Turkish Cooking Classes

Turkish Mezze Night on May 30th, Stuffed Vine Leaves and More

Merhaba dear All,

Stuffed vine leaves, Sarma, will be at our Turkish Mezze feast at Nest Home and Cafe

I wanted to share my upcoming Turkish Cookery Events with you all. Also with this note, I wanted to share my stuffed vine leaves with aromatic rice, Sarma recipe at this link, which will feature at my Turkish Mezze Night at the lovely Nest Home and Cafe in Ripley, Surrey on Tuesday, May 30th. It is a special dish and always bring happy childhood memories. Making stuffed vine leaves has always been a family affair at my home; my dad would separate and prepare the leaves, my mother would prepare the filling and we all would gather around the table and help rolling the leaves! One of my childhood favorites, I couldn’t wait for the rolls to be cooked and ever eager to do a “taste check” from the pan, delicious memories. Hope you enjoy making stuffed vine leaves, sarma, with my recipe here.

Turkish Mezze Night; Sunshine on a Plate; Tuesday May 30th, 6.30 pm – 9 pm

Courgette fritters with feta and dill; Mucver will be a part of our Mezze Night

I am delighted to let you know that I will be hosting another delicious Turkish Mezze Night on Tuesday, May 30th at the lovely Nest Home and Cafe in Ripley, Surrey – England, from 6.30 pm to 9 pm. Our first Mezze Night at Nest was magical and this one promises to be special too! I am very much looking forward to welcoming everyone and sharing the delights of my homeland at this special night.

We will be celebrating delicious spring flavors, plates of sunshine from my homeland; stuffed vine leaves with aromatic rice, smoked aubergine salad, courgette fritters with feta and dill, Turkish flat breads with vegetables and cheese topping, Pide and many more in the menu. We will also have Turkish wine, Turkish Coffee and Turkish Delight and my home made baklava with walnuts, back on popular demand! More than a meal, I will be talking about Turkish Cuisine, along with stories and traditions from my homeland as well as giving information about each course served and preparation tips.

Peynirli pide, Turkish flat breads with cheese, spinach and pepper topping is at our Turkish Mezze Night

Menu :

Stuffed wine leaves with aromatic rice – Sarma

Courgette fritters with feta and dill, served with garlic yoghurt – Mucver

Hummus with red pepper flakes infused olive oil

Smoked aubergine salad with olive oil and mint sauce

Turkish flatbreads with cheese, spinach and peppers topping, Pide

Home made Baklava with walnuts

Turkish Wine

Turkish Coffee and Turkish Delights

Cost per person: 48 GBP (includes Turkish wine and Turkish coffee and all food served). Please email ozlem@ozlemsturkishtable.com for registration and payment.

Date : Tuesday, May 30th, 2017, 6.30 pm to 9 pm.

Place: Nest Home and Cafe High St, Ripley, Woking GU23 6AQ ( Free Parking at the Village Car Park off Rose Lane, as well as free parking on the Green next to the cricket pitch)

Participation for this Turkish Mezze Night is limited and this event is also promises to sell out quickly so early registration is recommended.

Hope you can join our magical Mezze Night, I am greatly looking forward to welcoming you and sharing this delightful evening of Turkish food, along with stories from my homeland.

Turkish Cookery Class, Saturday 8th April, 11:00am – 2:30pm

Divertimenti Cookery School, London

Pistachio lamb kebabs, baked cauliflower with feta and dill and more at our April 8th cookery class

Please join us to welcome the start of spring with a feast of delights from Ozlem’s Turkish Kitchen. Showcasing authentic, regional recipes from her homeland you will cook alongside Ozlem preparing a selection of seasonal springtime dishes from this colourful and aromatic cuisine as well as learn about and taste Turkish sparkling wine by Melissa Fine Brands. Recipes will include ‘Karnabahar Mucveri’ (Baked cauliflower with red onion, feta, dill and spring onions), ‘Fistikli Kebap’ (Pistachio and lamb kebabs on flatbreads with roasted veg), ‘Potato, Pepper and Olive Bake’, ‘Yogurt Tatlisi’ (Yoghurt cake with zesty orange), Turkish Coffee.

