Lady's Thigh Meatballs (Kadin Budu Kofte)

Turkish cuisine is full of foods which has funny names. It is one of them. Today after i decided to cook kadinbudu kofte, i searched why they gave this name? but i couldnt find.. Maybe it is because chubby:)) i really dont know. If you think this is funny name, also hear there are turkish desserts called "A Beatiful woman's Lips" (Dilber dudagi), "Finger of the vizier" (Vezir parmagi), "Ladys Belly" (Hanim gobegi) and etc.. I really dont know why this kinda names were given or who gave but funny.. isnt it? :)

I like kadinbudu kofte, very delicious and filling.

Ingredients

500 gr medium ground beef

1 onion, grated

1 egg (yellow part)

1 cup rice (200gr)

1/3 cup parsley chopped

feta cheese (optional)

3 cloves garlic (optional)

salt

black pepper

red pepper

For frying

4 spoonfuls of flour

2 eggs, lightly beaten

oil

First cook 1/2 of the ground beef with the onion. on the other hand , boil rice with 2 cup of water till the water goes off but dont make it so dry, you can add some salt while it is cooking.

Place in a large bowl and add in the remaining raw ground beef, egg, rice, parsley, salt and pepper, garlic and feta cheese. I like cheese and garlic and try to add everything, in original recipe there is no cheese and garlic, just i believe they can make a food just better!

Knead it for sometime. Leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Then give them the shape . This makes approximately 16 kofte. Pour the sunflower oil in a frying pan and heat it up. Place the flour on a plate and beat the eggs in a bowl. First dip each kofte in the flour, then dip in the egg mixture.

Fry the kofte evenly.

I like it to serve it warm but it is also eaten cold.



Bon appetit..

Anchovy Rice (Hamsili Pilav) Recipe

As i have mentioned yesterday, in black sea region , you can find thousands recipes with anchovy. The rice is one of them . I never tried it before neither in a restaurant or at home so it was nice for me to cook this. I felt it was a real challange for me, i cooked it in a pan not in the oven , so i needed to turn the food and fry both face of it. But i was succesful, honestly i was afraid to screw it but didnt. The result is perfect either look or taste..

I cooked it in a medium pan , wish i have done more:)

Ingredients

1/2 kg fresh anchovy (filleted)

1 onion

1 cup rice (200gr)

pine nuts

currants

oregano

salt

black pepper

cinnamon

corn meal

Let the rice wait in hot water for 20 min, slice onions into small pieces. Cook it with some olive oil for a few min, after add pine nuts, cook few min more than add other spices and currants, i put little cinnamon,not much, some people like it sweet but i dont..

mix it well , drain the rice , pour onto onions , add hot water 2 glass, or it should cover onto rices..

Cook it with low heat till the water goes off ,but dont make it dry.

on the other hand lie some olive oil into pan , cover the outside of anchovies with corn meal and line the base and sides with just over half the anchovy fillets skin side outwards.

Pour the rice mixture into the centre ,

and cover the surface with the remainder of the anchovies.

Sprinkle a little olive oil over , and fry it with low heat 10 min, after 1 side fried , close a plate on the pan reverse it and cook other side of it. i know it sounds difficult but if i done it everybody can!!

Just one note; as the anchovies will get smaller after cooked, you have to put anchovies more,and line anchovies without any hole..

Serve it warm and enjoy with Turkish/Black Sea Region Traditional food.

Bon appetit..

Anchovy Recipe (Hamsi)

For the who dont know about, Turkey is a country surrounded with 3 seas; Black Sea at north, Aegean Sea at the west, and Mediterrian Sea at the south. For this reason, it is very rich with the fishes and fishes products, but unfortunately we arent so fan of sea foods. We are mostly bread, wheat people as anatolian culture. It is like , although it is surrounded with 3 sea, most of turkish people dont know to swim!

This season is very generous with the fish, yesterday on the news they were anouncing that it is anchovy season and it is so cheap, and bla bla bla. A chef gave 12 recipes with anchovy which is so easy and tasty.

In Turkish we call it "Hamsi". In black sea region there are thousands recipes are avalible with it, whatever u think ; anchovy bread, pickle, rice ,everything..

