Tag Archives | pomegranate molasses

Yoghurt with Dried Apricots, Walnuts, Pomegranates Seeds and Honey & More Ideas for a Delicious Brunch – Turkish Style

By Ozlem Warren on December 28, 2012 in Gluten-free recipes, Turkish Breakfast 18

Yoghurt with dried apricots, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and blueberries; healthy, delicious, refreshing start for your day.

Dried apricots, figs, prunes and raisins; not only very nutritious but also very delicious.

I wanted to share a delicious, healthy and refreshing breakfast that we like to do in my family; yoghurt with dried apricots, walnuts, pomegranate seeds and berries, drizzled with honey. This delicious treat is also suitable for gluten-free diet.

Back home in Istanbul, my parents still start a day with a few walnuts and dried fruit like apricots and prunes. Walnuts are power food; they are so rich in antioxidants that a small amount is more than enough. Just a handful of walnuts per day will help reduce the chances of heart disease, and other cardiovascular-related issues. Some of the best apricots are produced in Malatya, Turkey and the excess produce is being dried to be enjoyed all year around. Dried apricots and prunes are excellent sources of several important nutrients, including fiber, potassium and antioxidant carotenoids. Dried apricots and walnuts also pair very well, try the caramelized apricots stuffed with walnuts as a dessert; a delicious and nutritious treat.

I have been eating this delicious yoghurt with dried and fresh fruits as a breakfast a lot recently; very refreshing and make you feel good. Yoghurt, another nutritious food that boosts your immune system, features a lot in Turkish cuisine. We use yoghurt in mezzes and appetizers, in soups, in marinating meat and many more.

I love the marriage of creamy yoghurt with the crunchy walnuts and juicy & zesty apricots, berries and pomegranates seeds. It is very easy to make and hopefully it will jump start your day!

This yoghurt with dried fruit, berries and walnuts is also suitable for gluten-free diet.

Serves 2

225 gr/8 oz/1 cup plain natural yoghurt

45 – 60 ml/ 3 – 4 tbsp walnuts, chopped

30 ml/ 2 tbsp dried apricots, chopped

30 ml/ 2 tbsp blueberries (or a berry of your choice)

30 ml / 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds

15-30ml/ 1-2 tbsp natural honey

Place the yoghurt in a bowl and simply stir in the walnuts, dried apricot, berries and pomegranate seeds, give a gentle mix. Drizzle the honey over and sprinkle extra few pomegranate seeds or berries if you like.

Afiyet Olsun!

Plain yoghurt, cheese, olives, oats and grains are also a part of Turkish breakfast.

We Turks love a good brunch especially at the weekends and to welcome the New Year; here are some of my favorite Turkish brunch treats, if you would like to indulge later in the day:

Sliced tomatoes and cucumbers. eggs with Turkish dried beef sausage, sucuk, variety of cheese, sesame seeded bread rings, simit, honey with Turkish thivk cream, kaymak – a heavenly brunch to welcome the new year!

Eggs with Turkish dried beef sausages – Sucuklu Yumurta-

This is for me the center piece of the Turkish breakfasts/brunches. The spicy Turkish sausage, sucuk, goes so well with the runny egg. This with a crusty bread and a glass of cay – Turkish tea – by the side, would be my ultimate brunch 🙂

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers, spring (green) onions and feta cheese – Menemen

Scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers, onion and feta cheese, a delicious vegetarian breakfast.

If you rather like a vegetarian option for your eggs; this scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers, onions and feta cheese would just fit the bill; delicious, juicy and healthy.

Fillo pastry rolls, stuffed with mashed potato, cheese and parsley – Patatesli, Peynirli Borek

Fillo pastry rolls with cheese, parsley and mashed potato; a winner with children, as well as adults!

No Turkish brunch is complete without boreks – paper thin pastry, yufka, stuffed with cheese and vegetables. If you can’t find yufka, fillo sheets work well. This recipe also makes use of any left over vegetable like potatoes, delicious.

Olive salad with onions, tomatoes and pomegranate molasses – Zeytin Ufeleme

Olives with tomatoes, onion, parsely flavoured with olive oil and pomegranate molasses, a delicious treat from Antakya, Antioch.

This delicious olive salad hails from Antakya, Southern part of Turkey, where my roots are from. Olives are deliciously flavoured with onions, tomatoes, olive oil and a drizzle of pomegranate molasses. Wonderful for brunch, as well as an appetizer.

Sesame encrusted bread rings – Simit

Simit, sesame encrusted bread rings must be the most popular street food in Turkey.

Simit is indeed the quintessential Turkish food; these sesame-encrusted bread rings must be the most popular snack and street food at home. Most folks in Turkey have simit for breakfast with a cup of cay (tea), sliced cucumber, tomatoes and feta cheese. Simit has a wonderful crust and softer inside, and easy to make at home.

Cay – Turkish tea

A glass of cay, Turkish tea by the Bosphorus is the ultimate treat for me ; )

Well, Turkish tea, cay, goes down very well to accompany all above! Especially if you are by the Bosphorus, Istanbul, you may loose track of how many glasses of cay you consumed : )

Gavurdagi Salad of ripe tomatoes, onion, parsley and walnuts

By Ozlem Warren on August 27, 2012 in Appetizers and Mezes, Salads 26

Lovingly grown ripe, juicy tomatoes at their peak in August in Turkey

Lovingly grown, juicy, ripe tomatoes have been at their peak while we were in Turkey in August. These firm, sweet tomatoes have been so packed with flavor that you can just enjoy them alone, without any accompaniment.

