oregano leaves, onion, and garlic for the meatball part)

-Mix well all the ingredients for meatball in a bowl and make round , half inch thick meatballs.
-Peel the eggplants in stripes and cut them in rounds. Place the rounds in a casserole.
-Place one meatball on each eggplant round.
-Scatter chopped onion and garlic on meatballs.
-Underneath onion and garlic, you'll still see your small eggplant and meatball towers; put one slice of tomato and one or half banana pepper (or any pepper you want) on each eggplant+meatball tower.
-Salt to your taste and pour 1/4 cup of alive oil on top.
-Cover tight with aluminum foil and bake for an hour at a preheated oven at 450F. After an hour uncover, and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

I served eggplant and meatball casserole with bulgur pilaf and yogurt.

Stuffed Poblanos (Etli Poblano Dolması)

This is a classic "almost" Turkish recipe with the substitution of poblanos for small bell peppers. I've been craving stuffed peppers for a long time, but small green bell peppers haven't showed up at the farmers market yet. I hate flavorless huge bell peppers at the stores. A sensible Turk would not call them peppers. They don't smell or taste anything like peppers; their skin is really thick; and they hold almost half a kilo of rice. So I decided to stuff flavorsome poblanos and I did my best to choose not very big ones. This was my first stuffed poblano, and it was delicious!

To make this a "very" Turkish recipe, use small, thin-skin green bell peppers.

for 4 poblanos

4 reasonable size poblano peppers
1/3 lb ground beef (if you want, you can use 1/2 lb ground meet)
1/4 cup rice
2 medium size onions, finely chopped
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 dill, chopped
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
2-3 tomatoes, petite diced
1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp butter
1-1 1/2 cups hot water
1 tomato, sliced
























-Wash peppers, cut the tops parts and clean inside.
-In a bowl mix well ground meat, rice, onion, parsley, dill, mint, black pepper, salt, and diced tomatoes (and tomato paste if you like). It'll be better mixed if you use your hand.
-Stuff poblanos with the mix. Seal the top with a slice of tomato.
-Place them in a broad pot.
-Pour hot water on (make sure water is 1/2 inch below the poblanos)
-Cut butter into small pieces and place on top of poblanos.
-Cook on medium for 45-50 minutes.
-Stuffed peppers are good when served with yogurt on the side. And soak that juice with fresh bread!



















I thought with all the fresh herbs in it, this recipe is perfect for Weekend Herb Blogging which was founded by Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen and is hosted by Astrid this week.

Meatball Casserole (Sahan Köfte)

When I was a kid, I thought meatball casserole was a way to ruin delicious meatballs. So, rather than being excited, I was always disappointed to see meatballs cooked that way: juicy with mushy tomatoes and peppers. But years have passed, and now I agree with Aaron; meatball casserole is the best way to have meatballs--except for grilled meatballs.


























2 potatoes, cut in rounds
1 belle pepper or 4-6 banana peppers, cut in big pieces
2 tomatoes, cut in rounds
2 tomatoes, grated
1 cup hot water
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

for meatball
1 lb ground meat
1-2 slices of stale bread
2 eggs
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/2 tsp oregano leaves
1/2 tsp salt
1 big clove of garlic, minced
1 onion, grated or finely chopped
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley



























-Put all the ingredients for meatball in a bowl and mix well. Make round meatballs.
-In an oven dish, place meatballs, potatoes, and peppers one after the other. Put tomato slices on top and sprinkle sliced garlic. Pour grated tomatoes, hot water, and oil or butter. (Or you can put the potato slice. Place meatball on potato slice, tomato slice on meatball, and piece of green pepper on tomato. You'll have a great tower. Pour grated tomatoes, garlic, and hot water.)
-Sprinkle red pepper flakes or black pepper on top.
-First let it boil on the stove for a couple of minutes, then bake it at 400F for 25-30 minutes.
-Meatball casserole goes well with rice and bread.

Potato Casserole (Patates Oturtma)

My parents and my aunt are here visiting. Among other things, they're cooking. The potato casserole is tonight's dinner and the recipe is from my aunt. I'll try to get as many recipes as possible while they're here and post them. Bon appétit!

2 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch rounds
2 medium onions, chopped
1/2 pound ground meat
2 carrots, cut in rounds
2-3 banana peppers or 1 green bell pepper, chopped finely
1 clove of garlic, thinly sliced
1 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup olive or canola oil
1/2 cup (or less) olive oil
salt and pepper





















-Mix potato slices with salt and 2 tbsp olive oil and place them on a big oven dish and bake at 350 F until they darken to slightly brown.
-Heat the rest of the oil in a big frying pan. Stir onions and garlic until soft.
-Add peppers and carrots. Stir until cooked.
-Add ground meat. Stir until ground meat is cooked.
-Add tomato paste, salt, and black pepper. Stir for 5 minutes, pour in 1 to 1 1/2 cup of water and cook for another 5 minutes.
-In a oven dish put one layer of potatoes. Cover them with ground meat mix. On top put another layer of potatoes and again another layer of ground mix. Repeat this layering until everything is finished.
-Bake it in the preheated oven at 350 F for 15-25 minutes.
-Sprinkle parsley on top before you serve.