STRAWBERRIES AND CREAM

INGREDIENTS for 2 servings

• 2 tubs of strawberries
• 6 tbsp natural yogurt
• 2 tbsp cherry liqueur
• 6 tbsp light cream cheese
• 3 tbsp milk
• 3 tbsp icing sugar
• extra strawberries for decorating

1) Wash and chop up strawberries. Mix yogurt, cherry liqueur and add the strawberries. Divide them into two serving dessert dishes.

2) Mix cream cheese with milk and sugar. Pour over the yogurt and strawberry mixture.

3) Decorate with strawberries and chill in the fridge before serving.

CHICKEN WITH WALNUTS ( CERKEZ TAVUGU )

This is another classic dish that prepared and served to Sultans at the height of Ottoman Empire. It is a dish that served as a side dish or meze. It is an ideal meal for lunch or as a buffet food.

YOU NEED

• 4 chicken breasts, thinly sliced and diced
• 3 cups of stock.
• 1 onion. chopped finely
• 2-3 tbsp butter
• 2 cloves of garlic, finely diced
• crumbs from 2 slice of stale bread
• 1 cup of walnuts or pecan nuts
• 4-5 tbsp milk
• salt and pepper to taste

For garnish

• 1-2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp paprika or chili flakes

METHOD

1) Boil the chicken pieces in stock, then lower the heat and simmer 15 minutes until the chicken cooked and tender. (Use stock cubes or make your own stock and boil for at least half an hour or 1 hour before adding to the chicken. I made the stock by placing 1 onion, 1 carrot, some celery and mixed herbs for this dish). Remove the chicken from to pan and set aside to cool.

2) Fry the onion in butter until golden, then add the bread crumbs and stir. Place the walnuts, garlic in a mortar and pestle or whiz in a blender. Add to the pan with onion and bread crumbs. Add the milk and some stock to make a smooth and creamy mixture. Simmer this mixture for 2-5 minutes. Add salt and pepper.

3) In a separate bowl, tear the chicken flesh into thin strips. Spoon the creamy walnut sauce over the chicken and mix lightly. Add more salt to the dish to taste.Transfer the mixture on a serving plate.

4) Melt the butter in a frying pan, add the chili flakes or paprika and drizzle over chicken.

5) Decorate with walnuts and parsley just before serving.

EGGLESS MUFFINS

Hi all, this is my latest experiment of egg less muffins. My son's friend who is allergic to eggs, inspired me to make these muffins. They turned out very nice and you will never know the difference from ordinary muffins. Hope you like them. Below makes 12 muffins.

YOU NEED

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1-2 tsp cinnamon
• 4 tbsp coco powder
• 1 cup of nuts, dried fruit and chocolate drops mixture
• 1 cup sugar
• 5 -7 tbsp melted butter or oil ( I prefer to use less butter )
• 2 cups milk
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• Brown sugar and sunflower seeds for sprinkling

1) Sieve the flour with baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and coco powder. Add the nut and dried fruit mixture, mix.

2) In a separate bowl, whisk sugar, butter, milk and vanilla essence.

3) Pour the wet mixture slowly to the dry mixture and mix. Fold with a wooden spoon and drop 2 tbsp of the mixture to each muffin case.

4) Sprinkle the tops with brown sugar and sunflower seeds and bake at preheated oven 180 C, 160 fan setting for 20 minutes.

5) Cool them on wire rack before serving.

SMOKED FISH WITH SPINACH

 YOU NEED

• 2 fillets of smoked cod or haddock
• skimmed milk
• half a packed spinach leaves
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 leek, diced
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• 1 tbsp fresh dill  and parsley
• red chili flakes
• salt and pepper to taste

1) Wash the fish and drain. Place the fillets in a pan with the milk to cover the fish and heat gently. When it boils, turn the heat to low and cook the fish for 5 minutes. Take the fish out, set aside.

2) Saute the chopped leeks in the oil for couple of minutes. Add the spinach and stir. Cook for further 2 minutes with the herbs and the pine nuts. Add chili pepper and season with salt.

3) Divide into 2 serving plates . Flake the fish and place it on top the spinach and leek. 

4) Sprinkle with paprika or chili flakes and decorate with dill before serving.

TURKISH PIDE - BREAD

This bread is delicious hot from the oven with butter or with any savoury dish with your meal.

PIDE

• 4 cups of strong bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• half a cup warm water
• 2 tsp easy blend dried yeast
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp natural yogurt
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbsp nigella seeds

For glazing

• 1 egg yolk
• 2 tbsp milk

Sieve the flour with salt. 

1) Mix the yeast and sugar in a jug with warm water. Set aside for 10 minutes until is is frothy.

2) Make a well in the flour and add the yeast mixture. Add the oil, egg white and the yogurt. Knead by hand for about 10 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Alternatively use an electric mixer with the dough hook for 6-7 minutes. Add little more flour if sticky but make sure the dough is not too hard.

3) Place the dough in a greased bowl, cover with cling film and leave in a warm place for 2 hours until it has doubled in size. Knock back the dough and knead for 1-2 minutes.

4) Place the dough on a floured surface and divide dough into 2 pieces.. Flatten each dough with the heal of your hand, use your fingers to stretch it from the middle.

5) First mark the dough with a knife  like a diamond shape on the surface. Then push your fingers into the dough to achieve a dimpled effect.

6) Place the dough on to a baking tray, brush with milk and egg yolk mixture and sprinkle with nigella seeds. Cover and leave the dough to rise again for 30 minutes.

7) Place 2 cups of water in a oven proof dish and place at the bottom of the oven. Bake the pide in preheated oven 220 C, 200 Fan setting for 10 - 15 minutes. Bake the other pide the same way.

8) Cool on wire rack for 5 minutes before serving. Serve warm.

