Instant Coffee and Raisin Cake (Neskafeli ve Üzümlü Kek)

Although Turks are known to be a coffee --especially Turkish coffee--drinking nation, we are actually obsessed with tea. Besides, it wouldn't be wrong to say that since late 80s Turks have become more of a Nescafé drinking nation. Instant coffee is cheap, easy to make, and tasteless compared to Turkish coffee. As a matter of fact Nescafé is consumed so widely that Turkish coffee became "the other" in its own land. 15-20 years ago, before globalization...

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Vegetarian Potato Casserole with Green Lentils (Mercimekli Patates Oturtma)

Back in the 80s, when I was in the elementary school, to support farmers who couldn't sell their produce Turkish government had bought hard-to-melt-down amount of lentils. The government's solution for agricultural crisis created another problem: warehouses stocked with lentils.Government's solution to this new lentil crisis was Ayşe Baysal, professor of nutrition and dietetics, aka "auntie Ayşe" or "auntie lentil." Auntie lentil appeared every single...

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Milky Celery Root Soup (Sütlü Kereviz Çorbası)

When it's really cold outside my mom would make the traditional tarhana soup (a fermented soup mix with tomato, yogurt and flour) with milk. In Turkey I wouldn't even try the milky tarhana, but here since I cannot find it, I crave it. This milky celery soup is a result of longing for tarhana. It turned out very good and is really perfect for cold weather.1 cup cubed celery root2 carrots, chopped in rounds2 potatoes, cubed5 cups of water2 bay leavespinch...

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Black-eyed Peas with Sujuk (Sucuklu Tane Börülce)

The colder the weather gets, the more I cook with beans and grains. This is a hearthy, spicy, and belly warming stew from Central Anatolia. I was lucky to find fresh black-eyed peas, but you can start from dry black-eyeds or use canned peas.Sujuk is Middle Eastern beef sausage dried with several spices black pepper, cumin, garlic, paprika, etc. You can find sujuk at Middle Eastern stores.1/2 lb black-eyed peas1/2 or 1/3 sujuk, sliced (I never tried...

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Bulgur Risotto with Beet and Beer (Bira ve Pancarla Bulgurlu Risotto)

We've been obsessed with risotto lately. Once I got familiar with the ins and outs of making risotto, I felt like I gained the authority to explore with the "genre." I wanted to make an almost Turkish fall risotto. The recipe gets its Turkishness from bulgur, and its fallness from beet, beer, and walnuts.I used Negra Modelo, a non-hoppy dark lager. I didn't want to bitter up the risotto with hops. Beets have somewhat sweet flavor that goes perfect...

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Red Lentil and Wheat Berry Soup (Kırmızı Mercimekli ve Buğdaylı Çorba)

1/2 cup wheat berries1 cup red lentils6 cups of beef or vegetable stock/brotha pinch of saffron2 tbsp olive oil1 tsp dried mint flakes1 tsp red pepper flakessalt-Boil wheat berries with 4 cups of water until soft. Rinse excessive water.-In a pot boil 6 cups of beef or vegetable stock. Add first saffron threads, boil for a minute and then add wheat berries and red lentils. Cook for 20-25 minutes until lentils are cooked.-Heat oil in a pan. Add mint...

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Veggie Oven Bag Stew (Fırın Torbasında Türlü)

A nice and easy fall stew.1 eggplant, cubed1 zucchini, cut in quarter rounds1 carrot, cut in small half rounds1 cup baby okra2 green chilies, chopped1 potato, diced2 tomatoes, diced1 big onion, chopped3 cloves of garlic, sliced1 cup water2 tbsp tomato pastesaltpepper1/2 cup parsley,chopped2 tbsp olive oil or butterand1 oven bag-Mix all the ingredients except for water and tomato paste in a big bowl. (if you want to add any kind of meat, you can add...

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Peppers with Cheese (Lorlu Biber)

Another great Thracian specialty! Just like menemen, peppers with cheese can also be served as a side dish, main dish, or a breakfast treat. Many people enjoy lorlu biber for breakfast, but in my family we usually have it for dinner with fresh bread. it's really easy to make, and almost impossible to make it bad.For this recipe you can use as many peppers and as much cheese as you want. Traditionally lorlu biber is made with banana peppers. However,...

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Artichoke Heart and Lamb Stew (Kuzu Etli Enginar)

Artichoke and lamb stew is a very common dish in the western Aegean part of Turkey, where Turk and Greeks lived together for years. The original recipe requires artichoke heart, lamb, onion, and, the most important of all dill. Yet, I find the mix of just artichoke and lamb to be very heavy, so I modified the recipe by adding carrot ands green peas.serves 4-61 pound lamb8-10 small or 4-6 big peeled artichoke hearts, cut into 4-6 pieces1 medium onion,...

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Bulgur Pilaf with Green Lentils (Mercimekli Bulgur Pilavi)

A perfect bulgur pilaf recipe!1/2 cup green lentils1 cup coarse bulgur5-6 sun dried tomatoes, finely chopped2-3 dried hot chilies, chopped2 red or green chilies, chopped2 medium onions, finely chopped3 tbsp tomato paste4 tbsp olive oil-Boil 1/2 cup green lentils with 3-4 cups of water until soft, approximately 15-20 minutes, and drain. (!/2 cup lentils will make 1 cup after boiled)-Heat olive oil in a pot. Add onion. Stir for 5 minutes.-Add sun dried...

