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

Dalyan Köfte – Meatloaf with boiled eggs, peas and carrots

We Turks love köfte, our meatballs and we have so many variations. This Dalyan Köfte is a showstopper, and surprisingly easy to make.  I remember my mother making it at special occasions when I was a child. It is in the shape of a substantial meatloaf with boiled eggs in it, garnished with peas and carrots in tomato sauce. It makes a lovely meal with mashed potatoes aside; some folks enjoy it with plain pilaf too. It is delicious and impressive to serve; I hope you enjoy making Dalyan Köfte at home.


5.0 from 1 reviews
Dalyan Köfte – Meatloaf with boiled eggs, peas and carrots
 
We Turks love köfte, our meatballs and we have so many variations. This Dalyan Köfte is a showstopper, and surprisingly easy to make. I remember my mother making it at special occasions when I was a child. It is in the shape of a substantial meatloaf with boiled eggs in it, garnished with peas and carrots in tomato sauce. It makes a lovely meal with mashed potatoes aside; some folks enjoy it with plain pilaf too. It is delicious and impressive to serve; I hope you enjoy making Dalyan Köfte at home.
Author:
Recipe type: Meatloaf - Kofte
Cuisine: Turkish cuisine
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 5 medium eggs, hard boiled and peeled
  • For the köfte/meatloaf mixture:
  • 1kg/2lb 3oz minced/ground beef (5-10% fat)
  • 2 medium onions, grated
  • 2 medium eggs (save 1 egg white to glaze the meatloaf later)
  • 60g/2oz bread crumbs (use gluten-free bread to make the dish gluten-free)
  • 1tsp pul biber (use less if you prefer)
  • 1tsp ground cumin
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • For the rest:
  • 2 medium carrots, trimmed and cut into pea size pieces
  • 255g/9oz fresh or frozen peas
  • 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
  • 2tbsp double concentrated tomato paste
  • 2tbsp olive oil
  • 255ml/9fl oz water
  • Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • Chunks of bread, rice or mashed potatoes to serve
Instructions
  1. Place the diced carrots in a small pot, pour in plenty hot water, partially cover and simmer for 10 minutes, until carrots are partially cooked and still have a bite to them Drain and set aside.
  2. Place all köfte ingredients into a large mixing bowl (saving 1 egg white in a small bowl for later). Season with salt and ground black pepper and knead well with your hands for about 2-3 minutes, until all mixed well. Turn into a large köfte loaf, cover with a cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 1 hour.
  3. Preheat fan oven to 180C/350F. Place baking paper on a large tray and have a small bowl of water with a drizzle of olive oil aside to help shape the meatloaf.
  4. Take the meatloaf mixture from the fridge and place on the baking paper over the tray. Wet your fingers over the water and olive oil mixture and gently press and expand the meatloaf into a 35cmx28cm rectangular shape with about 1cm height. Place the peeled boiled eggs on a line horizontally across the center of the rectangular meatloaf sheet. Spread 3 tbsp carrots and 3 tbsp peas at both sides of the eggs, leaving 3cm at both ends of the line with no filling.
  5. Gently roll the meatloaf sheet over the filling, with the help of the baking paper (peeling off the baking paper as you roll), making a tight roll. Close and tuck both ends of the meatloaf, sealing the filling in. Brush the top and sides of the meatloaf liberally with the spared egg white – this will help keep the meatloaf intact and give a lovely glaze. Bake in the preheated oven for 45-50 minutes, until lightly browned at top and the meat is cooked.
  6. Just before the meatloaf is cooked, pour in the olive oil into a wide pan and stir in the garlic and tomato paste. Cook over medium to high heat for 2 minutes, stirring often. Then add the remaining carrots and peas to the pan, combine well. Pour in the water, season with salt and ground black pepper and bring to a boil. Then lower the heat and simmer for about 4-5 minutes, until peas and carrots cooked but not mushy.
  7. Take the cooked meatloaf out of the oven, rest for 5 - 8 minutes (this will make the slicing easier. Then cut into thick slices, garnish with the hot cooked peas and carrots in tomato sauce over and aside of Dalyan Köfte. Serve immediately with chunks of bread, rice or mashed potatoes aside.
 

Continue Reading

Earthquake fundraiser for Turkey – 100 % Sales of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookbook donation to Charity

 

Dear All,

As you are aware, Southeast Turkey and Syria has been very severely effected by the recent earthquake on February 6th – over 40,000 lives have been lost and still counting, an unimaginable pain. It hit home too, as my hometown Antakya – Hatay is hugely destroyed, so very heartbreaking. My immediate family in Istanbul is thankfully fine but we unfortunately lost some extended family and friends in Antakya, my heart aches and sincere condolences goes to all.

