Cocoa Pudding (Kakaolu Muhallebi)

This pudding is what I like to have after a long day at the beach. It's also really refreshing when it's crazy hot outside.

makes 4-5 bowls

3 cups of milk (whole or 2%)
3 tbsp corn starch
5-6 tbsp sugar (depending on how sweet you want your pudding)
3 tbsp coco

-Mix all the ingredients well in a pot and cook on medium until the mixture thickens.
-Pour into smallish bowls. First let it cool on the counter then put them in the refrigerator.
-Sprinkle shredded coconut on top.
-Serve with ice-cream if you like.

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Green Lentils (Yeşil Mercimek)

The eastern Thrace is the north western or the European part of Turkey. The region (except for Istanbul) is mostly occupied by people who migrated from the western Thrace (Greece and Bulgaria). Most of those people, like my grandparents, settled down in the region after the 1924 population exchange. This green lentil dish is cooked widely in eastern Thrace and known to be a western Thracian recipe.

1 cup dry green lentils
3 tbsp olive oil or butter
1 big onion, chopped
1 tbsp flour
2 tbsp tomato paste
salt
pepper
2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

sauce
1/4 cup vinegar
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp rd pepper flakes


























-Cook 1 cup green lentils with 3 cups of water on medium until water is completely soaked.
-In a different pot heat the oil and stir in onions. Cook until soft.
-Add flour and stir for a couple of minutes.
-Add tomato paste and stir for another couple of minutes.
-Add lentils with 2 1/2 cups of water. Salt to your taste. Cook on medium low for 30 minutes. -Add dill after you turn it off.
-For the sauce, in a little bowl mix 1/4 cup vinegar, 2 cloves of minced garlic, and crushed pepper.
-When you serve the lentils, put a couple of spoons of the sauce on lentils.
-Serve with bread or rice.


This recipe with the perfect touch of garlic is for Kalyn's WHB. WHB is hosted by Haalo of Cook (Almost) Anything at Least Once.

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Zucchini with Rice (Pirinçli Kabak)

Light zucchini dishes are the best for hot summer days. This one has been one of my favorites with yogurt on the side since my childhood. Since it's cooked with olive oil you can have it cold, too. I don't like to cover the flavor of dill and mint, so I don't use tomatoes or tomato paste. If you want some color in your zucchini dish, add 2 grated tomatoes or 1 can of petite diced tomato before zucchini. Let it cook for 3-4 minutes and then add zucchini and water. With rice, mint, and dill it appeals even to those who don't like zucchini.

5 medium size zucchinis, scraped and cut in 1/2 inch quarters
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2-3 tbsp olive oil
2 carrots, cut in quarters
1/3 cup white rice
1/3 cup fresh mint, chopped or 2 tbsp dried mint flakes
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1 cup water
salt and pepper


























-Heat oil in a broad and shallow pot. Saute onion, carrot, and garlic until soft.
-Add zucchini and water.
-Wait until it starts boiling and then add rice (If you add rice before it boils, then rice turns mushy).
-Add salt, pepper, pepper flakes (optional), and mint.
-Cover and simmer on low until rice is cooked, approximately 25 minutes.
-Add dill after you turn it off.
-You can serve it warm or cold. It goes well with yogurt and fresh bread.

This summer recipe with fresh mint and dill is for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Anh of Food Lover's Journey.

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Wild Black Rice (Siyah Pirinçli Pilav)

Although wild rice is rich in protein and flavor, it is difficult to cook. The cooking ratio of 1:2 that is good for almost any kind of rice doesn't work with wild rice, because it's a grain; it takes a long time to cook it; and sometimes it might be too chewy to enjoy. This recipe comes as a result of stubbornly experimenting with wild rice to cope with its difficulties. Carrots and mushroom, but especially barley help with the chewiness and lemon zest lightens up the strong nutty flavor. But still keep in mind that wild rice is always a chewy kind of rice.

1 onion, finely chopped
2 tbsp butter
1 1/2 cup black rice
1 cup barley
2 cups chopped mushroom
1 carrot, diced
4 1/2 cup vegetable stock
1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
zest of 1 lemon or lime
1/3 cup pine nuts


























-Let wild rice sit in cold water for at least 15 minutes before cooking.
-Saute onion and carrot with butter for 5 minutes and then add mushroom. Stir until onion is soft.
-Add wild rice and barley and stir for a couple of minutes.
-Pour vegetable or chicken stock. Add salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer on low almost an hour or until water is soaked. If after an hour there's still some water, take the lid off and cook a little more.
-Roast pine nuts in a toaster oven on a non-stick frying pan. Let them cool off.
-When rice is cooked add parsley, lime/lemon zest, and pine nuts. Fluff rice with a fork before serving.
-Try it with plain yogurt on the side.

