Spirited Miu Flavor

You May Now Rub Your Happy Buddha Belly

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sun, 17 Oct 2010 22:11:00 +0000

This tree downtown where I live is adorned with colorful lanterns to attract tourists to dine at the restaurant to the left side of this photo. Now this will hopefully help me articulate the release and ease I've come to feel at this small touristic seaside & port town over 6 months I have been living here.

Where I left posting, I was packing our flat into boxes with mom in a frenzy. I looked forward to have some time to simply contemplate my next move; meanwhile trying to make the best of this time apart. I needed the change. Granted it came to me fully, appealing to all of my buds. Sweet, sour, bitter, savory times. Not necessarily in that order, my feast did not have to follow any man-made formality. I indulged with my bare hands.

So, this thinking reflected itself in ways I pleased my tummy over spring and summer.

Living at this town blessed me with amazing variety of fresh produce at farmers market with the prices so cheap for their great quality. Hand picked organic fruits and vegetables sold by farmers who actually did the farming themselves.

On an ordinary trip to the market, I even saw the lady who I would buy whole wheat rustic bread from at the market I would go before moving out to here. Since there is an hour long distance in between two places; apparently she and the yummy loaves of breads were traveling to this town as well! Seeing her made this place more homely. Plus, we would always briefly chat. Even if I didn't know much about her life, I felt like I've seen a long time friend. She hugged me confirming the feeling. No words necessary, that lifting within. All in small precious moments like those.

Hot weather and over-cooked food just don't combine well for my family. This meant going raw over spring and summer at large with moderate cooking and baking to compliment.

Salads...

Red bell pepper & dill lightly sauteed sprinkled with sesame, zucchini steamed and served over some spaghetti to keep tummies in check!

Appetizers...

Mushrooms rested in lemon & water, then dried up gently and coated in whisked egg & spices bowl first; then in bread crumbs bowl. Either fried or baked. These were fried.

Then served over yoghurt in the one above, plain on stick below.

My kind of S'mores. Except this one would be S'mush. No campfires alright. No overkill either!

Refreshing drinks...

Summer's favorite, ice tea. I am yet to perfect my own, so this one above was by a store brand. Oh the brutal honesty, next.

Baking; how I cheer for thee with an over-excited anime face!

My first time baking bread. Multi grain. I bought the dry dough mix from store alright. But adding walnuts was my idea! Ah. I just get very sentimental with being able to bake bread. So, score.

More baking...

Great with tea.

... Speaking of tea;

Brewing tea in a jar...pure visual satisfaction. Something new to photograph for the I" wanna be home today!" photographer.

Preparation For Fall and Winter...

Sour cherry jam in the making. Mmm. Jar is already half empty. Even my Psychology degree can't make me perceive it half full. :/

Sun-drying tomatoes.

...

Most importantly;

Dinners enjoyed with my small family...

One time I craved for pizza and tried my best. Asked them to decorate toppings as they wished. Limited toppings, pizza dough that needs practice. Discouraged? Nah.

Another great advantage that came with moving home was/is that my mom and I would be as close as ten minutes apart with my sister and her partner. This meant a lot of time strengthening our bond (since especially growing up; I didn't get to spend quality time much with my sister).

Now we are just conditioned to having good food whenever all four of us come together. As if; our get together-s serve to that one hedonistic pleasure only.

Well, none of us complains.

Village bread, cheese and olives

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:46:00 +0000

I am sitting in a room full of boxes, reflecting on things that happened recently. Boxes, because I am moving. Remember the village I mentioned in my other post... the town I am moving to is actually pretty close to that village. I don't remember myself looking forward to a move this much before!

It was July 2009 I stepped into a full time job at private sector adventure right after the graduation - and quit about two weeks ago. Somewhere, someone in this world has used that exact period of timing to birth her baby. And I, like a pregnant mother - not to underestimate the greatness of it - learned a lot at the job. I didn't get to see the baby walk her first steps though! I couldn't, given that I had to move due to family relocation.

I'd ideally like to work related to / for / with LGBTQ community. I've thought about the pathways. It could be as in get experience as an intern, then proceed from there. Or I could get a Master's degree in Gender Studies. Each option has its own differing probability at the time of writing them down. So I figured myself a way that'd probably make me very happy IF I could accomplish getting there. However, I am just going to be open to any opportunities that arise along the way. If one insists on only accomplishing a certain goal, it might not always work out as expected.

Speaking of which... if I could just go to Spain and blog the culinary wonders from there... Mmm. Don't get me excited just yet.

I got carried on...

Back to topic!

Since most of our stuff is packed - that includes everything in kitchen - and I can't cook... I am just enjoying simplicity in my diet for now.

Back to village bread, cheese and olives.

Some typical must have components of Turkish breakfast - except for I am consuming them at 00:08 am at the moment! Such an early-bird eh.

Catch up with you soon!

Daylight

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 20:39:00 +0000

How I miss thee. My metabolic depression is soon to be over with. Well, a kind of forced - kind of intentional hibernation it's been. Because I've avoided creating new tummy pleasures, my tummy in turn gave me the lesson in form of a duodenal ulcer. Furious a bit, he gurgled ; "You will, promise me, to keep you happier - to make me happier. Feed me no caviar, no flipping white truffles or name of which you can't even pronounce let alone digest. You're gonna have to feed me light, expose me to more light, let yourself feel light."

Promise.

Trip to an old wine village, intense: just in time.

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:23:00 +0000

Tonight I got all cosy, winter tea and baked chestnuts. I call this living in the moment.

Looking back... I've been working for four and half months now. Summer schedule part weekdays full-time and Saturdays part-time. Having switched to winter schedule, weekdays full-time and work every other Saturday. That makes a lot of working if you're on your first steady full-time like me, fresh out of university with no similar work experience beforehand. Keeping active is fun, but I miss being in more control. So, I've been trying to adjust to my new timing - it's okay for now. What's the big deal! Oh hello adulthood.

So when it was time for this religious holiday, I was very stoked - days of doing nothing? I'm in!

.. But I actually did something nice, hopping on a bus to visit my sister and her boyfriend. They live an hour and half away - but this would be my first time seeing them since I started working. Stuff gets in the way and this circumstance that salad whatever. You know.

It was a great idea though. Well, why the past tense... I'm still at their place. Whenever us three come together, you count on delicious food and having cosy leisure time together.

Those and we even took a half day trip to this cute little village I'll talk about, and share the photos of. First a glimpse of how it looks...

And while you're at it, you might want to click here for a brief history snippet of the village.

Beautiful little village on the hills, home for approximately six hundred inhabitants. Famous for its wine and olive oil. Women make "gozleme" traditional pastry made of phyllo and filling, and in little streets of the village, there's a lot of handmade stuff. Olive oil soap, clothes, souvenirs. But when you mention " Sirince Village"; you'll recall wine first.

Juicy wild strawberries...

Aside from the usual red wine, this village expertises on fruit wine. Black mulberry being my favorite. Well... many others would call it a favorite out of all kinds. Speaking of which, they make peach, strawberry, kiwi, blueberry, sour cherry, quince, apple, melon and blackberry wine. Mmm.

I wanted to take some home, and we were offered a wine tasting at this wine house. There we go...

The guy defined them all but I was so into my photography, I put glasses in order for my photo and I forgot which cup was what flavor. Recognized most of them - only having trouble with the berry flavors. Err.

I didn't want to leave the wine house. The moment I stepped in, I looked around and had this feeling, I must've been here before. So familiar I felt like I've known the place for years. This welcoming feeling... it blew my senses away. My eyes examined the room, and found happy.

A kind of place I would love to heal myself in, contemplate and ponder. Birth my child and spend a difficult winter. Write letters to whomever on the table made of rock, and burn them while playing with the glowing coal pieces.

