Turkish Cooking Classes

My Turkish Cookery Classes in Feb,Texas-USA Open For Signing Up!

By Ozlem Warren on January 1, 2015 in Turkish Cooking Classes 10

Greetings and Happy New Year to you all!

I am delighted to let you know that my upcoming Turkish Cookery Classes with Central Market Cooking Schools in Austin, San Antonio and Houston, Texas in February 2015 are now open for registration! Below are the links for signing up for each class; they tend to sell out quickly so if you would like to join us, please kindly book your spot. I am greatly looking forward to returning to Central Market Cooking Schools and hopefully see you there.

Lamb stew over smoked eggplant and yoghurt puree, served with roasted vegetables, Ali Nazik Kebab in the menu

Central Market Cooking School also offers discounts for signing up until 7th January, if you’d like to take up this good offer.

Central Market Cooking School, Turkish Cookery Classes – Demonstration Style
February 2015 (in Houston, Austin, San Antonio)

From Hearty Red Lentil Soup to Baklava in Milky Syrup, Sutlu Nuriye;

Delights of Turkish Cuisine Made Easy

I am delighted to return to Central Market Cooking School in February 2015 to teach fine examples of Turkish cuisine, which reflects a rich cultural and historical heritage. With an emphasis on seasonal freshness, and delicately flavoring with spices, healthy Turkish food is a feast to all your senses and easy to recreate. Please join us, to learn artful use of spices and prepare these delicious recipes, focusing on Southern Turkish cuisine. Below is the schedule and links to sign up for my Turkish cookery classes:

Monday, February 16th, 6.30 pm – Central Market Cooking School in San Antonio – TX

Wednesday, February 18th, 6.30 pm – Central Market Cooking School in Austin – TX

Friday, February 20th, 6.30 pm – Central Market Cooking School in Houston – TX

Signing up for the classes started through Central Market Cooking School website, as of 1st January 2015 – please save the dates and I hope you can join us!

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

The menu includes:

• Hearty red lentils and bulgur soup with dried mint and red pepper flakes, Ezo Gelin Corba

• Turkish flat breads with crumbled feta, pepper paste, zahtar and sesame seeds; Biberli Ekmek

• Lamb (or beef) stew over smoked eggplant and yoghurt puree, served with roasted vegetables, Ali Nazik Kebab

• Pilaf rice with chickpeas and sautéed onions; Nohutlu Pilav

• Baklava with a delicious and lighter twist; filo pastry with hazelnuts in milky syrup; Sutlu Nuriye

• Turkish Coffee and Turkish Delight

My very best wishes to you all for the New Year, in good health, good food and company. I look forward to sharing many more Turkish recipes here and as always, would be delighted to have your company to enjoy.

Selamlar, Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Kale Stew in Yoghurt, Chickpeas; My Online Turkish Cookery Course

By Ozlem Warren on December 8, 2014 in Casseroles and Stews, Regional Signature Dishes; Mains, Sides and Desserts, Turkish Cooking Classes 19

Kale with chunks of meat, chickpeas in yoghurt sauce with dried mint and red pepper flakes – A borani inspiration from Antakya

Borenye or Borani is an Antakya region specialty, which is served often as part of the dinner spread for special occasions in Antakya. I love this hearty dish especially in winter times; combination of yoghurt with chickpeas, vegetables and meat is just wonderful. We like to add more flavors to this special dish with dried mint and red pepper flakes; a delicious, wholesome comforting dish.

Traditionally, Borani or Borenye is made using another Antakya region specialty, tuzlu yogurt (strained, salty yoghurt, you can find more information here). Tuzlu yogurt is made from goat’s milk in Antakya region; it is a salty, rich, tangy spreadable paste and added to Boranis. I love tuzlu yogurt however it is hard to find abroad, so I used thick, plain yoghurt in my recipe, like my mother does, still works well. Boranis are made using a variety of vegetables like spinach, fava beans, pumpkin, courgette/zucchini. I used kale for my version here; combined with chickpeas, dried mint and red pepper flakes, it worked beautifully.

This Borani has a delicious sauce and we like to dip in potato and bulgur rolls, patatesli, bulgurlu kofte to its juice. Baked Oruk, or Kibbeh or Icli Kofte with that delicious walnuts and ground meat filling would also be divine served with borani or borenye.

