Tag Archives | red pepper paste

Spice Up Your Dinners – Easy, Delicious, Healthy Dishes for Entertaining

By Ozlem Warren on April 23, 2012 in Cakes and Desserts, Roasts and Kebaps, Salads, Turkish Cooking Classes 10

Our Turkish cooking class; learning about the red pepper paste and spices

What makes the food we eat memorable? Sure, there is the taste element, smell, presentation of the food; they all contribute greatly for making the food special. In Turkish culture, there is also the so important “sharing” element; we think even simple food tastes better when shared with family and friends. My grandmother used to put extra two plates at our dinner table, as someone would always just turn up and join our dinner table, happy days. Hospitality, generosity is a big part of Turkish culture.

Dried aubergines (eggplants); they are wonderful when stuffed with aromatic rice filling

It was a great pleasure to share Turkish food and culture yesterday, at my Turkish cooking class, with wonderful, enthusiastic foodies. We cooked and enjoyed some easy, delicious Turkish food together, and here I wanted share a few good ideas with you to recreate these delicious, easy dinners at home.

Sizzling chicken kebabs and roasted vegetables, with lambs lettuce & yoghurt salad by the side

For example, take this Sizzling chicken kebabs over pitta bread with roasted vegetables. You can prepare many stages of this dish like marinating the chicken and preparing the tomato based sauce ahead of time, which makes the dish a great choice for entertaining. The kebab looks impressive, tastes wonderful and you can ensemble the final dish at the day of your party – so the host gets to enjoy the company too! You can replace the chicken with any other meat of your choice, or for a vegetarian option, mushrooms, eggplants, courgettes all work very well.

How about serving this refreshing lambs lettuce, yoghurt and dried mint salad by the side of the kebabs? That’s what we did at the class, and this yoghurt based salad complemented the spicy kebabs really well. The salad is so easy to make, and also makes a wonderful and healthy lunch alternative too.

Baked dried apricots with walnuts stuffing; delicious with a dollop of vanilla ice cream by the side.

Last but not least, we finished the class with this delicious baked dried apricots dessert with nuts, served with vanilla ice cream, you can view the recipe below.

I hope all these dishes could inspire you to create something delicious to share. To view more photos from the cooking class (many thanks to dear Tina for the wonderful photos!) and check out my next Turkish cooking class on Saturday, June 16th please visit this cooking class page.

Dried Apricots stuffed with walnuts –Cevizli Kayisi Tatlisi

One of Turkey’s most prolific fruits is the apricot. Because of their abundance, some of the yearly harvest is allowed to dry in the hot summer sun in order to be enjoyed all year round. Malatya, a city in southeast Turkey, is particularly famous for excellent dried apricots which are exported throughout the world. Apricots are great snacks; they are packed with fiber, antioxidants as well as their naturally rich flavor. This easy dessert is great for parties, sharing with friends or family or just indulging yourself.

Dried apricots are packed with flavour; a very healthy snack alternative

Serves 4-6

Preparation time – 10 minutes Cooking time – 25 minutes

225 gr / 8 oz dried Turkish apricots

3 fl oz / 1/3 cup water

30ml/2 tablespoons butter

30ml/2 tablespoons sugar

For the filling:

75 gr /1/2 cup crushed walnuts

50 gr / 1/4 cup sugar

Crushed pistachio nuts for garnish

Vanilla ice cream to serve

Preheat oven to 180 C/ 350 F

Soak the dried apricots in warm water for 10-15 minutes (Prepacked dried apricots tend to be softer, if that’s the case, please skip this stage). Then drain the water.

Crushed walnuts and sugar

Split open the apricots and stuff each apricot with a spoonful of crushed walnut and sugar mixture and close it up. Slightly grease a baking tray with oil and place the apricots on it. Pour the water over the tray. Place a little butter on the top of each stuffed apricot. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar over the apricots and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Split open the dried apricots and stuff with walnuts & sugar mixture

Arrange them in a serving dish and sprinkle over some crushed pistachio nuts. This light dessert goes well with some vanilla ice cream or clotted cream.

