Yasemin's Kitchen

Mediterranean Recipes with a Turkish Flair

Rainbow Fruit Tower

by Leave a Comment

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Rainbow Fruit Tower

 

Here’s a refreshing fruit dessert that looks appetizing and tastes heavenly.
It is easy to make, easy to serve. It makes a great breakfast/brunch dessert as well.
I’m very thankful to Gonul hanim for this wonderful recipe. Enjoy!
…

Read More »

Savory Dill and Cheese Pastry

by Leave a Comment

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

by 1 Comment

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
  • 3/4 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, dust with flour, 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 whisk 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!
Note: You could bake this in regular or small muffin cups as well. If you do, baking time will be reduces to around 30-40 minutes.

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

by Leave a Comment

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

by Leave a Comment

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!

Connect

Yasemin Ari

I love cooking, especially cooking with friends and family.

I believe that some of the best conversations take place around the kitchen counter... [Read More]