Antakya’s borani or boreniye – this time with kale; delicious

I hope you enjoy this delicious regional specialty from Antakya, Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

3.0 from 1 reviews

Kale Stew in Yoghurt, Chickpeas; My Online Turkish Cookery Course

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Healthy Turkish stews with chickpeas, kale and spices

Cuisine: Turkish Regional Cuisine

Ingredients

350 gr / 12 oz. kale; washed, trimmed and chopped
400 gr/ 14 oz. beef or lamb, cut in small chunks
2 medium onions, finely chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
400 ml/ 14 fl oz./ 1⅔ cups thick, plain yoghurt (brand Fage works well)
400 gr/ 14 oz. -1 can of cooked chickpeas, drained and rinsed
30 ml/ 2 tbsp. olive oil
30 ml/ 2 tbsp. dried mint
10 ml/ 2 tsp. red pepper flakes
600 ml/ 1 pint/ 2 ½ cups water
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy pot and stir in the onion. Sauté for 2-3 minutes until it beings to soften and start to color.
Stir in the chunks of meat and sauté with the onions for 3 -5 minutes over medium heat.
Add the kale and the garlic to the pan and combine well. Stir and cook with the onions and the meat for 3 minutes.
Pour in the water, mix well.
Season with salt and freshly ground black pepper to your taste, combine well. Cover and cook over medium to low heat for 20 minutes.
Stir in the cooked & rinsed chickpeas to the mix, combine well.
Beat the yoghurt until smooth and pour into the pot, while the heat is low. Stir and blend well.
Immediately add the dried mint and red pepper flakes, combine well. Check the seasoning to your taste, add more salt if needed. Turn the heat off.
Serve hot with crusty bread aside. Potato and bulgur rolls, patatesli, bulgurlu kofte would be delicious to serve aside and dip into this delicious Borenye sauce.

My Online Turkish Cookery Course Coming Up Soon!

Shooting my online Turkish cookery course – exciting times!

Camera, Action! Shooting my online Turkish cookery course

I have often been asked to do an online Turkish cookery course and I am delighted to share that we have just shot my online Turkish cookery course to be aired at the wonderful and holistic website Mer-ka-bah, by early January 2015.

Talking about Turkish cuisine and seasonality during my online course

Demonstrating spinach and feta filo pastry, Ispanakli Borek

Love of food connects us no matter where we come from and it has a universal language. And Turkish food is a wonderful expression of the warm, generous Turkish culture. In this exciting, holistic course on Turkish cuisine and serving traditions, I will be exploring the wholesome Turkish cuisine, based on thousands years of culinary heritage (Importance of connecting with our roots in Turkish cuisine, Turkish culinary history, Serving Traditions, Seasonality, Flavoring through Spices, recipe demonstrations and many more amongst the course modules) and its ability to connect us, our strong emphasis on sharing and hospitality. I will also demonstrate some classic and delicious Turkish recipes here; from Spinach & feta filo pastry, Ispanakli Borek to ever popular Stuffed Eggplants/Aubergines with ground meat and vegetables, Karniyarik, from Potato and Bulgur patties to Turkish Coffee.

Our delicious Turkish table at my online Turkish cookery course

I truly hope this course on Turkish cookery may inspire folks all around the world to discover wholesome Turkish cuisine and have a go at my recipes and enjoy good food with family and friends. Above all, I hope Turkish cuisine’s emphasis on sharing, generosity, hospitality, a reflection of the warm Turkish culture to be felt all throughout the course and inspires.

Stay tuned!:)

Ozlem

Spinach and cheese filled filo pastry triangles; Muska Boregi

By Ozlem Warren on March 24, 2014 in Appetizers and Mezes, Savory Pastries, Turkish Breakfast, Turkish Cooking Classes 28

Spinach and feta cheese filo triangles, Muska Boregi

We recently made these delicious cheese & spinach filo triangles, muska boregi as we call in Turkish, at my recent Turkish cookery class. They were a huge hit and participants pleasantly surprised how easy & delicious they were. Indeed, these scrumptious triangles are a winner from children to adults. They are actually easier than you think; here are step by step visual instructions to make the stuffed filo triangles:

Fold the end of the strip over the filling diagonally so that it forms a triangle

Continue folding the strip in triangles until you get a small, triangular stuffed pastry

