I am not sure if I spelt that right. Well, the name isnt that important. Important is how quick and easy this recipe is… and oh delicious, win-win all the way. All my Turkish friends made it, but this recipe is given to me by Nilgun.
Ingredients:

Cauliflower (1 whole medium sized, cut into bite sized florets)
1 packet frozen broccoli
2 and half cups cold milk,
4 tbsp butter (unsalted)
1 and 1/2 tbsp flour,
1 onion, chopped
red pepper flakes, black pepper powder, salt
lots of grated mozzarella cheese
Method:

Start by boiling the cauliflower florets, then when its half done, (about 6 minutes) add the broccoli, and cook, till its almost done (not smooshy). Drain and put it in the tray you plan to bake and serve in.
In second pan, fry the onion, turn off the heat, add the salt, red and black pepper. Put it over the cauliflower/broccoli. Mix slightly.
In a third pan, heat the butter, and add the flour. Keep stirring it constantly and when it starts bubbling, add the cold milk, whisking simultaneously.When it starts to thicken, its done. (It will thicken I promise :)

Pour this over in the tray. Sprinkle grated mozzarella cheese and mix some in the cauliflower and broccoli. And lots of cheese on the top.

Bake for about 35-40 minutes, till the cheese is melted, and golden at 375 deg F.

Done!

Serve with rice pilaf, or eat by itself.

Have you ever gone to a Turkish restaurant, and tried this. If you haven’t then I beg you to try this dish. I absolutely love it.

But, if you dont have a Turkish restaurant in your neighborhood, then you gotta follow my recipe. Its awesome, and this was a lucky accident.

Actually I started making the recipe for seekh kebabs (as my MIL) taught me, but I forgot to add the garlic! I know.. big Oops! And I made them (baked and shallow fried)
Then, I was thinking, how could I add garlic to this. I recently had eaten in a Turkish restaurant* this entree, with chicken kebab on a bed of warm pita (called ‘pide’ in Turkish) and yogurt garlic sauce. Hmmm it was sooooo good!!
*(again a lucky coincidence – we were driving by looking for a restaurant in Beachwood, and found this real nice Turkish restaurant called Antalya; It was excellent food and the price was not too bad. I will try to google the address, if you would like to dine there sometime.)

Anywho… here is the  recipe, enough yak yak…more recipe details! :D Sorry I get carried away talking about food, you know that!

Ingredients:

For kebabs:
2 chicken breast, ground until minced in a food processor
salt, 1 tsp
garam masala 1/2 tsp
red chilli powder,
1 egg
and ofcourse garlic 1 tsp
(optional 1/2 tsp fennel seeds, 1 hot green pepper)
oil for frying
For yogurt sauce:
2 cups of yogurt,
2 cloves of garlic,
few pinches of salt

For tomato sauce:
oil,
3-4 tbsp of tomato sauce,
cold water – 2 tbsp
red pepper

Pita,
olive oil
Method:

First mince the chicken (chop it up in medium sized pieces and using a food processor or a meat mincer, mince it well). Add the egg and the spices to this while mincing.

Finally using skewers (bamboo or metal), and dipping your hand in cold water, apply the minced chicken mixture on the skewers, and lay them hanging over a baking tray. For more details, follow the seekh kebab recipe here.
Preheat the oven to 375 deg F, and then bake for 15 minutes.

In the mean time, make the garlic yogurt sauce by grating a couple cloves of garlic in about 2 cups of yogurt and whisking it with little cold water, add some salt.

To make the tomato sauce, heat oil, add a few tbsp of tomato sauce, and wait till it bubbles, then add the turkish red pepper to it. Add some cold water, and mix and let it come to a bubble (boil) again. Turn off the heat. Add a couple pinches of salt.
Chop up about 5-6 pitas in small 1 inch pieces with a knife. (If you have a middle eastern bakery close by, I would recommend getting the pitas fresh). Spread them in a baking tray (which you will finally use for serving as well) Drizzle some olive oil over it. Keep aside.
When they kebabs come out of the oven, immediately pull them off the skewers.

Fry them in oil, and keep aside.

Put the pita in the oven for a few minutes(5-8 minutes), until they are all warm and slightly crispy.
Now, begin making your layers: over the warm pita, pour the yogurt sauce, then lay the kebabs on them, and drizzle the tomato sauce over it.

That’s it!!!!!!!!!!! It is just too good that I cannot find words to describe it. It is very much like the one they serve at a restaurant.