When i surprise to see Americans use pumpkin in a lot of ways, if you have known about how anchovy is used in Turkey, i am sure you would be really surprised!

It is very easy and tasty way to eat fish.

I got 1 kg anchovy , was planing to use some part for Hamsi Kusu and rest of them for the rice with anchovy, but the tast of it was soo amazing and my family asked me to cook just this and tomorrow we will buy some more and use it for rice. This is winter time and the weather is cold and rainy, i dont wanna go out, so my sister promised to go out and buy it for me tomorrow, so we were agreed and all of them cooked as hamsi kusu, Win Win game !everybody happy:))

It was a real challange for me , because when my mum brought the fish and it wasnt cleaned so i needed to clean inside. I have never done it, first try was disaster, i almost mashed the fish!

I learnt the way from my mum.

First i had to break off the head , one finger has to clean inside of it,and take the bone out with the tale. I felt so weird , it was hard for me to do it and was a challange to see my hands with some blood although it is fish. Anyway i was succesful , just it took much time as i had to wash my hands quite often:)

Ingredients

Fresh Anchovy

Corn meal

Salt

pepper

Mix the fishes with salt and pepper ,very well. Put a fish above to other one. The inside part has to face to face. After mix it with corn meal, cover the fish very well with the corn meal. Heat the pan and fry them with some oil. If you fry some onion rolls and serve them with lemon.

Bon appetit

Belated "Happy World Pasta Day"&"Happy Birthday"

Yesterday,25th October was so important day. One ,it is one of my best friend' s birthday who is actually my manager, my friend&my sister.. She tought me a lot as much as she can with patient. She tried to make me convinced with the job and made easier my boring day at work. I am sorry to tell this but i havent heard any good things about lady managers all my life, everybody told lady managers mostly, jelous, aggresive,who has complexes and so on.. But she is the opposite of all of this.. Very kind,helpful, and try to make my life easier..
Happy Birthday Ender! you deserve all the best, hope God gives you what you deserve in the life..
And second important event at 25th Oct was World Pasta Day. I recognized there is a "World Pasta Day" exist. It has been celebrated from 15 years. I havent noticed it before but as the pasta is my favourite food , i thought it s good for me to cook a pasta to celebrate this nice day. Pasta is the cheapest, easiest and the most tasty way to get full..
My coughing getting worse. I dont like this dark, rainy weather, i should live in somewhere always warm and sunny. Although i am always so careful , i always get cold very easy, i think it is coz of what i eat , i should eat more healthy foods, but i love to eat pasta and patato:) i can live with just that 2 in all my life, can u do that? :) I
I cooked pasta yesterday with cream,garlic,basil,cheddar,parmesan,and some vegs.. It was so good , my family loved it. Unfortunately no pic coz of my pc&internew screwed:(
Btw when i was searching about this day , i learnt Turkey is the 2nd pasta exporter country in the world.
Happy World Pasta Day!!

Stuffed Cabbage Leaves (Zeytinyagli Lahana Dolmasi) Recipe

Today i feel so sick , have fever, throat pain and coughing:( dont have too much energy but we had some cabbage at home and cooked it , it was so tasty so i couldnt avoid to share with you.

I cooked it veg but also you can cook it with ground meat as well..

Ingredients

1 medium cabbage (one that is not rock hard, but kind of soft when press on top, they're easier for taking the leaves out)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 gl of rice (200 gr)

salt

currant

mint

cumin

cinnamon

black pepper

sugar

Cook the onion with olive oil till they get golden brown. Add rice (before keep it in water for 5 min and drain) , after put all the other spices and ingredients, it will be a flovur harmoni. I added all of them around 1 tea spoon, just the mint and currant was more, but you can try your own mix as per your taste.. Cook it for few min.

On the other hand boil some water with salt in a big pot. Take out cabbage leaves one by one and add in the water, cook for 5 min . Take them out and place on a tray or a flat plate to cool down.

Once the leaves cool down. Place one on a flat surface. Cut the big vein of the leaf out; If you have a very big leaf, cut it into two.Add some rice filling to one cabbage leaf, closer to the bottom.

