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January 28, 2015
The final recipe of the series Budget Friendly Meals the Whole Family Will Love series is April’s Alabama Beans and Rice. This dish is so full of flavor that you can almost taste if from the front porch! The mixture of onions, peppers and celery smell heavenly as the meaty bean mixture bubbles away in your kitchen. Another alternative you could do with this recipe is prepare the recipe to step 6 below then place in a slow cooker for about...
January 27, 2015
Stuffed Cabbage (Lahana Dolmasi) Stuffed Cabbage (Lahana Dolmasi) is a delicious meal that will not break the bank. If you read my post on Sunday, Budget Friendly Meals the Whole Family Will Love, you know that I am doing a series of several recipes for around 30 bucks. Of course I am using things from my stocked pantry and fridge like spices, flours, milk, eggs, cheese, etc. Things that I normally have on hand in my kitchen. One of the...
July 1, 2014
Our local farmer’s market has opened back up for summer here in Gadsden, Alabama and shopping there this past Friday reminded me of my many trips to the Pazar’s of Istanbul only on a much smaller scale. Not only did I buy lots of fresh veggies, I also bought an “old” variety of Hydrangea that I still have not planted. I bought two different kinds of heirloom tomatoes, a couple of cayenne peppers and some gorgeous Tuscan Kale from Tobe’s Tailgate...
June 20, 2014
It has been quite a while since I posted anything. Not because I have not been cooking, I have just had a lot going on lately. I wanted to share this recipe for Kiymali Kapuska or Meaty Cabbage Stew with you all as soon as I made this dish but it just did not happen as anticipated. My sweet sister, Kim had bought a gigantic cabbage at the farmer’s market and she had made made us some of her yummy...
April 14, 2014
As promised, here is the recipe for the yummy Köfte. The milk and toasted bread is what makes these yummy little parcels of meat so moist. I also cut some of the Ciabatta Bread I made the other day in half and grilled them with the Köfte. The best way to do this is place the bread on the grill for a few seconds to toast and then place on top of the Köfte once they are almost done to...
April 13, 2014
We have been having some gorgeous weather here in Alabama. This has really gotten me in the mood to get the grill fired up. I decided I wanted to make some Şiş Kebap or Shish Kebab and Köfte. The Köfte recipe will be posted tomorrow. The great thing about making Şiş Kebap and Köfte is they can be prepared in advance. I prepared both of them in the morning and then when I was ready to grill all...
August 18, 2013
Dolma . . . I love this word. It means stuffed in Turkish. There are dolmas which are assorted vegetables that are stuffed with meat and rice mixtures or just rice mixtures. My Stuffed Collard Greens or Kara Lahana Dolması are meat and rice stuffed dolmas. Then there is the dolmuş which is a mini bus stuffed with people. I have heard that now there are regulations on how many people can be carried in a dolmuş. When I was living in...
March 11, 2013
One of my favorite comfort foods is Pasta with Meatballs. I made these recently and used two pounds of meat because we were having guest over. When I started to clean up, I was going to put what I thought was “some” meatballs into a container in the fridge. There was one lonely meatball. I guess nobody wanted to take the last meatball :-). They were really delicious. Try my recipe, I think you will like it. Pasta with...
March 7, 2013
Well, the weather here is chilly again and that cold wind blowing around got me in the mood for Chili. If I say so myself, this was probably some of the best I have ever made. It really hit the spot with everyone. So much so that there was not even a drop left! Try it out, I think you will really like it. Of course for all the “hot heads” (jk) out there, you can always add...
March 4, 2013
One of my favorite Turkish foods is Lahmacun. Lahmacun is traditionally made mixing ground lamb with onions, pepper paste and some spices. You can use beef if you prefer. When I lived in Turkey, all I had to do was walk out onto the street and could easily find a Lahmacun Salonu or even better pick up the phone and order some to be delivered to the house. Since, there are no Lahmacun Salons in Alabama, I figured I...
February 11, 2013
One of my favorite kinds of dolmas are etli kabak dolması which is zucchini stuffed with meat. I decided to make some tonight. My sister, Kim had given me some big beautiful tomatoes that she had bought at Smith Sisters produce stand in Attalla. I thought they would look really good with the zucchini so I used them as well. I think the tomatoes give a nice visual appeal. These dolmas are delicious on their own however they are...
January 30, 2013
One thing I love about meatballs is you can change the spices to come up with some amazing flavor combinations. Almost every country has their own version of meatballs, and some of the most well known are Chinese, Italian, Spanish or Mexican Albóndigas, Swedish, and Turkish Köfte. It is unclear who made the first meatball but most countries claim invention of this wonderful treat. It is documented that Romans were serving meatballs around 25 AD. Most meatballs start out with...