Afiyet Olsun!

And here comes the Awards

Ozlem’s Turkish Table received the Sunshine award; many thanks for this lovely, uplifting award Peri’s Spice Ladle; I very much enjoy your delicious and educational posts on Indian cuisine.

The rules of the award:

• Place award picture, link to and thank the person who nominated you.
• Answer the ten questions posed to you.
• Pass on the award to 10 or more bloggers.

The 10 questions and their answers:

Favorite color: Pastel colors, especially green.

Favorite animal: Giraffes; absolutely adore them; hope to see them up close!

Favorite number: 5

Favorite non-alcoholic drink:Turkish coffee, especially enjoyed with friends and family.

Facebook or Twitter: Enjoy them both, perhaps slightly more to Facebook

My passion: Food and travel; shared with family and friends.

Getting or giving presents: Love giving; (and look forward to receiving, when I can! :

Favorite pattern: Turkish tiles; they tell stories of thousands of years

Favorite day of the week: Saturday – the weekend!

Favorite flower: Alliums, I absolutely love them.

Here is the chance to acknowledge some of my favorite blogs. I would like to nominate the below bloggers to the Sunshine Award; they bring sunshine and smile on my face with their wonderful posts, articles and photos. I’d appreciate if you can take a moment to visit them:

Nadia Swindell Photography -non-food blog, check out Nadia’s wonderful photography

Kalofagas – Wonderful Greek food & Beyond

And before I sign off; many thanks to Cuisine de Provence for the lovely Liebster Blog Award.

I am delighted to pass this award to Peri’s Spice Ladle; your recipes inspire and posts teach me so much about Indian cuisine, thank you!

Patties with Potato, Bulgur, Onion and Parsley – Patatesli, Bulgurlu Kofte

By Ozlem Warren on January 7, 2011 in Appetizers and Mezes, Ozlem’s Turkish Table Cookery Book 19

Bulgur and potato patties, bulgurlu, patatesli kofte; delicious to dip into sauces

These patties are healthy, moist, easy to make and delicious; you just can’t stop eating them. They look similar to the bulgur and lentil patties I made previously(recipe in the blog, under appetizers and mezes), they have a different texture though, softer and more moist.You can serve them as a starter meze on a bed of lettuce leaves to wrap, or with bowl of olive oil and pomegranate molasses (or some sharp balsamic vinegar) by the side to dip in. In Southern Turkey, it is common to dip these patties to the sauce of stew and casseroles. I recently served them by the side of the aubergine, shallots and meat stew and they went down very well, disappeared very quickly 🙂

You can prepare them a day in advance, the flavors get even better the next day. Turkish hot pepper paste, biber salcasi, add a wonderful flavor to the patties; you can make your own hot pepper paste here , if you like. Add more red pepper flakes if you like it more spicy. Traditionally, fine bulgur is used in these patties; if you can’t find fine bulgur, you can use coarse bulgur, which is widely available in supermarkets; in that case, double the hot water amount and cook the course bulgur first in hot water as per the package.

Signed copies of Ozlem’s Turkish Table book, available to order at this link

We use seasonal produce, bulgur, whole grains, legumes and pulses a lot in Turkish cuisine, and flavour with natural condiments such as olive oil, pomegranate molasses, southern Turkish way. This recipe and many more wholesome, authentic recipes included in my cookery book, Ozlem’s Turkish Table, Recipes from My Homeland; signed copies available at this link, delivered worldwide including US and Canada.

