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Lockdown Cooking Ideas from Ozlem’s Turkish Table (Signed copies now 30 % Off)

Merhaba dear all,

Semolina sponge cake in syrup; Revani

I hope this note finds you all well. We have been doing lots of home cooking and baking with the children and preparing food for the homeless and folks in self isolation, during the lockdown. There is a great comfort in home cooking, especially wholesome Turkish cooking – not only takes your mind off things, but a great activity to do with kids at home in between home schooling. If you are on social media, I do live videos at my Ozlem’s Turkish Table instagram and facebook pages too. Here is my Revani, Semolina sponge cake recipe we baked with my daughter, as well my Revani you tube video here.

Flexibility is the key especially at challenging times like this, so by all means experiment with the ingredients you have and substitute when needed; I try to give options at my recipes and at my you tube videos, like at my Baked Meatballs and vegetables casserole video here (courgettes, runner beans, peas all would work here as an option)

Signed hardback copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book, now 30 % OFF

I got this lovely note from Claire, she says “My Christmas present from my brother and Turkish sister-in-law was your fabulous cook book. It turns out that my local corner shop is stocked full of Turkish food, so I’ve been having a great time trying out your recipes! There’s generally something in the book for anything in my veg box (other than parsnips!), and it’s all turned out delicious. Now that I’ve got the pastry, I might brave trying kunefe this weekend, if I can get the right cheese. Thank you for keeping me so well-fed in lockdown”Thank you dear Claire and all folks who kindly sent notes on how much they have been enjoying the recipes, especially during the lockdown period. I am very happy to hear recipes enjoyed and bring some joy and comfort.

 

Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table now 30 % OFF via my publisher GBPublishing at this link and it is delivered promptly worldwide, including US and Canada. We hope this would help with delicous wholesome Turkish home cooking during lockdown. It can also be a lovely gift to a foodie, with Mother’s Day approaching.

Lockdown Cooking and Happy Ramadan – Ramadan Mubarak – wholesome, easy meal ideas

Spicy bulgur and lentil soup, Ezo Gelin Corbasi

Happy Ramadan, Ramadan Mubarak, Hayirli Ramazanlar to all observing. Turkish food offers plenty healthy, convenient choices at this special time in Muslim calendar. Our iftar meals would traditionally start with a wholesome soup, such as this Spicy bulgur and lentil soup, Ezo Gelin Corbasi – one of our favourites; make a big batch as it freezes very well.

Vegetarian Pide, from Ozlem’s Turkish Table

Many of my readers have been doing a lot of baking especially during the lockdown and this Vegetarian Pide, Turkish oval flat breads with cheese and vegetables, have been very popular – easier than you think! Here’s my recipe link; you can use any veg you have at home that needs using. You can bake the pide ahead of time and give a gentle reheat before you eat. Once it is cooked, it freezes well too, as a whole or in slices, wrapped in foil.

Turkish bean salad with sumac onions, olive and eggs – Fasulye Piyazi

We have been eating a lot of cupboard staples such as tinned chickpeas and beans; they are a great source of protein, healthy and convenient. You can flavour beans beautifully as in this Turkish bean salad with sumac onions, olive and eggs – tangy sumac adds a lot of flavour to the onions. It makes a wonderful lunch or can be a part of Ramadan iftar meals with grills aside too; you can substitute beans with chickpeas in this salad too. Here’s also my You Tube video link for this delicious Turkish bean salad.

Baked aubergine kebab with chicken – Patlicanli Kebap

Baked eggplant kebab with chicken, onions, peppers; Patlicanli Tepsi Kebabi

How about this yoghurt and spices marinated Baked aubegine kebab with chicken, Patlicanli Kebap? An impressive dish to serve, easy to make too. Aubergines here are double baked, which intensify its flavour; you can marinate the chicken ahead of time – leftovers freeze very well too.

Green (runner) beans cooked in olive oil – Taze Fasulye

Turkish cuisine is based on seasonal produce and we love vegetables. This green beans cooked in olive oil with onions, garlic, tomatoes, Taze Fasulye, is a national favourite. Also gluten-free and vegan, it is best to prepare ahead of time and let the flavours develop, it tastes even better the next day. French beans, dwarf beans would all be good for substutition – a delicious, healthy choice for Ramadan too.

Istanbul; we will meet again..

Glorious Hagia Sophia, Istanbul – hope to see you again soon

I have meant to fly to Istanbul end April, to see my mother, family and also run my Turkish cookery classes and  events in Fethiye and Kalkan. With the current pandemic, it was not meant to be. I am hopeful that we will meet again and see our loved ones soon, fingers crossed. Until then, we will keep on bringing a bit of home with our food and reconnect with family, friends and share our food virtually. We baked this Turkish bread rings with sesame seeds, Simit, our popular street food with the children the other day. It certainly brought a huge dose of home and smiles; here is my recipe link, I do hope you enjoy it too.