Fold sides of cabbage over the filling. Roll it up starting from the stem end.

Place rolled cabbage leaves in the pot lined with cut out veins and leaves in an orderly fashion.Pour lemon juice and hot water to cover the stuffed cabbage.Place a flat-ish plate on top of stuffed grape leaves so that they won't move around.Let it boil first on medium. Then cover and cook on low for 30-35 minutes.

Bon appetit...

Haricot Beans with Turkish Sausage Recipe(Sucuklu Kuru fasulye)

I was busy last days with a lot of things including some dates;)

it is pity that i just dont have enough time to cook. I try to follow a lot of blogs and try not to miss anything but unfortuantely sometimes i do. One of them is green girl and her recipe Bulghur pilaf recipe, i got upset when i recognized late. It is really look tasty.

And if i dont comment at your recipes ,doesnt mean i dont read, i defintely enjoy to read all of bloggers recipes , and try to follow as much as i can, just not enough time for everything.. Today dish is great Haricot beans which is a King at Turkish cuisine..

Haricot beans which has lots of type a kinda national dish of Turkey:) especially when the cool weather starts , at almost every home legume dishes are cooked include haricot beans.



And it is very healthy food which is rich carbohydrate, protein, and B vitamins.

When you ask someone here where to eat Kuru fasulye, they will all tell you "Comlek". It started in istanbul with a small place and now, they have big place to serve it. Their kuru fasulye is best in Istanbul. If you ever visit in Istanbul , dont forget to eat kuru fasulye at Comlek.







Ingredients

500 gr haricot beans

2 onions finely chopped

2 green pepper chopped

1 carrot sliced

15-20 sliced Turkish sausage

1 table sp tomato paste

salt

red pepper



Boil haricot beans for 30 min, if you use canned ,you dont need to boil.

Drain water. At the another pot, cook onion with oil for few min, add one by one all ingredients, green pepper,turkish sausage,tomato paste, mix it some , and add haricot beans. Add hot water on it, it should cover the haricot beans. Add salt and red pepper. Cook 25 min.

I reccomend you to serve it with pilaf.

Bon appetit..

Roasted red bell pepper salad

Here is another easy to make,delicious recipe..

I like red bell pepper. And all recipes with it. At home we make this salad quite often . Hope you all like it..



Ingredients

4 roasted bell peppers, sliced (I used canned)

2 table spoon olive oil

1 table spoon mayonnaise

1 table spoon vinegar

4-5 cloves garlic(finely chopped)

Salt



mix all ingredients, add some parsley on it and ready to serve..

bon appetit..

Celeriac with orange juice

As i have told before , i started a kinda diet. Actually i cant tell it is a diet ,it is impossible for me to diet because i really enjoy to eat . But at least i try to eat light foods at least for dinner. I really like celeriac and this recipe is from my mum. I have ate celeriac out ,restaurants and i have hated it and was avoiding to eat it till my mum cook it in this form. I really enjoy with this dish , hope you like it too..





Ingredients

4 middle size celeriacs

2 oranges

1 teaglass boiled peas(around 100gr.can)

1 onion chopped

1 carrot chopped

dill

3 table spoon olive oil

salt

3 cuse sugar



Peel celeriacs, slice it. Into a deep pot ,put celeriac,onion,carrot,olive oil,salt and sugar, close the cover, cook it for 10min onto low heat. Press the oranges and add the orange juice into pot, also add the peas. go on to cook for 20min more.

After you close the heat, add onto some dill and close cover, let it rest till it get cool.

Serve it cool..

Bon appetit...

Cheese Stuffed Zucchini

I have been busy for sometime , no time or energy i had to cook. And even i dont wanna eat anymore,i feel i am getting fat and i dont like it. It is better for me to stay away from my loves;pasta-potato and this kinda tasty and fatty things. Also i will stay away from frying foods for sometime. If you have noticed most of foods i cook and eat a bit fatty, already most of healthy foods arent delicious , what can i do:) But today i cooked and ate as dinner very light, healthy and tasty dish.