I had a lot of thoughts. Wine bottles on each wall. Distant, soothing music in the background. I let myself free in each breath. Acknowledging insanity while achieving a balance, indesribable.

I was different when we left that wine house. Different yet still same. Maybe re-integrated to a side of me I've been neglecting. I rename the place to introspection room. Do you have one?

We walked in narrow streets. One of them has led us to a beautiful little shop with good wine, olive oil and sour pomegranate sauce - of which we bought plenty.

Sister and her boyfriend were chatting up with the shop owner who turned to be a Cretan guy and I was looking around in the meantime.

The olive oil loving Mediterranean in me screamed in high glee.

Finally made our way up to this restaurant, craving for some organic and pure village made food.

Stuffed grape leaves, and garlic yogurt with purslane.

Crowned the hearty rustic bread...

Refreshing healthy drink, "ayran"... served in traditional cups.

Tomorrow looking out of my window, I'll see this. Fewer leaves on the tree, more on the ground. But somehow, it'll be okay.

Little India In My Tummy

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 21:38:00 +0000

Tum kaise ho?

I don't know you, but I deeply missed murmuring from this corner of mine.

Another farmer's market day. I happened to decide going there when I was already out & about, just after a rare meeting with dad. Where art thou, lovely backpack, to carry my fresh produce? So I did some strategical shopping to only get stuff I really needed - noone knew I was on this secret mission.

Broccoli was the only veggie I craved for; but I still got other stuff too : celery roots, arugula, mint, tomatoes, white potatoes and some cheese mm.
It's been a while I barely cooked stuff that would treat my spice loving tummy.
So the re-union should have been a veggie feast - little India if you will - in my tummy!
Washing broccoli, trimming stalks and cutting through florets... my! Placed the florets and carrots I sliced on my metal steamer carefully. Sliced some garlic cloves, threw some into the cooking pan and some on florets. Filled up the pan with some water, watching the garlic slices swim. Dreamy at this point, anticipating the outcome.

Spices - de la must use items in my cooking, I sprinkled some over veggies to be steamed: Masala mix which had turmeric, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom etc, red pepper flakes, thyme. Put the lid on and watch the steam dance. Joy... joy... pure joy.

In the meantime I went exploring into cupboards and fridge, and I spot this can of coconut milk my colleague gave me. Opened the can and what do I see, coconut... cream! I don't usually open a can of coconut milk and find coconut cream instead. For one, I never had coconut milk in a can before and secondly it's amusing to put it this way now - I know I am seriously distracted.

Though I - am - trying.

To bake some sense -_-

When broccoli florets were good to eat, in few minutes, I removed the steamer and poured coconut milkish cream and stirred it to get some sort of sauce out of it. No idea. Got some cheese, and walnuts to go along oh also yogurt. Not even going into the nutrition levels of those stuff all together. Especially that coconut milk... I'll take that it has not raised my colestherol levels at all. "Who'd have thought Coconut Nutrition would be controversial" ... It will have no effect on me until scientists come to an agreement.

Time's running late and while I wish I could've actually shared a little something, this too felt assuring, well maybe I will keep coming back to my corner here every now and then.
Feel that little ease now, simply by attempting to rekindle this blogging affair.

Summer Overview

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 14:07:00 +0000

It's in Summer '09 I've:
- Graduated university as a Psychologist
- Enjoyed just relaxing without obligations for a month
- Got employed as an educational consultant for an overseas working company
- Come to terms with some wishes requiring good timing to come true
- Dealed with the one above, and continuing to.

.. and I've fed my tummy a lot of well made goodness - and I got the chance to turn my loved ones' tummies happy, doing a little cooking here and there.

I can't wait to catch up with my dear fellow foodies. Before that, say, how is your life today?

I've been contemplating

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 14:07:00 +0000

Baking Experiment, Food Art, Appreciating

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sun, 14 Jun 2009 01:50:00 +0000

There are just so many things to contemplate on the global village. Then there is the daily running around we have to do. For me it's been graduation lately. I've invested a lot of my time studying; in another words I need some time to rejuvenate.

In this due update I have pastry with veggie topping. It was an experiment to bake them in boat shapes, to find out how they'd turn out. In my mind, the possible outcome would be a boost to visuality. Say, what if the topping dried out from heat until the dough baked nicely? What would the belly say? It was sheer relaxation, mind relaxing experiment to me in between all the studying.

Especially the dough kneading part! Oh how I loved squeezing/forming that ball in my hands. Since it was experiment time, I sprinkled black cumin seeds (nigella sativa!) , some dried mint , turmeric over the ball and kept kneading. It didn't occur to me to include spices and herbs from the beginning since I am rather a act-on-whim kind of cook in kitchen. Had I known earlier, I'd have added them earlier. Turmeric would work its color well, so my dough would get evenly yellowish! Even more!

At the time my camera was out of battery, and I out of patience so just snapped these quickly with my webcam. They pass though. So, some ingredients to the right. Piece of dough, grated zucchini, on top of it is cayenne pepper and to the sides are grounded black pepper and turmeric. I've got a lot of courage to push you all into experimenting BUT an exact recipe to share as usual. I should put this on the "About Me" section to come probably. (Maybe it's time to buy measuring cups!) I suppose it's not much helpful to a foodie who has no to little idea about what food I'm talking about. If I feel in that position, there's got to be something really spirited about the website to keep me coming back. On a spirited miu note, I have good news about that. I try to pitch in some helpful tips... breadcrumbs to compensate for the lack of a strict trail. That may not have helped poor Hansel and Gretel but they ended up finding a house of gingerbread, candies and all, remember?

On with the experiments!

As for the dough: I used white flour (but definitely go for more nutrition rich flour when possible) , eggs, vegetable oil, some Turkish yogurt (plain Greek could substitute probably) , pinch of salt and baking powder. Dough consistency aim is as usual, ear lobe softness. I use a deep bowl to make my dough. Break eggs, add oil and yogurt and mix them using a mixer. Not the machine! Dear Rosie the Riveter suggested we have the power, so. Then I add in the flour, salt and top with baking powder to mix them somewhat. Time to get hands on it. Adding flour as needed to knead it without sticking to my fingers.

If I feel polarized with good or bad mood exceptionally, I knead that dough so fast. On average moods I rarely give up on stubborn dough anyway. I remember staying away from getting my hands on dough for a good long time after beginning to cook. Somehow practice makes it better.

Moving onto topping: My vegetable of choice was zucchini - because that's what I had. If I knew to be sneaky I'd say I used it cause the topping would have to be moist enough so it can stand the heat while preserving its flavor. Well this is how I rationalized it afterwards anyway. I wouldn't make a good politician.

Grated zucchini (well, thanks mom) , added spices like grounded black pepper, cayenne pepper and some thyme. Fresh garlic cloves too! A LOT of them! Also, I spot mom slicing up a baby artichoke and mixing it up with the rest as she giggled. She said she was contributing to the experiment.

Pulling off chunks of dough, I shape it in my fingers. Genuinely flattening them; length being bigger than width. Just like boats. Adding some topping, and then gathering the ends together and pushing with my thumbs so they keep in shape.

Smudged the side of "boats" with egg yolk so they'd brown nicely. Sprinkled some more black cumin seeds all over. Oven was already pre-heated to medium by then, so I just placed the tray in and waited in anticipation.

There we go. I plan to keep making this pastry! It's like an alternative to usual pogaca to me, just this time the shape being different so. No way I'll ever give up on these goodies. Comforted me well and I did both of my final exams just good. No more university since June 12th. I might have just graduated with a BA in Psychology. I won't believe it for sure until I see it on paper. Or wear the ridiculous cap and gown.By the way, summer is here fully - I'm not sure how motivating it is on creating meals or spend more than fifteen minutes in kitchen with a steaming pot even. But who knows, maybe it's time to come up with chilled, light alternatives ;-)

I'll leave ice cream making to our pros, but I plan to play around Turkish yogurt, fruits and stuff! When it's hot, I live on mostly liquid stuff. That's not much appropriate though... There's some food I won't give up on regardless of weather. Like pasta! How do you adjust your eating to weather?

