TAVUKLU MANTAR

MUSHROOMS WITH CHICKEN BREAST

Serves 4-6.

Ingredients:

• 1+1/2 lb of mushroom
• 1 chicken breast
• 1 large onion ( chopped )
  
• 15 baby chilli pepper
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
  
• 2 tbsp of tomato paste 
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• salt

Wash, drain and cut chicken breast into cubes. Take olive oil and chicken  cubes in a large pot. Cook until it absorbs all of its juice over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cut off the top of chilli peppers and wash. Add chopped onion, and peppers into the pot and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste to the pot and stir for 5 minutes. Chop mushroom into cubes. Add mushroom cubes into the pot and stir. Add black pepper, and salt to the pot, stir. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until mushrooms are soft.

AŞURE

NOAH'S PUDDING

This is a very traditional Turkish dessert with a history behind it. You can check the historical part out from here and here.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of uncooked whole wheat
• 1/2 cup of uncooked chickpeas
• 1/2 cup of uncooked kidney beans
• 1/3 cup of uncooked rice
• 1/2 cup of raisins
• 10 dried figs
• 15 dried apricots
• zest of an orange
  
• 2 cups of granulated sugar

Soak wheat, chickpeas, and kidney beans in different cups for 10 hours over night.

Next day, drain the water of beans and take them different pots. Add 6 cups of boiling water to the wheat, 2 cups of boiling water to the chickpeas, and 2 cups of boiling water to the kidney beans. Bring the them to boil and turn the heats down to low.Cook wheat around 2 hours or until it is mushy. Add 1/3 cup of rice and 2 cups boiling water to the wheat's pot. Cook it until rice is soft. Add boiling water if necessary. Cook chickpeas and kidney beans until they are soft. Add chickpeas and kidney bean to the wheat's pot. Chop figs and apricot. Add orange zest,raisins, figs, and apricots. Stir, cook until fruits are soft around 10 minutes. Add sugar to the pot and turn the heat off.
With these ingredients, you will have a big pot full of pudding. 
Apportion the pudding into small serving dishes and serve it warm or cold. Could be decorated with walnut, cinnamon, pomegranate, hazelnut, almond, pistachio, sesame seeds, etc.

ETLİ PATATES

POTATO STEW WITH BEEF CUBES

Serves 6.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb beef cubes
• 8 small size of potatoes
• 1 large onion ( chopped )
  
• 20 baby chilli pepper
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 tbsp of red pepper paste
• 2 tbsp of vegetable oil
• 1 tbsp of vinegar
• 4 cups of boiling water
  
• 1/2 tsp of black pepper
• salt

Wash, peel, and cut potatoes into cubes.Cut off the top of chilli peppers and wash.

Take vegetable oil and beef cubes in a large pot. Cook it until it absorbs all of its juice over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Add chopped onion, and peppers and cook for 5 minutes. Add tomato paste and red pepper paste to the pot and stir for 5 minutes. Add 4 cups of boiling water and stir. Add potato cubes to the pot. Bring it to the boil. Add black pepper,vinegar, and salt to the pot, stir. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until potatoes are soft.  Potato cubes become mushy so quickly. Don't let them overcooked.
Serve it with bulgur pilaf.

ZEYTİNYAĞLI PIRASA

LEEKS WITH OLIVE OIL

Serves 4.

Ingredients:

• 4 leeks
• 3 carrots
• 1 onion
• 3 tbsp of rice
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp of tomato paste
• 1 cup of boiling water
• salt
  

Cut top of leeks off, wash, and drain. Cut the white parts of leeks and set a side. Cut the leeks' green parts in half lengthwise and slice them thinly. Wash leek one more time after chopping. Wash, drain, and slice carrots too. Take olive oil,chopped leeks, and carrots in a pot and turn the heat on medium high. Cook it until leek absorbs all of its juice, stirring occasionally.Chop onion and add it into the pot. Stir and cook for 5 minutes. Add 1 cup of boiling water, tomato paste, and rice into the pot and stir. Bring it to the boil. Slice the white part of leeks into 1 inch pieces. Place the leeks' slices on top and cover the lid. Turn the heat down to low and simmer until white leek sileces soft. Turn the heat off. Let it cool. Serve it with pepper flakes and some lemon juice.

KAŞARLI POĞAÇA

POGACA WITH MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Makes 14 pogacas.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of all purpose flour
• 1 cup of warm milk
• 1/2 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 egg+1 egg white
• 5 tbs of sugar
• 1 tbs of salt
• 1 tbs of instant yeast 

Filling:

• 1/2 lb of mozzarella

Topping:

• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp of milk
  
• 2 cups of sesame seeds

Mix all of the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add milk, vegetable oil and eggs. Knead them all together with your hands until becoming dough. The dough should be soft. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest until the dough rises to double its size. It takes one to two hours.
Cut mozzarella into 14 equal pieces.
Take the bowl and knead the dough again until it is bubble free. Place the dough onto counter top and cut it into 14 pieces.Take one piece of dough and make it flat with your hands. Place 1 piece of mozzarella in the middle of the dough and close it up. Give the dough a shape of football with your hands

Mix egg yolk with 2 tbsp of milk in a bowl. Take sesame seeds in another bowl. Dip the pogacas first into egg yolk and then dip them into sesame seeds.Place them on a grased baking tray leaving some room between them and let it rise for half an hour.
Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake them until the color of pogacas turn to light brown.

 

ET BALIĞI

FISHY MEAT PATTIES

This recipe is another my hometown's classic...
You will find some interesting ingredients for meat patties; like orange zest and potatoes!
The taste is also interesting and so delicious.You might think, it tastes like fish but it is more than that.
Give it a try, if you like different flavors...

Makes 24 patties.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 small size of potatoes ( finely shredded )
  
• 2 tbsp of semolina
• 6 cloves of garlic ( finely shredded )
• zest of an orange
• 1 tbsp of ground chilli pepper
• 1 tbsp of ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• salt
• 1 cup of olive oil for frying

In a large mixing bowl, take ground beef, potatoes, semolina, garlic, orange zest, chilli pepper, cumin, black pepper, and salt. Knead until well combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it rest for 1 hour in the refrigerator.
Take the bowl from refrigerator and take small parts ( about the size of an egg ) of mixing and give them a shape of ball and make them flat with your palms.
Take olive oil in frying pan and turn the heat on medium high. Fry both sides of patties.

MAKARNA SALATASI

PASTA SALAD

This salad has never disappointed me. I always prepare it to my friends with no doubt. Most of the time they ask for the recipe. It is also very easy to make. Here is my pasta salad recipe;

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb of pasta ( any kind you like )
• 1/2 cup of frozen corns
• 1/2 cup of frozen peas
• 3 tbsp of mayonnaise
• 3 tbsp of thick plain yogurt
• 1 tsp of ground red pepper
• 1/2 cup of pickle ( chopped )
  
• 1 bunch of green onion ( chopped )
  
• 5 cloves of garlic( minced )
• juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tbsp of vegetable oil
  
• salt

 Cook pasta according to package directions and let it cool for 40-50 minutes. Take pasta in a large mixing bowl. Add green onion, garlic, pickles, corns, peas, mayonnaise, yogurt, red pepper, lemon juice, vegetable oil, salt into the bowl and stir. Take it in serving bowl.

Note: 
The pickle I used was a mixture of carrot, cauliflower, cabbage pickles. If I am out of this kind of pickle, I just use the regular store bought pickles.