Leek With Olive Oil

Leek with olive oil is a common winter dish in Turkish Cuisine, but ironically served cold. Leek is almost always cooked in the way below. Here is the recipe of a wonderful vegetarian dish that doesn't require much skill:

Leek With Olive Oil

Leek With Olive Oil

Origin: Turkish

Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

-(Must) 1 medium onion, chopped

-(Must) 1/4 cup olive oil

-(Must) 2 medium carrot, scratched, sliced round

-(Must) 1/2 kg or equivalently 1 Ibs leek, sliced round or crosswise

-(Must) 2 cup hot water

-(Must) 1/3 cup rice

-(Optional) 1/2 lemon juice

-(Optional) 1 tsp sugar

Leek and Carrot

Directions:

Saute onions and carrots preferably in a broad pot with olive oil until onions are browned. Add sugar and leek and saute without mixing almost 5 minutes. Add water and cook leeks for about 30 minutes. Add rice and cook 20 minutes more until rice is softened. Add additional water if necessary. Try not to mix much since leeks may fall to pieces. Add salt if you desire. Since it's contains mainly olive oil, it's suggested to serve cold with lemon juice. Bon appetit!   

Leek With Olive Oil

Estimetad Nutrition Values  (by myfitnesspal.com)
Serves:4-5	Calorie	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar
Per Serving	223 kcal	29 gr	11 gr	2 gr	7 gr

Turkish Dumplings - Manti

In Kayseri, hometown city of Turkish dumplings- when a couple is engaged to be married, the mother of the groom visits the bride's house and during this visit the bride should prepare manti for her prospective mother-in-law. The smaller the manti dumplings are, the more the bride is considered to be skillful in the kitchen. Traditionally the dumplings prepared for the prospective mother-in law are supposed to be so small that 40 of them can be scooped up with one spoon. But don't worry you don't have to be that ingenious if 4-5 of your dumplings fills a spoon then good enough! Here is manti recipe:

Turkish Dumplings - Manti  

Turkish Dumplings - Manti
Origin: Turkish
Difficulty: Hard

Ingredients:

For Dough:
-(Must) 3 cups all-purpose flour 
-(Must) 2 eggs
-(Must) 1 cup water
-(Must) 2 tsp salt

For Filling:
-(Must) 400 gr or equivalently ground beef
-(Must) 1 medium onion, grated
-(Optional) 1/4 cup parsley, finely chopped 
-(Optional) salt, pepper, red pepper flakes

For Sauce:
-(Must) 2 cups plain yogurt
-(Optional) 3 cloves of garlic, crushed 
-(Must) 3 tbsp butter
-(Must) 1 tbsp tomato paste
-(Optional) Dried mint, sumac, red pepper flakes

Directions:

In a bowl or mixer combine all ingredients of dough, knead until dough forms a solid ball. If dough is sticky add additional flour, if dough is dry add more water, 1 tbsp at a time. Cover with a moist cloth when you are preparing the filling.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients of filling. Knead until it's mixed well. 

Scrape the dough onto lightly floured surface, separate into three identical pieces. Roll the first dough as thin as you can about 40 cm (16 inch) caliber. Cut the rolled dough into 2x2 cm (1x1 inch) square pieces by a sharp knife. Place a piece of meat on each square as you may see below. 

Then take a piece of dough with meat and stick each corner together as shown below.

When you are done with folding, place each dumplings on a floured surface. For cooking, boil 5-6 cups water in a big pot and add salt. Then add all the manti into the boiling water. Stir occasionally with a wooden spoon to prevent them sticking to each other. Make sure not to close the lid. Cook over medium heat till manti gets soft (for about 10-15 minutes).

Meanwhile prepare the sauce. In a bowl mix yogurt, salt and garlic. In a small pan; melt the butter/oil and stir in tomato paste and add some water from cooking manti to soften the tomato paste. Cook for 2 minutes over low heat. 


Drain the cooked manti and transfer it into serving plates. Let it cool for a while and pour the yogurt sauce over. Finally pour some butter/paste mixture all over (adjust the amount as you like). And if desired sprinkle some dried mint, red pepper flakes and sumac over the Turkish Dumplings.

Turkish Dumplings - Manti  

Estimetad Nutrition Values  (by myfitnesspal.com)
Serves:6-8	Calorie	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar
Per Serving	371 kcal	42 gr	11 gr	24 gr	6 gr

Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun

  A very thin, crisp piece of flat bread is sparingly topped with a mixed mince of meat (usually lamb or beef) and some combination of tomato, onion, pepper and herbs. Lahmacun generally comes with a lemon wedge and varied assortments of herbs, pickles, tomato slices, hot peppers, onions and other garnishes served alongside.  Diners top their flatbread as they like, rolls or folds it as necessary, and eats — with gusto.  No mozzarella here. To enjoy this great taste, you don't have to be in a small but fancy restaurant in Turkey, here is the recipe:

Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun

Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun
Origin: Turkish
Difficulty: Moderate-Hard

Ingredients:

For dough:
-(Must) 500 gr or equivalently 1 Ibs all purpose flour
-(Must) 300 ml (about 1 1/3 cup) water
-(Must) 1 tsp sugar
-(Must) 1 tsp salt

For Topping
-(Must) 500 gr or equivalently 1 Ibs ground beef, at least %20 fat
-(Must) 2 large onions, grated
-(Must) 4 large tomatoes, grated
-(Must) 1 tbsp red pepper paste
-(Must) 1 tbsp tomato paste
-(Must) 1 tbsp red pepper flakes
-(Optional) 1/2 cups parsley, finely chopped
-(Optional) Salt, pepper  

After baked
-(Optional) Lemon juice
-(Optional) Finely chopped parsley and green onions

Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun

Directions: 

Lets begin with the dough. In a bowl or mixer combine all ingredients of dough, knead until dough forms a solid ball. If dough is sticky add additional flour, if dough is dry add more water, 1 tbsp at a time. If possible refrigerate the dough 3-4 hours or even better 1 day since it's unleavened.

