Savory Dill and Cheese Pastry

Savory Dill and Cheese pastry

Savory treats are my favorites for tea time. My friend Nur served these to us with coffee and they were an istant hit with everyone. They are very easy to make and freeze very well. If you freeze, when ready to serve, take them out of the freezer, put them in a preheated oven for 5 minutes. They will taste like they just came fresh out of the oven. You can use olive oil, as well as any other healthy oil like walnut or avocado oil.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup yogurt
• ½ cup oil
• 2 eggs (one yolk separated for glazing)
• 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• Black caraway seeds

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Separate one egg yolk, save it for glazing the top of the pastry later. In a large bowl, mix yogurt, oil, and eggs with a whisk. Add crumbled feta cheese and dill, mix with a spoon. Add flour and baking powder. Mix well with a spoon. Cover the dough and let it chill in the refrigerator for half an hour.

Grease a cookie sheet. Take a walnut size piece of the dough, roll it between your palms into a ball and place on the cookie sheet. Repeat until all dough is used. Dough will yield about 40 pieces. Add a table spoon of water into the egg yolk, mix well. Brush the egg yolk over the pastry balls. Sprinkle black caraway seeds over the pastry. Bake in the oven until golden brown (about 30-45 minutes). Serve hot or at room temperature. 

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Yogurt, oil, feta cheese and fresh dill

Dough is ready to go in the refrigerator

Chilled dough

Pasty balls ready for glazing

Pastry balls glazed, ready for baking

Savory dill and cheese pastry fresh out of the oven

Savory dill and cheese pastry

Savory dill and cheese pastry

Olive Bread - Zeytinli Ekmek

Olive Bread - Zeytinli Ekmek

Here's a tasty savory bread with olives, cheese and herbs. Very easy to make. It is great at breakfast/brunch as well as at afternoon tea-time.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup red bell pepper (about 1/2 pepper), chopped
• 1 cup olive oil
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup sliced green olives (use the ones stuffed with red pepper if you like)
• 1/2 cup sliced black olives
• 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon black caraway seeds (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

Spray an oven safe bread loaf pan with olive oil, set aside.

Steam chopped red bellpepper until it is cooked. About 2-3 minutes.

In a large pan, combine olive oil, eggs and milk. Mix well with a wisk until smooth. Add flour, baking powder, parsley and dill, mix with spoon. Add peppers, olives and feta cheese, gently stir with a spoon. Pour the mixture into the bread loaf pan. Sprinkle caraway seeds on top (optional). Bake until the top is golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the cake, about 50-60 minutes.

Remove from the oven, let it cool to room temperature. Remove from the pan. Slice and transfer to a serving tray. Enjoy!

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Crumbled feta cheese and olives

Chopped bell peppers, parsley and dill

Steamed bell peppers

Oil, milk and eggs mixed

Flour, baking powder, herbs added to the batter

Peppers, cheese and olives added

Ready to go in the oven

Fresh out of the oven

Sliced, ready to be served!

Menemen - Scrambled Eggs with Onions, Tomatoes and Peppers

Menemen - Scrambled Eggs with Onions, Tomatoes and Peppers

Menemen is a close cousin to omlettes, but it is typically a summer lunch classic in Turkish cuisine. Compared to omlettes, menemen is not as dry and all the ingredients are mixed with eggs.
It is quick and easy to make, uses ingredients that are ever present in a Turkish kitchen during summer months.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, cut in quarters and sliced
• 2 table spoons olive oil
• 4-5 sweet long peppers or 1 green bell pepper, finely chopped
• 3 large tomatoes, skinned, finely chopped
• 4-5 eggs, beaten
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Peel and cut onion in 4 pieces, thinly slice each piece. In a skillet, sauté onions in olive oil on medium heat for about 4 minutes. Add peppers and continue to sauté for another 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, cover the skillet and let it simmer on low heat until all vegetables are tender, about 6-8 minutes. 
Add beaten eggs to the pan. Gently stir with a spoon,  making sure all ingredients are evenly mixed. Add salt and pepper to your taste and continue to stir gently until eggs are cooked. Transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.