For class details and booking, please visit Divertimenti Cookery School at this link.

My Turkish Cookery Book Survey

As some of you already know, I am in the midst of planning a Turkish Cookery Book which will focus on the healthy, easy to make, delicious recipes of my homeland, Turkey.

The book I am planning will be a collection of both recipes and my personal stories- a tribute to my dear homeland – with a special emphasis on the relatively unknown dishes of Southern Turkey, which will sit alongside some of the more traditional Turkish and Eastern Mediterranean classics.

I would be very grateful if you could fill in my survey with your honest, valuable feedback. The survey will take less than a minute to complete and is completely anonymous. My sincere thanks to you all, who already filled in the survey with your very precious feedback, it is much appreciated.

Here’s the link to my Turkish Cookery Book Survey

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!

My sincere thanks in advance, Cok Tesekkurlerimle,

Ozlem

Piyaz Salad with red onions, tomatoes, parsley and sumac

By Ozlem Warren on February 6, 2017 in Salads, Turkish Cooking Classes 23

Piyaz Salad with red onions, tomatoes, parsley and sumac

We had a delicious Turkish cookery class at the Divertimenti Cookery School in London on Jan. 29th with enthusiastic participants. This vibrant and easy Piyaz Salad with red onions, tomatoes and parsley, flavored with sumac was a big hit from the class. It is a traditional salad at home, especially popular alongside Turkish meatballs, Kofte, as well as Lahmacun, Turkish thin pizza with minced meat and vegetables topping. I love the tangy sumac with the red onions in this salad, gives a refreshing, zingy flavor, so delicious.

Rolling Piyaz Salad inside Lahmacun, delicious

We also made Lahmacun, thin Turkish pizza with minced/ground meat topping at our Turkish cookery class – another big hit! – We then placed some Piyaz Salad in the middle of Lahmacun and rolled to eat, as we do it traditionally at home. Such a wonderful combination. Here’s my Lahmacun recipe, if you like to make it at home.

Wonderful participants of my Jan. 29th Turkish Cookery Class at Divertimenti Cookery School, London.

I am passionate about healthy, delicious Turkish cuisine; this recipe and over 90 healthy, authentic Turkish recipes are included at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland. Signed copies are now 20 % this link and delivered worldwide including USA, if you like to get a signed copy.

Ozlem’s Turkish Table; Recipes from My Homeland – can be purchased at this link (signed copies!)

I hope you enjoy this easy, delicious, healthy Piyaz Salad, Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 2 reviews

Piyaz Salad with red onions, tomatoes, parsley and sumac

This vibrant and healthy Piyaz Salad gets ready in no time and it is so delicious. Red onions and tomatoes work very well with the tangy sumac; we tradionally enjoy this salad with Lahmacun, Turkish thin pizza with minced/ground meat topping, as well as Turkish meatballs. It is also a lovely salad served with cheese, olives and hummus.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Salads

Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine

Serves: 4

Ingredients

3 medium tomatoes, quartered and roughly chopped
1 red onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lemon
½ teaspoon salt
15ml/1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
10 ml/2 teaspoon ground sumac
½ teaspoon paprika flakes – optional –
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Rub and work sumac and the salt into the onion slices with your hands really well (this will soften the onions and help spices infuse in well).
Stir in the chopped tomatoes, parsley and paprika flakes, combine well.
Wisk together the extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice and pour over the piyaz salad. Season with more salt (if needed) and freshly ground black pepper.
Serve Piyaz Salad with feta cheese, olives and/or hummus for a delicious spread. Piyaz Salad is also the ultimate accompaniment of Lahmacun and Turkish meatballs, kofte.

