Penne Baked with Tomato Sauce ( Fırında Domatesli Penne)

This is a very flexible recipe; you can use any kind of pasta you want or you have at the moment. I usually make this recipe with macaroni, but this time I tried it with penne.You can be really creative with the sauce, too.1 pack of whole wheat pennewhat I used for the sauce:4-5 tomatoes, grated or 2 cans of petite diced tomato2 tbsp tomato paste1 small onion, chopped2 cloves of garlic, sliced2 peppers, chopped (I used sweet red Italian peppers,...

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White Beans with Pastrami (Pastırmalı Kuru Fasulye)

What we call pastrami in Turkey is completely different from the lunch meat pastrami that you can find at the stores here. At Sahara Mart, I found this pastrami which was, to my surprise, a product of USA--not imported from Middle East. It looked like Turkish pastrami; however, it was way less spicy and as a result way less flavorsome and stinky.2 cups of cannellini: white kidney: fazolia beans or 2 cans of those beans10 pastrami strips (I used 10,...

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Mung Bean Beef Stew (Maş Fasülyesiyle Etli Güveç)

Since last week's experiment with mung beans went really well with the soup, I wanted to try the Uzbek mung bean stew which is called "Mashkitchiri." I found this recipe adapted from Lynn Visson's The Art of Uzbek Cooking. The recipe for mashkitchiri asked for a cup of rice in the stew, so it wouldn't be a stew but rice with mung beans and vegetables. Since I like to have my stew on rice, I just ignored the rice and cilantro! part, and added a couple...

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Collard Greens Alaturka (Zeytinyağlı Kara Lahana)

Collard greens and chard along with corn and anchovy are the main requisites of the cuisine of the central and eastern part of the Black Sea region in Turkey. The use of corn in cooking is surprisingly higher in that region than it's here in Indiana. The most popular collard greens dishes from the Black Sea region are collard greens soup and collard greens dolma--they use collard greens in stead of grape leaves and sometimes replace rice with cracked...

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Stuffed Peppers with Groundmeat (Etli Biber Dolması)

This is an almost Turkish recipe because of the purple peppers. Purple peppers are rare in Turkey, and it's impossible to find Turkish green peppers here. So, we have purple Indiana peppers stuffed a la Turkish style. Once cooked, the purple peppers turned green just like purple beans. Do not try to stuff regular huge bell peppers that you can find at every store; they are really hard to cook (their skin is too thick), are too big (you can almost...

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Mung Bean Soup with Coconut Milk (Maş Fasülye Çorbası)

I got these mung beans at Bloomingfoods a month ago, but since I didn't know what to do with them, they were locked in a jar waiting for me to come up with an idea. I did some research on them and found out that mung beans are used in either Central and East Asian cuisines or Indian cooking. I decided to go with Indian style and make a soup. (Jen and I decided to add coconut milk at the very end, so the recipe probably became a thaindian one) I will...

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Bourbon Split Pea Soup (Bourbonlu Bezelye Çorbası)

Here's a recipe inspired by Bardstown, KY Bourbon Festival.1 onion, chopped1 bell pepper, chopped3 cloves of garlic, sliced2 carrots, cut in rounds1/2 cup green split peas1/2 cup red lentils (or yellow split peas)2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped (or dried)1 tsp crushed red pepper/ pepper flakes1/2 tsp black pepper1/2 tsp paprika or red chili powdersalt2 tbsp olive oil or butter6 cups of vegetable stock or beef broth or just waterand THE most important...

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Back Alley Cherry Pie

The recipe for this pie is classic -- it is from the Joy of Cooking. What makes this pie special is that the sour cherries must be stolen from a back alley. I recommend early morning hours for your theiving, especially if your target tree is located in the yard of a rental inhabited by undergrads. After your acquisition, you should rinse the cherries, and then pit them. If you don't have a cherry pitter, forceps or small tweezers will work well...

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Richardson Family Guacamole

Actually measuring ingredients is somewhat counter to the spirit of this recipe, but counting them is central. The eight components are:ripe avocadopressed or diced garlictomato salsalemon or lime juicechili powderplain yogurtmayonnaisesaltSmash 1 large avocado with 1/2 clove garlic. Add some (1/2 table spoon?--see what I mean?) mayo, similar amount of yogurt, and 2 tablespoons salsa. Squeeze in a bit of lemon juice and spice and salt to taste.In...

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Fava Paste (Fava)

1 can of fava beans (or you can soak 1/2 pound dry fava beans in water over night and then boil them for a couple of hours)1 clove of garlic2 tbsp olive oil1/2 tsp saltpepper flakes (only if you want in spicy)juice of one lemonsome parsley, chopped finely or dill (it depends how much parsley or dill you want)The only way I know to make fava paste is with a hand-blender or a food processor.Put fava beans, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, pepper flakes,...

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Zucchini with Tomatoes (Zeytinyağlı Kabak)

This is a perfect summer time dish with fresh zucchinis and tomatoes. Also, this is a favorite appetizer or hors d'oeuvre (meze) at the pubs and is served cold with Raki. 3 zucchinis, cut zucchinis first into four lengthwise and then in 1 inch slices. In Turkey, people would usually peel zucchinis. Since I used organic zucchinis, I didn't peel them.2-3 tomatoes, diced or 1 can of petite diced tomato2 cloves of garlic, sliced1 onion, chopped2 carrots,...

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Stuffed Artichokes (Zeytinyağlı Enginar Dolması)

1 pack of peeled artichokes. Since I don't know, or rather don't want to know, how to peel artichokes, I usually buy them peeled and frozen from international or middle eastern stores. What you should be looking for is something like this:1/2 pound green peas2 big carrots, diced petite (or you can use a 1 pound mixed peas and carrots, frozen)1 onion, chopped finely1/2 cup olive oil (if it's an olive oil dish, you cannot be stingy with olive oil)1/2...

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Tomato Soup with Rice (Pirinçli Domates Çorbası)

This is my all time favorite summer soup.3-4 tomatoes, grated (if it's winter you can use 1 can of diced tomato, you should smoothen it in a blender)1 banana or 1/2 bell pepper, chopped finely1 small clove of garlic, sliced1 tbsp olive oil or butter1/4 cup white rice1/2 tsp paprika or red chili powder1/2 tbsp peppercorns (I use peppercorns, because I love them and I think crushed black pepper changes the bright red color of the soup)3 cups of hot...

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Spinach with Portobello (Portobello Mantarlı Ispanak)

1 pound spinach (fresh or frozen)2 portobellos, finely chopped (you can also use the regular white store mushrooms)1 medium onion, finely chopped1 banana or 1/2 bell peppers, chopped2 tbsp olive oil1 tbsp flour1 tbsp pepper paste1/3 cup white rice1/2 cup milk (sometimes spinach may leave a gritty taste in your mouth and on your teeth; milk smoothens the taste)1 cup hot water1/2 tsp (or as much as you want) black pepper-Heat the oil in a pot and cook...

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Chicken Burcu-Casserole (Fırında Sebzeli Tavuk)

This made-up recipe is not one of my favorite ones since I don't like chicken that much. So, it's just for you. The great thing about it is that it is a very very flexible recipe; you can put almost anything that you want in it--or whatever you have in the refrigerator at the moment, and as little oil as you wish.The amount of food you'll cook depends on the size of casserole you have, so I will not tell you how much of everything you will need.Pick...

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