Sauté vegetables in olive oil

Vegetables cooked

Beaten Eggs

Eggs are added to the sautéd vegetables

 

Menemen ready to be served

Menemen

  Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Plum Preserves - Erik Reçeli

Plum Preserves

At the peak of summer, local farmers markets are bursting with colorful fruits and vegetables. I bought two different kinds of plums. One had deep purple skin, yellowish meat inside. It was very juicy and sweet. The other kind had greenish skin and bright red meat inside. As mouth watering as it looked, it was very tart. I thought it would make great preserves, and it did indeed!

This is good with cream cheese over toast, but, you can also use it over ice cream or cakes as you would use raspberry sauce. Recipe calls for 2 cups of sugar, however, depending on how tart the fruit is, you may need to add more sugar.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb plums
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Directions:

Wash plums, remove pits and cut each one into slices. Place plums in a bowl. Pour sugar over them. Leave for about 4 hours or overnight (in the refrigerator). Plums will release their juices, forming a syrup. Place plums with the syrup in a pot. Add lemon juice and bring to a boil over medium heat. When it starts to boil, reduce heat to low and let it simmer. Remove any foam that might form on the top with a spoon. Take a small spoonful of the cooking mixture, place on a plate, let it cool and taste to see if it is sweet enough. Add sugar if necessary, stir gently. Cook until plums are translucent and the syrup thickens, about 20-30 minutes. Skins of plums will be floating in the sauce. Let the preserves cool to room temperature. Place in a food processor or a blender. Blend for a few seconds until the plum skins are blended into the sauce forming a fairly smooth texture. Pour preserves in glass jars and keep in the refrigerator.

Plums

Sugar poured over sliced plums

Plums start releasing their juices

Plums in syrup formed by sugar & released juices

Plum preserves

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Henny's Sunny Side Up Eggs with Mushrooms, Celery and Onions

Henny's Famous Sunny Side Up Eggs with Mushrooms, Celery and Onions

When my son asked me to go on a road trip to San Francisco together, I jumped on the opportunity. We loaded the car with a few clothes, a large bag of comfort food and got on the road at 7:00 in the morning. We decided to take Highway 1 to enjoy the beauty of the California Coast and it turned out to be a real treat this time of the year. Blooming wild flowers were everywhere. When we stopped at Big Sur for lunch, we could see the migrating Gray Whales spouting at a distance. Each time we curved around the road, we would be awed by yet another magical seascape. Our day long drive was full of many "oh my god!" moments thanks to the beauty of the Central California Coast.

Big Sur Coastline

San Francisco, where else?

Above the Ocean Beach, S.F.

Gautier Exhibit at de Young

Blossoms on Fillmore Street in Pacific Heights

Cafe Strada, Berkeley

 This turned out to be a trip I'll remember for the rest of my life. Not only I got to spend a lot of quality time with my son, but I also got to see some old friends and catch up with each other. My friend Susanna and I had Dim Sum for breakfast, hiked by the ocean, visited the Legion of Honor Museum, then hiked by the Ocean Beach, then quickly checked out the Gautier Exhibit at de Young  museum and called it the day.  In Berkeley, I stayed with my friend Henny, a wise, sweet and warm person. I always learn something from her by listening to her or just by watching how she lives her life. She is a coffee connoisseur, makes the best coffee, One Cup at a Time. The breakfast she prepared was delicious. I took a quick picture and had to share the recipe.

Sunny Side Eggs with Sautéed Vegetables:


Ingredients:

• 2 table spoons olive oil
• 1/4 cup onions, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup celery, finely chopped
  6 mushrooms, sliced
• 2 Eggs
• 2 wheat tortillas
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine olive oil and onions in a pan, sauté for a few minutes. Add celery and continue to sauté until both onions and celery are cooked. Add mushrooms and sauté until mushrooms are cooked. Making sure the vegetables are evenly spread on the pan, break the eggs over the vegetables. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place a lid over the pan and let it cook until the eggs are just done, set aside.

Warm the tortillas in the oven, place them on serving plates. Carefully place the eggs and vegetables over the tortillas. Enjoy!

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!