TURKISH DISHES

Yoghurt soup

 Yoghurt soup (For 4-6 people)  Ingredients:  1 cup of rice  1 spoonful of flour  ½ kg yoghurt  1 spoonful of butter  1 small onion  a pinch of mint  The Recipe:  Boil 4 glasses of water in a saucepan. Put the rice in and boil for ten minutes. Put the flour and the yoghurt in a different bowl and stir it constantly. Then pour a glass of water into yoghurt-flour mixture and mix it well. Then put the mixture into the saucepan with cooked rice. Stir it constantly until they all boil. You can add some more water if it is too dense. Turn off the cooker when it is ready.  Put a spoonful of butter into a pan. While the butter is melting chop the onion in small pieces. Roast the onions till they get pink. Add the mint as much as you like. Enjoy the soup.

Aubergine Kebab

 Eggplant Kebab (Patlican Kebabi)  Ingredients: - 5 eggplants - 1/2 pound ground lamb or beef - 1/2 tablespoon tomato paste - 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes - 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper - 1/2 teaspoon salt - Olive oil for brushing Optional: cayenne pepper, chilli pepper, paprika to taste   The Recipe:  Peel the eggplants striped. Soak in salty water for 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine ground lamb with tomato paste, red pepper flakes, black pepper and salt (and optional spices). Mix thoroughly.  Use a paper towel to dry the eggplants. Cut them into 1 inch thick pieces.  Take a piece of meat mixture and roll within your palms, press lightly. Pay attention to divide the meat mixture evenly to obtain as many meatballs as the number of eggplant intervals. Set them aside.  Take a skewer. First soak in water for a few minutes, then oil them slightly so that they're not burned and the meat does not stick. Place one eggplant on the skewer, followed by one meatball, and continue this sequence until close to the tip of the skewer. Finally brush the eggplants and meats with olive oil.  Place the skewers on the hot grill and cook about 15 minutes, turning 2 or 3 times, until the eggplant is tender and meat is cooked.  Alternatively, you can preheat oven to 450 degrees F and bake for 45 minutes or until eggplants are tender.  A third alternative is to use oven broiler; I did this way. Turn on oven broiler and place skewers on a baking sheet or grill rack. Pay attention to putting an aluminum foil or a baking tray underneath the skewers for the drippings. Broil about 8-10 minutes on each side. Oven broiler may burn meat before cooking thoroughly, so you need to always keep an eye on the oven. You may keep the oven door slightly open, so that it is less likely to burn the meat in an instant.

Shepherd's Salad

 Shepherd's Salad (Coban Salatasi)  Ingredients:  - 1 big cucumber, peeled and diced  - 2 tomatoes, diced  - 1 small red onion, diced  - 1 small cubanelle pepper, thinly sliced  - 1 cup parsley, chopped  - A few fresh mint leaves, chopped  - 3 tablespoons olive oil  - 1 lemon juice  - 1 teaspoon vinegar  - Salt  Optional: Feta cheese (crumbled), red pepper flakes   The Recipe:  In a large bowl, combine all ingredients.  Drizzle olive oil, lemon juice and vinegar.  Add salt (if using, pepper).  Mix well. Garnish with feta cheese if desired. Best served with kebabs.

Turkish Baklava

 Turkish Baklava İngilizce Tarifi  INGREDIENTS  1 (16 ounce) Package phyllo dough  1 pound chopped nuts  1 cup butter  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon  1 cup water  1 cup white sugar  1 teaspoon vanilla extract  ½ cup honey   The Recipe:  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(175 degrees C). Butter the bottoms and sides of a 9×13 inch pan.  Chop nuts and toss with cinnamon. Set aside. Unroll phyllo dough. Cut whole stack in half to fit pan. Cover phyllo with a dampened cloth to keep from drying out as you work. Place two sheets of dough in pan, butter thoroughly. Repeat until you have 8 sheets layered. Sprinkle 2 – 3 tablespoons of nut mixture on top. Top with two sheets of dough, butter, nuts, layering as you go. The top layer should be about 6 – 8 sheets deep.  Using a sharp knife cut into diamond or square shapes all the way to the bottom of the pan. You may cut into 4 long rows the make diagonal cuts. Bake for about 50 minutes until baklava is golden and crisp.  Make sauce while baklava is baking. Boil sugar and water until sugar is melted. Add vanilla and honey. Simmer for about 20 minutes.  Remove baklava from oven and immediately spoon sauce over it. Let cool. Serve in cupcake papers. This freezes well. Leave it uncovered as it gets soggy if it is wrapped up.

TURKISH DISHES