Yasemin's Kitchen

Mediterranean Recipes with a Turkish Flair

Stuffed Dates

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                           Stuffed Dates

Here’s a sinfully decadent vegan dessert that is healthy at the same time.
Looks delicious and is always a party favorite as an appetizer.
It is very easy to make, no baking or cooking involved.

Ingredients:

  • 25 Medjool dates, pitted, halved
  • ½ cup almond butter (cashew butter, hazelnut butter, peanut butter, or any combination of mixed nut butter can be used in place of almond butter)
  • 1/3 cup pistachio meat, coarsely chopped

Directions:

  1. Cut pitted dates in half, set on a clean surface.
  2. Using a knife, spread almond butter on the dates, mostly filling the small crevice in the middle, about ½ teaspoon on each piece.
  3. Sprinkle chopped pistachios on stuffed dates
  4. Place stuffed dates on a serving plate, enjoy!

You can store leftovers in the refrigerator for up to a week. For best flavor, make sure you let it come to room temperature before serving.

Dates halved and pitted

 

Dates stuffed with almond butter

 

Sprinkle pistachio meat on stuffed dates

Variation: Dates stuffed with sesame paste (tahini) and topped with walnuts:

Dates Stuffed with Sesame Paste and Walnuts

Ingredients:

  • 25 Medjool dates, pitted, halved
  • 1/4 cup sesame paste (Tahini). This is sold in Middle Eastern grocery stores. It is most commonly used for making hummus.
  • 25 pieces of walnut halves or quarters

Directions:

  1. Cut dates in half, remove the pits, set on a clean surface.
  2. Using a knife, spread sesame paste (tahini) on the dates, mostly filling the small crevice in the middle. Do not use too much for it will run on the sides of the dates
  3. Place walnut halves (or quarters) on stuffed dates
  4. Place stuffed dates on a serving plate. Cover with plastic wrap, place in the refrigerator for about 20 minutes allowing it to set.
  5. Remove from the refrigerator when ready to serve. Enjoy!

Dates stuffed with sesame paste (Tahini)

Top the stuffed dates with walnut halves

Assorted Stuffed Dates

Artichokes Stuffed with Avocados

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Artichokes with Avocados IMG_2111

Artichokes Stuffed with Avocados

Here’s a perfect example of an Aegean-California fusion dish, if there is such a thing. Although the Mediterranean climate is perfect for growing avocados, they are fairly new in the Aegean region. As people get more familiar with avocados, they are creatively integrating them into their local cuisine. Artichokes, however are widely used in the Mediterranean as main courses, appetizers or salads. This is a fairly easy recipe that adds the creamy texture of the avocados to the tangy delicate flavor of the artichokes. The main thing that takes time in this recipe is the avocado filling which has to be marinated at least 2-3 hours.

Ingredients:

  • 12-15 frozen artichoke bottoms
  • 1 cup lemon juice, divided
  • 1 clove garlic, mashed
  • 1 table spoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon honey
  • Salt to taste
  • 3-4 medium avocados
  • 1 medium onion, coarsely chopped, or sliced
  • 3/4 cup olive oil, divided
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • Salt to taste
  • Fresh dill weed for garnish, finely chopped

Directions:

Fill a large bowl with tap water, add 1/2 cup lemon juice. Remove frozen artichoke bottoms from the package, place them in the lemon water, set aside to let them thaw.

To prepare the marinade sauce for the avocados, in a medium size bowl mix lemon juice, 1/4 cup olive oil, mashed garlic, mustard, honey and salt with a whisk until it slightly thickens. Peel the avocados, remove seeds, and cut them in small cubes (about ½ inch in size). Place avocados in the sauce. Gently stir with a spoon, making sure the sauce covers the avocado pieces well. Cover the bowl with a plastic wrap and let it chill in the refrigerator overnight or at least for 2-3 hours.

Cut a small slice from the bottom of each artichoke to make sure the bottoms are flat, not pointy. This is needed to properly stuff them with avocados later. In a large sauce pan, place remaining olive oil and coarsely chopped onions. Spread the onions in an even layer. Place artichokes over the onions in the pan. Sprinkle with sugar and salt. Drizzle the remaining lemon juice ½ cup) evenly over the artichokes. Lemon juice will prevent the color of artichokes from darkening. Add the hot water to the pan and cover with a lid. Bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce heat to low, let it simmer until artichokes are tender, about 25-30 minutes. Remove from heat, let it cool to room temperature. Remove artichokes from the pan and place them on a serving plate. Discard the remaining onions. Using a spoon, carefully fill the artichokes with avocados. Sprinkle chopped fresh dill over the avocados. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Bon Appetit! Afiyet Olsun!