Miu murmur to foodie friends: You know Lisa Orgler of Lunchbox Project. Her recent project is on drawing from food photos foodies send her roughly. When I got her call for submissions, I was so excited about the idea I quickly agreed to it. I sent my pogaca photo first. Then after a while came the strawberry smoothie photo - oh luscious yumminess - so I switched to that! I am so glad finally she got around to work on my photo. Here's her precious art:

I wonder how I should describe her style. There's some great familiarity to her drawing style I feel. Accomplishes to look genuinely simple, yet it's not. It's warm and welcoming. Reminds me of my childhood books I found comfort and best company in. Couldn't help myself reading them as if I'm putting a hungry belly at ease. Then I'd study the illustrations and imagine. I feel a similar relief viewing Lisa's art. Say, if her drawings were people, you could sit with them in a room without the silence getting awkward.

My first smoothie, I called it wonder breakfast! Click the photo above if you want to recall it - but beware. I am drooling on a 4 am now. How alluring strawberries can get...

By the way, you could participate in her ongoing project by clicking this.

Please appreciate her effort!

Lastly, shout out to Pass the Pocky. She awarded me, and I am grateful to be worthy of her time with what I can do, thank you!

Time to go to bed. Do exactly as my little baby did then - she does at the moment. Cute little bump under the sheet! Meet her, she keeps me well. Adds up to spirited Miu. A lot. She's going to be 3 on November... my Maji.

Morning Veggie Pastry, Lunch Strawberry Arugula Salad, Dinner With Fellow Blogging Foodies

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 14:08:00 +0000

Sunny morning. My mom and cat are still asleep. I am in the mood for a comforting breakfast. I don't need to think much, I'm going to bake. Checking for ingredients: flour, eggs, yogurt, oil. There. I want stuffed pastry... Veggies! I have zucchini, red bell pepper, some corn. Quickly beginning.

Breakfast pastry with zucchini, red bell pepper and corn

As usual I lose track of how I knead the dough for it, fellow foodies raise eyebrows at me. Luckily, the dough itself is nothing special, doesn't drive the hungry folk mad. It's the combination with veggies and baking that matters.

It's the mesmerizing smell that fills the house, makes it home. I even want to go overboard and associate it with "giving birth at home" kind of comfort - but I'm yet to try it myself.

I love to sprinkle black cumin seeds (nigella sativa!) on savory pastries. Flavor enhancing. They're good for us too. Although, I hear that consuming them raw has more use.

Say, if the hungry folk also feels impatient - I give tips on easy dough making here.

Oh the sheer joy of linking to self. =giggle= Nah, just short in time.

***

Strawberry, arugula and cheese salad with olive oil, thyme and lemon

Then comes the noon. It feels hotter now. Trying to concentrate on last bit of studies, for final exams. My mind feels anything but concentrated. Okay, I get it. Nutrition refill time.

Wandering around, discovering new food blogs; recently I tend to notice strawberries in salads a lot. I am intrigued, experiment time.

Foodies mostly bring strawberry & spinach together. Well, I have arugula! How do they taste together?

I'm delighted to discover. Also, feeling enlightened. If it weren't for being in food blogging, it'd hardly dawn on me to use strawberry in a salad. Taboo!

I am feeling euphoric as new discoveries bend my borders. Lifetime resolution : extend beyond borders.

I love cheese. So I include some and my salad brings these ingredients together: Strawberry, arugula, cheese, thyme, olive oil and drops of fresh lemon. Cheese just completed the missing link.

By the way, I am munching on a new (to me) variation of salad at the time of typing my post: Arugula, fresh apricot, corn, cherry tomatos, olive oil, drops from freshly squeezed lemon.

Talk about sour, sweet, zesty and tangy! It's a sense stimulating salad.

My mind is blown away ...

***

Last Saturday I've been to a latin dance show by myself. One of the dancers - also dance teachers (male in photo) is my former classmate from university. I've seen him dance before, he's great. It felt so nice to see him on stage again, after a long while.

I asked a dancer guy to let my friend know I came. I couldn't speak to him, cause I arrived later than we planned to meet, so he was in backstage by then. It was pretty weird that a piece of velvet curtain and some social rule prevented me from going to see my friend in the back. Oh the good manners and home sweet homes.

Even from a distance though, I felt his soothing energy making me feel welcomed. Appreciated. Very few people can do that, unconditionally.

Sometimes, I like to believe that people like him have a purpose to brighten up others' lives without expecting anything in return. Nothing... Except for not being taken for granted. This is not to be taken lightly, in miu book.

On that note, I want to thank Ann of Happy and Healthy Cooking for appreciating me. I've seen awards going around, and the idea behind them is nice. Anything to appreciate the effort someone shows. It's my first, in that sense. I haven't been around for long in food blogging (since March 1st to be exact) , and some people have been there for me more consistently than other fellow foodies, making this experience a fruitful one for me with their company and support. In fact, I can count more names in my mind. I am thankful for everyone nevertheless, but here my special thank you's go to:

The Duo Dishes
"Frand" of Cooking For Zo
Tangled Noodle
LouAnn of Oyster Food & Culture
Kim of Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet
Curious Domestic
Reeni of Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice
Jenn of Bread + Butter
Leela of She Simmers
Pass The Pocky
Chez What?
Pooja at My Experience With Cooking
Gita
Justin
Poornima
Vrinda
Deeba
The World Tastes Good
.
.
.
(Aww sorry some of your blog names I'll edit later)

I am inspired by this "awarding" idea. Expect some dedication posts for fellow foodies and good causes in near future, Spirited Miu Flavor way 8-)

Happy Hump Day.

Colorful Pasta For Spring Farewell & My First Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Thu, 28 May 2009 18:55:00 +0000

Intense, it smelled warm like home,
Then spring dawned few more days.

Spring time, faint smell released from honeysuckle vines in bloom rejuvenate me. You find them blooming in little garden spaces in apartment entrances on the streets. They assure me, there is room for growth even in a place with less source.. Life in the city, supposedly has more source. If only we didn't have to give up nature.

But it's possible to find smiles. I have a two pot basil garden. Farmer's market to sell me colorful, fresh and hopefully organic produce. Seaside to go for walks nearby. I have much more to be grateful for - but excuse me while I say farewell to spring, my favorite time of year.

Colorful Pasta For Spring Farewell

Very easy to make spaghetti for lunch or dinner. Or in my case, breakfast! Luckily I crave more reasonably, other times. Craving for anything I can't get due to late time, past midnight for example.

What makes this spaghetti special is visuality : colorful ingredients you include. Juicy red pepper, Cretan zucchini, peanuts why not and leftover broccoli. Prep and cooking, I fixed this meal in fifteen minutes I think. Ridiculously delicious for such short time spent. No excuses for having to eat unhealthy! Who's familiar with the lil green wraps tangled with spaghetti?

Taking a closer look on it, hint there...

I won't go for a usual recipe, but instead share my tip for cooking this pasta practically. Cravings don't wait.

- Preserve water : No need to fill the pot fully and let boil for pasta throw in. Depending on how much pasta you'll use, add water three -four fingers above them. Instead of dumping all that water down the drain in the end, you could add less at the beginning and if you did well with the measuring by senses... it'll be just enough, so there won't be any need for draining at all.

