Thursday, March 21, 2013

Meatballs in Tomato Sauce (Domatesli Sulu Kofte)

½ onion, chopped finely
3-4 Tbsp canola oil
3 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp tomato paste
½ cup crushed tomato
5-6 cups water
1 tsp salt to taste
 
For the meatballs:
~1 lb ground beef
½ onion, chopped finely
¼ cup rice, washed
½ tsp salt to taste
¼ tsp black pepper
¼ tsp cumin
A pinch of crushed red pepper
 
Mix all the meatball ingredients with your hands and grab cherry size or bigger pieces and make meatballs using your palms. Keep them in refrigerator.
Take onion and canola oil over a pan and sauté over medium heat. Add flour and keep sautéing for about 2 minutes until it changes color. Then, add tomato paste stirring continuously. Once the tomato paste is dissolved, add water and crushed tomato. Bring to a boil and add the meatballs. Simmer over low heat until the meatballs are cooked (about 15-20 minutes).
ENJOY
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TURKCE
½ sogan, kucuk dogranmis
3-4 yemek kasigi kanola yagi
3 yemek kasigi un
2 yemek kasigi domates salcasi
½ su bardagi rendelenmis domates
5-6 su bardagi su
1 tatli kasigi tuz
 
Koftesi icin:
400 gr kiyma
½ sogan, kucuk dogranmis
¼ su bardagi pirinc, yikanmis
1 cay kasigi tuz
½ cay kasigi karabiber
½ cay kasigi kimyon
Bir tutam aci pul biber
 
Koftelik malzemeleri guzelce elinizle yogurun ve cevizden biraz daha kucuk toplar yapin. Buzdolabina dinlenmeye alin.
Tencereye sogani ve kanola yagini alin ve orta ateste sote edin. Unu ilave edin ve rengi degisene dek yaklasik 2 dakika kadar cevirin. Sonra salcayi ilave edin ve karistirmaya devam edin. Salca dagildiktan sonra domatesi ve suyu  ilave edin. Kaynamaya baslayinca kofteleri ilave edin. Kisik ateste kofteler pisene dek yaklasik 15-20 dakika pisirin.
AFIYET OLSUN

Friday, March 15, 2013

Egg in a Basket (Ekmek Ici Yumurta)

2 eggs
2 slices of bread, any kind
2-3 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste
 
Use a small cup or cookie cutter to cut a hole (or any shape) in the middle of the slice. Place 1 Tbsp of butter in a pan and place it over medium heat. Then, place the slice in the pan and put 1 tsp of butter inside the hole. Crack the egg into a small cup and then release the egg into the bread hole gently. Or you may crack the egg directly into the hole. Sprinkle some salt and pepper. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Carefully lift up the edge and see if the bottom is nice and solid maybe a little bit of golden brownness. Flip it with a wooden spatula. Add some more butter to the pan. You should see the egg has been cooked nicely on side one and into the edges of the bread nicely. Again sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook the second side about a minute or so. The second side takes a little bit less time to cook, but check and feel if the firmness is to your taste. Flip back over as the first side is typically the pretty side, and place it on your plate. Repeat the same steps for the other slices.
ENJOY
 
 
TURKCE
2 yumurta
2 dilim ekmek, herhangi bir cesit
2-3 yemek kasigi tereyagi
Tuz ve karabiber
Kucuk bir bardak  ya da kurabiye kalibi kullanarak (istediginiz sekilde) ekmek diliminin ortasinda bir delik acin. Tavaya 1 yemek kasigi tereyagi alin ve orta atese alin. Sonra, dilimin ortasindaki bosluga 1 tatli kasigi kadar tereyagi koyun. Yumurtayi bir bardaga nazikce kirin ve ekmegin ortasindaki bosluga birakin. Ya da yumurtayi direk olarak ekmegin icine kirabilirsiniz. Biraz tuz ve karabiber serpin. Yaklasik 1-2 dakika pisirin. Tahta bir spatula ile dikkatlice cevirin ve tavaya biraz daha tereyagi ilave edin. Ekmegin icindeki yumurtanin pistigini ve ekmek kenarlarina dogru sertlestigini goreceksiniz. Cevirdiginiz tarafa tekrar tuz serpin ve yaklasik 1-2 dakika kadar pisirin. Ikinci taraf daha kisa surede pisecektir, fakat siz yine de arzu ettiginiz miktarda pisirin. Servis tabagina alirken ilk pisirdiginiz tarafi uste gelecek sekilde koyun, genelde ilk taraf daha guzel gorunur.
Diger ekmek dilimleri icinde ayni islemleri tekrarlayin.
AFIYET OLSUN
 

