Garbanzo Beans and Soft Wheat Berries Soup (Nohut ve Buğdaylı Çorba)

A hearty delicious soup for the last cold days of winter from Lezzet's February 2007 issue.1 cup dry garbanzo beans1/2 cup soft wheat berries1/2 cup red lentils1 small celery root/celeria, grated1 carrot, petite diced5-6 parsley stems, chopped2-3 celery root stems, chopped2 tbsp butter2 small onions, finely chopped2 tbsp tomato paste6 cups vegetable or beef stock2 tsp oregano leaves1 cup plain yogurt (non-fat, 1%, 2%, or whole milk)1 tbsp olive oilsaltpepper-Put...

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Purslane Salad with Yogurt (Yoğurtlu Semizotu Salatası)

When I was 7 or 8 years old, purslane was introduced to me as one of the cousins of spinach, namely its aunt's daughter. Since I loved spinach very much, my parents introduced every other green leaf to me as a member of extended spinach family. Purslane grew on me in time, and ascended to the throne of spinach. During my dad's futile trials of having a lawn, one batch of grass seeds came mixed with purslane seeds! We never had a lawn, but we had...

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Pear Marmalade (Armut Marmelatı)

The other day my mom sounded highly enthusiastic on the phone about a new quince marmalade recipe. she insisted I tried it. I didn't want to say that I cannot find quince, one of my favorite winter fruits, here and crush her passion. I said sure, of course I'll try. After I hung up, I decided to apply the recipe to pears that were sitting on the counter for a long time. The result was a light fragrant marmalade perfect with cream cheesed bagels.I...

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Oven Baked Fish Pilaki (Fırında Balık Pilâki)

Pilaki is originally a Greek word. I am not sure what it means in Greek, 'plate'?, but in Turkish pilaki refers to a group of dishes that are cooked with onion, garlic, carrot, potato, and parsley in olive oil. We usually cook beans in this style, like "fasülye pilaki" or "barbunya pilaki", yet fish pilaki is another favorite. In my family this dish is usually made with bonito (palamut), yet any fish can be cooked this way. What you see above is...

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