Note: You could also put different seasoning for the kebabs, my Turkish friends usually have salt, black pepper, red pepper and oregano in their kebabs.

My recipe is almost the same, with Indian twist to it.

This recipe is by my Mom, it is super delicious!! And oh… really easy, especially when you use a can of Grilled Eggplant (which is available in Middle Eastern Stores).

Ingredients:

1 can Grilled Eggplant, or you can do you it over gas flame or in the oven
2 onions, chopped
8 cloves garlic, minced
green hot peppers, chopped (as many as you desire)
salt, as per taste
a pinch of sugar
black pepper powder
1 tsp garam masala
yogurt (I think about 1-2 cups)

Method:

Fry the chopped onions, till translucent (not golden brown). Add in the garlic and green peppers, and sautee for a few minutes. Add the sugar, salt, garam masala, the grilled eggplant, mix and turn off the heat after 5 minutes.

Cool it completely and stir in the beaten yogurt.

That’s it, serve at room temperature. Garnish with chopped cilantro and chopped green hot peppers (without the seeds if you dont want it hot).

This is good as a side dish to complement Indian food, or as a dip with crackers.

I wanted to make the sunrise smoothie, but, I didnt have peach, the raspberry sorbet, etc etc. Instead I had mango sorbet, a mango, a kiwi, raspberries, and oranges. And the result was
So this is what I made:

Ingredients:

Raspberries (1/2 -3/4 cup)
1 mango,
2 scoops of Mango sorbet or Mango ice cream,
1 kiwi, (peeled and cut into quarters)
Juice from 2 oranges (or store bought, about 1 cup)
Method:

Use a blender, and put the raspberries, the freshly squeezed orange juice, the mango (discard the skin and the seed), the kiwi pieces, and finally the sorbet.

Blend until creamy.

Note: For more Mango-ey taste, add more mango sorbet (3-4 scoops), this will taste more like the Panera’s smoothie.

ENJOY!

I made the cheesecake last night( recipe here ).

The only thing I would suggest doing is spraying the bottom of the pan, with a Pam Non Stick cooking spray, or just applying oil.

The crust was practically stuck, and so it was hard to scoop it out. But other than that, oh… it was sooo good! You have to try it out, this recipe beats the Cheesecake factory’s pricey cheesecake’s a%$!!!

:)

Now, I am not a big fan of Turkey, I have eaten it a few times, but I still like my chicken better. And so this time, we decided to make a whole chicken stuffed with rice for Thanksgiving dinner.

Not only does it take way less time to cook, the prep time is also shorter, but the end result is just fabulous! It looks great, it tastes great, win-win all the way!

Ingredients:

Whole chicken (we got 2, a chicken is way smaller than Turkey)
Tandoori Barbecue or Chicken Tikka Bbq mix from Shan,
Garam Masala,
Cajun spice mix
ginger garlic paste,
yogurt,
lemon juice
red food color
butter for basting
oil for marinade

For stuffing:
rice about 1 cup,
1 small potato, chopped in little pieces
Shan biryani mix, 1 tbsp,
oil
Method:

Clean the chicken, and prepare the marinade in a bowl first. I add almost a whole packet of the bbq mix (for 2 chickens), about a 1/2 tbsp garam masala, about 4 tbsp ginger garlic paste, squirt of lemon juice, drizzle in a little oil, a pinch of red color, and a sprinkle of the cajun spice.

Cut some slits in the chicken, and then apply the marinade with your hand, rubbing it in.

Marinade the chickens for atleast 2 days in the refrigerator. On the day of cooking, leave it out at room temperature for atleast a couple hours.

To make the rice, soak it in water. Then add it to boiling water, let it cook almost till its half done. Drain out the water, and mix in some biryani masala (Shan biryani mix), about a tablespoon, the chopped potato, and some oil.
To bake the chicken, put them in a pan belly side up. Put the rice stuffing in it, till its almost full, because once the rice is fully cooked, it will come out of the chicken. So you dont want too much in it.

Bake at 375 deg F, covered with foil. Till it is cooked thoroughly, I would suggest, every 20 minutes, open and check it with a fork, and also drizzle some melted butter over it.

When it is cooked, remove the foil, and bake for additional 10-15 minutes. Also, at the end, broil for a couple minutes.

That’s it.

So, you see, its only marinating, stuffing, baking.

Note:  I think only potato stuffing would taste great too. Also, you could use the small chickens (about 3), this would look really cute.