- Avoid sticky pasta: One tablespoon oil of choice into boiling water

- Save time: I wanted veggies with my pasta so at around fifth minute, added them into pot to cook together with pasta. Four more minutes to go. Actually, I'm not sure. I never do timing. Helpful eh? Yes, because in intuition I trust. You can always pinch a strand of spaghetti to check for how soft you need it.

- Use herbs, spices: Is there another way around? I can't think of a life without these.

Easy Peanut Honey Home Cake, Even For A First Timer!

My first cake here...

I love and use the baking method for food in general, but sweet/desserts are something else. Profession! Little by little I'm warming up. Baking a cake has been on my mind for a while now. Especially carrot cake with walnuts. Cheesecakes are so alluring. Oh cupcakes. But for these two I need extra equipment...

Happy Birthday Tangled Noodle!

Well, I baked a cake in an oven proof bowl. The batter raised twice its level. (I need cake mould!) I followed a recipe, which is way unusual. There are so many unbelievably amazing food ideas out there from all you foodies, and on websites we come together. But seriously, I'll pass the recipe if it is:

* Too much work it's overwhelming
* Not clearly described
* Just recipe, but no personal note (There are tons of them, what makes yours stand out?)
* Ingredients are location specific, no substitute ideas given (Evil! Some of them look so good...)
* Not visually inviting

Don't get grr at me now, I know we all have our own way - or we're *on* our way to creating them.

Anyway those come to my naive mind. What's yours? Maybe we should point these out after all... to optimize our foodie experience, he he. Okay. Diversity is good.

What you need (in using order):

- 3 eggs,
- 2 cups (or 480 gram) sugar (but I used half of this, and added some honey instead),
- 0.6 cup vegetable oil,
- 1 cup (or 250 gram) yogurt,
- 1 pack baking powder,
- 1.3 cup (or 300 gram) flour,
- 1 pack vanilla extract.

My addition to the recipe:

- 200 gr (0.7 oz I think) peanuts
- 2 tablespoonful of comb honey

Instructions? What do you mean instructions! This is the part I fell in love with.

Pre-heat oven moderately (325F or 160/170 C) In a deep bowl, all ingredients above get in order and meanwhile you constantly stir/ or ideally use a mixer. I did some labor there, no problem.

The cake mixture will be squishy and evenly consistent. It needs to be stirred/mixed so well. Especially if you use nuts, honey like me.

I just know the mommy rule about baking. Bake until the knife comes clean. Must be universal...

The result was so satisfying for a first time baker like me. It passed Mom test, too. The crust browned - and even cracked! (Sorry this was a miracle to me). Inside it was spongy, nicely baked. It smelled like peanut butter and home. It made me think that American people I know would go crazy for this cake. It's PB time!

Recipe above is so compatible, it went from basic spongy cake to peanut honey cake for me. I wrote it on a post-it, hung on the fridge with a magnet for later use. It's that life saving.

***

Miu murmur: At the time of writing this post, I munched on purslane & yogurt meze, green bean mom made, some whole wheat bread. 4 am.

Strong smell of plastic burn came inside my room from the street. But first, I got alarmed that it's in our house. Well, I blew up the kitchen once. I'm still wondering what caused that weird smell, now it's not as strong though... On that person't behalf I apologize your fresh breath of air is just ruined. I'm good at these, but rather call me a realist nut than pessimistic.

In the morning I'll check the litter container for the remains of some undercover's top secret documents.

I'm in a good mood actually, yesterday I went out with former university classmate and her friend. We had beer and chatted, while listening to this band live http://www.myspace.com/dembedem Those guys have a future. Sound better live for the note. What else...

Next post, I'll talk about appreciating my fellow foodies (hey Ann!) and also, my blog's makeover. Pss, notice the change already? Those reading via Google reader might have not yet, but take a look! I'm aiming a more spirited, more personalized look. Live up to its name. Cheers.

Credit: Gourmet Sleuth for measurement conversions.

Even On A Busy Day, There Is Always Time For Strawberry Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Thu, 21 May 2009 21:27:00 +0000

Monday Mischief Smoothie

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Mon, 18 May 2009 12:43:00 +0000

With Monday we associate a syndrome, new diet or just the beginning of a new week. This time, I choose mischief and bring it together with nutrition in a smoothie. Actually, this is just the result of my random experiment with unrelated looking (to me?) ingredients. Enjoy.

Checking out what raw edible stuff I got, here's what I came up with:

dried apricots
a banana
yogurt (do I ever run out of this...)
less than a glass of milk
a chocolate bar (mischief part)
comb honey

I could have some fruit yogurt, too. Still under the impression of the other smoothie I made, though. So, off into the food processor goes all ingredients above. Checking my spices and herbs; I include some cinnamon, flax seeds, fennel seeds and basil leaves for aroma & nutrition enhancement. There we go... After running the processor a couple rounds till everything inside is smooth enough, I add in the milk and it's ready. Flavorful smoothie that's good for the digestive system. Especially dried apricots, flax seed and fennel seeds being commonly known for it. Although the use of banana here is a regulator against a result that's uncalled for. Hmm next time, I'll leave fennel seeds out of it or maybe just add a small pinch... its pungent aroma was too much for my liking. Possibly it's better off roasted, used as a garnishing to meat dishes, for example. Or, potatos. Or tea! Back to the outcome:

I shall continue the smoothie experiments.

Fruity, Chill & Delicious... Wonder Breakfast!

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sat, 16 May 2009 08:25:00 +0000

PS: I made it to top 7 out of 1650 posts with this on Foodbuzz, I walked around with a huge smile on my face all day

The Turkish already have pretty healthy breakfast habit. You name it, we have it on table almost. However some days just call for another delicious alternative. Waking up not quite feeling awake, I decided to prepare something nutritious and visually inviting to kick start my day. It'd be fruity, chill and yummy. Smoothie, alright! I never made one before... who cares? Improvise.

Moving onto imagining what goes into a smoothie, strawberry flashes in my mind. Flavorful, energetic. Banana? High in fiber and potassium, be welcome. Turkish yogurt is not even questioned by this dedicated fan. Some milk too, sure. Tablespoonful of honey, suit yourself. I have a good feeling about this day already. A couple spinning in the food processor, my wonder breakfast is ready. I mean the nutrition part is taken care of. How about the visuality? Taking some extra time with it, I'm having a special breakfast. Slicing some strawberry, pouring smoothie into cup, top with few leaves of fresh basil for the pungent aroma.

Here's yours:

Weekend is here. What's for breakfast, foodies? ;-)

Note for Foodbuzz friends: I posted a poll about "X foodie sent you a post to view" messages coming to our inbox. I pulled the link for you, find it here.

My Secret About May 13th, Picnic By The Sea & Fresh Basil From Flower Festival

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Wed, 13 May 2009 11:36:00 +0000

I've got two birthdays. I've never died and come back to life, not that I know of. But I've got my original birth date as May 1st, and May 13th on every official paper there is. Back when mom was pregnant to me, it was difficult obtaining maternity leave. Agreeing to her doctor's suggestion, I was registered 12 days later. That's my story which makes me feel funny every year. I don't intend to change it at all. It's my secret...

Picnic By The Sea

Yesterday I enjoyed such a nice day out with mom. I actually forced her to go out which she thanked me for later. I was envisioning having a small picnic by the seaside. So I made pasta with sausages and indulged them in yogurt & spice sauce. Just enough for two plastic containers. Pack. In another, some washed arugula and cherry tomatos. Pack. Ready to leave? Nope. Pocket size radio, some water and mint candy, all set.

Since we don't have as much as green I'd like here in city... I go to the sea then. Nature bits, the blocks of apartments couldn't eat up yet! Ha! :D

Fuzzy green tea mochi looking rocks during walk

A couple minutes later we're on our way to the seaside. Basically, walking to the coastline which is arranged as green areas to enjoy, walk, come with pets and exercise outdoors with installed equipments.

