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Roast Chicken with Vegetables – Firinda Sebzeli Tavuk



I like the way my mother cooks roast chicken. She first half cooks the chicken in plenty of water with vegetables, and gets a lovely stock. This also makes the chicken really tender and moist. (The stock is saved to make soup or rice later, using the left over chicken roast.) She then roasts the marinated chicken and vegetables together. This way, you make the most of the chicken and the stock, creating multiple, wonderful family meals. Please use free range (naturally reared) chicken if you can, as it really justifies the extra cost.

Serves 3-4
Preparation time: 30 minutes Cooking time: 70-75 minutes

1.5kg/3lb whole chicken, preferably free-range
500gr/12oz baby potatoes
6-7 medium carrots, cut in chunks
2 onions, quartered
6 cloves of garlic
2 bay leaves
1small bunch of flat leaf parsley
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Chicken marination ingredients:
Yoghurt is often used in Turkish cooking, and it is wonderful in marinating the meat, makes it tender and moist.

15ml/1 tablespoon tomato paste
15ml/1 tablespoon plain natural yoghurt
30 ml/2 tablespoons olive oil
5 ml/1 teaspoon cumin
5ml/1 teaspoon Turkish (or chili) red pepper flakes
Salt and ground black pepper

Put the chicken into a deep pan with the onions, garlic, bay leaves and the parsley. Season with salt and ground black pepper. Pour enough hot water to just cover the chicken and bring to boil. Then lower the heat, cover the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes. Then add the carrots and the potatoes, cover and cook for another 10 minutes.

Place the chicken and the vegetables on a roasting tray (drain the juices), and let it cool for a few minutes. (Save the stock to make soup or rice later). Preheat the oven to 180 C/ 350 F.

Combine the marination ingredients and 1 tbsp olive oil in a bowl and mix well. Coat the chicken all over with this marination. Coat the vegetables with the remaining olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast the chicken with vegetables for about 40 minutes. The skin of the chicken and the vegetables will get nice and crispy.

Test the doneness by sticking a skewer deep into the thickest part of the thigh and see if the juices run clear. If the juices are pink, it means the chicken is under done. So allow another 10-15 minutes cooking time and test again.

Once cooked, let the chicken rest for 5-10 minutes before carving. Cucumber and yoghurt dip with mint, Cacik (under “Mezes and Appetizers”) goes well with the roast chicken and vegetables.

Afiyet Olsun!

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Vanilla Sponge Birthday Cake with Icing – Dogum Gunu Pastasi


I love making cakes but I must admit, never really felt confident enough to make birthday cakes with the fancy icing – somehow I feared I could never be able deliver those amazingly decorated cakes with the children’s favorite characters. Until I saw the birthday cake recipe at Rose Prince’s brilliant cookery book, Kitchenella. I gave it a try to her Vanilla sponge and was inspired by her Smarties studded icing. The result was impressive and the birthday boy was very happy 🙂 Indeed a love letter to your children, as Rose says.

Vanilla Sponge (from Rose Prince’s Kitchenella)

A great basic recipe, ideal for a base birthday cake or fairy cakes.

Makes enough to serve 12-14

280gr/10oz unsalted butter, softened
280gr/10oz caster sugar
5 eggs
5ml/1 teaspoon vanilla essence
280gr/10 oz self-raising flour
30ml/2 tablespoons ground almonds

Preheat oven to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4

Prepare your cake tins – two shallow sandwich tins or a 12 hole muffin/fairy cake tin – greasing with butter and dusting with plain flour or lining with paper cases.

Beat the butter and sugar together until pale and fluffy-textured (an electric beater is helpful). Beat in the eggs, one by one, each with a teaspoon of the flour, then the vanilla essence. Fold in the remaining flour with the ground almonds.

Put into the tin(s) or cake cases and bake. Shallow sandwich tins will need 30-40 minutes; loaf tins about 1 hour and 5-15 minutes; fairy cakes about 15 minutes. Test the cake near to the end of cooking time by sticking a skewer into it. If the cake feels firm and the skewer comes clean, it is done.

Sandwich the cake together with raspberry or strawberry jam, and then decorate with the icing.

Butter Icing

140gr/5oz butter, softened
280gr/10oz icing sugar
1-2tablespoons milk

Beat the butter in a large bowl until soft. Add half the icing sugar and beat until smooth. Add remaining icing sugar and 1 tablespoon of milk. Beat again until creamy and smooth. Beat in more milk to loosen if necessary. Spread the icing over the cake. You can add sparkles or Smarties as decoration over the top.

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Bulgur Wheat Salad with Red Onion and Vegetables – Kirmizi Soganli Kisir


This is a lighter version of the spicy Kisir, bulgur wheat salad I posted earlier. The use of red onions and lemon and olive oil dressing make the salad wonderfully refreshing. And it is a bowl of health, packed with fiber and vitamins, thanks to the vegetables and bulgur. It can be rolled into balls and served nestling in crunchy lettuce leaves. This dish is perfect for buffets or as part of a barbecue spread.

Serves 4 – 6
Preparation time: 25 minutes

175gr/ 6oz/1cup bulgur
8fl oz/ 1cup hot water
15ml/1 tablespoon tomato paste
5ml/1 teaspoon paprika flakes
Juice of 1 lemon
60ml/4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 medium red onion, finely chopped
3 spring/ green onions, finely chopped
3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
Handful of finely chopped flat leaf parsley
1 teaspoon salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Lettuce leaves to serve

Mix the bulgur wheat, salt, ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, tomato paste, and onion and knead thoroughly. Pour the hot water over this mixture and stir, then leave to stand for about 15 minutes. It should absorb all the water by the end of this period. The bulgur should be of a dry consistency.

Add the lemon juice with the extra virgin olive oil and knead well again. Stir in tomatoes, spring/green onion and the parsley and combine thoroughly. Please check the seasoning and add more salt or spices to your taste.

Serve as a salad in a bowl garnished with lettuce leaves. Alternatively, take spoonfuls of the mixture and with wet hands roll into balls the size of walnuts. Refrigerate until required. This dish can be prepared a couple of days in advance and can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days. As a matter of fact, it tastes even better a day or two later it’s made!

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Note: Bulgur wheat unlike cracked wheat, is a grain made from the cooked wheat berries which have the bran removed, and are then dried and pounded. There are two varieties generally available, fine and coarse. Because it is precooked, it only requires a minimal amount of cooking to reconstitute itself.

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