HELVA WITH HONEY AND PINE NUTS ( BALLI VE FISTIKLI HELVA )

Hi All, today I enjoyed making this sweet dish with semolina, honey and ground nut. It is different from the traditional helva and not so fluffy because of the honey but I loved the combination and it is a lot lighter than traditional helva. Serve it on its own or with whipped cream.

YOU NEED

• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 1 tbsp pine nuts
• 4 tbsp fine semolina
• 2 tsp sugar
• 3 tbsp ground almond or ground nut
• 250 ml half and half water, milk
• 1 good heaped tbsp runny honey
• ground cinnamon for sprinkling

1) Place butter and pine nuts in a non stick frying pan. Cook the nuts over a medium heat until lightly browned.

2) Add the semolina and sugar, ground nut and cook further 3-4 minutes stirring all the time until the semolina is browned lightly.

3) Add  water and milk mixture and and honey. Stir and mix until all the liquid is absorbed, for further 5  minutes on low heat.  Turn the heat off. Cover the helva with 3 sheets of kitchen paper. Place a lid and let the helva stand for 25-30 minutes.

4) Take the cover and the lid off, spoon helva  into a serving plate and fluff it with a fork. Sprinkle with cinnamon before serving. Serve it warm or cold.

BRANDY SAUCE

This sauce s so good with Christmas pudding and mince pies.

• 2 egg yolks
• 2 tbsp cornflour
• 2 tbsp caster sugar
• 250 ml milk
• 3 tbsp brandy

Mix cornflour with egg yolks and sugar  in a bowl until smooth. Add the milk gradually and transfer this mixture into a non stick sauce pan. Cook for 3-5 minutes, stirring constantly. Then add the brandy. Take it off the heat and stir it well. Serve it  straight away or warm with Xmas pudding and  sweet mince pies.

KIYMALI PIDE ( PIDE WITH GROUND MINCE )

INGREDIENTS

FILLING

• 250-300 g lean lamb or beef mince
• 1 onion, diced
• 2-3 tomatoes
• handful of fresh parsley
• salt and black pepper
• chili pepper ( optional )

FOR THE DOUGH

• 400 g plain flour
• 2 tsp dried yeast
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp sugar
• 2 tbsp natural yogurt
• 50 ml olive oil
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 50 ml warm milk
• 1 egg yolk for glazing

METHOD

Mix yeast and salt with  sifted flour. Add sugar olive oil,  whisked eggs and warm milk  in a dip bowl and mix it to bind. Transfer the dough on to a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Form a ball, cover with cling film and let it rise for an hour until it doubled in size. Knock the air out and knead for 1-2 minutes. Cover and let it rest another 45 minutes.

In the mean time, prepare the FILLING

Put the onion in a food processor and pulse it 2-3 times. Add chopped tomatoes, mince, parsley, chili, salt and peeper and pulse it until mixed well and you achieved a ball of the mixture. Transfer into a calender and let the excess water drain.

Transfer the dough on the floured surface. Break the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll each dough 25-30 cm long and 10 cm wide. Put 1 heaped tbsp of the mince mixture in the middle of the dough and shape it with your finger tips. Fold  the edges of the pide inwards  like a boat ( see picture above ) Place pides on greased baking tin and glaze them using the brush, with egg yolk. Cook  the pides in preheated oven, in the middle shelf at 220 C,  200 fan  setting, for 15- 20 minutes. 

NOTE : I cooked 4 pides at a time but  if you are cooking one or two at a time you may need less time to cook.

CANADA AND ST MARYS, ONTARIO

During our wonderful visit to Canada, we visited and spent several days in St Marys. It was a delightful village with wonderful scenery and landscape. We stayed at SERENDIP with Roy and Eloise Hagerman. They were the perfect host and made us very welcome. Her muffins and pancakes for breakfast was simply delicious. This is Eloise's pancake recipe below.

PANCAKES

• 1 cup plain flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup bran flakes
• 1 egg, whisked
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 cup of milk
• Handful of blue berries or fresh fruit of your chose

Sift the flour with the baking powder in a dip bowl. Add the egg, oil, milk and make a smooth batter. Fold the bran flakes and the  berries in. Heat the griddle and drop a tbsp of the batter mixture into the pan and cook both sides, turning over until they are cooked. Repeat this process until you use all the batter.

Serve with honey or maple syrup.

 

SEMOLINA HELVA ( irmik helvasi )

This is a one of the Turkish speciality for deserts called HELVA. The main ingredients are semolina, butter, nuts and sugar. The other type of helva ,made with flour which is called un helvasi. I will give the recipe on later dates  for un helvasi which is quite different in texture to the semolina helva.

YOU NEED

• 1 and a half cup course semolina
• 125g butter
• handful of pistachio nuts
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• sugar, cinnamon for sprinkling

First melt the butter in a non stick pan, add the semolina and nuts and mix it well. Turn the heat down and cook the semolina slowly,with butter, stirring it constantly, until it turns golden brown. This will take about 20 minutes or so. We have to make sure it doesn't burn by stirring it constantly. When it is the right colour, prepare the sugar syrup. Mix the sugar with water and milk and bring it to boil. Pour the hot syrup over the semolina and let it simmer for a minute or two until all the liquid has absorbed. Turn the heat off, sprinkle the helva with sugar and cinnamon mixture,  place the lid and let the helva rest for another 20 minutes. Stir and make it fluffy before serving or just cut it into slices before serving. Hope you enjoy...

NOTE : In Turkey people tend to  use water drinking glass, as cup  measurements. 

 1 cup of  sugar = 250 g  

1 cup of water= 300 ml

COOK'S NOTE : Please see my post  HELVA WITH HONEY AND PINE NUTS   posted on 14/ Jan/09.