Life 'n' Such

Again, pictures only of the feast we had at Hacer’s. I have to get the fantastic recipe of the soup or was it like an appetizer she had made, I think its called Buddh-Buddh. I always forget the name, its so funny , anyway, let me list the menu she had that night.

First, buddh- buddh (soup/appetizer), then ofcourse there was salad, then there was the saarma (grape leaves stuffed with rice) and dolma (dried eggplant stuffed with rice and spices). Pilaf with chicken on the top (like maklube), kidney beans with carrots in tomato sauce, topped with fresh parsley. For dessert there was kunafa, and african pasta (I am not sure of its name and I dont know why its called African pasta).

So here are the pictures!

ok ok, now stop drooling over your keyboard

4 Comments | In: Food, Recipes, Turkish | | #

Yumm Yumm Yumm Yumm…………………..Look at the pictures, I have to get the exact ingredients and recipe from Hacer, but the pictures are so cute, I couldnt wait to put them.

Update: I have the recipe!!!!!!! Yippee!!!!! Hi Sharifah, give it a try.
Ingredients:

katayeef 1 packet – its about 450 gms (you can buy this at the arabic/turkish store)
kunafa/kunefe cheese 1 packet (If you do not find this in your area, you may use swiss cheese, it tastes great too)
1 and half stick butter
for the syrup:

2 cups sugar,
2 cups water

Method:

Boil the butter, only till it melts all the way. Mix this with the katayeef (ofcourse, first break the katayeef in little pieces) Mix the butter and the katayeef with your hand for about 5-10 mins.

Now put half of this in the frying pan, as shown in the picture, and press it down so as to form a flat layer. Put all of the cheese on this, and then the remaining katayeef as the top layer, and again press it down firmly.

Now start roasting this on a medium flame.

While roasting, pat down the katayeef with your spatula several times.

When the first (bottom side is done), then using a lid (look at the picture, the lid is stuffed with newspaper, then covered with aluminum foil to form a flat surface) flip the katayeef over the lid.

Now gently slide the un-roasted side on the frying pan, and then again roast it for a few minutes.

To make the sugar syrup, mix the sugar and the water, get it to a boil, and boil for 2 mins. When both are ready, wait about 2-3 minutes, then pour this hot syrup straight on your hot roasted katayeef/cheese bed.

Done! Cut little or big pieces, and enjoy the experience!

Hacer suggests roasting and putting the sugar syrup when you are ready to eat, otherwise when it gets cold, the cheese hardens and becomes kind of hard to eat.

Update: Today I took a video of making this kunefe, as soon as we edit it, I will put it up!

7 Comments | In: Dessert, Food, Recipes, Turkish | | #

I just love year end sales, White (After christmas) sale is good….not as great as Black Friday (Thanksgiving sale), but some stores have great deals, like Gabriels, TJMaxx, Macy’s, Target etc. Check them out!

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Let me correct myself, “Good Morning, would you like lot of breakfast??” Now its more accurate. I am not exaggerating. The last month, I wish I was a monster, how many lunches, dinners, breakfasts we had!

Ulfet was on a roll. These pictures are taken at her house when she invited us for breakfast. I got smart, I waited till she laid out everything on the table, pulled out a chair, and stood on it and took one picture of the entire breakfast menu.

The following is the menu:

Spinach (spring roll) berek, fried potatoes + peppers + zucchini with tomato sauce, olives, tomatoes and cucumbers, egg salad, cake, fried mushrooms, Turkish cheese, pogaca and mini pizzas, Turkish tea, green beans in egg (a very interesting egg preparation)

Then we had some Turkish coffee

Ajaktum (means hungry) anyone? I am!

1 Comment | In: Dessert, Food, Recipes, Turkish | | #

Now I am getting hungry uploading these pictures

I wish I had eaten some more at the dinner/breakfasts

Well, take a look at what Nurhan made for dinner.

Let me just list the menu in order:

Lentil Soup, potato salad, vegetable salad, green beans in tomato sauce, spinach berek, chicken with mushrooms, cauliflower with cheese, rolla pasta (chocolate) and finally fruit salad.

Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 Comments | In: Dessert, Food, Recipes, Turkish | | #

Breakfast at Tiffanys is one of my Favorite movies starring Audrey Hepburn. Well this post is not about the movie, but its about Breakfast at Ayse Guls!

Ayse Gul is going to have a baby brother for Sueda soon, Congratulations!!!!!!

Hacer and Nurhan helped her with the breakfast. It was less of a breakfast and more like lunch.

Look at the pictures if you dont believe me!

Crepes are made by Nurhan, she stuffed some with mushrooms and some with chicken and mushrooms

Cheese berek (I forgot the turkish name)

Potato cake made by Hacer (i have recipe for this)

Potato fries made by Hacer

Spinach cake by Ayse Gul

And another view of the breakfast

isn’t this a fantastic menu for a grand breakfast?