Ingredients

2 zucchini

100 gr white cheese

1 clove garlic

dill

1 table spoon tomato paste

1 tea spoon soy sauce

Black pepper

red pepper

It is for 4 portion , peel the zucchinis and cut it to half, cook them in boiling water with little salt, for 10 min or till the zucchinis get softer. while it is boiling; mix the cheese,dill,grated garlic,soy sauce and peppers.

After the zucchinis get soft, get them into a tray , with helping a tea spoon get away some zucchinis inside gently. Fill in with some cheese mix. Melt tomato paste into 2 glass hot water, and pour on the food. In pre heated oven, cook it for 15 min.

Serve it warm.

Bon appetit..

Potato&Carrot Crocket

I love potato, i can eat it everyday ,i dont think i am gonna get bored of it. Today morning my mum has made potato salad for breakfast. But it wasnt enough potato for me i guess and i wanted to eat more potato :)) I like potato crocket, i wanted to try something else. I added carrot in it.. The taste was good. I reccomend you to try..

Pilaf/Rice with green bean (Fasulye Dible)

All the areas in Turkey has different kinda food culture. In north east of Turkey which is Black Sea Region ,they cook almost all geens' "Dible". Dible is rice with veg. And Fasulye(green bean) Dible is one of them. Black Sea Regions is the most green areas in Turkey, so they cook a lot with green,vegs and so on..
Rize/Turkey

Normally i dont like to add recipes which i didnt cook in my blog. But after i started blogging thing and my mum saw that i got comments and Top 9 bla bla bla, she started cook better , unusual foods than normal times. I think she thinks that she has been cooking from 30 years and nobody appriciated in proper way:) and now she has a kinda chance with me to show her foods more people and got claps:) She is really great cook, best that i knew. Honestly she didnt want me to go in kitchen too much because she was afraid from the mess after i cooked.. But she couldnt do anything about it:) After she cook , always ask me to add the foods in my blog but i reject, but this time i thought i can make privilege for one time:) i liked the fasulye dible too much (normally she wasnt used to cook it, i think she cooked for you:) ) The taste is so good.. It is fillig,tasty and easy to cook. What you can ask more from a food? :))

Ingredients
250 gr green beans
400 gr rice
1 onion
1 tomato
Salt
oil

After the beans are washed and cleaned , cut into pieces. Into a deep pan, put beans, on it, add tomatos(chopped),onion(chopped),1 table spoon olive oil,and salt. Close the cover ,on the low heat ; cook 15min. Add 2 glass(around 400gr) hot water, and close the cover again, cook 10 min. After you are sure the beans are softened. Wash the rice and add on the beans. Cook till the all water gone. After take it away and rest for 15 min.
Serve warm.
Bon appetit...

Is your job what you have dreamed??

If you ask to a kid "what you want to be when you grow up", they will probably reply you to be a teacher ,doctor,pilot,astronaut.. How many people working in their dreamed jobs? or i am not sure if there is such a lucky person. I studied economics, had master in financial markets and currently work for a bank. Am i happy? is this what i wanna be? i really dont know nowadays. I query myself too much recently, about my life, what i wanna be.. I am 26 but i am still not sure.. everyday i wake up at 6.30 am.,take 3 busses and going work in 1,5 hour and is it worth?? what if i quit? what i am gonna do?i dont know .. do i enjoy with my job as much as cooking, or if i was a chef/cook, would i be happy that time?? This kinda questions in mind.. I dont know everybody ask this questions to theirself time to time.. If you lived same feelings, share with me please..

Stuffed Eggplants with Mince (Karniyarik) Recipe

That is the one basic recipe of Turkish&Ottoman Kitchen and this is my favourite dish that can be cooked with Eggplant. I really like it, and i reccomend if you cook it , you should cook rice also, they are very good friends i guess:)

This dish is normally served warm , but for vegetarians we have another version ,it is filled with onion,garlic&parsley. This dish is served cold and we call it "imambayıldı"(imam:prayer leader,bayıldı:to be fainted). I know it is so funny name. There are a lot of rumours about this name; someone tell a lady cooked this dish for her imam husband and he got fainted because of the delisious taste, some others tell imam fainted because of the cost of the dish and so on :)) this kinda funny stories about foods. But i like both ways of eggplant dishes. As you can understand from the stories ,it is very well known , old and important dish for Ottoman&Turkish kitchen..