We are doing whatever we can to help the region to save and build lives. Thank you so much for your overwhelming response to our fundraiser, where, 100% of sales of the Signed copies of  my cookery book  Ozlem’s Turkish Table  bought via GB Publishing have been donated to the UK-based charity Turkey Mozaik Foundation, (Charities Commission Registration number: 1174968) the charity which transfers Earthquake emergency relief  funds directly to Turkey. My sincere thanks to GB Publishing to enable me to do this fundraising. In a short period of time, we raised 8,946 GBP for the charity;  thank you very much for your overwhelming response and support, cok tesekkur ederiz.

My cookery book has been a love letter to southern Turkish cuisine especially and to my roots, and I hope to keep this heritage alive and give hope. Thank you very much for all your support and my sincere condolences for everyone’s loss.

Ozlem

 

Continue Reading

Bitter almond cookies, Acıbadem kurabiyesi

Bitter almond cookies, Acıbadem kurabiyesi

I absolutely adore our crispy outside, chewy inside acıbadem kurabiyesi. Its origins dates back to 19th century Ottoman Palace kitchens and the traditional recipe includes a small amount of bitter almonds, hence give its name. Our world famous almonds from Datça region in southwest corner of Turkey is also traditionally used in these cookies. It has a macaron like chewy texture; crispy outside and softer inside. Living abroad, it is one of those tastes I miss so much from home and I think many Turks living abroad would feel the same. Good news is that, you can make these delicious almond cookies at home successfully, following a few curial steps carefully with this recipe.  They are absolutely delightful with Turkish coffee or tea aside.

I hope you enjoy making acıbadem kurabiyesi with my recipe, Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

5.0 from 3 reviews
Bitter almond cookies, Acıbadem kurabiyesi
 
I absolutely adore our crispy outside, chewy inside acıbadem kurabiyesi. Its origins dates back to 19th century Ottoman Palace kitchens and the traditional recipe includes a small amount of bitter almonds, hence give its name. Our world famous almonds from Datça region in southwest corner of Turkey is also traditionally used in these cookies. It has a macaron like chewy texture; crispy outside and softer inside. Living abroad, it is one of those tastes I miss so much from home and I think many Turks living abroad would feel the same. Good news is that, you can make these delicious almond cookies at home successfully, following a few curial steps carefully with this recipe. They are absolutely delightful with Turkish coffee or tea aside.
Author:
Recipe type: Almond cookies
Cuisine: Turkish cuisine
Serves: Makes 10 cookies
Ingredients
  • 3 medium free range egg whites (100g/3 ½ oz)
  • 200g/7oz sugar
  • 180g/6.3oz ground almonds
  • Pinch of sea salt
  • ½ tsp lemon juice
  • 10 unsalted almonds
Instructions
  1. Pour in hot water on a large pan until half way and sit a heat proof glass mixing bowl over the pan. Make sure the bowl is not touching the hot water. Bring to a gentle simmer and stir in the egg whites, sugar, pinch of salt and lemon juice to the bowl. Stir continuously to combine all the ingredients over medium heat until the sugar is melted completely and all mixed well. The mixture should be just warm enough to touch and with a gooey texture. Turn the heat off and place the bowl on a clean, cool surface.
  2. Preheat fan oven to 140C/160C/325F.
  3. Stir in the ground almonds to the bowl and combine well to turn to a very soft, sticky dough texture. Transfer the cookie mixture on another clean, wide mixing bowl; stir occasionally and let it completely cool. Once cool, spoon the mixture into a piping bag. Have a large baking tray and spread a little of the remaining cookie mixture from the bowl at the corners of the tray and place baking paper on, press gently to stick. Pipe the cookie mixture as 6cm in diameter circles over the baking paper, leaving 3cm between each cookie, as they will expand during baking. Place an almond in the middle of each cookie and bake in the preheated oven for 27-28 minutes, until the cookies look cracked and crispy outside and soft to touch inside (It is important not to overbake and keep inside soft, as this moisture will help the cookies stick together, as we traditionally do, and will give the chewy texture).
  4. Place the cookie tray on a metal rack to cool for 5 minutes. If they are sticking to the baking paper, gently turn the baking paper upside down on the tray and wipe the back of the cookies over the baking paper with damp towel, this will help cookies to peel off from the paper easily. Turn the baking paper back again and place the acıbadem kurabiyesi on a serving plate. If you like, gently press and stick 2 soft bottoms of the cookies to form one big cookie, as we traditionally do. They are best eaten on the day, though they keep well for 2-3 days, wrapped with cling film individually and stored in a cool place.
 

Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book, as festive gifts

The festive season is upon us; if you like to gift a signed copy of Ozlem’s Turkish Table cookery book, you can order a copy here, it is delivered worldwide. It has over 90 authentic, delicious, easy to make Turkish recipes, along with stunning photography and stories from my homeland (please kindly note that Almond cookies,acıbadem kurabiyesi is not included at this book). You can also order this hand embroidered apron here, for a foodie gift. Thank you for your kind support and spreading the joy of wholesome, delicious Turkish cuisine.

Continue Reading