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I have Guvec recipe in the previous post, other recipes to follow soon.

There was soup for starters (I dont have pictures of that), then we had Guvec (picture below). At that point, my dad thought dinner is over. But……………

Then followed pilaf with the salmon, spinach crepes and the stuffed grape leaves (called saarma in turkish). She also had side dish of salad and green beans in tomato sauce.

Spinach crepes up close:

And for dessert there was sweet potatoes (I loved it, first time I ate it and liked it), pudding, and cake(I think it was apples and nuts)

Didnt I say 5 course dinner?

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This is Del-ici-ous!!!!!!!!!! We had this at Ulfets dinner party. Was it a four or a five course dinner, with endless dessert!! I am not kidding!

She made three types, because me and Yasir, and my mom and dad have different preferences. So she made vegetable only for my mom, chicken and veggies for me, and for the rest, it was meat and veggies.

Now what is Guvec (pronounced as “Guvech”)? It is basically, vegetables and or meat with spices, cooked together in a earthern pot called Guvec (see picture) and cooked till done. Sounds good, trust me, it tastes even better!!!

Ingredients:

For veggie lovers: use this recipe.
(For 1 person)
1/2 potato chopped,
1/4 (medium size) eggplant chopped,
3-4 mushrooms sliced,
1/2 tomato chopped,
2-3 green beans chopped,
1/3 onion chopped,

——————————————-

For chicken lovers (like moi): use this recipe. (SHOWN IN PICTURE)
(For one person)
boneless breast chicken chopped,
3-4 mushrooms sliced,
1/2 tomato chopped,
1/2 green bell pepper chopped

——————————————-

For meat lovers: use this one
(For one person)
3-4 mushrooms sliced,
1/2 tomato chopped,
1/2 green bell pepper chopped
1/3 onion chopped,
few pieces of chopped eggplant,
2-3 green beans chopped

————————————————

And with all the above options Use: in a cup, mix together, 1/2 turkish teacup hot water, 1 turkish tsp tomato paste, red pepper, black pepper, salt and 1 pinch garlic crushed/ grated/paste) and 1 tbsp oil per serving

Method:

Mix all the above listed ingredients in a Guvec cup/ use the foil method suggested at the end of this post for individual serving. Cover it completely and tightly with foil. And bake this at 400 deg F for about 30 minutes (you should judge the time, based on the smell in your kitchen ) Good tip?

Notes:
For more people:
Since most of us, will not have Guvec cups, Ulfet said, you can use one big tray, put all the ingredients in it. Cover it tightly with foil (IMPORTANT for cooking) and bake it. Ofcourse this way, you will not have much flexibility over individual preferences.

Foil Method for individual cooking:
To do individual cooking, use a big piece of heavy duty aluminium foil, then make like a pouch, then put the ingredients from one end, and then seal it by folding it tightly. Bake this inside a tray.

1 Comment | In: Food, Recipes, Turkish | | #

This is the perfect cake recipe, this ones from Ulfet, I think Nurhan’s is almost the same. I still cannot get it exactly the way she does it, but I wont give up .
She uses a bundt cake pan for this cake, just fyi.

Ingredients:

1 cup milk,
2/3 cup oil,
less than half cup water,
1 1/2 tsp baking powder,
2 eggs,
1 1/4 cup sugar,
Flour as much as needed.
fruits and nuts optional

Method:

Nurhan starts with the eggs and the sugar, using a handblender to mix them. Ulfet puts all the ingredients except flour, mixes them and then starts adding the flour. Also, Nurhan suggested to put the baking powder over the flour when mixing.

Using Ulfets idea, add the flour little by little. I think the batter should be thick enough, but smooth. Also with a fork spread the batter away from the center, this will help getting a flat base for the cake, when you flip it out.
Now grease the pan, and bake at 350 deg F. Use a toothpick to see if the cake is done.

Wait some time, and flip it on a decorative tray.

Note: Nurhan puts some chopped fruits (orange, banana, apples etc) and Ulfet puts chopped walnuts, raisins inside the batter.

Another variation that Ulfet normally does, is she leaves out some batter while pouring into the tray, then she adds a tablespoon of cocoa powder, then again adds the batter to the cake, from the inner side of the pan, slowly.

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This is a super easy dessert recipe from Falak Bhabi. I have pictures of Falak Bhabi’s daawat (‘daawat’ means party in hindi), I will post them in sometime. (And hopefully get the recipes from her, and post them too)

Ingredients:

1 tub cool whip thawed,
1 can crushed pineapple,
Nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans etc)

Mix all the above ingredients. Thats it! What did I tell you, easy huh?

Note: You can substitute pineapple with any fruit you have, or mixed fruits.

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