Enjoy!!

Ingredients

5 small or medium eggplants

2 onions

250 gr mince (you can choose any meat you like)

1/2 table spoon tomato paste

1/2 bunch of parsley, finely chopped

2 tomatos

Oil

Salt

Black pepper

Peel alternating strips of skin lengthwise as seen in the picture for each eggplant. Most of people fry it but i like it light so i lay some oil in a tray and i put eggplants , add little oil on the eggplants also and cook in oven for 30 min with 180 degree. While it is cooking, chopp the onions well , with some oil and meat , cook it for 20 min with low heat. Add parsley, tomato paste,salt,black pepper, and cook a few min more all together, and it s ready. after the eggplants ready,Cut a slit in each eggplant , and fill the eggplants with the mince ingredients with a tea spoon. Cut tomatos and 2 pieces put on the every eggplant, add 100 gr water(1 tea glass) in the tray , cover the tray with aluminum foil, and cook 20 min in beforeheat oven with 180 degree..

Bon appetit...

Eggplant

Dates&Cinnamon Cake

There are some free courses which is supported by Municipality. Yesterday evening after work i went one of them to get web designing course. You know i am not so good with PC ,coding, web etc and sometimes i wanna do smth about my blog , but i cant do it because i am not familar about it, and for that i need to find an IT guy and ask and wait for respond and bla bla bla which make me nervous, so i thought i can get one of these course and make smth better. But when i went there , i saw there are too much people i guess who are thiking same with me, there were more than 100 people but they just get 20 people, so i got an exam and if i can success ,i will start a web designing course.. please wish me luck, i will learn the result after 1 week.. anyway lets talk about food abit:)
you know i am not so fan of sweet,dessert.. if you bring me a cake and pasta and ask me to choose i would never choose cake:) so that is why i guess i am more conservative about cooking sweet,desserts, cakes etc.
But there is one sweet called "mamul" which has date inside. We dont have it here, i order from arab countries, i am not sure if it is available any other place.
And when i was checking last day other people is blog , i saw a recipe Date Bread , the blog adress http://treatntrick.blogspot.com/ ; i really liked it and thought to cook it. but i cooked it a bit different.. and the result was really good , the taste is amazing... and one thing, i didnt add any sugar in this cake:)) but date and cinnamon enough sweet. it is as i like no so so sweet.. but great taste..
I should confess the above the cake a bit burned but it s because of my stupid oven:) but result is really good, i reccomend you to try..

Ingredients
2,5 glass flour (around 500gr)
20-25 dates
100 gr butter
1 gl milk (200 gr)
2 eggs
1/2 table spoon salt
1 table spoon cinnamon
1/2 table spoon baking powder

Soak the dates with hot water for 20-30 min. it will make easy for you to seperate the kernel from the dats..
Melt the butter and mix with other ingreidents exept dates.. finelly chopp the dates, i used blender for that.. and add on the dough, mix all well.. the dough doesnt become so liquid or also not so solid.
Lay some oil in a tray and put your dough.. heat your oven to 180 degree and cook 20-25 min. I added some castor sugar to serve..
Bon appetit..

Homemade Pickle (Tursu)

I am not sure if the pickle is right word for this, because when i write pickle in internet it just give me the one is cucumber pickle but when we make pickle at home normally it includes a lot like;cucumber,cabbage, tomato, gherkin,red cabbace,green pepper,beet,unripe melon and so on..we call it in Turkey "Tursu". My mum make pickle in big cans , after they been, we eat them with our dinner mostly. I like the salty taste of it. Also the water' s flavor in pickle is amazing, in Turkey there are some stores which sell pickle, and also the water of it.

If you never drunk that water ,at least once give a try if possible.. you will not regret.

Our can was for 5 lt. And the amounts we put in can is for that..