We walked up to a shady area and sat on the grass. There were few men trying to catch fish. One of them had this fishing rod with a jingle hooked on it. It kept distracting me. When they left, I captured a photo of my view from where I sat:

De-clutter your mind...

Feeling very hungry by now, we quickly finished eating our pasta. Since it was chilled, garlic let its pungent aroma merge well by then. Yummy!

Flower Festival

After contemplating the blue sea, green grass and sunny weather our flesh and bones enjoyed, it was time we'd start walking back home. Following the coastline, we came across a crowd of people and flowers in all colors. Right, it's time for flower festival in my province again!

Mom as she's examining flowers

Such vibrant colors... such liveliness... Reminding me there is beauty to appreciate. A lot of visual feeding!

Close up on floral feast

If you wanted to get them, they were dirt cheap too. For comparison, one of those flower pots above come for 0.50 to 1 in mine - which makes like 30 to 65 cents in US money. CENTS.

Basil smell is calming to me...

As much as I enjoyed the flowers though, I just laid my eyes on cactus and basil pots. Cactus dudes I love for being self sufficient which I associate with myself. Basil I appreciate for the mesmerizing smell - and I wanna eat it! Actually we mostly keep this herb for a little green and great odor in the house. All my childhood we did. But now, I'm so motivated to pick few leaves for pesto sauce :blush:

Plus, mom told me that it'd encourage my plant to grow better.

When I look it up online, I come across somewhat different basil plants with bigger leaves... From memories I know this plant I have will never grow that big leaves, only grow in volume with same leaf size.

Question here; does this look like the usual basil you use for cooking? Also, all basil use ideas welcome. If you cooked food with basil, would you link to me below to get familiar also? Next post I'll have a meal that uses my new metal steamer I previously mentioned and use some basil too! Though, steaming and basil don't have to come together.

P.S: Lastly... talk about lucky! As I was typing down this post, amazing pastry smell slowly surrounded me. To my surprise, mom secretly baked my favorite - I mentioned before... It's a twist to the Turkish pogaca by laying out the dough flat on the baking tray. You could see the original version by clicking this sentence for -> Midnight Craving For Pastry: "Turkish Pogaca" by me.

So comforting... This one has cheese, all melted inside

Oh by the way, if you're not yet familiar with the little black seeds sprinkled over the pastry... I suggest you visit this informative post by clicking this sentence for -> "Special Ingredients: Nigella" by LouAnn at Oyster Food & Culture

I'm off to enjoy this all time favorite pastry with some green tea now, and possibly go for a walk on the coastline again because all this talk made me miss it. Flower festival's still going on, and I planned to buy another pot of basil to gift.

How are you doing?

Let's Talk About Steaming

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sun, 10 May 2009 22:45:00 +0000

Among cooking methods I try to learn, steaming's been one of favorites for it's healthy and you save water and nutrition value of food, perfect. Though all the time I've never met a steamer. The steaming I tried to do seemed to work okay with veggies cut in big chunks, tablespoonful or two of olive oil and some water to evaporate. Tasty as food was, that steaming didn't really give me what I wanted. Veggies for instance would be more mushy as a result of the the water not evaporating as desired and I'd be left with some watery food. Not to mention having sprinkled my spices directly into water mistakingly beforehand which would result in almost bland veggies I'd spice up again afterwards. We don't like bland food... do we, Kim?

I got a metal steamer now (for 4 bucks!) - never owned or used it up until last summer when I noticed my then roommate did. Now that I have it, I can't wait to use it. Though I only know by intuition that you're supposed to add some water into the pot so it evaporates and steam cooks the food. So is that it? Doesn't it look much more complex than that!

I am craving for steamed broccoli like the one I had just recently... might as well go for it again. Flavorful goodie with no effort. Chop up some garlic. Squeeze some lemon and pour olive oil. Spice it up, there. Turkish yogurt too! Already drooling.

By the way, I thought I'd ask my foodie friends about the use of this steamer. I could use some inspiration, ideas, tips on all things steaming from you guys. Oh if anyone has both metal and bamboo steamer, I wonder if there is any difference in taste as well. Now that I think about it, I have more questions:

Dumplings on metal steamer?
Which veggies work better?
What else than veggies?
Use of olive oil, at all? Please?
What if I add some spices to the water for uhm... some spicy steam! No, the question is, when do the spices go in?
Any creative and easy to make sauce ideas to go with steamed veggies?

I go to bed craving for steamed broccoli now...

Visually Stimulating

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sat, 09 May 2009 18:58:00 +0000

A bowl full of freshly picked flavorful strawberries, in their best season to grow... Spring, I really like you.

23rd Birthday To Remember

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Tue, 05 May 2009 10:31:00 +0000

I had a significant one this year - one that I will remember well later on. People I love all remembered me once again, feeling lucky for that... I've got messages, calls and surprises!

On my birthday morning, May 1st, mom and I went out for a breakfast together. Then we were caught in rain so we went back home instead of hanging out. For once I didn't plan anything as in how to celebrate this birthday and to be honest it felt alright. Then again as it was getting late, I thought I should go out do something nice. I dressed up and ventured out, took a bus went to the opposite coast. Hung out for two hours, ended up getting myself cheesecake instead of buying dinner cause the Chinese buffet has run out of business apparently. Yummy yummy. I did some people watching. It felt funny, as if I had a secret no passerby people knew. It's my birthday! I wanted to stop some people and let them know. I had all these thoughts about "how we perceive birthdays" on my way back to the bus. I am maturing nicely, I feel it. Everything gradually resolve to be just good if I put thinking into it. I've been having a lot of fruitful time to spare for thinking.

Back to my birthday,

Next day my sister and her boyfriend was visiting. I was so excited for that... and didn't know how to pass time so I spent hours cleaning & cooking beforehand. I made my first couscous! Thought I invented green bean chips also. Apparently not!

**Couscous with chicken and zucchini, carrot & yogurt meze, green bean chips!, Turkish pogaca oh yum

Food I made was gone in a matter of fifteen minutes haha. We quickly got prepared to go out after dinner.

So it was quite a night after dinner together, drinks at bar, Turkish tea & hookah at cafe and midnight snacking we did.

Next day I had such a sweet surprise from my boyfriend, red roses...

I'm still on cloud nine from all these!

Thank you all my foodie friends for celebrating me!

My 23rd Birthday: Where's the cake gone!

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Fri, 01 May 2009 16:11:00 +0000

Today is my 23rd birthday, and I previously made a food related resolution that I'd bake my first "real" bread special to this day's morning. I woke up early, and making it happen didn't seem likely. I wanted to bake myself a birthday cake instead. Except that I wanted to jump to decoration without having to deal with cake prep. Now I'm just heading out to see what I can do, maybe cheat and buy a pre-made cake, dessert... anything sweet, chocolatey and nutty. Oh... Why not yet another "Oh, you didn't cake"?

Tomorrow my sister and her partner are visiting so we'll have a low-key (I guess?) family celebration then. Sun's almost going down so I'd better hurry up. Because I won't miss today.

Spontaneous Sunday: Tangy Spicy Broccoli & Turkish Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:46:00 +0000

For as long as I've known, Sundays have been quiet. In my childhood, it would seem as if the entire city is taking a day long fiesta. I guess it's evolved into a tradition for me to relax on Sundays, much as possible. Keep active if needed, but also remain balanced even if busy. I woke up energetic enough and decided to go to our local farmer's market. As I was preparing to leave, the thought of living in a city with little green passed my mind. Just in time, in fact. Maybe seeing fresh produce would help.