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Kidney Beans with Beef Franks (Sosisli Kırmızı Fasülye)

This is a delicious fall stew with kidney beans.1 1/2 cups dry red kidney beans3 tbsp butter or olive oil1 big onion, chopped2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped2 red peppers or 1 red bell pepper, chopped4-5 beef franks, cut in 1/2 inch rounds1 potato, cubed2 tbsp tomato paste (+ 1 tbsp pepper paste, optional)4 bay leaves2 tsp cumin2 tsp oregano leaves2 tsp black peppersaltwater-Soak kidney beans in water overnight. The next day, boil them lots of...

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Vegeterian Stuffed Eggplants (İmam Bayıldı)

İmam bayıldı is one of the most popular olive oil dishes of Turkish cuisine. It literally translates as "imam (the priest) fainted." The rumor goes that imam faints, out of stinginess, when he learns the amount of olive oil used to make this dish.İmam bayıldı is also known as the vegetarian version of another very popular eggplant dish: stuffed eggplants (karnıyarık). In traditional cuisine eggplants are deep fried as a whole, just like in stuffed...

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Frozen Panda Cake (Panda Pasta)

One of my oldest friends, Sena, taught this recipe to me approximately 15 years ago. It was a big hit then. We would make Panda cake every week. Especially that coco sauce; we didn't seem to get enough of it. Although this is really a pudding, since you need to cut it and eat it with a fork we call it a cake. I wanted to have Panda cake again for a long time, but didn't ask Sena to e-mail the recipe, because I thought it wouldn't be as good without...

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Stuffed Zucchini with Bulgur (Bulgurlu Kabak Dolması)

I made pepper dolmas with bulgur two weeks ago and we loved it. So, I decided to try the recipe again, this time with zucchini. I picked big zucchinis, carvable in my standards. I cut each zucchini into 3 equal parts and carved carefully so that each one had a thin bottom to hold stuffing. If you work with smaller zucchinis, just cut them into two. With zucchinis I used fresh dill and mint, and also added garlic. And in the end, stuffed zucchinis...

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Çanakkale Style Vegetable Stew (Şaraşura)

This summer stew is a specialty of Çanakkale. Çanakkale, the northern Aegean/ half Thracian city, has a rich cuisine, but once you taste its famous peynir helvası (cheese halva) and fresh fish from Dardanelles you forget to ask for more.1 lb green beans, trimmed and cut into two1 eggplant, peeled in stripes and largely diced1 zucchini, largely diced2 potatoes, largely diced3 banana peppers, chopped in big rounds1 big onion, roughly chopped2 tomatoes,...

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Stuffed Peppers with Bulgur (Bulgurlu Biber Dolması)

This dolma recipe is definitely for those who love bulgur. If you don't like bulgur, then your recipe for stuffed peppers is this one. On the other hand, if you like bulgur, this is a great recipe with fresh herbs and refreshing lemon zest.5-6 small bell peppers (do not use those huge American bell peppers; they have really thick skin, are too big for stuffing, and most important of all are not flavorsome)1/2 cup coarse bulgur1 big onion, finely...

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Eggplant Stew with Rice (Patlıcanlı Cive)

I'm still posting eggplant recipes, and I still have more, because eggplants and zucchinis are the main things we've been getting from farmers market every week for over a month now. And I took the opportunity to show how Turks are crazy about eggplant! Cive is a great summer dish from the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, Antalya. Cive is good warm or cold, with yogurt or bread. The main point is to make it with green tomatoes that give cive the desired...

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Eggplant and Lentil Stew with Pomegranate Molasses (Mualle)

Here's another delicious certified Turkish eggplant recipe. I had mualle first in İstanbul at Çiya Restaurant. The owner and chef of Çiya, Musa Dağdeviren, is not only a great chef but also a passionate researcher of forgotten Anatolian recipes. He has traveled all around Anatolia and collected almost 4 thousand local recipes. That's why Çiya's menu changes daily. One of those 4 thousand recipes, Mualle, is a summer stew from Antakya. Mualle that...

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Stuffed Eggplants (Karnıyarık)

Another "certified Turkish" recipe from my mom: karnıyarık which literally translates as "split belly." Karnıyarık is widely made and dearly loved almost in every part of Turkey. But by going over the ingredients and cooking method, I believe it's from southeastern and eastern Mediterranean regions of Turkey. I must warn you; this is not a light dish, but it is absolutely fantastic and if you haven't had karnıyarık before, it will change your ideas...

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Thracian Roasted Eggplant Salad (Tunçilik)

Roasted eggplant salads are very common in Thrace, where I come from, during the summer. Thrace (Trakya in Turkish) is the northwestern corner or the European part of Turkey. Thrace is a historical and geographical region that spreads over Greece, Bulgaria, and Turkey. The Turkish part is the Eastern Thrace. Eastern Thrace, in years, witnessed major waves of migration--like the two big ones after the Ottoman-Russian war and the Lausanne Treaty--which...

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Eggplant-Meatball Casserole (Fırında Köfteli Patlıcan)

This delicious eggplant and meatball recipe was highly inspired by another recipe I found at one of Turkey's most popular and successful food blogs: portakal ağacı. In her blog Hatice, tells that she got the recipe from an aunt (in Turkey you call all the elderly ladies "aunt X or Y" for respect regardless of your blood relation to them) and that it's called "Antep kebap" (Antep Kebabı). I liked the idea of having meatballs and eggplant--my favorite...

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Spinach with Soft Wheat Berries (Buğdaylı Ispanak)

I usually cook spinach with white rice. I had bought a big bag of soft wheat berries for another recipe. They are tastier than bulgur, and softer and easier to chew than brown rice. I decided to use them with spinach for a great summer recipe.1 full cup of pearl onions, or 1 big onion, chopped2 cloves of garlic, sliced3 tomatoes, grated or 1 can diced tomato1 cup cooked soft wheat berries1 lb / almost 1/2 kilo spinach, chopped3 tbsp olive oil1 cup...

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