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients of topping. Knead until it's mixed well. 

Preheat the oven to 250C or 480F. Separate the dough to small balls (30 gr each). Place a ball of dough on a floured surface and roll into a round, flat circle, about 1/8-inch thick. Place the round on the oiled, preheated baking sheets or tiles. Spread with a thin, even layer of the meat filling, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. Repeat with remaining dough and filling.

Bake for 8 to 12 minutes. The dough should still be soft enough to roll up.

Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun

Squeeze a little lemon juice over each of the hot lahmacuns, sprinkle chopped parsley, and serve immediately either flat or rolled up into cones.

Turkish Pizza - Lahmacun

Estimetad Nutrition Values  (by myfitnesspal.com)
Serves:6-8	Calorie	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar
Per Serving	420 kcal	54 gr	13 gr	18 gr	4 gr

Semolina Cake in Syrup (Basbousa) - Revani

Revani as a word comes from Erivan (Yerevan) capital city of Armenia. When Yerevan is conquered by Ottoman Empire cooks in the palace served this dessert and it's named revani since then. 

Semolina Cake in Syrup (Basbousa) - Revani

Semolina Cake in Syrup (Basbousa) - Revani
Origin: Turkish
Difficulty: Easy

Ingredients:

For cake:
-(Must) 3 eggs
-(Must) 1/2 cup sugar
-(Must) 3 tbsp flour
-(Must) 1 cup hazelnut, corn or sunflower oil
-(Must) 1 cup semolina
-(Must) 1 cup yogurt
-(Optional) 3 tbsp ground hazelnut
-(Must) 1 packet baking powder
-(Optional) 1 packet ground vanilla
-(Optional) lemon zest

For syrup:
-(Must) 3 cups sugar
-(Must) 3 cups water
-(Must) 3-4 drops lemon juice 

Directions:

First prepare syrup; In a pot, add all ingredients of syrup and turn the heat on high. Stir until it comes to boil. And when it comes to boil decrease heat to low and cook for 15 more minutes. Remove syrup from the stove and let it cool in room temperature.

Beat eggs and sugar in a mixer until it becomes white for 3-4 minutes. Respectively add oil, yogurt, baking powder, vanilla, semolina, hazelnut and flour. Keep mixing for 2-3 minutes more.

Pour the cake mixture to a greased 10x12 inch (or 25x30 cm) rectangle or 10 inch (25 cm) round baking pan. Bake at 175C or 350F until it's colored up. 3-4 minutes after you remove the cake out of oven, slice it without removing from the baking pan. Pour the syrup on the cake and chill in the refrigerator. You may serve with whipped cream and fruits.              

Semolina Cake in Syrup (Basbousa) - Revani

Estimetad Nutrition Values  (by myfitnesspal.com)
Serves:12 -15	Calorie	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar
Per Serving	372 kcal	54 gr	16 gr	4 gr	46 gr

Beef Wrap - Tantuni

Tantuni is Turkish Style beef wrap which is actually a street food. It's originated from Mediterranean coast of Turkey, but it became widely popular across the country. You may click here for a nice post about a visit to a tantuni restaurant.  

Beef Wrap - Tantuni

Beef Wrap - Tantuni
Origin: Turkish, Arabic
Difficulty: Moderate

Ingredients:
-(Must) 4 tortilla flat breads
-(Must) 1/2 kg or equivalently 1 Ibs beef, very thinly cubic diced
-(Must) 3 tbsp vegetable, canola or sunflower oil
-(Must) Ground red pepper
-(Optional) 1 medium onion, finely chopped
-(Optional) 3/4 cup parsley, finely chopped
-(Optional) 1 medium tomato, finely chopped
-(Optional) Salt, pepper, cummin, thyme, powdered sumac

Directions:

Boil beef with 1 cup water, in medium heat, until it's drained. In a bowl combine vegetables, add sumac and gently mix them.    

Heat up the oil and add beef keep sauteing in high heat in medium-high heat. Add ground red pepper. When the oil gets too hot, it’ll splash around and will burn the meat. To prevent that, add a splash of water in the pan. Some of it will vaporize instantly and will take out the extra heat from the pan and the meat. This will keep the meat tender. 
When the remaining water in the pan is about to vaporize, cover the pan and the meat with tortilla breads. Let it warm up and then turn off the heat. 

Beef Wrap - Tantuni

Take out the breads, place one on a plate. Add 1/4 of the meat and spread along the bread. Add vegetable mix, spices and roll the bread tightly. Repeat this step for other breads. Serve with lemon and hot pickled peppers.       

Beef Wrap - Tantuni

Estimetad Nutrition Values  (by myfitnesspal.com)
Serves:4-5	Calorie	Carbs	Fat	Protein	Sugar
Per Serving	517 kcal	35 gr	28 gr	30 gr	5 gr