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Turkish Mezze Night on 21st February 2017; hope you can join us!

By Ozlem Warren on January 23, 2017 in Supper Clubs 4

Spinach and feta filo pastry pie; Ispanakli Borek will be at our Turkish Mezze Night on 21st February.

I am delighted to let you know that I will be hosting a delicious Turkish Mezze Night on Tuesday, 21st February at the lovely Nest Home and Cafe in Ripley, Surrey – England, from 6.30 pm to 8.30 pm. I am very much looking forward to welcoming everyone and sharing the delights of my homeland at this special night.

It will be an evening of enjoying a wide range of delicious and healthy Turkish Mezzes, which promises to be a very substantial meal, packed with flavor, focusing on Southern Turkish cuisine, where my roots are from. In addition, I will be talking on Turkish Cuisine, along with stories and traditions from my homeland. We will also have Turkish Wine by Melisa Fine Brands, Turkish Coffee by Ozerlat Coffee and my home made baklava with walnuts, for a delightful end. Nest Home and Cafe has wonderful shop attached to the Cafe, with a unique selection of treasures from handmade pottery, jewellery, books, home accessories so you can have a chance to browse their selection if you like too.

Spicy bulgur wheat salad with pomegranate molasses is our welcome salad on 21st Feb.

Menu :

Walnut and red pepper paste dip with cumin & olive oil on crackers – Muhammara

Spicy Bulgur Wheat Salad with Pomegranate Molasses (a delicious welcome salad from Antakya) – Kisir

Spinach and Feta Filo Pie – Ispanakli Borek

Aubergines and peppers cooked in olive oil with lentils – Mercimekli Mualla

Carcassian Chicken in Walnut Sauce, with red pepper flakes infused olive oil – Cerkez Tavugu

Home made Baklava with nuts

Turkish Wine by Melisa Fine Brands

Turkish Coffee by Ozerlat Coffee

Circassian Chicken with walnut sauce, Cerkez Tavugu, a delicious mezze to share on 21st February.

Cost per person: 45 GBP (includes Turkish wine and Turkish coffee). Please email ozlem@ozlemsturkishtable.com for registration and payment.

Date : Tuesday, February 21st, 2017, 6.30 pm to 8.30 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, so if you like to join us, please contact me thorough ozlem@ozlemsturkishtable.com for registration. This event is likely to sell out soon, so early registration is recommended.

Home made baklava is delicious, lighter and easier than you think, as we will have a go at our class

Home made baklava is delicious, lighter – look forward to sharing on our Turkish Mezze Night, 21st Feb.

I am greatly looking forward to welcoming you and sharing this delightful evening of Turkish food, along with stories from my homeland, I hope you can join us.

Ozlem1

My best wishes,

Ozlem

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.

Turkish coffee, enjoyed by everyone at our Turkish cookery course.

Turkish coffee, rituals and how to make it will be presented by Ozerlat Coffee at our Jan. 29th class

The classes may also make a wonderful gift for the festive season and New Year. You can view the class details and book through Divertimenti Cookery School at this link, hope you can join us!

Poached Eggs with Garlic Yoghurt, Turkish Style – Çılbır

By Ozlem Warren on December 6, 2016 in Appetizers and Mezes, Gluten-free recipes 20

We Turks love eggs done many different ways; one of our favorite ways to enjoy egg is as being poached and served over garlic yoghurt, a special dish called Çılbır in Turkish. Çılbır is generally enjoyed as a hot mezze though I also like serving as part of a leisurely weekend Turkish breakfast, lunch or a light supper, along with a refreshing salad like Coban Salata, Shepherd’s Salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, spring onions and some pide bread or crusty bread. Make sure your eggs are fresh and ideally free-range for the best results (fresh eggs have a thicker white near the yolk that hold a round shape as it cooks).

I prepare a simple pul biber infused olive oil sauce and pour this over the poached eggs with garlic yoghurt, just before serving. The delicious heat from pul biber complements the dish beautifully. How about making your own Simit, Sesame crusted Turkish bread rings, to enjoy with Çılbır? They go very well together. Both Çılbır and Simit recipes, along with many other vegetarian Turkish dishes are included at my new cookery book, SEBZE, Vegetarian recipes from my Turkish kitchen, you can get a copy here.

I hope you enjoy this simple yet very satisfying dish, Afiyet Olsun.

Ozlem

5.0 from 4 reviews

Poached Eggs with Garlic Yoghurt, Turkish Style - Cilbir

I hope you enjoy this delicious poached eggs in garlic yoghurt, Turkish Style, called Cilbir. I like to prepare a simple red pepper flakes infused olive oil sauce and pour this over the poached eggs with garlic yoghurt, just before serving. The delicious heat from the red pepper flakes complements the dish beautifully.

Author: Ozlem Warren

Recipe type: Vegetarian, eggs, Turkish Style

Cuisine: Turkish Cuisine

Serves: 2

Ingredients

1 large garlic clove, crushed and chopped finely
400g/14oz strained yoghurt, brought to room temperature
2 large free range eggs
30 ml / 2 tbsp. olive oil
30 ml / 2 tbsp. apple cider, grape or white wine vinegar
10 ml / 2 tsp. Turkish pul biber
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Pide bread or crusty bread to serve
Fresh herbs to decorate

Instructions

Prepare the garlic yoghurt first – about 30 minutes before poaching the eggs – and bring to the room temperature.
In a small bowl, beat the yoghurt with garlic and seasoning. Spoon this into two serving plates, creating a round thick layer to provide a nest for the poached egg. Let the yoghurt mixture reach the room temperature.
Fill a small pan with hot water, add the vinegar (this will help sealing the egg whites) and bring to a boil. Stir the water to create a whirlpool and crack in the first egg.
As the egg spins and the white sets around the yolk, stir the water ready for the next one. Poach each egg for 2-3 minutes so that the yolk remains soft.
While the eggs are poaching, quickly pour in the olive oil in a small pan and stir in the Turkish pul biber,over medium to low heat. Stir and let the pul biber infuse to olive oil for 30 seconds, turn the heat off.
Lift the eggs out of the water with a slotted spoon and place them over a couple of sturdy paper towels, to drain the excess moisture. Then gently place them over to the garlic yoghurt spread.
Drizzle the pul biber infused olive oil over the poached eggs. Serve immediately with pide bread or crusty bread by the side.
Coban Salata, Shepherd’s Salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, spring onions would also go well with this delicious poached eggs over garlic yoghurt, Cilbir; Afiyet Olsun.

Ozlem’s Turkish Table on Brooklands Radio

I had the pleasure of having an interview with Jill Bennet on healthy Turkish cuisine at the Brooklands Radio on Sunday, 27^th November. It was wonderful to have a chance to talk and spread the word on wholesome, delicious Turkish cuisine – and had a flash back of happy memories of my amateur DJ days at Kent FM in Istanbul! – Here is the podcast link of our interview, if you like to listen to.