LIMONLU PEYKEK

LEMON CHEESE CAKE

Ingredients:

For the crust:
20 chocolate graham cookies ( finely crushed )
2 tbsp of salted butter ( melted )

For the filling:
16 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
Zest and juice of a lemon
2 eggs
1/2 cup of thick plain yogurt
2 tbsp of wheat starch

For the topping:
Juice of two lemon 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 tbsp of wheat starch


Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
Mix chocolate graham cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 8-inch spring form pan.
Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 cup sugar and 2 tbsp of wheat starch with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
Wrap bottom half of pan in foil. Pour in filling; place in a roasting pan. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up side of spring form.
Bake for 1 hour minutes or until center is almost set.
Bring lemon juice, 1/2 cup of sugar and wheat starch to boil in saucepan on medium-high heat; simmer on low heat 8 to 10 min. or until sauce is slightly thickened stirring occasionally. Cool and pour onto cheesecake.
Refrigerate 4 hours. Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake.

MANTARLI BÖREK

BOREK WITH MUSHROOM FILLING

Ingredients:

3 Turkish pastry sheets

Filling:

1 small size of onion
2 lb of whole mushroom
1 tbsp of tomato paste
1/3 tsp of black pepper
salt

Sauce:

 2 eggs

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 cup of vegetable oil

1/2 cup of water

Wash and drain mushrooms and chop finely.

In a large pot, take vegetable oil add chopped onion. Stir and cook until onion is tender. Add chopped mushroom and tomato paste. Stir and cook until it loses its volume. Add ground black pepper and salt. Turn the heat off when the mushroom absorbs all of its juice and let it cool.

For the sauce; take eggs, milk, water and vegetable oil in large mixing bowl and whisk.

 Take one of the fillo sheets and cut it half. Spoon 1/3 of the sauce over entire surface.

Place 1/3 of filling on top, fold the edges and roll.

Swirl this long roll in the middle of a round tray. Repeat this step for the other five pastries. Pour the sauce all over evenly and sprinkle sesame seeds.

Bake it in pre oven for 35 minutes or until it is golden brown.

DEREOTU & YOĞURT SOSLU KIRMIZI PANCAR SALATASI

BEET ROOTS SALAD WITH DILL & YOGURT SAUCE

Ingredients:

6 beet roots
2+1/2 cups of plain yogurt
5 cloves of garlic ( minced )
1 bunch of dill
salt

Boil the roots until soft. Set aside until cold. wash and chopp dill. Peel and grate the beet roots in a mixing bowl. Add yogurt, minced garlic, chopped dill and salt. Stir and take it to a serving dish.

PORTAKALLI & HAŞHAŞLI KEK

ORANGE & POPPY SEEDS CAKE

Ingredients:

2 eggs
zest and juice of 3 oranges
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
3 cups all purpose flour
2 cups of granulated sugar
3 tbsp of poppy seeds
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of vanilla sugar

Preheat the oven to 350F.

Sift flour, vanilla sugar, and baking powder together in a bowl.

Whisk eggs and sugar in another large mixing bowl until it gets creamy. Gradually add milk, vegetable oil, orange zest, and orange juice whisking consistently.

Add sifted flour, vanilla sugar, poppy seeds and baking powder to the bowl and mix thoroughly.

Pour into bundt cake pan and bake approximately 50 minutes. Check the cake by inserting a toothpick. The toothpick will come out clean when the cake is done.

KABAK TATLISI

BUTTERNUT SQUASH DESSERT

Ingredients:

2 lb butternut squashes ( peeled and cubed )
1+1/2 cups of granulated sugar
1 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup of coarsely chopped walnut

Take cubed squash and lemon juice in a large pot and add sugar on top. Turn the heat on low. Do not cover the lid. Do not stir. Let it simmer for 1 hour or until squash is soft. Turn the heat off. Let it cool. Take it in a  serving dish.
Decorate with walnut

TAZE BÖRÜLCE SALATASI

LONG BEAN SALAD

Ingredients:

1 lb long bean
1 carrot ( peeled and grated )
1 small size red onion (half moon sliced )
1 red sweet pepper ( sliced )
1 yellow sweet pepper ( sliced )
2 tomatoes ( peeled and cubed )
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of boiling water
1 tbsp of tomato paste
salt
Chopped fresh dill to decorate

Wash and cut the long beans 2-3 inch parts. Boil the long beans and drain. Discard the remaining water. Take the long beans in a large pot. Add grated carrot on top of  long beans. Add onion on top of carrot. Add sliced pepper on onions. Add cubed tomatoes on peppers. Dissolve the tomato paste in 1/3 cup of boiling water and add it in the pot.  Add olive oil salt. Do not stir. Cover the lid.
Turn the heat on medium low and simmer  for 30 minutes. When it is cooled take it in a serving dish and decorate with chopped dill.

HURMALI KURABİYE

DATE FILLED COOKIES

Makes 40 cookies.

Ingredients:

3 cups of flour
1 stick of salted butter
2 eggs
1/3 cups of powdered sugar
1/3 cup of heavy whipping cream
2 tbsp of wheat starch
1 tsp of vanilla sugar
1 tsp of baking powder

Filling:
20 dates ( finely chopped )

Shift flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar, powdered sugar, starch all together in a large mixing bowl. Take soften butter, whipping cream, eggs in another large bowl and mix. Add shifted mix gradually to the liquid and make a soft dough.
Dust a large, flat surface with the flour (dusting will keep the dough from sticking). Place the dough onto flat surface and roll the dough until it reaches 1/5" thickness with a roller pin.
Preheat the oven 350F. Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet. Cut off the dough with a round cookie cutter.Place 1 tsp of chopped dates in the middle of the dough and close it up. Place them on a baking tray. Preheat the oven to 350F. Bake them until golden brown.
When they are cooled, sprinkle powdered sugar on top of them and serve.

MISIRLI & SALATALIKLI PATATES SALATASI

POTATO SALAD WITH CORN  CUCUMBER
Ingredients:

6 medium size boiled potatoes (grated )
1/3 frozen corn kernel
1 cucumber (grated )
1 cup of plain yogurt
1 bunch of fresh dill
juice of half lemon
salt

Take grated boiled potatoes in a large mixing bowl after it is cooled.Squeeze the juice of grated cucumber. Take the cucumber in the mixing bowl and discard its juice. Chop the dill and add it in the mixing. Add corn kernel, lemon juice, yogurt and salt. Stir and take it in a serving dish.

MANTAR SALATASI

MUSHROOM SALAD

This salad is very tasty and satisfying.  I saw the recipe a long time ago in Turkish on this blog. I made couple of changes. Here is the recipe;

Ingredients:

1 lb fresh mushroom
10-12 green Spanish olives
3 tbsp of frozen corn kernel
1 red sweet pepper
1 orange sweet pepper
1 yellow sweet pepper
2 tbsp of chopped parsley
juice of a half lemon
1 tbsp of olive oil

Wash and dry the mushrooms. Slice and take them in sauce pan. Cover with boiling water and half of a lemon juice. Boil it until it is soft over medium heat.Take the mushroom into a strainer and wash it with cold water.Drain and take it into the mixing bowl.
Slice the olives and peppers and take them in the mixing bowl.Add chopped parsley, corn, lemon juice, olive oil and salt. Stir and take it in a serving dish.