Again, I took the route that goes through the park - which was in my previous post with a picture. In reality that park is not spacey, it's literally squeezed in between the water canal to the left and blocks of apartments to the right. I slowed down as I entered the park, and took in the beauty of lively green grass and trees in blossom as much as possible. Walking through the park I thought of farmer's markets during my childhood. Before, our neighborhood would have its own farmer's market every Sunday - on the streets. Farmers would arrive from nearby villages a day before and set up their stalls. Faces were familiar. They'd all enthusiastically promote their own produce being the best - and that was never noisy for us given so loud. More like, farmers energizing the city every week.

Couple minutes later, it's the farmer's market. Crowded as usual. Some farmers I recognize from before. From the way they stack their produce on stalls, I wonder if they ever left the place since last visit. Feels as if they're always there to provide us healthy food.

Prices being usually fixed for certain vegetables, I wonder what makes people buy from farmer A or B. A-ha. Some are engaging in conversations with lurking people. Some stand out from others with presentation such as using red lights facing the tomatos, for example. Oh, I still remember this one stall for olive oils. Imagine one liter olive oil bottles, backlighted. Looks alluring, like gold. I want to compliment him for subliminally affecting me like this. More methods... stacking the best shaped produce in the front. Stacking with order. Different color tones next to each other. Visually appealing. By this time I walked past a lot of stalls in a labrynth like market area. Enough observing, time to buy.

Since I'll carry in a backpack, the solids come first. Onions, potatos, carrots, oranges, lemons. Onto still solid yet handle with care ones; zucchini, dried apricot, green beans, broccoli. Lastly; tomatos, strawberry and arugula. All of this cost only 11 USD. Just taking a moment here and appreciating that nutrition fix is still available in organic form, that we don't entirely depend on say, tablets yet! Will we ever, in our lifetime? I keep wondering if the agriculture will ever be history and that people will live on synthetic lab produce... tablets for dinner anyone?

Is it a confirming sign that the organic produce was/is getting more expensive in the US? It's presumably more healthier at a lower cost in the other side of the world, for a little while longer. Might as well be grateful, but meanwhile raise awareness. Sure, it's open to debate if any of our concerns due to safeguard the "pale blue dot" we live on is worthwhile. Carl Sagan, the scientist I admire... he makes a point of our lives - roughly summarizing - not being as important as we seem to think in his book "Pale Blue Dot" - but that we 'd be able to protect what we have with technology and use of science in a "beneficial" way. (I am not in anyway opposed to improvement in science, in contrast it's crucial in some ways. But I don't think we necessarily use it for the good when we claim we do, generally speaking.) Interesting arguments regarding our future. At the end of the day I am uncomfortable in my body, having read what Aldoux Huxley mentions in "Brave New World" .

Where does it go? What comes next?

Times like this, I am not sure if the reason I have a food blog is because there is comfort in a "hedonistic outlet" as I see it. On a positive note, I need the good nutrition fix so my mind can wander among those questions above. Or say, it's just a good enough way to keep focused on what tends to get overlooked in the way of life : the beautiful. Food, being just one of them.

... And Sunday is supposed to be spontaneous! Might as well maintain a healthy body - I sure want to live long enough to see where we go.

So, I had some broccoli. Speaking of which, I wish we had broccoflower. Looks interesting. Especially romanesco broccoli!

I figured only a head of broccoli would be enough. Each piece having a bit of stalk and florets, they were ready to be washed. Then brought a liter of water + 1 tbs salt to a boil and placed the broccoli pieces in. Squeezed half a lemon just because I read somewhere that it'd protect the green color. Don't remember if it was good for anything else. After 3-5 mins I decided they were ready. Better to not keep them in for long as to keep the nutrition value higher. Placed them on a plate and garnished with spices like cayenne pepper, black pepper and dried mint. Squeezed the other half of lemon. Mixed half a cup of plain Turkish yogurt with a tablespoonful of olive oil and a pinch of salt and poured in the middle. Sprinkled some Indian turmeric spice just cause. Made a healthy snack.

I love food if it can be described by these: zesty, tangy and spicy. This one was definitely a good example... easy to make, healthy. While eating I looked up the iron value of broccoli. So apparently broccoli and other plants are in the non-heme iron category and it'd be good idea to consume them with vitamin C as it provides better iron absorbtion. Happy I already did that without knowing. Some info on why iron is an important mineral for us by clicking this. I benefited from it. Have a spontaneous Sunday!

Mingling Feel : Homemade Unripened Fig Jam, New Guinness Record & Spring In My City

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 09:47:00 +0000

I am back home from my trip to sister's town. Let me tell you how it was... On the day I'd arrived, I was hoping to attend this food festival during which a new Guinness record would be set. All about food! I had to be there. Approximately three hours behind my plan, I arrived there excitedly. Leaving my bags but camera, I literally dragged mom, sister and her partner to the festival area - impatient at that point. As we approach, the music gets louder. Feeling festive... Imagining all the yummy food...

Wait a minute.

That's when I realized we're all actually standing on an almost empty festival area. There's plastic forks, empty plates but FOOD!

Apparently, it went all so fast. Just a matter of getting there 3 hours earlier - would I get a visual feast. Boo, no food tasting or fancy photos.

On a brighter note, we hold the record for the world's biggest open buffet for now. I found a website in my language and I was hoping to pass a link of its translated version but it didn't work well, or make sense in English. So, I'll just mention myself...

Guinness Record For The World's Biggest Open Buffet to Kusadasi, Turkey 2009

Photo credit: Guinness World Records, http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/tr/recent_records_4.aspx

400 hundred cooks participated in preparations of 1028 dishes - %90 percent of them being Turkish. Guinness director Kelly Garrett from London was present for the record attempt. Tasted all the dishes beginning from early morning hours, and granted the new record to Kusadasi, Turkey. (Shout out to Tangled Noodle here - Wouldn't we both wish to be in Garrett's place!) The previous record holder was Arizona, US with 601 dishes.

What an event!

Just before the trip, I've been to my neighborhood's weekly farmer's market with mom. Luckily it was such a bright and warm day to enjoy being outdoors. I took my camera with me, and captured freshness. We're able to get fresh produce for reasonable prices all the time - well, compared to other places - but somehow around this time of year; I can appreciate it all much more. The weather improves, so does the mood.

Homemade Unripened Fig Jam

I was familiar with fig jam before, but I knew nothing about "how to make it" part. Mom got unripened figs at our recent grocery shopping at local farmer's market. The fruit didn't seem inviting at all... but I'm glad mom insisted on buying it. I made a collage to show preparation steps. Turned out quite easier than expected!

Mom let me learn it, I'll pass how she taught me.

Picture 1: Remove the stems using a knife
Picture 2: Make a cut on bottom as I show
Picture 3: Collect all figs (1 kg... makes app 2 lbs I think) in a bowl and wash
Unpictured: Pick a pot for jam making and fill with water two fingers above figs
Bring to a boil, remove the water and refill while figs are still in x 3 times(It's done because of figs being unripened)
The fourth time, fill water into pot just the same but this time add sugar too
Mom said that usually the measurement ratio goes 1:2 but we agreed not to use that much sugar this time, so 750 gr sugar went into pot (still so much for some out there... but there'splenty of DIY instructions online)
When it brings to a boil, add vanilla extract for a flavor boost and let boil till it thickens a bit naturally
Picture 4: Pour jam into glass jars while hot and let cool.
Picture 5: Whole figs oozing with flavor...

Enjoy!

Glimpses from a day I enjoyed a lot

When mom and I were done with the grocery shopping, we took a different walking route home - glad we did. It was so warm and relaxing as we were passing through a small park, we sat on the grass to enjoy it. Meanwhile, I looked around and captured the invigorating.

Feeling quite hungry, we couldn't help snacking on some delicious bread & olive.

Oh zucchini...

When we were rested enough, it was time for going back home. This daisy I found:

Now the water is quite weak... There's been times it's overflown during rains.