Artichokes in lemon water

Artichokes in lemon water

 

Cut the bottom of the artichoke

Cut the bottom of the artichokes

 

Chopped dill

Chopped dill

 

Olive oil and onions in pan

Olive oil and onions in pan

 

Artichokes cooking

Artichokes cooking

 

Cooked Artichokes

Cooked Artichokes

 

Artichokes ready to be served

Artichokes ready to be served

Weaved Puff Pastry Cheese Rolls – Örgülü Peynirli Puf Böreği

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Weaved Puff Pastry Cheese Rolls

If you want a very easy recipe for borek, this is it!
You’ll use puff pastry right out of the freezer.
It’s not only easy to prepare, but it looks very appetizing.

Ingredients:

  • 8 squares of puff pastry (mine measured 5″x5″ ea)
  • 1/4 cup cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
  • 1/4 cup parsley, chopped
  • 1/4 cup fresh dill, chopped
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 1 tea spoon water to thin the yolk
  • 1 tea spoon black caraway seeds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
For the filling, mix cheeses and chopped greens in a small bowl, set aside.
Place frozen puff pastry on a clean flat surface to allow it to thaw just for a few minutes. You don’t want it to thaw to room temperature since it gets sticky when as it gets warm, becoming hard to handle.
Leaving the middle 1/3 of the dough intact, cut 4 horizontal lines on both right and left sides of  the dough as shown in the photo below. Place a spoonful of cheese filling in the middle of the square dough. Starting at the top right, fold down the first strip on the right hand side towards the middle of the dough at a 45 degree angle, covering the filling. Then, do the same with the top strip on the left hand side. Repeat these steps until you wrap the strips criss-cross over the filling. Place the pastry on parchment paper. Prepare the other pastry squares the same way, set aside.

In a small bowl, using a whisk, thin the egg yolk with a teaspoon of water. Brush it over the pastry rolls. Sprinkle caraway seeds on top. Bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown. First transfer to a plate lined with paper towel to absorb any excess grease, then transfer to a serving platter.
Serve hot or warm.

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Cheeses, parsley, dill and egg yolk
Make cuts on each side 1 inch apart
Start folding down the strips at an angle over the filling
Fold down all of the strips and secure the end by pressing
Brush egg yolk and sprinkle caraway seeds
Weaved Puff Pastry Rolls with Cheese filling
Weaved Puff Pastry Rolls with Cheese filling

Roasted Bell Peppers in Lemon Garlic Sauce – Tarator Soslu Közlenmiş Biber

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Tarator is a garlic-olive oil based sauce that is commonly used in summer salads in Western Turkey. Cooked long string beans (börülce), zucchini, peppers of all kinds are transformed into zesty salads simply by adding the tarator sauce to them. If you were to make it the old fashioned way, here’s what you do: First garlic and salt are made into a paste with a mortar and pestle. Then in a bowl, as you continuously twirl this garlic paste in the same direction, you ever so slowly add small amounts of olive oil. This mixture slowly starts to thicken and starts looking like a creamy mayonnaise. When it is “just the right consistency”, you add lemon juice and water to the sauce. Knowing when to stop adding olive oil is the tricky part. Because if you add more than you should, then the oil and garlic will separate and it will no longer look creamy. Back in the day, in our neck of the woods, this used to be a measure of how good a cook a woman is. Nowadays, one no longer has to master this craft thanks to blenders and food processors,

The sauce can be prepared in advance and can be stored in the refrigerator like any salad dressing.
If you like, you can roast fresh peppers and make it more authentic, however, roasted peppers that come in a jar work well since the sauce add plenty of flavor. Enjoy!

Roasted Bell Peppers with Walnuts in Garlic Lemon Sauce

Roasted Bell Peppers in Lemon Garlic Sauce – Taratorlu Kozlenmis Biber
Ingredients:
  • 1 19oz jar or roasted bell peppers
Dressing:
  • 6-7 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup olive oil
  • juice of 1-2 lemons
  • ½ cup water
  • Salt to taste

Garnish:

  • ¼ cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

Rinse and drain the roasted bell peppers, pat dry with a paper towel, cut into bite-size pieces, arrange them in a serving dish.
To prepare the dressing, mince garlic with a garlic press. Place garlic, olive oil, lemon juice and salt into a food processor or a blender. Blend until it is smooth. It will thicken as it emulsifies. Taste to see if you need to add more lemon juice or salt. Add water and mix again.
Pour dressing over the roasted bell peppers. Garnish with chopped walnuts. Serve chilled or at room temperature.
 

Afiyet Olsun! Bon Appetit!

Ingredients
Roasted bell peppers cut into pieces
Roasted Bell Peppers in Lemon-Garlic Sauce




Savory Dill and Cheese Pastry

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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
 

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Yasemin Ari

I love cooking, especially cooking with friends and family.

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