Borani

This traditional hearty dish is a speciality of Antep Cuisine.Since the bronze ages this city in Turkey has been a home for many different cultures and this has made it unique and Antep is one of Unesco's Creative Cities Network.

It is a very simple dish to make and a very comforting one especially during winter times. We like to dip our bread in its lovely delicious sauce. You can prepare it with spinach or kale as well.Combination of yoghurt with chickpeas, black eyed peas, vegetables and meat is just perfect. Adding more flavors to this special dish with red pepper flakes sauteed in butter and yogurt makes it a more delicious and wholesome comforting dish.

Ingredients

1.5 bunch swiss chard

250 g minced beef or lamb meat cut into small chunks

100 g pre cooked black eyed peas

50 g pre cooked chickpeas (halved and peeled)

1 large onion

1 tbs tomato paste

2 tbs butter

1/s tbs flaked chili (turkish variety)

1 teaspoon cinnamon

salt & pepper

Put the black eyed peas and chickpeas separately in water and soak them overnight.Cook them until soft without adding salt.(only add in the end) Peel the skin off the chickpeas and separate them in half.

Wash  the chard leaves.Cut the stem and slice them into small cubes and cook them for 3-5 minutes in boiling water just to soften them.

Thinly slice the green leaves.

Heat your pot and put the minced meat, saute for a few seconds in its  own oil. Add the cubed onions and saute. Add butter,salt, black pepper, cinnamon,stems and tomato paste. Stir. Add the sliced leaves,beans and and one glass of water you cooked the stems in and let simmer for half an hour.

In a small skillet add the remaining butter, foam add the red chilli flakes. Before serving add this butter chili sauce on top and serve it with garlic Turkish yogurt.

Shakshuka

This version of Shakshuka is made as a meze dish in the western parts of Turkey. It is such a simple and a delicious dish. Aubergine, potatoes and courgettes are fried in olive oil. A beautiful tomato sauce is made from plum juicy tomatoes in season with just garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Turkish yogurt and this lovely sauce is added on top of the vegetables. A good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil is added on top and decorated with parsley or basil leaves.

Ingredients

2 courgettes

2 eggplant

2 potatoes

3-4 large plum tomatoes

2-3 cloves garlic

1 tbs tomato paste

1 cup Turkish yogurt

salt&pepper

olive oil

basil leaves & its flowers

1. You can cut all your vegetables with a mandoline like I did in the picture. Then brush them with olive oil and cook both sides on a large pan or on a tray in the oven. Since they are pretty thin they will cook in minutes.
2. Or you can just prepare the vegetables the traditional way. Peel aubergine lengthwise leaving 1 cm skin in between gaps. Then slice them in cubes. Do the same to potatoes and courgettes. Place the fried vegetables on a paper towel .
3. In a hot pan add some olive oil and start to fry your vegetables starting with potatoes, courgettes and aubergines.
4. Halve the tomatoes and grate them in a bowl. Add olive oil in a pot , add garlic cloves add the tomato paste and cook it for a minute then add the grated tomatoes salt and pepper
5. Add 2-3 spoons of water and simmer the sauce low heat for 20 minutes.
6. If you sliced your vegetables, place them in a mold one by one. Add the sauce on the bottom of the dish, place the molded vegetables in the middle, add some yoğurt and decorate with basil leaves and its flowers.
7. If you cubed your vegetables, place them in a serving dish, whisk the yogurt to make it smooth, pour it on top of the vegetables. Then add the tomato sauce . Drizzle some extra virgin oil and add some parsley or basil leaves on top.

Chicken Liver Pâté With Sage Butter& Red Wine Aspic

This is the perfect dish if you are a feeling a bit blue. Prepare the pâté in seconds. Pour yourself a glass of wine. While reminiscing about the good old days, let your pâté chill in the fridge for a couple of hours..Do not finish the whole bottle while waiting:)) because this smooth wonderful paté taste absolutely wonderful spread on a slice of toasted bread accompanied by the bottle of red wine you managed not to finish!

