Green Olive Rolls (Yeşil Zeytinli Rulo)

In Turkey patisseries are real life savers with their wide range of offerings that include baklava, böreks, cakes, cookies, meringues, milk puddings, poğaças, syrupy desserts, Turkish delights, etc. When you're late for work or school and do not have enough time for breakfast; when you're in need of sugar; when you want to bring dessert to a dinner party; when you are having people for a tea party; or when you just want to have some sort of pastry,...

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Purslane Tomato Salad (Pirpirim / Semizotu Piyazı)

I first had this purslane salad in Gaziantep, a city in southeastern Turkey at a kebap house. My childhood friend Özge, an archeologist by training, and I were on an archeological/historical tour covering three southeastern cities Adıyaman, Gaziantep, and Urfa. After watching the sunset at Mt. Nemrut in Adıyaman, we hopped on a minibus, arrived in Gaziantep late at night and found one of the restaurants that were recommended by friends from Gaziantep....

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Flaky Spinach Pie (Ispanaklı Tepsi Böreği)

After gathering courage to make my mom's zucchini börek, I now am familiar with using phllyo dough for other various börek recipes. As I mentioned before börek is a common term for all pastries that use Turkish yufka i.e. phllyo dough. Depending on the filling, the shape and sometimes the region the term börek is preceded by a descriptive noun: kabak böreği (zucchini börek), ıspanak böreği (spinach börek), kıymalı börek (börek with ground meat) or...

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Vegetarian Stuffed Globe Zucchini (Zeytinyağlı Yayla Kabağı Dolması)

I hadn't seen these round zucchinis, globe zucchinis or zucchini ronde de nice, or whatever you call them, in a long time. They are perfect for stuffing. They are very easy to scoop, yet the outside is firm and stays so even after an hour of cooking.10 globe zucchinis1 heaping cup of rice (I measured 1 1/2 tbsp rice for each globe zucchini)2 medium onions, grated or finely chopped3 tomatoes, grated or blended3-4 tbsp pine nuts3 tbsp dried currants1...

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Sea Bass in Paper (Kağıtta Levrek)

Levrek is a popular fish in Turkey all year around since it's farmed intensively. However, wild caught sea bass is exceptionally tastier and highly sought after. Fish fillets steamed in paper bags taste great. At seafood restaurants they are served with crusty bread and big green salad. Any fish can be prepared this way. serves 4 people 4 sea bass (or any fish you want) fillets1 onion, thinly sliced in half moons4 tomatoes, diced2-3 green chilies,...

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