Recipes    

Turkish cuisine provides healthy, hearty, delicious food for family and friends.
Find out more

Cookery Classes

I teach Turkish cooking classes in England,Turkey & USA, hope you can join us!,
Find Out More

Tag Archives | cookery book in the making

Ozlem’s Turkish Table; pumpkin recipes, book fair, cookery class

Merhaba dear All,

Beautiful still life from Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book coming up, by Sian Irvine Photography

Exciting times ahead, as we are almost there to start the pre-order for my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland, as of early November, please stay tuned! With a special tribute to my southern Turkish roots and family stories, this book has been lovingly written and prepared with beautiful images by Sian Irvine Photography, I really can’t wait to share with you all.

Here are a few special events coming up as well as delicious autumn/fall flavours, showcasing pumpkin and squash, I hope you enjoy it:

Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland is at Riverhouse Barn Book Fair, October 28th

One of the still life shots with my family photos, from my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland, coming up. Image credit: Sian Irvine Photography

I am delighted to be participating the Riverhouse Barn Book Fair in Walton-on-Thames, Surrey, England on Saturday, October 28th at 12 noon with GB Publishing. Together with other authors, I will be introducing my upcoming cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland and introducing southern Turkish cuisine, my roots, Antakya- Antioch, with Turkish delights for everyone! Hope you can join us for a wonderful literary themed weekend.

A Turkish Festive Table cookery class with Ozlem Warren, Divertimenti Cookery School – London, Hands On Masterclass – Saturday, December 2nd

Radish salad with tahini sauce, image credit: Sian Irvine photography

Antakya’s traybake kebab, tepsi kebabi, will be a part of our cookery class on Dec. 2nd at Divertimenti cookery school. Image credit: Sian Irvine Photography

Please join us on Saturday, December 2nd, from 11 am to 2.30 pm for a festive class, as I will be sharing Southern Turkish specialties from my upcoming cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland. With a tribute to my roots, you will prepare authentic Southern Turkish flavours as you cook alongside with us. Recipes include ‘Tahini Bread Rolls with Sesame Seeds’, ‘Muhammara’ (Walnut and red pepper paste dip), ‘Leafy Greens with Peppers, Pine nuts and Aleppo Pepper Flakes’, ‘Radish Salad with Tahini Sauce’, ‘Tepsi Kebabi’ (Traybake kebab with roasted vegetables), ‘Kunefe – Kadayifi’ (Pastry strands with melted cheese in light syrup) and Turkish coffee.

Price : £115

Participation is limited, please kindly book through Divertimenti Cookery School at this link

Leafy greens with pine nuts, pepper and onions, a delicious course at our Dec. 2nd cookery class, at Divertimenti

What I have been cooking lately…

Candied pumpkin dessert with walnuts, southern Turkish Style – Cevizli Kabak Tatlisi

Candied pumpkin dessert with walnuts; Cevizli Kabak Tatlisi

We all have pumpkins in our minds at this time of the year; I love its natural sweetness and comforting, luscious flavor. This scrumptious candied pumpkin dessert is popular in Turkey and it is so very easy to make. Pumpkin is baked here in its very own juice with sugar and the result is an exquisite dessert with the full flavor of pumpkin, also fancy enough to share with family and friends.

This lovely light dessert, Kabak Tatlisi, is wonderful served with crushed walnuts. In Turkey, it is also served with our thick clotted cream, kaymak. If you can’t get kaymak, clotted cream also complements this dessert well. Here’s the link to my candied pumpkin dessert with walnuts, Cevizli Kabak Tatlisi.

Bulgur meatballs with squash and chickpeas, in yoghurt and mint sauce

Bulgur meatballs with squash and chickpeas in yoghurt and dried mint sauce

Stews with yoghurt has a special place in southern Turkish cuisine. I recently re-created Gaziantep’s Stew with bulgur meatballs, in yoghurt and mint sauce – Yogurtlu, bulgurlu kofte -. The traditional recipe also has lamb in it, in my version I omitted the extra meat and added the seasonal squash to  the dish.  The chickpeas worked really well in the stew too; not only very healthy, but brought a different texture and wonderful flavor. The dish turned out to be a very satisfying  and substantial meal yet surprisingly light. Here’s my recipe for the Bulgur meatballs with squash and chickpeas, in yoghurt and mint sauce, I hope you enjoy it.

Happy autumn/fall and Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Continue Reading

Ozlem’s Turkish Table Cookery Book and Turkish cookery classes

Sian Irvine’s beautiful shot of still life;  aubergines and pomegranates for my cookery book coming up, Ozlem’s Turkish Table – Recipes from My Homeland

Merhaba dear All,

I hope this note finds you well and you had an enjoyable summer. I was in Turkey – in Istanbul then in Bodrum – it was very special to be back home and spend quality time with my family.

The last few months have also been very busy preparing my Turkish cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish TableRecipes from My Homeland with GP Publishing. If you may recall, we had a fantastic photo shoot with the very talented Sian Irvine Photograpy back in July. Since then, we have been lovingly editing and shaping each chapter; it’s now coming together beautifully and I can not wait to share with you all!

This book will be a compilation of my favorite Turkish recipes and a special tribute to my southern Turkish roots, with an emphasis on regional dishes from my hometown Antakya and southern Turkey in general, along with my personal stories. There will be some lovely black and white photos of my parents, grandparents and family in the book, which are so dear to me; these were the people I got my inspiration from and the book is their legacy, it will be special to share with you all. With this book, I truly hope you feel the warmth, generous, sharing spirit of our Turkish culture; I truly hope it may inspire you to have a go at the recipes – and there will be delicious new recipes too – and that the book will help you to connect with my beautiful homeland.