Looking at this... I was reminded of India memories in a flash. Back to 2006 summer now. My then roommate and I were staying in New Delhi, and that one day we took a trip to Old Delhi with all the historical sightseeing places in it. I am not quite sure where I took the photo below... Maybe Firoz Shah Kotla - but the point is, it's interesting how the brain works...

Walking towards home, I spot amazing flowers:

Take a trip somewhere near, with a lot of green... It's rejuvenating. I wish we'd have less apartments and more green in the city, but with the hills already being covered up with construction sites - any chance, any glimpse of green you get works wonders. And now I am reminded of the US visits, how my boyfriend took me to places.

I am glad there's a lot of things to miss.

Midnight Craving For Pastry : Turkish Pogaca

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:17:00 +0000

- Turkish whole wheat pogaca, filled with Ezine cheese, coriander leaves and pinenuts... sprinkled with black cumin seeds

** Ezine cheese is a local Turkish cheese kind

Yet another day for "taking it easy".

In the first part of it I was concerned if my computer needs a repair; because last night the PC case released a burning smell. After immediately turning it off, I asked help from my boyfriend who has advanced knowledge with computers. He suggested I would take a look inside the case, maybe it's the dust. I did as I was told and wow. It never occurred to me that the PC case would have such problem due to dust! This is my first desktop computer... Well, okay. After making sure my main outlet to world worked well; I was occupied with reading during the day, remaining physically quite inactive. Just when it was late though, I felt the need to get up and be productive. I cleaned my room along to PJ Harvey's songs. There's something familiar about her that draws me close only in certain times. Satisfied with cleaning, I went online for a while. By that time it was around midnight. That very time for impossible to ease cravings - except for this time I was reasonable with my craving: Turkish pogaca. (I had all the necessary ingredients)

It's a kind of pastry Turkish people adore, just like "borek" which I mentioned in a recent post that you can jump to by clicking here. Borek is made out of phyllo sheets, pogaca on the other hand is made out of dough. This doesn't make sense... I just remember where phyllo comes from. Okay, next.

When I googled it out of curiosity as to how other people mention it in English, I noticed some odd stuff. Pogaca does not equate to biscuit. Or it doesn't necessarily mean it's filled with cheese. Pogaca is very compatible with whatever filling there is. We just seem to favor cheese over other options, that's it.

Moving onto the kitchen part.

I decided to use whole wheat flour as a change. Normally, we'd use refined white flour. Both ones work. It's just a matter of choice and I like to have options when it comes down to cooking.

I'm a fan of pogaca with potato filling but this time, I craved for the particular cheese taste. Speaking of cheese, it's another decision to make there. Since cheese is a big part of a Turkish person's appetite, it's more than likely there's some kind of cheese in every fridge there is. Usually, a few kinds all together. Or there *used* to be. In any case, no matter how bad the economy goes though... I think we'd still stick to cheese, somehow. It's just that important. It's interesting... because when people have to watch their budgets, they cut down the expenses to a maximum obviously. So, when Turkish people do this; they'll keep the breakfast food - as this course is the most important to us. However, my mind is wandering into some other people's possible lives where they don't have what I do have and thinking of it just buries me in embarrassment. Nothing new... for any of us.

Back to the pogaca ingredients...

My mom was awake as I was kneading the dough. She came to check up on me. Seeing that I pour some flour, see how that fits... maybe more this, that... she asked why I would not use the measurements ( Her measurements are very easy-going) Well, unless it's a complete new unknown dish... no measurements please. Sometimes when I'm asked for a recipe, I'm having hard time thinking of one. Just because of the exact reason.

Then again... if anyone would like to make this pastry, I *will* gather my mind and write an easy to follow recipe. Let me know, foodies...

Pogaca itself is very easy to make. Anyone will make it, I think. But the thing is, will it taste exactly as desired? Usually mine come out quite well to our liking... At first I'd make the chunks big so the outcome would still be okay to consume, but somehow in need of more filling. By time, I had a better idea of chunk sizes and filling ratio to go with those. I can please the type A personality foodie even. /giggle.

I'm just thinking... if someone asked me for the recipe later, there's a good chance I'd forget what I did tonight. Plus, some events are coming up... I plan to keep really busy. First... easy recipe:

- Dough Ingredients: 2 cups (or more?! i'll explain) Whole wheat flour, 2 eggs (1 egg goes into the bowl, 1 egg to spread on pogacas before going to oven) , pinch of salt, baking powder, 50 ml. oil or butter (melted and let cool if butter used), 1 cup plain yogurt

- Filling: Anything! This time mine had: Ezine cheese, pinenuts, coriander, cayenne pepper, turmeric, grounded black pepper

- Ideas for possible fillings: Boiled-peeled-mashed potato, spices. Vegetables stir fried but not cooked and spices.
Combination of veggies, cheese and spices. What else... These for now. Oh yeah, meat can go in too. Just nothing sweet. This is meant to be a salty pastry.

As for making the dough and measurements... mom would say that you need such consistent dough to feel "as soft as your earlobe". I don't know if it's known in English... Just translating directly.

So I pour all dough ingredients into a bowl except for the second egg.
Take out a table spoon or another stirring utensil and start stirring. How does the mixture feel? Intuition tells the best. I immediately knew that my dough called for more flour.
Instead of overloading with flour, I gradually add it to be on the safe side.
Eventually it comes to a point when it's okay to get fingers in flour first and begin kneading. Like this, it doesn't get much sticky & messy.

Mom helped with the filling. She took out a fork and mashed cheese. Sprinkled spices. Chopped coriander. Ready. The approximate measurement I gave with flour could make sixteen pogacas... And for each pogaca there is a need for two teaspoonful filling.

I spread some oil on the baking tray with my fingers. Pre-heat oven to 200 celcius degree.

Pulling out chunks of dough, I flatten them in the palm of my hand and put some filling. Make ends meet in a half moon shape. The rest just goes like this till the end. When all pogacas are placed on the tray, the other egg is scrambled and seperated from white. The yolk, yellow part is spreaded over pogacas and then black cumin seed is sprinkled.

As usual I have more filling than I need. Luckily it can be consumed with bread or something. No problem.

Tray goes into the oven and I start watching. It relaxes me so much to watch the bake. 15 minutes later ready, I think. Just need to watch this sign: Pogaca is ready when it's tanned nicely.

That's really it.

This pastry would make a perfect breakfast, along with tea... Actually, aside from making these at home; we have pastry houses that'll make it early in the morning so when you rush for school, or work you just have to grab one on the way. Turkish people like to take their time for breakfast, but when life gets busy... we will maybe negotiate with our time, though in no way compromise from the taste.

Some of us will even crave and make it at midnight, then sit to share it for example.

I'm looking forward to the upcoming events I plan to go...

I am in definite need of relieving the graduation pressure in a good way.

In the weekend I'll go to a concert, join a food festival to watch the Guinness record attempt for "world's biggest open buffet" which is to be prepared with 1001 different Turkish dishes (paradise!) and next week, book fair and meet up with a former classmate.

Then comes May, and I am born.

Spicy Marinated Beef w/ Mushrooms and Mozzarella Cheese

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 23:34:00 +0000

Red meat mostly visits our pots rather than pans which mean we use it as a side ingredient in a main dish, less in quantity so to speak. The price range of course plays a big role in that, but I think we would still stick with our Turkish dishes that "feature" red meat given the condition it was made more budget-friendly. We have a big variety of savory dishes featuring red meat in Turkish cuisine.