Ingredients

cucumber
cabbage
tomato
gherkin
red cabbace
green pepper
beet
unripe melon
20-25 cloves garlic
200 gr vinegar
1 tea glass mineral salt (around 70 gr
water (fill the can)

Wash your vegetables and fruits , put in can after garlic,vinegar, mineral salt, and the last fill all the can with water, if the water is good, fresh ;it is better. Also one of the important point is salt, it should be mineral salt which is thick ,and amount of it for 5 lt can 70 gr is enough, if you add too much salt ,your "tursu" will be so salty and you may not able to eat and if you add less salt ,the tursu can be spoiled. After you add all ingredients ,close the can cover very well.. It shouldnt touch to air. At least 15 days DONT OPEN it..

Keep it cool and dry place, also keep it away from sunshine. after 15 days open it and serve with your dinner.

Bon appetit...

Falafel & Tarator Sauce

Here is another delicious dish that i have tasted in Lubenon. It was soo good, they serve it in the bread with tomato, radish, lettuce and tarator sauce. One of best thing also i have just paid less than 2 usd:) it was so cheap and great taste. It is famous food in Middle East. Good food also for vegeterians.

One of my Egyptian friend told it is called as food for poor people.. but i dont care, i like it:))

maybe i should open a place to sell falafel , i am sure i d make good business:) in Egypt, Mc Donald sell a special called Mc Falafel:)))

I went a place in Beirut which is famous with falafel called BARBAR.. and they are open 24 hours i guess , you cant guess how much it is full. You never find it empty.... always someone wait to get falafel:)

Ingredients For Falafel

1 gl of chick peas (250 gr boiled)

1 onion ,finely chopped

3 cloves garlic

2 table spoon finely chopped parsley

2 table spoon bulghur

1 table spoon flour

1 tea spoon cumin

1 tea spoon coriander

2 tea spoon salt

1 tea spoon red pepper

I used canned chick peas already boiled, but if you are gonna cook yourself, the beans have to be soaked 1 days before , and next day you have to boil it around 1-1,5 hour..

It was easy with canned beans. First i put in blender onion , parsley,garlic, and chop a bit, on them add chich peas. Chopped them together, take them in a bowl, add on them other ingredients. Just before you add bulghur , soak it a few min, after add on the mix. knead them 5 min . Put the dough in the fridge for 15 min.

After you took them out, get small pieces , and roll them like a small ball, repeat it till your dough finish.

Heat oil as much as possible, fry the balls few min. After they get dark ,mean it is fine..

You can serve it with tarator sauce as warm..

Ingredients For Tarator

4 table spoon yoghurt

2 slice stale bread

1/2 table spoon lemon juice

1/2 table spoon vinegar (grape)

2 cloves garlic chopped

1 table spoon tahin (crushed sesame seeds)

6-7 pieces walnut,mashed

Salt

cumin

All ingredients has to be chopped well or mashed, then mix it very well..

Easy and tasty sauce, you can serve this sauce with meat , chicken foods and also i like it to eat with potato chips..

Bon appetit...

Assaha Hotel&Restaurant-Beirut

Assaha is the maybe nicest hotel i have ever seen, it has unique design, it looks like a castle, very authentic, fully stone . I felt so great there. I had chance to see the rooms as well..

All the rooms has different country concept; Morocco , Egypt, Lubenon,Africa, America and more ... and all were perfect, and i can say also prices are so reasonable.

It is near Beirut airport which is around 10-15 min away from city centre. 1st day i went there and saw rooms but didnt has chance to taste delicious foods , 2nd day i felt to eat there and went again. Good i did it.. The food was perfect. After the meal , they give you around 10 type of dessert as courtesy, and with it; very nice old man who has long mustache threat you tasty arabic coffee..

People are so nice, smiley and helpful .

Also the hotel has a museum which i loved. It has very nice concept which shows the traditional Lubenon jobs, people, lifestyle.. I enjoyed there alot. The pics i publish here ,all taken by me; if you wanna see more see the website; http://www.assaha.info/en/musuem.php

If you got a chance to go Beirut , i highly reccomend this hotel to stay or at least to have a meal at the restaurant.

Trust me , you will never regret..

Enjoy!!