Besides their lovely color, these breads have a very nice flavor coming from turmeric. They have a soft texture, too. Well, I can say that these breads are very much like savory pastries sold at bakery shops. What is more, I used whole wheat flour and oat flour. If you want healthy, yummy and lovely breads, try these!

Mix dry ingredients except yeast and sugar. Add yeast and sprinkle sugar just right on it. Pour a little mineral water on them and mix. Add olive oil and rest of mineral water and mix until you have a soft dough. Wait it for about 40 minutes until it rises.

Preheat the oven at 180C.

Lay baking sheet on baking tray. Make balls and place them on it. Wet your hand and pat the balls and sprinkle nigella sativa, sesame and poppy seeds on them. Wait for 15 minutes.

Bake them for 35 minutes until golden. You can understand if they are done by checking their bottom. If they get a little brownish on the bottom, take them out. These ingredients make 19 small buns.

Combine flour, yeast, sugar, salt, water and oil to have a soft dough. Cover it and wait for 1 hour to rise.
Mix feta and parsley. Combine it with dough.
Preheat the oven at 180 C.
Lay baking sheet in an oven tray.
Make balls from dough as big as walnut and place in the tray. Brush them with egg yolk and top them with sesame seeds.
Bake them for 30 minutes. Serve warm, but they are still great when cold.

Bread has a significant place in Turkish cuisine and no Turk gets full without bread. However, people are used to eating white bread and almost all bakery shops make it with white flour. Whole wheat is becoming popular these days though. The craziness of homemade version started last summer. We were sick of looking for whole wheat bread at markets as we couldn’t find it any time we wanted. Glad that we couldn’t.

Friends can’t believe when I tell them we never buy bread and we always make it at home. “How can you save time for it?” they ask. It may not sound easy to make it always at home if you are a working woman. But believe me it’s become a piece of cake for me after some practising. I can easily bake it even when I come late from work, even when I’m tired. The recipe itself is so simple and easy with few steps; mix everything, wait to rise, shape and bake! What’s more, it’s definitely fun to make it, you can add any nuts or fruits or herbs you like to make a change each time. My new motto:  If you want to eat healthy and tasty bread, bake it yourself! It may not look as attractive as bakery version, but it tastes as good, even better.

Mix everthing except water in a large bowl. Add water little by little and combine it with your hand each time you pour water. You should get a wet and sticky dough at the end. So if the amount of water is not enough, add a little more to make it wet.

Cover the top of that bowl and wrap it with a blanket so that it keeps warm and doesn’t get air inside. Let it wait for 1 hour to rise.

Lay baking sheet in an oven tray.

Dust the counter with some flour. Take some dough with either with your hand or with a ladle and put it on floured counter. Give it a ball shape and place it on the baking sheet. Do this step as quickly as you can because dough might stick if you wait. Repeat this until dough finishes.

Don’t preheat the oven. Bake the loaves at 160C for 35 minutes.

Wait until it gets cool before slicing.

You may also want to see the Whole Bread With Carrot and Walnut I wrote before.

This cornbread is a special bread made in a certain region of Turkey, called Black Sea Region. It is not a very common bread around the country. And if you know anyone from this region, they will tell you how irresistible this bread is. People of Blacksea region make it so often with ‘real’ cornmeal/ cornflour. What is that ‘real’ supposed to mean? They say that you can not have the best result with the cornmeal you buy from super market as it is no way similar to the one made in Black Sea Region. Cornmeal made in this region has a more bright yellow color with a very tempting fragrance whereas the market version is light yellow and with no fragrance at all. They strongly emphasize that this obvious difference stems from different grinding methods. Cornmeal is originally supposed to be ground in water mills, which are very rare these days. The packaged cornmeal at markets is ground in electric mills, which spoils their flavor. This is what people of that region say.

Another thing they say is that cornbread contains cornmeal, water and salt; no any additional ingredients and no other kind of flour. This bread doesn’t have a soft texture, it is a bit crispy and not melting in your mouth. Traditionally, people have it with yogurt, soup or butter. They take small pieces from this bread, toss into soup or yogurt and dig into these. Or they spread butter on it when it is still hot and have it at breakfast with a glass of Turkish tea.