Ingredients

450 g chicken liver

100 g duck fat

200 g clarified butter

2 onions

1 clove of garlic

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2-3 tbs Brandy(ı used plum brandy)

1teaspoon ground mace

salt&pepper

sage

Aspic

250 ml red wine

1 sheet of gelatin

2 tbs sugar

1tbs white wine vinegar

2 tbs Brandy

Chop the onions and garlic finely. Sweat them in a little bit of duck fat and salt with no color. Put them aside add more duck fat and start to sauté the chicken livers. They should be pink inside. Do not over cook them or they will taste bitter and will have a grainy texture.Add the brandy. Pour everything into a blender switch on for 40-45 seconds add salt pepper and mace add the clarified butter(keep a small portion of butter to seal the tops) and the remaining duck fat, add a bit of brandy at this stage if you wish,turn it on and make a smooth puree.

For the sage butter infuse a couple of sage leave in clarified butter. Pour the butter to seal the Pâté.

For the wine aspic bloom the gelatin leaf, put sugar, redwine, white wine vinegar in a pan and boil. Reduce the mixture for about 10-15 minutes. Add the brandy and gelatine while its warm. Pour it on top of your moulds when it is nearly setting.

Leave the Pâtés in the fridge for at least 3 hours before serving. Chill the overnight they will even taste better.  

Lentil Salad with Roasted Root Vegatables

Who would have thought they would taste so perfect when roasted in the oven. I didn't. I never roast my radishes in the first place, I always prefer to eat them raw or raw again in my salad.But roasted together like this and served with green lentils is all you need during the cold winter months...

Ingredients

1.5 cup cooked green lentils

1 black radish

1 radish

1 celeriac

2 carrots

2 large red onions

10-15 cloves of garlic

3-4 black carrots (şalgam)

1 tbs zahter(dried thyme)

4-5 sunchokes

olive oil

salt & pepper

top

dill

baby radishes

red bell pepper

extra virgin olive oil

1 lemon juice

Bring your oven to 200 C. Wash and peel your vegetables. Cut celeriac and carrots smaller than the other vegetables so they cook evenly. Cut onions in four and add them with the garlic cloves. Do not peel the garlic. Drizzle olive oil on top and mix well until all vegetables are coated.

Place them in a cast iron tray and cook them until soft for about 15- 20 minutes turning them once or twice.

Rinse and cook the green lentils until soft. Let them cool.

Peel the cooked garlic cloves, place the vegetables in a serving dish. Add the thinly sliced baby radishes and red bell peppers for the crunch. Prepare your vinaigrette and pour on top. Add dill and serve.

Beetroot Ravioli with Ricotta Cheese Filling & Walnut Butter Sauce

Magenta is my color and beetroot is my favorite vegetable. Its earthy sweet taste and that ruby gem color is all I ask for. Why not combine this magnificent color and taste with one of my favorite dishes. A pink ravioli flavoured with some honey, orange, ricotta cheese, beets and a nutty butter with walnuts on top.

Ingredients

ravioli dough

200 g flour

50 g semolina
80 g beetroot
1 tbs olive oil
2 eggs
5 g salt
filling

200 g beetroot 

200 g ricotta cheese

30 g parmesan

1/4 lemon zest

1 teaspoon nutmeg

2 tbs chopped parsley

1 teaspoon honey
1 tbs toasted breadcrumbs

salt&blackpepper

sauce

30 g butter

20-30 g walnut

1 clove garlic

1 sprig of fresh thyme

2 tbs orange zest

2 tbs orange juice

salt& pepper

Wash beetroots with a brush. Place them in tin foil and bake them at 180C until soft for about 45-55 minutes.

For the dough squeeze the juice of a fresh beetroot and make a puree. Mound the flour and semolina on a clean work surface and create a well in the center. Place the puree, eggs and oil in the center. Using a fork, whisk together and slowly start dragging the flour into the mixture. Add this to the dry ingredients. Knead until all are well combined and the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Add more juice or flour to adjust the consistency of the dough. Put in a cling film and rest in the fridge for about 30-45 minutes.

Take the beetroots out the oven and let them cool. Peel and grate the beetroots adding ricotta and honey. Add toasted breadcrumbs, nutmeg, lemon zest & juice,salt, pepper and grated parmesan.

Set up a pasta machine and turn it to the largest opening. Cut off pieces of dough about the size of an egg. Working with one piece of dough at a time, roll the dough into sheets about 3-4mm thick.

Lay one pasta sheet flat on a lightly floured work surface and determine approximately where the halfway point is lengthwise. Use a pastry brush to lightly wet one half of the dough with water. Spoon mounds of the filling, about 2 teaspoons each, onto half of the wet side of the dough, leaving about a 1-1,5 cm  between the mounds. Fold the dry half of the sheet over lengthwise to cover the filling. 

