BABAGANUŞ

BABAGANOUSH

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 4-5 tbsp of tahini
• 1 large clove of garlic (mushed)
• juice of a half lemon
• salt
• 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil 
• some pepper flakes

Pierce the eggplant with a fork . Grill the eggplant until they are soft. Take it out from the oven and let it cool. Peal the crust of eggplant and take the eggplant in a strainer and wait for 20 minutes to let the liquid out. 
Chop both eggplant finely and take it in a large bowl. Add garlic, lemon juice, tahini, and salt into the bowl and stir it until well combined. Take it in a serving dish. Drizzle some olive oil and sprinkle some pepper flakes on top and decorate it with parsley.
It is a very good side dish with meat or it might be a nice dip with a pita bread.
Enjoy.

HİNDİSTAN CEVİZLİ KURABİYE

COCONUT COOKIES

Makes 20-25 cookies.

Ingredients:

• 1+1/2 cups of all purpose flour
•  1/2 cup of coconut oil
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 1/2 cup of finely shredded coconut
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/3 tsp of vanilla sugar
• 1/4 tsp of baking soda
• a pinch of salt

Topping:

• 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup of finely shredded coconut

Whisk butter, powdered sugar, egg yolk, in a large mixing bowl. Add flour,vanilla sugar, baking soda and coconut and knead. Cover with plastic wrap and rest the dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Take it out and knead again. Take small parts ( about the size of an walnut ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls. Dip them ( just one side of the cookies )  first into egg white and then coat them with coconut . Preheat the oven 350 F. Bake the cookies for 10 minutes at this tempature and decrease the heat to 300F. Bake it another 10 minutes or until golden brown.

TAVA BÖREĞİ

SKILLET BOREK (EASY BOREK)

This borek is easy to make and almost as delicious as the oven baked one. I usually cook it for weekend breakfasts.

Ingredients:

• 1+1/2 Turkish pastry leaves
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 1/3 of vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1/2 lb. (250 gr) feta cheese

Mix milk, vegetable oil and egg in a large bowl and set this mixture aside.

Take an 9-inch skillet and and drizzle some vegetable oil in the skillet. Place the first half of pastry leaf over the skillet and don't fold the edges. Spoon the 1/3 of mixture over the pastry. Place the second half of pastry over the mixture and add the second 1/3 of mixture on it. Place the feta cheese and cover the cheese with the third half of pastry sheet. Add the rest of the mixture on top of the pastry and cover it with the hanging part of first half of pastry. Take it over medium heat and cover the lid. Cook it for 10 minutes and check it . If it is finely brown turn it over and cook it for another 10 minutes. Serve it warm.

SÖĞÜRME

 COOKED EGGPLANT SALAD

This dish can be served cold or warm. It could be lunch by itself or a side dish with meat.

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants
• 1 large onion ( chopped )
• 1 fresh green pepper ( chopped )
• 4 tomatoes (peeled and diced )
• 1/2 tbsp of tomato paste
• 4 tbsp of olive oil
• salt

Pierce the eggplants with a fork . Grill the eggplants until they are soft. Take them out from the oven and let it cool. Peal the crust of eggplants and take the eggplants in a strainer and wait for 20 minutes to let the liquid out.Chop eggplants finely.
In a large skillet, olive oil over medium heat. Add chopped onion and chopped pepper into the skillet and cook them together for 10 minutes. Add tomato cubes, tomato paste into the skillet and cook for another 10 minutes. Add chopped eggplant and stir. Turn the heat down to low and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn the heat off add salt and stir. 

SERİMSEK

FRIED BOREK WITH GROUND BEEF & RICE FILLING

 This is the first borek I have ever eaten and I must admit that it is the most tastiest one for me. They make it for a special occasion in large quantities in my hometown. After one of the close relatives passes away they prepare it and share it with neighbors and relatives. That way, people remember and pray for that person.

The smell of mahalab makes this borek special. Also it is tastier because it is fried:)

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 2 cups of all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup of warm water
• 1 tsp of mahalab
• 1 tsp of yeast
• 1 tsp of salt
• 1/2 tsp of granulated sugar

Filling:

• 1/2 cup of rice
• 3/4 cup of boiling water
• 1/2 lb of ground beef
• 1 large onion ( chopped )
• 1/2 tsp of ground black pepper
• salt
• 1 cup of olive oil to fry

Cook the rice with the boiling water over low heat. In a medium skillet, cook ground beef with 2 tbs of vegetable oil on a medium heat. When the beef is done add chopped onion into the skillet and cook them together for 5 minutes. Turn the heat off and add black pepper and salt. Stir and mix it with the rice.

Mix all of the dry ingredients for the dough in a large mixing bowl. Add water, 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 of its size. It takes one to two hours.

Take the bowl and knead the dough again until it is bubble free. Divide the dough into four equal pieces.Take some all purpose flour in a small bowl and dip one of the dough balls into the flour. 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 as thin as you can with a long roller pin. Keep dusting the dough with flour while you are rolling. Continue rolling it until the dough is about 16 inch diameter.

Apportion 1/2 of the filling as shown in the picture.Dip the second ball into the flour. Dust a large, flat surface with the flour. Place the the second ball onto flat surface and roll the dough as thin as you can with a long roller pin just like the first one.

Cover the first sheet with the second one and cut the dough with a knife or pastry cutter from the edges of the filling. Repeat these steps for the third and the forth balls. Take 1 cup of olive oil in a pot over high heat. Fry the pastries turning occasionally. Place a paper towel on a large serving dish and take boreks onto the paper towel. This way paper towel absorbs excessive oil.