Boreks, stuffed pastries are hugely popular in Turkish cuisine; we Turks love them for breakfast as an appetizer or a mid-day snack; there really is not a bad time for a borek! Yufka, the wonderful thin sheets of fresh pastry is used traditionally to make boreks at home, though they are hard to find (and not as good) abroad. (If you can get fresh yufka especially in Turkey, you can use only one sheet at a time, as yufka is more moist and manageable. You may just want to keep your yufka stripes a little longer). I use the filo pastry sheets for this recipe and it works well. If frozen, you need to defrost the filo sheets overnight in the fridge and or leave at room temperature 2 hour before using. If you are using the fresh filo sheets kept in the fridge as in the supermarkets in the UK, you need to leave them at room temperature for 30 minutes before using. As for the cheese filling, if you can get the delicious, moist Turkish white cheese, beyaz peynir, that is a perfect fit here; I love Pinar Foods UK‘s white cheese, beyaz peynir. I find feta drier than the Turkish equivalent. Therefore, I add a little grated mozzarella to bring some creaminess and balance the flavors, especially if feta is used.

Here’s also my YouTube video for these delicious filo triangles:

The trick with filo sheets is that they can dry out very quickly; if you keep the sheets under a slightly damp towel that helps to manage filo greatly. I hope you enjoy these delicious triangles; why not serving these delicious triangles with the refreshing Shepherd’s Salad with Sumac? They complement each other very well.

There are over 90 wholesome, easy, delicious Turkish recipes at my blog here as well as at my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table to inspire you. Signed hardback copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table are now 25 % Off at this link and delivered worldwide including the US.

I am also delighted to share with you that we also designed this special Ozlem’s Turkish Table apron, just in time for the holiday gift giving season. It is special to my heart, as it is made in Turkey, with my hometown Antakya’s celebrated daphne leaves in the hand embroidered design – this lovely apron would make a wonderful gift for the festive season, you can get yours at this link. Delivered worldwide including the US. We also have a special offer for Ozlem’s Turkish Table readers; for a limited time, to you can get a signed copy of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book bundled with this apron at a special price of £27.99. This special offer ends on 21th November 2020 (including), if you like to get yours here is the link. Delivered worldwide including the US.

Spinach & feta filled filo triangles, Muska Boregi

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 5 reviews

Spinach and cheese filled filo pastry triangles; Muska Boregi

These popular Turkish savory pastries, Muska Boregi or Spinach and Cheese Filo Triangles, are delicious and easy; a real crowd pleaser. I hope you enjoy them, Afiyet Olsun!

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Turkish Savory Pastries, Borek

Serves: 6-8

Ingredients

150 gr / 7 oz spinach leaves
150 gr/ 7 oz feta cheese, mashed with a fork
100 gr / app. 4 oz shredded mozzarella
3 eggs, beaten
3 tablespoons mild olive oil
Bowl of 8 fl. oz/ 1 cup water to seal the pastry
12 sheets of filo pastry (each sheet 48cmx25cm)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 180c/350 F/gas mark 4
Remove the stalks of the spinach, wash and chop roughly.
Mix together in a bowl with the feta cheese, 1 tablespoon olive oil, shredded mozzarella and two of the beaten eggs; the filling is ready.
In a separate bowl, mix 1 egg and 2 tablespoons olive oil.
Grease a rectangular baking dish with a little olive oil.
Lay the pastry sheets on a clean surface and cut into 10cmx25cm stripes.
Stack the stripes on top of another and cover with a damp towel so that they won’t dry out.
Keep a bowl of water near you.
Lay two stripes of filo sheets at top of one another.
Place 1 tablespoon of the spinach mixture at one end of the filo pastry strip.
Fold the end of the strip over the filling diagonally so that it forms a triangle.
Continue folding the strip in triangles until you get a small, triangular stuffed pastry.
Seal the pastry all around with the water; water really helps to keep filo sheets intact here. Repeat with remaining filo until you have used all of the filling.
Place the stuffed triangle pastries on the greased baking dish and brush them with the egg & olive oil mixture.
Bake the triangles in the oven for about 20 – 25 minutes, until they are is golden brown. Serve hot as an appetizer or as part of a mezze spread.This dish can be successfully reheated.

Notes

1) If you would like to cut back on the amount of the eggs, you can decrease them in the spinach and feta filling. 2) This filo triangles freeze wonderfully. Once cooled, put them in a freezer bag and seal. When you’d like to reheat (at 180 C/ 350 F for about 15 minutes), put them in a greased baking tray and sprinkle the top with a little milk and water mixture to give some moisture