Gavurdagi Salad of ripe tomatoes, onions, walnuts and pomegranate molasses; so delicious and healthy

But 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. I love the marriage of sweet and juicy tomatoes with the crunchy walnuts in this salad; the sweet and sour pomegranate molasses dressing really complements this salad too. Here’s my homemade pomegranate molasses, nar eksisi recipe, if you would like to make your own. If you can’t get pomegranate molasses or have time to make it, try the salad with a good balsamic vinegar, it still works well.

Freshly baked Turkish pide (flat bread) is wonderful to accompany the Gavur Salad

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 for lunch with your favorite cheese and bread by the side. We also love this salad as an accompaniment of pasta dishes like our favorite Shrimp pasta with red pepper flakes infused olive oil, highly recommended!

Crumbly Turkish cheese, tulumba peynir, butter, vegetables cooked in olive oil are important parts of the mezze spread

Serves 2 Preparation time: 15 minutes

3 medium tomatoes, finely chopped

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

Spices are an important part of the Turkish cuisine; tangy sumac and spicy red pepper flakes add wonderful flavor to Gavurdagi Salad.

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.

Ripe tomatoes, parsley, onion and walnuts; not only delicious but very healthy too.

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.

I hope you can have a go on this delicious, refreshing salad; it also has a wonderful juice, so make sure to spoon it or dip your bread in!

Afiyet Olsun!

Give Bulgur a Chance and Create Delicious, Satisfying Meals

By Ozlem Warren on June 25, 2012 in Appetizers and Mezes, Pilafs and Rice, Salads 18

If you have been following this blog for a while, you must have noticed that bulgur wheat is often used in Turkish cuisine. In addition to its great health benefits, (like it’s wholegrain and high in fiber), I love its delicious, nutty taste and that it is so easy to create a variety of delicious meals with it in no time.

Kisir; Bulgur Wheat Salad with vegetables, olive oil and pomegranate molasses - tastes even better the next day!

Bulgur wheat unlike cracked wheat, is a grain made from the cooked wheat berries which have the bran removed, and are then dried and pounded. There are two varieties generally available, fine and coarse. The coarse type is used for pilaff and fine bulgur is used in salads. Take this wonderful Bulgur wheat salad with vegetables, olive oil and pomegranate molasses, Kisir. It is ‘a bowl of health’, refreshing and taste even better the next day!

Stuffed Zucchini (Courgettes), and Peppers with Bulgur, Southern Turkish Style

How about stuffing vegetables with bulgur? A popular way to enjoy Bulgur, especially at the Middle and Southern part of Turkey, a delicious and satisfying meal with some plain yoghurt by the side.

Potato and Bulgur patties with pomegranate molasses, a wonderful appetizer

Bulgur also features quite a lot in Turkish appetizers. These Potato and Bulgur patties are one of my favorite mezzes; they are scrumptious dipped on pomegranate molasses (or good balsamic vinegar).

Spicy Lentil and Bulgur soup with dried mint and vegetables

Bulgur can be a part of hearty, delicious soups too, like this Spicy Bulgur and Lentil Soup. It is common for this soup to be enjoyed as part of breakfast in Anatolia, central part of Turkey.

Bulgur is healthy, delicious, affordable and now widely available. I hope you can give bulgur a chance, you won’t be disappointed. If you are already enjoying bulgur, I wonder what your favorite bulgur recipe is, would you share with us?

Here is a new, delicious recipe featuring bulgur; it has been a great hit at my recent Cooking Class, I hope you enjoy it too.

Bulgur Wheat Pilaf with Sautéed Almonds

In Central Anatolia, bulgur wheat is eaten far more than the rice. We like to add vegetables and sometimes nuts to bulgur, like in this recipe. Sautéed almonds give a lovely texture and flavor to bulgur. This pilaff can be a meal by itself, why not serving with Shepherd’s Salad of cucumbers, tomatoes and peppers, drizzled with olive oil?

Bulgur Wheat with sauteed almonds

Serves 4-6

Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes (+10 min resting)

350gr/12oz bulgur wheat, rinsed and drained

75gr/3oz/3/4 cup blanched or flaked almonds

600ml/1 pint/2 1/2 cup hot water

30ml/2 tablespoon olive oil

Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Handful of fresh herbs (like parsley or coriander), chopped to serve

Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a heavy pan and stir in the bulgur, tossing it thoroughly. Pour in the hot water, season with salt and pepper and combine well. Bring to the boil for 1-2 minutes, then reduce the heat and cover the pan. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until all the liquid has been completely absorbed.

Turn the heat off, cover the pan with a paper or tea towel and place the lid on top. Leave to steam for a further 10-15 minutes.

A nuts stall in Levent Market, Pazar - Istanbul. Nuts have an important part in Turkish cuisine (and it is OK to have a little siesta in hot summers day!)

Sauteed almonds

In the meantime, heat the rest of the oil in a small pan and stir in the almonds. Gently sauté the almonds for 3-4 minutes, until they are golden (take care, as they can burn quickly).

Stir in the sautéed almonds to the bulgur pilaff, mix well. Serve hot with chopped parsley, coriander, or dill on top. You can also enjoy this dish with Shepherd’s Salad of cucumber, tomatoes and peppers, with a drizzle of olive oil.

Ideally, I would love to eat my bulgur overlooking to fascinating Istanbul; if we can’t be there for the moment, hopefully the photo may provide some ambiance.