Tekirdağ Meatballs (Tekirdağ Köftesi)

Tekirdağ, my hometown, is renown for its rakı (Turkish brandy made from grapes) and meatballs. Tekirdağ rakı is famous because although it's made from raisins everywhere else, in Tekirdağ rakı is made from fresh grapes. As for meatballs, the recipe is a mystery. The recipe is not widely known, because nobody in Tekirdağ would make Tekirdağ meatballs at home; you go out to one of the billion meatball restaurants in town for meatballs. However, if...

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Black Olive Cake (Zeytinli Kek)

It's a gloomy, cloudy, rainy, and miserable Sunday. The best to do seemed like baking a cake, making Turkish tea, and watching a movie. I found this recipe from a very popular Turkish foodblog: Portakal Ağacı. Except for a couple of additions, I followed the recipe.2 cups of chopped and pitted black olives (I was going low with my delicious Turkish olives, so I used canned olives)3/4 cup canola oil1 cup plain yogurt2 cups of flour3 eggs1/2 cup chopped...

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Salame di Cioccolata (Mozaik Pasta)

I am not sure where this absolutely delicious and extremely-easy-to-make mosaic cake recipe comes from; I guess it's originally Italian, but yet I don't have any source to support my idea. (After reading Ilva's comment, I did a research and became sure that Mosaic Cake is Italian; I even changed the post title to original Italian name.) Mosaic cake was very popular in Turkey 10 to 15 years ago. Since then, it has been forgotten, though it's still...

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Turkish Scrambled Eggs with Vegetables (Menemen)

Menemen can be defined in a couple of different ways such as Turkish breakfast specialty or lazy dinner option or great summer dish. However you define it, it's delicious. Best part of all is whether you are a great cook or a poor one, you cannot go wrong with menemen; the ingredients secure the taste. Must-have traditional ingredients for menemen are eggs, tomato, onion, peppers (preferably banana peppers), and parsley. I modify the traditional...

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Wheat Flour Halva (Un Helvası)

There are three different types of halva in Turkey: tahini halva, which is known simply as halva here in the Sates, wheat flour halva, and semolina halva. Tahini halva is usually store-bought; actually I've never heard anyone who made tahini halva. As a matter of fact, I never liked tahini halva which my family highly enjoyed as main dessert after fish dinners. Semolina and wheat flour, on the other hand, are always home-made for funerals or religious...

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Rice with Lentils (Mercimekli Pilav)

This is a recipe that I and my collage roommates made and enjoyed a lot of times in our dorm kitchen. This was the tastiest thing we cooked.1 1/2 cup white rice1/2 cup green lentils1 small onion, finely chopped3 tbsp olive oil or butter3 cups of watersalt-Boil lentils with 3 cups of water on medium for 20-30 minutes or until they're cooked. Be careful not to overcook them. You don't want them mushy. When they're cooked, rinse them well and set aside.-Put...

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Spinach with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Ispanak)

Most of my friends when we were kids ate spinach only because of Popeye. I did not. I ate spinach because my mom made delicious spinach and I never understood how spinach that comes out of a can could be tasty or powerful, especially without yogurt. Here's my mom's recipe; almost her recipe, because I made a few moderations in years.1 1/2 pound (app. 700 gr.) spinach, fresh or frozen - baby spinach would be good, too!1 big onion, finely chopped2-3...

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Roasted Beet Soup (Fırınlanmış Pancar Çorbası)

I had found a recipe for a roasted beet soup at Cafe Fernando. I was mesmerized by the color of the beet soup and also by the fact that I'd never cooked with beets before. So I decided to try; however, the original recipe asked for celery stalks, which I cannot stand, and was introduced as a "sweet" one. So, to avoid celery stalks and sweetness, I modified the recipe a little bit, o.k. maybe a lot.I updated the recipe after my 2nd trial.3 beet roots,...

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