Gavurdagi Salad Variation with watercress, pomegranates, walnuts

By Ozlem Warren on December 19, 2016 in Regional Signature Dishes; Mains, Sides and Desserts, Salads, Turkish Cooking Classes 9

Gavurdagi Salad Variation with pomegranates, watercress and walnuts – image credit; jennychef.com

There is one tomato salad that you often come across wherever you are in Turkey; Gavurdagi Salad. Named after the Gavur mountain, part of Tarsus mountains in Southeast part of Turkey, this delicious salad is from the Gaziantep region, where many wonderfully delicious and spicy Turkish dishes come from. Gavurdagi Salad won’t typically have walnuts in it but I love the marriage of sweet and juicy tomatoes with the crunchy walnuts in my version here. The sweet and sour pomegranate molasses dressing, Nar Eksisi really complements this salad too. Here’s my recipe to if you like to make pomegranate molasses, Nar Eksisi, at home.

We made this wonderful salad at my Turkish cookery class on Dec. 14th with more variation; I added watercress and pomegranate seeds to my salad for extra freshness and texture. It really worked well and everyone greatly enjoyed it! My sincere thanks to dear Jenny for the salad image here from our Turkish cookery class. Jenny also happens to be a passionate cook and cookery teacher, please check her blog JennyChef !

Gavurdagi salad is an important part of the meze spread at kebab houses in Turkey, served with the delicious Turkish pide bread, butter and the crumbly Turkish white cheese. You can also enjoy this delicious and easy salad as a starter or accompaniment to grills, kebabs like my home made Iskender Kebab and casseroles.

My very best wishes to you all for the Festive Season and New Year, in good health and happiness. Saglikli, Mutlu bir Yeni Yil Dilegiyle,

Ozlem

5.0 from 3 reviews

Gavurdagi Salad Variation with watercress, pomegranates, walnuts

Named after the Gavur mountain, part of Tarsus mountains in Southeast part of Turkey, this delicious salad originates from the Gaziantep region, where many wonderfully delicious and spicy Turkish dishes come from. This time, I made a variation of this wonderful salad and I added watercress walnuts and pomegranate seeds for extra freshness and texture, worked really well. You can enjoy this delicious and easy salad as a starter or accompaniment to grills, kebabs like my home made Iskender Kebab and casseroles.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Healthy Salads

Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine

Serves: 3

Ingredients

3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped
200 gr watercress
¼ onion, finely chopped
Handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
50gr/2oz/1/3 cup walnuts, crushed – about pea size each –
15ml/1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
30ml/2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
5ml/1 tsp red pepper flakes
5ml/1 tsp sumac – optional-
Salt and ground black pepper to taste
⅓ pomegranate seeds to serve

Instructions

In a large bowl, rub the chopped onions with the spices and seasoning; salt, sumac, red pepper flakes and ground black pepper – that will soften the onion and enable the spices to blend in well.
Add the tomatoes, parsley and walnuts to the onions.
Then stir in the pomegranate molasses and the extra virgin olive oil and give them a good (but gentle) mix.
Stir in the watercress and combine well.
Sprinkle pomegranate seeds over the salad and serve.
Afiyet olsun.

29^th January 2017 Turkish Cookery Class -a wonderful foodie gift

Lahmacun, popular Turkish thin pizza with ground meat and vegetables topping, will be at our Jan. 29th class

Leeks, carrots, onions and rice cooked in olive oil; Zeytinyagli Pirasa, is at our Jan. 29th class.

Get 2017 off to a healthy and wholesome start with my selection of Turkish supper dishes from my homeland at our Turkish cookery class at Divertimenti Cookery School on Sunday, January 29th, 12 pm – 3.30 pm. Packed full of flavor and easily reproduced at home without having to spend hours at your cooker, you will be surprised at the simplicity of such stunning dishes. During the class you will also be joined by the Turkish coffee expert, Ozerlat Coffee, who will carefully demonstrate all the rituals behind Turkish coffee making whilst offering you plenty of opportunity for tastings. Menu will include ‘Mercimek Corbasi’ (Lentil soup with cumin and red pepper flakes), ‘Zeytinyagli Pirasa’ (Leeks and carrots with olive oil, rice and lemon), ‘Lahmacun’ (Turkish thin pizza with minced meat and vegetables), ‘Cezerye’ (Caramelised carrot delight with walnuts) Turkish Coffee and Turkish Delight.