Saturday, March 9, 2013

Stuffed Zucchini (Zeytinyagli Kabak Dolmasi)

2 lb zucchini
1½ cups rice
1 medium onion, chopped finely
½ cup parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp dried mint
1 tsp salt to taste
½ tsp black pepper
1/3 cup olive oil
1 Tbsp tomato paste
2-3 tomatoes, sliced (for covering tops)
Hot water
 
Wash the rice and drain. Chop the onions finely and mix all the ingredients but hot water and the zucchinis. Then, wash the zucchinis and make scratches or parallel marks with fork or you may peel them in stripes. Cut the stems. If the zucchinis were long enough cut them in half lengthwise. Then, scrape inside of each piece of zucchini using a small spoon, making them hollow. You may sprinkle with salt inside.
Then, stuff each hollow zucchini with the rice stuffing, leaving about ¼ inch part on top. Cover each stuffed zucchini either with a slice of tomato or stems of the zucchinis. Place them in a pot leaving no room in between. Add hot water about 1 inch to cover the zucchinis and cook over medium-low heat about 30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Take them over serving plate and serve with either plain or garlic yogurt. You may garnish with dill.
ENJOY
 
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TURKCE
1 kg dolmalik sakiz kabagi
1½ su bardagi pirinc
1 orta boy sogan, ince dogranmis
½ su bardagi maydanoz, dogranmis
1 yemek kasigi kuru nane
1 tatli kasigi tuz
1 cay kasigi karabiber
1/3 su bardagi zeytinyagi
1 yemek kasigi domates salcasi
2-3 domates, dilimlenmis (uzeri icin)
Kaynamis su
 
Pirinci yikayin ve suzun. Soganlari kucuk kucuk dograyin. Sonra butun ic malzemeyi bir kapta karistirin. Kabaklari yikayin ve uzerlerini catal ile cizin veya alacali soyabilirsiniz. Kabaklarin sap kisimlarini duzgunce kesin. Eger kabaklar uzun ise boyuna ortadan iki esit parcaya bolun. Her bir parcanin icini cay kasigi yardimi ile diplerini delmemeye gayret gostererek oyun. Oydugunuz kabaklarin icine tuz serpebilirsiniz.
Hazirladiginiz icten kabaklarin uzerinde bir parmak kadar bosluk kalana dek doldurun. Uzerlerine birer dilim domates ya da kestiginiz kabaklarin saplarini yerlestirin. Tencereye bosluk kalmayacak sekilde dizin. Tencerenin tabanindan 2 parmak yukseklige cikacak kadar kaynamis su ilave edin ve kisik ateste yarim saat kadar kabaklar ve pirincler pisene dek pisirin.
Servis tabagina alin ve uzerlerine ya da yanina sade veya sarimsakli yogurt koyarak servis yapin. Dere otu ile de susleyebilirsiniz.
AFIYET OLSUN
 

Monday, March 4, 2013

Roasted White Asparagus (Firinda Beyaz Kuskonmaz)

1 lb white asparagus, trimmed
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
½ tsp paprika
½ tsp salt to taste
½ tsp dried thyme
2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice (optional)

Steam asparagus spears in 1 cup salty boiling water until they are soft (5 minutes in microwave). Then, rinse under cold water and drain. Preferably cut them in half.
Take the cooked asparagus over an oven tray layered with baking paper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil; add paprika and thyme. Toss gently to cover them all. Roast them in the preheated 450F (230C) for about 8-10 minutes.
Take over the serving plate and drizzle with fresh lemon juice (optional).
ENJOY

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TURKCE
½ kg beyaz kuskonmaz, temizlenmis
2 yemek kasigi sizma zeytinyagi
½ tatli kasigi toz kirmizi biber
1 cay kasigi tuz
1 cay kasigi kuru kekik
2 yemek kasigi taze limon suyu (istege bagli)

Kuskonmazlari 1 su bardagi kaynar tuzlu su icinde yumusayana dek buharda pisirin (mikrodalgada 5 dakika). Soguk su altinda durulayin ve suyunu suzun.
Pismis beyaz kuskonmazlari yagli kagit sermis oldugunuz firin tepsisine alin. Uzerine zeytinyagini, kirmizi toz biber ve kekigi serpin. Nazikce harmanlayin ve onceden isitilmis 230C (450F) firinda yaklasik 8-10 dakika pisirin. Servis tabaklarina alin ve uzerlerine limon suyu serpistirin (istege bagli).
AFIYET OLSUN