Pickled Beets (Pancar Turşusu)

Pickled beets is one of the easiest and, at the same time, the most delicious pickled vegetables of Turkish cuisine. It is considered one of the indispensable mezes of the Turkish raki tables. It is also good with hearty winter dishes such as legumes.1 bunch beets = ~2lb beets = 3-4 medium size beets1 tsp salt11/2  tsp sugar1/2 cup vinegar (red wine, apple, etc)3-4 cloves of garlic, sliced-Wear a dark color shirt or a very...

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Vegetarian Stuffed Tomatoes (Zeytinyağlı Domates Dolması)

In Turkey end-of-summer tomato bounty usually means time to can or jar tomato sauces or to make tomato paste. Unfortunately I am too lazy for any of those. I decided to say good bye to the summer and to the dearest tomatoes that I tremendously enjoyed all summer long with a nice dish. Stuffing tomatoes with rice or ground meat, although not as common as peppers or zucchinis, is common. Using bulgur rather than rice for stuffing is more popular in...

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Beef Stew with Tart Green Plums (Yeşil Erik Tavası)

If you have happened to be around someone from Turkey during the month of May then you probably know how people of Turkey are crazy about their sour green plums. (These tart, crunchy plums dipped in salt are enjoyed as snacks or sometimes as meze with raki/arak/araq throughout the Middle East.) We talk about it--how it's so delicious with salt; pre-order overnight shipments of it; or some determined ones try to schedule trips to Turkey specifically in...

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Fava Bean and Pea Salad (İç Bakla ve Bezelye Salatası)

1 lb fresh fava beans in pod1/2 lb fresh peas in pod3 green onions, finely chopped~1/4 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves~1/4 cup finely chopped fresh dill~1/4 cup finely chopped parsley~1/3 cup crumbled feta (optional)dressingjuice of one lemon4-5 tbsp olive oil1 clove of garlic, minced (optional)-Pod and boil fava beans in salted water for 2-5 minutes. The cooking time depends on the freshness of the beans. Blanch and poke the skin to squeeze...

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Dandelion with Olive Oil (Hindiba)

If cooking every dish (sweet and savory) in olive oil is one of the most important characteristics of the incredibly healthy  Cretan cuisine, boiling all greens including weeds is the other one. The Cretan diet, widely accepted to be one of the healthiest diets, became an indispensable part of Turkish Aegean cuisine through Cretan-Turks who were compulsorily exchanged for the Turkish Greeks of Anatolia starting from May 1st, 1923 based...

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Priest's Beef Stew (Papaz Yahnisi)

Since I haven't posted a new recipe in a while, I wanted to break the silence with a heavily delicious or deliciously heavy one: priest's beef stew or ragout. This succulent ragout recipe comes from the Aegean part of Turkey, and judging by the name, priest--not "yahni" since it is of Persian origin for meat and onion dishes--the dish must be originally Greek. Another clue about its Greek roots is the use of cinnamon. Although it is an indispensable...

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