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Pinto Beans (Pinto Fasulyesi)

I spent my first year in the States trying to find Barbunya beans. Until I figured out that barbunyas are roman or borlotti beans, I experimented with almost all kinds of beans. The tastiest beans I decided were pintos. I cook pinto beans Turkish style with onions, garlic, and paste. You can eat them either warm or cold, but definitely try them with rice.

24 oz can organic pinto beans
2 tbsp olive oil
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
2 banana peppers, sliced
1 carrot, diced
2 tbsp pepper or tomato paste
2 tomatoes, petite diced or grated
1 cup water
salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp crushed pepper
1/3 cup or more finely chopped flat leaf parsley


























-Heat oil in a broad pot. Saute onion, garlic, banana pepper, and carrots for 5-10 minutes.
-Add the paste and stir for 1-2 minutes.
-Add tomatoes and simmer for 5 minutes.
-Add pintos, spices, and water. Simmer on medium for 20-25 minutes.
-Stir in parsley after you turn int off.
-Serve with fresh bread or any kind of rice.

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Antalya Bean Salad (Antalya Usulü Piyaz)

Piyaz is what we call bean salads in Turkey, but the term is actually Persian and means "onion." Piyaz is usually prepared with northern beans and kneaded onion; dressed with olive oil and vinegar; spiced up with pepper flakes; and decorated with tomatoes, parsley, and hard-boiled eggs. Depending on the region, piyaz might have green onions or sumac. However, in Antalya, a beautiful city with magnificent beaches and historical places on the Mediterranean coast, piyaz is made differently than the rest of Turkey. The difference is tahini and garlic, which, to my surprise since I'm not a great tahini fan, enriches the taste incredibly. In Tekirdag, my hometown, piyaz is served always with Tekirdag Meatballs. However, with tahini it can be a main dish as well.
2 cups of cooked northern beans
1 onion, cut finely in half-moons
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp crushed pepper
1 or two hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, minced











-Soak the beans over night. Bring them to a boil and then on medium heat cook them until soft. Or use canned beans.
-In a bowl mix tahini, vinegar, lemon juice, and garlic for the sauce/dressing. It shouldn't be too runny or thick. Since different tahini brands have different density, it's hard to find the perfect mixture. If the dressing you make with the measures above is thick, add some of the water that you used to cook the beans or use the juice in the can. If it's runny than you can thicken it with more tahini.
-Pour the tahini dressing over the beans and mix them well.
-Slice the onion thinly julienne style in half moon shape. In a bowl knead it with 1 tsp salt. Rinse.
-Mix the beans with onion and parsley.
-Decorate the bean salad with tomatoes and slices of hard-boiled eggs.

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Vegeterian Eggplant Stew (Etsiz Patlican Güveç)

If there's a hierarchy among vegetables, for me eggplant's place is secured at the top. Given the number of different eggplant dishes in Turkish cuisine, I think I'm not alone in my admiration of eggplant. In Turkish cuisine eggplant is used in various ways; we bake it, fry it, grill it, roast it, stuff it, paste it, puree it, use it as filling for pastries, wrap it around kebaps, and even make jam with it. There are a couple things to be careful about when cooking with eggplants. Buy eggplants right before you cook and pick the firmer ones. Eggplants tend to get soft in the refrigerator. Even though its skin is thick and sometimes bitter, do not peel it all the way; peel it lengthwise in 1/2 inch stripes. Once peeled eggplants darken fast. To prevent this you can take out the spongy middle part with seeds and keep eggplants in salty water until you cook them.

This is a perfect Mediterranean summer recipe with olive oil, garlic, and eggplant.


























1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 big eggplant or two medium ones, peeled lengthwise in stripes
1 zucchini, diced
1 potato, diced
2 tbsp pepper paste or tomato paste
3 tbsp olive oil
3 tomatoes, grated or 1 can of diced tomato processed in a blender
1/3 cup water or vegetable stock
1/3 cup parsley, chopped
salt
black pepper
pepper flakes

-Saute onions, garlic, and eggplant with olive oil on medium heat for 15 minutes.
-Add tomato/pepper paste, stir for 1-2 minutes.
-Add the rest of the ingredients except parsley. Cover and cook on low for 40-45 minutes.
-Sprinkle parley on top a minute or two before you turn it off.

Serve with rice and bread.

This summer recipe with garlic and parsley is for Kalyn's Weekend Herb Blogging which is hosted by Kate of Thyme for Cooking.

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