It’s been a labor of love in the making but we are almost there – we plan to be ready for pre-orders by November and the book will be out in March 2018. I hope to be able to personally sign the copies for you and hope to see you at one of our pre-order book events – stay tuned!

Sunny Flavours of Turkey with Ozlem Warren, Divertimenti Cookery School, London

Hands On Masterclass, Saturday 7th October, 11:00am – 2:30pm

I have a delicious, hands on Turkish cookery class coming up at the Divertimenti Cookery School in London on Saturday, October 7th, with home made baklava and many more. Below is the class details, do hope you can join us!

Participation is limited, please kindly book through Divertimenti Cookery School at this link

Home made baklava is delicious and easier than you think, we will have a go at our class in Divertimenti Cookery School, London on October 7th, 2017

Please join us as we will  cling on to the autumnal sunshine than with a feast of delights from Ozlem’s Turkish Table. Showcasing authentic, regional recipes from her beloved homeland, you will cook alongside Ozlem preparing a selection of seasonal dishes from this colourful and aromatic cuisine as well as learn about Turkish coffee. Recipes will include ‘Zeytinyagli Sarma’ (Stuffed Vine Leaves), ‘Shepherds Salad, ‘Iskender Kebab (Tender slices of meat over pita bread with roasted vegetables and yoghurt sauce), ‘Baklava with Walnuts’ and Turkish Coffee.

What I have been cooking lately..

Spicy bulgur and lentil soup, Ezo Gelin Corba is in the menu

With the temperatures turning cooler, I have been cooking wholesome soups like Ezo Gelin Corba, Turkish spicy bulgur and lentil soup. We love this soup as a family; it’s satisfying, easy to make and so delicous, flavored with dried mint and red pepper flakes. I tend to make a big batch and freeze leftovers, works very well. Here’s the link for my Ezo Gelin corba, I hope you enjoy it too.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Continue Reading

Ozlem’s Turkish Table Cookery Book – in the making!

Merhaba dear All,

I hope you are all well. Apologies for a bit of silence from my end; it’s been a very busy few months with teaching Turkish cookery in England, Istanbul and in Amman – Jordan, as well as being a part of exciting events like the Taste of London, thanks to Turkish Tourism Board – UK’s kind invitation; it was great to share Turkish cuisine with everyone.

But the main event that kept me busy has been the preparation for my Turkish cookery book. It’s been very exciting and busy getting the content ready and the photo shoots excitement last week all of a sudden made this special project very real. Here I wanted to share a little glimpse of our very exciting and labor of love 5 day photo shoot for my Turkish cookery book. My very special thanks goes to the amazing food photographer dear Sian Irvine, who passionately shot each and every image with a huge expertise, I can’t thank her enough. Over 70 dishes have been lovingly prepared and photographed, with huge thanks to an army of dear friends who helped during the shoots and gave their plates and bowls to be used as props. A labor of love in making but so worth it, enjoyed every minute of it:

Getting ready for the Turkish breakfast spread photo shoot

Turkish breakfast spread, almost there, one of my favorite chapters in the book! Love all the freshness and abundance of Turkish cuisine.

My dear publishers George and Brenda at GB Publishing, most kindly let us use their wonderful space for our photo shoot for 5 days and their living room became our “Prop Room” with a vast collection of plates, bowls, textile, boards and more, our huge thanks to them for their kindness – in return, we made sure they sampled each and every dish after the shoot !:)

Here’s our prop room!

More of the prop room!

A close up on a part of the Turkish breakfast spread – I can eat this all day long!

Getting the spices ready for the photo shoot – essential part of southern Turkish cookery

The crew getting the fresh produce shoot ready

Sian is shooting the mezze spread – another highlight from the book

All curious eyes checking the images over the Image man Jonny’s expert hands

Some of the absolutely fabulous dear friends, Heleen, Ann and Susie here, helping out during the shoots and the lovely Sian, my sincere gratitude each and every one of them

My publishers George, Brenda, our lovely photographer Sian and some of the fabulous friends helping, dear Susie and Claire here- sitting down after the shot and enjoying the food we produced together. My huge thanks also goes to dear Mina, Ellie and Leonie who helped out and kindly packed us all up!

I hope you enjoy having a little glimpse of our 5 day photo shoot with over 70 dishes lovely prepared and presented – a labor of love in making and so very special. My photos really don’t do enough justice, I can’t wait for you to see the real images, they are absolutely amazing.

This Turkish cookery book project is a tribute to my homeland and a very dear project to my heart, a dream come true! It will have a special focus on Southern Turkish cuisine though my favorite, classic Turkish recipes will also be featured. I have so longed to share my homeland’s bountiful, delicious, healthy cuisine, packed with culinary traditions and high on hospitality, generosity and warmth, along with my personal stories; I really can’t wait to share this special book with you all. Many of you so kindly filled in my Turkish cookery book Survey with your valuable feedback, my sincere thanks. If you haven’t had a chance to do yet and may be able to fill in, your feedback would be greatly appreciated it to help shape the book.  As a thank you, if you leave your name and email address at the end of the survey, you will be entitled to a 10% discount when the book is published. I would be more than happy to send you a signed copy!

We plan to start the pre-orders for the book as of end October, with a worldwide publication as of March 2018, I so look forward to sharing this special book with you all!

My best wishes for a wonderful summer – I will be back home, Turkey and I can not wait – and I will be in touch on my return. In the meantime, I wanted to share one of my favorite salads, Antakya’s Cokelek Salatasi – crumbled feta cheese salad with spices; perfect for Turkish breakfast and brunch.

Cokelek Salata; crumbled white cheese or feta salad, flavored with spices and olive oil

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Continue Reading