Is there a place famous for its cornmeal in your country too?

Do you remember the post about Corn Bread With Raisin made by mom II? I told that one of my students brought some cronmeal from this Black Sea Region, and it was the first time I saw a ‘real’ cornmeal. It was the real McCoy, not like the one I buy from supermarkets, so I asked her to buy some more for me this year. I never miss the opportunity of getting the original example of a food! She kindly accepted and brought it at the beginning of this term. So luckily I used ‘real’ cornmeal for this glossy cornmeal.

This was the first time I made cornbread, so I asked my student if she knew any recipe for it. She got the recipe from her grandma and shared with me. What a cooperation! I would like to thank her once more from here.

We enjoyed this cornbread just like people from Black Sea Region do and I loved it with soup the most while my husband loved it with butter.

Pre-heat oven at 180 C.

Mix cornmeal, salt and baking powder. Pour hot water little by little. The dough will be as soft as cake batter.

Oil an oven tray or a cake mold with a brush. Transfer the dough into it.

Wet your hands and adjust the top of dough with your hands.

Bake it until golden for about 40 minutes.

We haven’t been eating white flour bread for a year, we prefer whole wheat bread instead. However, I hadn’t tried to bake whole wheat bread at home until this morning. Mom II (hubby’s mom) is with us and she satisfied our taste buds with this bread containing nothing unhealthy and I was her assitant this time. She always loves to discover new and healthy (more importantly) ingredients. One day she called me and told that she met a lady in a village during one of her routine weekend trip. And she learnt that this lady is the owner of a mill in the city, which is a flour store at the same time.

(You see mom as the group leader in a mountain trip)

Nature lover mom II also loves organic products and to buy them first hand, so she couldn’t miss the opportunity when that lady gave the address of her store.  Mom II told me on the phone call with a great pleasure that she discovered a flour store which sells various kinds of flour made from organically grown grains.  So I knew that she had a recipe plan when she said “ I’ve bought whole wheat for you!” However, I must admit that this bread is beyond my expectations!

The ones we buy from supermarkets are a bit bland, but this one is fantastic with carrot, walnut flavors and definitely with the special whole wheat flour mom II brought for us. If you have a chance to buy any flour from a mill, go buy some and see the difference.

Tam Buğday Ekmegi (Cevizli& Havuclu)
Ingredients
-    500g whole wheat flour
-    1tbsp dry instant yeast
-    1 ¼ cup milk
-    ¾ cup yogurt
-    1tsp salt
-    3 carrots, grated
-    100g walnut, crumbled
-    2 tbsp oat

Put flour, yeast, salt, milk and yogurt in a large bowl and combine them well. Add grated carrot and crumbled walnut and mix them. Cover it and wait for 1 hour for the dough to rise.

Preheat the oven at 180C.
Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and tranfer the dough on it. Give  a shape of a big ball to dough.

Lay a baking sheet on an oven tray and transfer the ball shaped dough on it. Put its bottom upwards as that side is smoother. Gently make squares with a knife and then sprinkle oats on it and put it oven. Bake it for 80 minutes.

Take it from oven and let it rest for at least half an hour before serving.

One of my students brought me some corn flour as a gift in the last school week. She’s from Black Sea Region (Karadeniz) of Turkey, which is famous for its corn and corn flour. She knows I have a food blog and she said she wanted to have a little contribution to it with this corn flour made by her family in their village. She said, “I bet you haven’t had anything like this before. This is not like the corn flour you can find at markets. This corn flour is very special as it is the real one.” Don’t you think these words sound like local advertisements? But no, she was just trying to explain how valuable and tasty this corn flour is. I was completely unaware what she was talking about as I knew nothing about the difference between market corn flour and original corn flour from Black Sea Region.  I asked myself “How different could it be?”, I put it in my pantry and forgot it there until this morning.

When I felt a very tempting smell coming from the kitchen this morning, I couldn’t linger in the bed  lying and reading more although it was Sunday. Mom II (husband’s mom) is here and “she must have done something scrumptious for breakfast”, I thought but couldn’t guess what it was. When I entered the kitchen, she was taking this yellowish yummy thing out of the oven. I thought it was a cake, but mom corrected me saying it was corn flour bread. It definitely smelled irresistible and when I took a very small bite just to taste, I understood what my dear student meant.

