YOĞURTLU KABAK SALATASI

YELLOW SQUASH & YOGURT SALAD

Ingredients:

• 6 yellow squashes
• 2 tbsp of olive oil
• 1+1/2 cups of plain yogurt
• 1/2 cup of finely minced walnut
  
• 3 cloves of garlic
• salt

Wash and dry the squashes. Grate them without peeling. Take them in a medium pot with olive oil over medium heat. Cook them until it absorbs its own juice, stirring occasionally. Set a side until it is completely cool.
Peel and mince the garlic cloves and take them in a large mixing bowl. Add yogurt and salt to the bowl and whisk until smooth. Add walnut and squashes into the bowl. Stir and take it in a salad bowl.

KARNIYARIK

SPLIT BELLY EGGPLANTS
Ingredients:

• 8 baby eggplants
• 1 cup of vegetable oil
  

Filling

• 1/2 pound of ground beef
• 1 medium size of onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
  
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
  
• 1/3 tsp of black pepper
• salt
  
• 1/2 cup of boiling water
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 2 large size of tomatoes
• 8 green peppers

In a medium skillet, take ground beef with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium heat. When the beef is cooked, add chopped onion and chopped garlic into the skillet and cook them together for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off, add chopped parsley, black pepper and salt. Set a side.
Wash eggplants and dry. Peel just one sides of eggplants lengthwise. Take 1 cup of vegetable oil in a pot over high heat. Fry the eggplants turning occasionally.Place a paper towel on a large serving dish and take eggplants onto the paper towel. This way paper towel absorbs excessive oil.

Take eggplants in a rectangular pyrex and open them up from the peeled parts with a knife but don't go too deep. Fill each of them with 2 tbsp of meat filling. Mix 1 tbsp of tomato paste with 1/2 cup of boiling water and pour it in from the edges of baking dish not on top of the eggplants. Slice the tomatoes and place them on top of the eggplants with green pepper. Preheat oven to 450F and bake until the tomato slices are soft. I prefer to broil it for 2-3 minutes at the end of baking time.
Tip: If you don't want to fry the eggplants, just brush them with vegetable oil and pre-bake until the eggplants are soft. The other steps are just the same. Taste is almost the same too.

KADAYIF BÖREĞİ

  
KATAIFI BOREK

Ingredients:

• 1 pound shredded fillo dough

Sauce:

• 1 cup of milk
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 tbs of salt

Filling:

• 1/2 lb ground beef

• 1 medium onion
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1/3 tsp of black pepper
• salt

In a medium skillet, take ground beef with 2 tbsp of vegetable oil over medium heat. When the beef is cooked, add chopped onion into the skillet and cook them together for 5 minutes. Turn the heat of and add chopped parsley, black pepper and salt. Set a side.

In a medium mixing bowl, mix eggs, milk and vegetable oil for sauce.
Take kataifi from the freezer and break it into small pieces in a mixing bowl immediately. Let it thaw for ten minutes. Then add sauce in it and mix it evenly. In a rectangular pyrex, take the half of kataifi and press and spread filling over the first half of kataifi,then spread the second half of kataifi over the filling and gently press.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Bake for about 45 minutes or until nicely brown.

When it completely cools down, cut the borek into square shapes.

MEYHANE PİLAVI

PILAF WITH BEEF CUBES AND ONION

Serves 8

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of beef cubes
• 2 cup of jasmine rice
• 3 cups of boiling water
  
• 2 large size of onions
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp of red pepper paste
• 1/3 tsp of ground black pepper
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
• salt

In a large pot, take beef cubes and vegetable oil over medium heat. Cook until the beef absorbs all of its juice, stirring occasionally. Add tomato paste, red pepper paste, and black pepper into the pot and stir. ( At this point, you may add some boiling water if the beef cubes are not cooked. )
Cut onions into bite size pieces. Add them to the pot and stir. Saute it until onion is tender. Add 3 cups of boiling water to the pot and bring it to the boil. Add 2 cups of rice and salt to the pot. Stir and cover the lid. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until the rice absorbs all of the liquid.
Serve it warm with pickles, ayran and salad.
Enjoy...

PATLICAN KEBABI

EGGPLANT KEBAB

Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 6 Japanese eggplants
• 2 large size of tomatoes
  
• 1 pound ground lamb ( or ground beef )
• 1 tbsp of onion powder ( or 1 small finely chopped onion )
  
• 1 tsp of garlic powder (or 5 cloves of finely chopped garlic )
  
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• 1 tsp of ground red pepper
  
• 1/3 tsp of baking soda
  
• salt

Take ground lamb, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, red pepper, baking soda, and salt in a large mixing bowl and knead it until well combined. Cover with stretch film and let it rest for 4-5 hours in the refrigerator. At the end of resting time, take the mixing out and knead it one more time. Take small part of mixing ( about the size of pecan) and make small meatballs.
Wash and cut the end of eggplants. Slice them into 1-inch thick rounds.
In an 11-inch round baking dish, place one eggplant slice and then one meatball side by side until the dish is filled, starting from outer side of the dish.
Place tomato slices on to kebab. Preheat the oven 450F and bake it for 45 minutes or eggplants are tender.

YEŞİL MERCİMEK SALATASI

GREEN LENTIL SALAD

This recipe is from Portakal Agaci. It turned out perfectly.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of uncooked green lentil
• 1/2 cup of uncooked rice
• 1 large size of onion
• 1 bunch of green onion ( chopped )
  
• 1 carrot ( grated )
• 2-3 tbsp of chopped fresh dill
• 3-4 tbsp of chopped fresh mint ( optional )
  
• 1/2 tbsp of sumac
• 4 tbsp of olive oil
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
• salt

Take green lentil in a medium pot and add enough cool water to cover. Cook over medium heat.
Drain excess water and set aside.
Take rice in a medium pot add 3/4 cup of boiling water. Cover lid and cook over low heat. Take both green lentil and rice into a large mixing bowl and mix.
Meanwhile, cut onion into halves and slice them thinly. Take olive oil and sliced onion into a medium size of skillet and saute it for 10 minutes over medium heat. Then add grated carrot to the skillet and saute it for another 10 minutes. Take sauteed onion and carrot to the mixing bowl.
Add chopped green onion, chopped mint ( I used fresh mint instead of fresh dill ), sumac, lemon juice, black pepper and salt to the mixing bowl and mix.

ETLİ TAZE FASULYE

GREEN BEANS WITH BEEF CUBES

Ingredients:

• 3 lb. of green beans
• 1 pound of beef cubes
  
• 2 medium size of onions
• 2 fresh green pepper
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
  
• 6 large size of tomatoes
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
  
• salt

Chop onion and green pepper. Wash, drain and, trim the beans and cut them diagonally into 2-inch pieces.
Take beef cubes and vegetable oil in a large pot over medium heat. Cook it until the beef absorb all of its juice, stirring occasionally . Add chopped onion, chopped pepper into the pot. Saute them on a medium heat for 10 minutes then add tomato paste and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Take green beans into the pot. Add black pepper and salt. Stir them all together.Simmer it until green beans are soft. Peel the tomatoes and cut them into cubes. Place tomatoes on top of other beans. Put the lid on and cook for 20 minutes.