As a change, I decided that red meat would get the main role for dinner. While I was shopping for it, I explained that I'd like to marinate it with spices and then cook slowly. Satisfied with my shopping, I was back home. Checking on the spices I had; cayenne pepper, grounded black pepper looked the most appealing among others. We had fresh garlic, it was definitely going in. Olive oil a must, said the Mediterranean in me. So, the plan was set! In a container, I poured olive oil to cover the base, one layer meat and spices & chopped garlic over it, then other layer of meat.. just like this, I stacked all four layers - making sure each layer could absorb the marinate sauce well over night. It rested a night and I took a picture of my ingredients for this dish:

- Mushrooms washed, beef marinated, fresh garlic cloves and some mint leaves ready

Additionally, I used rings I cut from half an onion to go in with meat and mushroom on the pan and some mozzarella cheese at the end for extra flavor which are not in the picture.

- I didn't let cheese melt, so we could distinguish flavors better

Cooking was easier than I predicted. I placed marinated beef on a non sticky pan, mushrooms as whole, garlic cloves, onion rings all together. I lowered the heat as much as possible because we enjoy beef well done; so it'd cook slow but just give us the taste we crave. I mostly left the cooking do itself, but occasionally stirred and meanwhile couldn't keep patient. The smell it released was so good to a mesmerizing point. When I made sure that it was done, I thinly sliced mozzarella cheese and just spreaded over beef. We like mushroom & melted mozzarella in the oven a lot, so featuring cheese would remind us of that taste, I thought... Here is the dish:

- Close up of mushrooms

- Spicy Marinated Beef w/ Mushrooms and Mozzarella Cheese dish, I served with green onion

After getting our protein levels fixed, we returned to our greens. Especially in the region I'm from, we're especially known for our love for greens, herbs. I'm Aegean. The city I live in is named "pearl of the Aegean".

Lastly, a photo I've taken of the coast I reside on from winter which was like a bright spring day with some occasional breeze:

Too Many In One: Menemen; Popular Turkish Egg Dish, "Oh, You Didn't" Cake, Relief About School, Spring Love

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:29:00 +0000

It was such a relief to make it to noon for me, today. In this week I've been busy studying for my exam which was due Friday morning. Since this class I'm taking is my last until university graduation, I focus on it seriously. On Thursday I get a text message from my classmate, letting me know that I might want to go to school because my name is on the "get in touch with us asap" list of student affairs office at my faculty. Just as graduation is approaching, this sudden news make me quite uncomfortable.I go to the office, anxiously, and find it out: I have to take one more class - otherwise I can't graduate. (In fact I have already taken more than minimum amount of credits... but you need to complete exact amount per term and that's where it went wrong before, so they say) What confused me is, prior to every term I did my registration with an officer, it just can't go wrong! She admits her fault. There, in the end I have to take care of this. When's the exam for that class? Today! (Meaning... on Friday) Finding out Thursday, taking the exam on Friday. What class? Adult Psychopathology.

- This is me from a break during studying at night

Ehh... Speechless. Emotions rushed to my brain in fact, "should we make a drama out of this and spend few hours bitterly?" - No, no. Can't afford it. Okay.

- I was distracted thinking, and ended up doing this arrangement. Isn't it ironic that Ganesha is believed to be an obstacle remover... (and placer, too.)

To sum up, while I was studying for one completely unexpected exam and my other exam last night, it was food I found comfort in. Here's what I did: I bought chocolate strawberry cake for base, sweet cream mixture to make it with milk for filling, and banana to decorate! I plan to learn baking sweet stuff, too.

- "Oh, you didn't" cake

Now that I took both exams, it's a great amount of relief I feel. Besides, it was such a beautiful spring day. Staying outdoors felt so good I didn't want to come home. So after getting off the bus, I walked as slowly as possible and felt warmed up. Sunny days with a breeze... Just the perfect weather to me. On the way I got Maji some chicken. I don't know if she likes her special meal or this whole chicken cooked on big rolling skewer more, though. Maybe she doesn't care because both have chicken, and she loves it. Hmm. I wonder if anyone that stops by is a cat lover, as well? If so, let me know I'll post homemade healthy cat food preparation I do, to share with you.

As I turned around the corner and continued walking, there was my favorite homeless cat buddy who I usually feed. Such a weak little voice for that body! I find him so cute for this reason. He got the chicken leg and I talked to him while watching him a little as he ate chicken with pleasure. When I got back home, I also fed my cat too and it was my turn to eat.

Menemen, a popular and easy to prepare Turkish egg dish

I was very lifted to see mom cook for me, thinking that I would be tired for it. Couldn't agree more! She made me a kind of egg dish we call "menemen". Menemen is a Turkish breakfast dish, originally. It has pepper, tomato, onion, eggs and spices. She made me the traditional one which I'll share now that I mentioned it.

- A slice of mozzarella cheese melts on top - not in original version, but why not?

Ingredients would be:

2 eggs
3 tomatos
2 peppers
1 white onion

2 tbs butter/oil of choice

I want to add a note here, amount of veggies could change due to your liking. Just make sure you have them all if you're going for the original taste.

Spices especially:

Grounded black pepper
Cayenne pepper
Mint (dried is okay. mom put fresh mint so herbs are fine as well)
Salt

- Noon meal

Preparation:

First of all I'd dice all of the ingredients for convenience. Melt butter on pan, white onion goes first. Keep stirring, onions become translucent - now's the time for peppers. We had long & thin slightly hot green peppers, but any kind of pepper will do. Get green bell pepper if you want. Just get vitamin A fix! Good for skin and eyes. Back to the cooking, peppers now softened so it's tomatos turn. Tomatos will make it watery as they get cooked, it's okay. It's good idea to add the spices now, so they'll release flavor into it. Lower the heat and let tomatos get ready. As that happens, it's time for eggs. Tap the eggs firmly on the side of non sticky pan in turns and scramble them onto the veggies. Mix the egg white and yolk and cover evenly all over the veggies. If you think this is hard, well try scrambling them into a bowl, mix there and then pour it over veggies same thing. Now, slow cooking 3-4 minutes. Sprinkle a pinch of salt if you like. Ready.

(It's much easier to cook it than instruct it that long!)

Along with it:

Any kind of bread!
Additionally I had purslane with garlic, olive oil and Turkish yogurt.

- Purslane meze, refreshing

I haven't had menemen or purslane meze in a while, so it was a delish meal for me. Feeling more energetic afterwards, I noticed how beautiful it is still outside. Days are longer... it means more sunshine. Definitely love it.

As I was looking out the window enjoying the sun, my cat joined me soon after. I thought I'd capture my relief and her adorable face in the same frame. She wasn't much interested, so much stimuli from the street, I understand. But, I care for memories.

- Maji baby is distracted...

... and I am done, for today.

I already have the draft saved for next post, marinated beef. Though this post was like a therapy I had to attend in my mind with a priority, in order to put things in order and feel comfort again.

Baby Spinach, Pistacchio, Yogurt & Banana Spread

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 22:29:00 +0000

As we had more baby spinach after making the baby spinach pasta with turkish yogurt, I decided I'd make use of it in a nutritious way. Since we had whole grain rustic bread, I knew it had to be consumed with bread. I get the idea when food processor catches my eye.
It was breakfast time, might as well boost the nutrition then. Ingredients I had were:

That's it. Oh also another surprise (not that necessary but it was that time of month) ingredient: Chocolate chips!

Rest is all few seconds long chopping/pureeing job. Enjoy it like I did!

Take it Easy Day: Baby Spinach Pasta with Turkish Yogurt

noreply@blogger.com (Ozge) — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Sometimes I'll just rush to see the pictures of the food being mentioned in the blog post. (Sometimes?) No, Most of the time. Always! Visuality comes first for me. I need to be able to smell, and almost taste the food just by the looks of it. Then comes the curiosity for the recipe, cooking method, ingredients... Since it's Monday though; I've got no recipe! Today I just want to take it easy with that, and go with pictures with little notes attached. It's not a complicated dish anyway. Nutritious and delicious... how about those? Check, and check. Enjoy!