Press the pasta sheets together to seal the edges around the filling, and press out any excess air. Use a pastry cutter or knife to cut individual ravioli. As you cut out the ravioli, place them on a plate or baking sheet sprinkled with flour to keep them from sticking. Repeat with the remaining pasta and filling.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the ravioli all at once and stir a few times to submerge and separate them. Cook, uncovered, at a gentle boil until the pasta is just tender to the bite, 2 to 3 minutes. Drain the ravioli thoroughly.

For the sauce , add butter in a pan, cook until slightly brown,add grated walnuts,orange zest and juice. Serve the raviolis with the sauce and sprinkle fresh thyme on top.

Gingerbread Bundt Cake With Orange Glaze

Smells from the past..A brief memory from my childhood, where me and my family spend four years just in the middle of Bavaria and Black Forest Region of Germany. The fresh smell of the undergrowth after a rain, wild strawberries along the way and the smell of christmas cookies. It took years when the smell of ginger, spices and treacle combined woke those memories that were sleeping comfortably somewhere out of reach.There is a strong connection between smell and memories and a smell can take you back to a memory you never have remembered before. This cake summarizes all..
The hero of this cake , ginger root was first cultivated in ancient China, where it was commonly used as a medical treatment. From there it spread to Europe via the Silk Road. During the Middle Ages it was flavoured as a spice for its ability to disguise the taste of preserved meats and it was used as a preservative in cookies and bread as well.In Germany gingerbread is made in two forms: a soft form called Lebkuchen and a harder form, particularly associated with carnivals and street markets such as the Christmas markets that occur in many German towns. The hard gingerbread is made in decorative shapes, which are then further decorated with sweets and icing. The tradition of cutting gingerbread into shapes takes many other forms, and exists in many countries. 

Ingredients:

300 g flour

200 g brown sugar

150 ml treacle

180 ml milk

60 ml orange juice

160 g butter

1 orange & tangerine zest

2 tablespoon mixed spice*

3 eggs

1 pinch of salt
1teaspoon baking powder

75 g ground walnut 

1teaspoon bicarb

25cm bundt cake tin

butter and flour for the tin

* ground ginger, allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg, black pepper, clove, 1 star anise (black pepper 1 others 2 tbs ground ginger 3 teaspoons mix) 

Preheat oven at 180 C. Butter and flour the bundt cake tin. Put zest,juice ,milk,treacle,sugar in a pot and melt the sugar on low heat. When all the sugar crystals dissolve remove from the stove add the cubed butter pieces. Add eggs and whisk. Add the dry ingredients and flour ,spices, bicarb,baking powder and tangerine zest . Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes.Rest the cake for 10 minutes and drizzle the glaze on top. 

Glaze:

100 g icing sugar

2 tbs orange zest

3 tbs orange juice

Mix them all until sugar dissolves and drizzle over your cake.

Barlotti Beans / Barbunya

A Traditional Turkish Dish

When summer arrives in Istanbul the street markets are filled with barlotti beans/ roman beans or if you call them cranberry beans.It is cooked with onions,garlic,tomato paste, diced carrots and potatoes are added and cooked slowly. A good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on top with chopped parsley.Voilà

It can be served as a side dish or can be eaten as a main course,with pilaf and salad.

Ingredients :

1kg Barlotti Beans 

1 large onion cubed 

2 cloves of garlic 

1 small carrot diced 

1 small potato diced 

1 tablespoon olive oil 

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 bayleaf 

1 lemon 

2-3 chili pepper (optional) 

2,5cups water

1. Peel the beans. 
2. Add olive oil heat then add onions,add salt and sweat until soft. 
3. Add chilli pepper,diced carrots and potatoes and garlic. Saute for a few minutes. 
4. Add sugar,tomato paste and beans and cook for 1-2 minutes while stirring. 
5. Add bay leaf ,black pepper and add water. Simmer for half an hour until beans soften . 
6. Place on a serving plate , drizzle extra virgin oil on top, add chopped parsley and serve with a lemon wedge...

My Tiny Cluttered Kitchen

It all started here...

So many things and such tiny space..

It still builds up over time, when it comes to kitchen I can't stop buying.Maybe I'm a hoarder:) But I know someday I will have my dream kitchen untill then this cute and tiny cluttered kitchen will do fine.