Stay well, keep cooking, afiyet olsun,

Ozlem

 

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12 Responses to Lockdown Cooking Ideas from Ozlem’s Turkish Table (Signed copies now 30 % Off)

  1. Jolee and Mark May 2, 2020 at 3:30 pm #

    Özlem’ciğim,

    So sorry that you weren’t able to come to Turkey for your classes. I think the last tıme we communicated with you, we were determined to make a get-together happen. That must have been before us elderlies were restricted to our homes. Happily for us, we’re comfortable and well-taken-care-of by our local dukkans and friends who do our shopping for us. And also, it’s good we have a big teras and bahçe. But still, it’s too bad we have to wait for a real get-together. Please give our love to your family, both in the UK and in Turkey.

    • Ozlem Warren May 3, 2020 at 4:19 pm #

      Jolee’cigim, many thanks for your kind note – so good to hear you are well and you are in such a lovely part of Istanbul, enjoy for me too. Our time will come to get together and I can’t wait for that, I am hoping to be back to Istanbul in the next few months time – so insallah we will get together in near future : ) Sending much love, cok sevgilerimle, Ozlem xxx

  2. Anna May 4, 2020 at 2:05 pm #

    Dear Özlem, I cannot find the shipping rates on the publisher site, do you know anything about it? I’m in Hungary, Europe. Thanks, Anna

  3. Anna May 4, 2020 at 2:12 pm #

    Dear Özlem, I’m Anna again, I checked and the shipping would be unfortunately almost the same price as the book T_T so sure I cannot afford it now. Thanks, hopefully once I can buy it. Greetings, Anna

    • Ozlem Warren May 5, 2020 at 1:46 pm #

      Merhaba dear Anna, many thanks for your kind notes – I checked with my publisher; as the books are sent via courier for safety, shipping costs are unfortunately not as low as we hoped; we can’t control this I am afraid but we wanted to do our bit and gave 30 % off from our end; do hope in near future you may be able to get it, there is also the ebook version at this link, if you like, many thanks for your kind interest https://www.gbpublishing.co.uk/ozlemsturkishtable

      Afiyet olsun,
      Ozlem

      • Anna May 6, 2020 at 5:25 pm #

        Dear Özlem, I didn’t know about the ebook, such a good news!! Thanks a lot for telling me, this’ll be my solution. On the other hand thanks a lot for your wonderful recipes what you share here in your blog ♡♡♡ Wishing you all the bests, Anna

        • Ozlem Warren May 7, 2020 at 1:53 pm #

          Merhaba dear Anna, delighted that ebook option would work for you, you are most welcome. I hope you enjoy the recipes and stories from my homeland at my ebook, Afiyet Olsun, Ozlem

    • Rachael Demirel June 21, 2020 at 2:48 pm #

      İ can’t wait to order your book i should be ordering today, my husband is Turkish and he is currently in Turkey and i am in the UK i love Turkish cuisine and can’t wait to start learning some more! My favourite recipes at menemen, bulgur pilavı and biber dolması and i am so wxcited I’ve been wanting your book for a long time especially since you say what can be used in the uk if ingredients like Urfa biber, kırımızı biber and biber salçası can’t be found, i look forward to learning these recipes so i can show them off when i can finally visit my husband and family with our new daughter after the lockdown is lifted and it’s safe again!! ❤️

      • Ozlem Warren June 22, 2020 at 10:44 am #

        Merhaba and thank you so much for your kind note! I do hope you enjoy my book with your family, to recreate your favourite Turkish recipes; many folks said they were amazed how easy and tasty most recipes are. And do hope you reunite with your husband soon; enjoying a Turkish feast together to celebrate will be special. My best wishes and afiyet olsun, Ozlem

        • Rachael Demirel June 22, 2020 at 2:16 pm #

          Teşekkürler!
          The book has arrived i ordered just yesterday amazing delivery haha i can’t wait to start cooking ❤️

          • Rachael Demirel June 22, 2020 at 3:40 pm #

            Maybe not the place to ask but i don’t know how else i would and no amount of looking online is helping at all,could you tell me what can be used instead of çökelek in hitap/gözleme? İ don’t know any Turkish people in my area and my hubands family haven’t been to the UK etc thanks!

          • Ozlem Warren June 23, 2020 at 3:13 pm #

            Merhaba Rachel, so glad your book arrived, I hope you enjoy it, Afiyet Olsun! For gozleme, you can use crumbled Turkish beyaz peynir or feta cheese instead of cokelek, I hope you enjoy it. Afiyet olsun! Ozlem

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