Serves 8 -10
Preparation time : 15-20 minutes Cooking time : 25 minutes

175gr/6oz/1 cup fine bulgur, rinsed and drained
4 medium potatoes, skinned and quartered
45-60ml/3-4 tablespoon olive oil
3 spring onions, finely chopped
Handful of flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
1/2 tablespoon red pepper paste (optional)
1 – 2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 teaspoon/10ml ground cumin
120ml/ 4fl oz hot water
Salt and ground black pepper to taste

Bowl of cold water to wet your hands

Extra virgin olive oil and pomegranate molasses (or sharp balsamic vinegar) to serve

In a large bowl, combine the bulgur, red pepper paste, biber salcasi (or red pepper flakes) and spring onion, mix well with using your hands. This will help the paste or the spice to really blend in with the bulgur and the spring onions. Add the hot water on the mixture and give a good stir. Leave it aside for about 15 minutes and stir once in a while so that all the water would be absorbed.

Boil the potatoes in salted water until cooked, drain the water. Mash the potatoes in a separate bowl with cumin. Add the olive oil, salt and ground pepper and knead the potatoes with your hands really well, until they are smooth and elastic. Stir in the potatoes with the bulgur mixture, and add the parsley, mix well with your hands. Check the seasoning and add more salt if needed. Have the bowl of water ready by your side. Wet your hands with the water and take a walnut size from the mixture and shape like patties using your hands. Place them side by side on a serving dish.

Put some extra virgin olive oil and pomegranate molasses (or sharp balsamic vinegar) on a small bowl and serve the patties with them for dipping. The patties are also wonderful served on a bed of lettuce leaves.

Afiyet Olsun,

Ozlem

Baked Chicken Casserole with Vegetables; Firinda Sebzeli Tavuk

By Ozlem Warren on May 12, 2010 in Casseroles and Stews 7

Baked Chicken Casserole with Vegetables, Sebzeli firin tavuk

In Turkey, we use a lot of fresh vegetables – usage of frozen vegetable and fruit is minimal. With this abundance, you can create endless casseroles with adding meat or keeping it vegetarian.

This recipe appears a lot in our home; it is so easy to make, healthy and very delicious too. You can add or replace your favorite vegetables of the season; peas, eggplants and zucchini work well too. I like to double the recipe and freeze the half, as it freezes so well. You can make it a complete meal with plain rice a side and a dollop of plain yoghurt.

Please remember; Turkish cooking is all about using fresh produce and flavoring the dishes with artful use of spices. It is wonderfully amazing to see that you can have healthy food without compromising the taste, thanks to the spices. Make your casserole as fiery as you would like with more red pepper flakes! Afiyet Olsun!

Serves 4 – 6

Preparation time: 35 minutes Cooking time: 40-45 minutes

450 gr/1 lb chicken breasts(cut in chunks) and thighs
2 onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, crushed
450 gr/1 lb potatoes, cut in half and sliced
1 green bell pepper, seeded and sliced
1 medium carrot, roughly chopped
1 tablespoon red pepper paste (or tomato paste)
45 ml/3 tablespoons olive oil
400 gr/14 oz can chopped tomato
240 ml/8 oz/1 cup water
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon (or more!) red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 180 C/350F/Gas mark 4

In your casserole dish marinate the vegetables with olive oil, chopped tomatoes, red pepper paste (or tomato paste), salt, pepper, oregano and red pepper flakes. Make sure all the vegetables are well coated with the olive oil, paste and spices using your hands.

Add the meat and blend well with the marinated vegetables. You can add a little more pinch of salt if you like. Cover and let the flavors blend for about 15 minutes in the fridge.

Add the water to the marination, mix well. Bake in the oven uncovered. Half way through baking (after about 20 minutes), take the casserole out of the oven and give a gentle mix; this will give a chance for the vegetables and the meat to golden brown evenly. Put the casserole back in the oven and cook for further 20 minutes or until nicely golden brown on top.

Serve warm with plain rice and a dollop of natural plain yoghurt by the side.

Tips: You can marinate the meat with the vegetables in the morning or even a day in advance; cover and leave it in the fridge for the flavors to blend even more.