Sujuk, parmesan breakfast muffins

Ingredients (make 10-12 muffins)
2 eggs
2/3 cup yogurt
1/3 cup oil
1/2 kangal sucuk (more for toping if desired)
(can be replaced with your favorite processed meat product)
1/2 cup parmesan, grated (i use whole foods aged parmesan!)
1 cup flour, sifted
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon turmeric (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

How to prepare these easy, yummy muffins?

• preheat oven to 375 F
• beat the eggs with a pinch of salt (i used hand whisker)
• add yogurt,oil, mix
• add flour , turmeric and blend mixture well.
• add chese & sujuk
• Fill muffins cups about 3/4 of the way up and bake for 15-20 minutes

Notes

• Easy to prepare and quick to bake. You should try for weekend breakfast with the family or guests!
• I used turmeric to give a natural yellow color. You don't feel the flavor but it is healthy and really looks yellow!
• You can replace sujuk with your favorite processed meat product
• well, you can replace parmesan cheese with feta, mozzarella, even cream cheese. i tried all different cheeses for salty cakes. Whatever I have in the refrigerator is what I put in the cake:) 
• Brew Turkish tea as it bakes. Don't forget tomatoes & black olives!

Afiyet olsun!

Cute food, great for lunchbox, too!

A teddy bear under the omelet blanket:) 

Veggie had, kinda scary?

Cutie French toasts...

Kitty pizzas!

This is for you, Erika!

Robot man sandwiches, boys will like more than girls, hugh?

Pictures are taken from web, I have no right or whatsoever on them. Just intended to give parents ideas to make little ones eat better & more with more appetite!

Healthy muffins with carrot ,oatmeal, agave & honey

I baked these muffins for my daughter's and her friends' lunchbox yet everyone at home enjoyed these healthy, soft muffins! No sugar but sweet thanks to agave and honey; lots of fiber thanks to whole wheat flour and oatmeal 

Recipe adapted from Whisks and Whimsy


Carrot Cake Agave Muffins (I had 20 muffins)
Ingredients:
2 cups whole wheat flour + 1/4 cup oatmeal1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 table spoon cacao
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 eggs
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup organic amber agave nectar
2 cups  baby carrots, chopped

1/2 cup honey

How to prepare healthy carrot muffins:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, oatmeal and salt and set aside. 

In another large bowl, beat the eggs, canola oil, and agave nectar until well combined, and then stir in the carrots. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined.

Fill the muffins cups about 3/4 of the way up and bake for 22 to 25 minutes until the center of the muffins spring back when touched.

TURKISH TEA/ TÜRK ÇAYI

Yes, I Would Love Another Glass of Tea...

Perfect Chocolate Cake

Chocolate cake with Perfect Chocolate frosting...

This was on the  Hersheys cocoa box...
"PERFECTLY CHOCOLATE" CHOCOLATE FROSTING

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine (i always use butter. what is  margarine???)
2/3 cup HERSHEY'S Cocoa (I prefer dark cocoa in general, but this one would make a bitter frosting so can use normal cocoa)
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract ( I dont use as vanilla extract has alcohol in it)

Melt butter. Stir in cocoa. Alternately add powdered sugar and milk, beating to spreading consistency.
Add small amount additional milk, if needed. Stir in vanilla. About 2 cups frosting.

Semolina Halva/ Irmik helvasi

Bowl tells it all, I love semolina halva!

Definitely one of the most famous desserts in Turkish Cuisine is Halva
The one with flour is more common but semolina version, especially when served hot with icecream is among the favorites...
Easy to make too..

Ingredients
2 cups of Turkish semolina (other types of semolinas have different texture so your dessert mayfail)
12 tb spoons of unsalted butter (1.5 sticks)
1 tb spoon pinenuts

1.5 cups milk
2 cups water
1.2 cups sugar


How to make Semolina Halva
Melt the butter in a pan, add the pine nuts and semolina.
Stir conitnously until it turns light brown. Be craful, dont overcook!
Meanwhile mix water,milk, sugar and warm till sugar melts.
After smelona is ready add mil mixture, mix and cover, and turn the heat off.
 Let it simmer for 10 minutes.
You an enjoy immediately, or serve later.

Picture and recipe from Selva, a well known semolina brand

Notes:

I did not have pine nuts so used coconut.

Cinnamon can be used as topping.

You can try other nuts ,too but pine nuts go best with semolina halva.
Afiyet olsun!

Ezogelin Çorbası (Ezo the bride Soup)

picture to come soon

Ezogelin Çorbası (Ezo  the bride Soup)

is definitely one of the best soups in Turkish cuisine. Very tasty and very nutritional, too. The smell of mint and paprika is a must , that reminds Anatolia...  

Ingredients:

Makes 4-6 servings.

1/2 cup red lentils
1/4 cup bulgur, cracked wheat (ignore for a gluten free soup )
1/4 cup rice
2 tbsp  oil
1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp tomato paste (can use 1 spoon of pepper paste if available)
4-5 cups of water
1 tsp paprika
1 tbsp dry mint
Salt
Pepper
Topping: Melt the butter, add red pepper and/or mint

Saute the onion with olive oil then add tomato paste and saute the onions are softened

Add the rest of the ingredients. After it comes to full boil, turn the heat down and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes. You may want to stir so that the ingredient dont stick to the bottom of the dish.
(Optional: You can blend the soup if you want more homogenous texture but do for short time as you would like to feel the ingredients which makes the soup such special)

If it's too thick, add a little more hot water.

Add the butter sauce and  Serve with lemon !

Afiyet olsun!

The movie from 1968 , starring famous Turkish actress Fatma Girik

• Although not known exactly, here is the story behind the Ezo gelin ,whose name embraced this delicious soup :

Originally from southeast Anatolia, the origin of this soup is attributed to an exceptionally beautiful woman named Ezo, near Gaziantep in the early 20th c. Legend has it that Ezo, with her rosy cheeks and black hair, was admired by travelers along the caravan route who stopped to rest in her village. Many men longed for her hand in marriage. Unfortunately she did not become happy in her  two marriages. Her second marriage took her to Syria where she became homesick for her village. It is for her, the story goes, that Ezo created this soup. After bearing 9 children, Ezo died of tuberculosis in the 1950s and has since become a Turkish legend, depicted in popular films and lamented in folksongs. Her name lives on in this popular soup although the reason is not known exactly.

• There were even Turkish movies, Tv series named after Ezo gelin
• If you have Turkish markets around where you live, you can find 'ready to cook' soup mixes. You add water and boil, then let it simmer.