Mom said that when she was in the kitchen to prepare something for breakfast, she saw a package of corn flour in our pantry. And tasting it, she understood it was of good quality. “I couldn’t miss this opportunity of making fresh corn bread with this great flour”, she said. If she hadn’t made this yummy bread, the corn flour package might still be waiting. Many thanks to mom and my lovely student!

There is still some corn flour left and I know I will use it making another bread very soon.

Uzumlu Misir Ekmegi
Ingredients
-    1 ½ cup milk
-    2 cups all purpose flour
-    1 cup corn flour
-    1 egg white
-    1 ½ tsp sugar
-    2 ½ tsp salt
-    1 tbsp dry instant yeast
-    1 tbsp olive oil
-    ¼ cup raisin
-    ½ tbsp olive oil (for topping)
-    1 tbsp nigella sativa (for topping)
-    1 yolk (for topping)

Mix all ingredients except raisin and the ones for topping. Knead it and cover. Wait it at room temperature for 2 hours so that it rises.

Preheat the oven at 180C.

After 2 hours, add raisin and mix it with your hand. Grease a rectangular cake mold (pyrex). Place the dough in it.

Whisk egg yolk and mix it with olive oil. Brush the dough with this mixture and sprinkle nigella sativa. Bake it for 40 minutes until it gets golden.

I didn’t know that poppy seeds are edible before coming to Eskisehir, the city where I’m living now. There are many pastry shops here and they have various breads that I didn’t see in my hometown. One of these unique breads is bread with mashed poppy seeds. As you can guess, it didn’t last long for me to become a big fan of this fantastic bread. We often buy it from a pastry shop nearby in the early morning when it’s still warm and we have the pleasure of eating this bread at breakfast with some cheese, sliced tomato and cucumber accompanied by newly brewed black tea.

It wasn’t enough for me just to eat the bread with this special ingredient, it was a must for me to learn more about it. Hubby said poppy seeds are commonly used in his hometown, and his mom knows a lot about it. And when I asked my mother-in-law (Mom II) about poppy seeds, she took me to her childhood with her lively descriptions, it was so exciting for me to be in a different time and learning about some past piece of life.

She said that she spent most of her childhood in huge poppy fields full of purple, red and white flowers and she explained how much she admired these lovely poppy flowers spreading as far as the eye can reach. She seemed as if she was really there while she was describing those fields, it was so clear from the light in her eyes. I think those times might be the root of her love of drawing and painting. I didn’t even know that poppies are lovely flowers. She explained that poppy flowers are just like wild beautiful flowers we see on mountains in Spring. Unlike these flowers, poppies are grown and processed by people. Poppy seeds are planted in fields and after some time, they come out of earth as fresh herbs. Mom II said that they would make salad from these herbs  when they were still fresh. Growing older, these herbs become harder and bitter. They grow as high as an average human height and then they start to bloom in various colors and generate their fascinating masterpiece in fields. These flowers drop their petals after a certain time and form cones containing poppy seeds. Mom II told me that it was a big pleasure for her to break these cones, shake it down into her palm and throw the seeds into her mouth. It sounds great, doesn’t it?

These poppy seeds are used in pastry decoration and when they are mashed they turn into another amazing flavor. These are in three colors: black, yellow and white. Yellow and white mashed poppy seeds are used in pastries. As these are light in color, they don’t spoil the color of dough (you see in my bread above). Also, the rate of oil they include is not so high, which is better for pastries. As for the black mashed poppy seeds, it is mixed with grape molasses just like tahini and becomes a perfect food for breakfast especially in Winter.

Mom II also stated that it was a tradition in her childhood that to serve different kinds of breads with mashed poppy seeds during festivals like Ramadan or Greater Eid. When children knocked the door, the host was supposed to give some slices of poppy seed bread to them. It was one of the ways to make children happy on these special days besides candies and handkerchieves.

I learnt this yummy poppy seed bread from mom II. Unlike the ones in pastry shops here, this one has raisins or currants in its filling mixture, which makes it more special. So here is the recipe:

Ingredients
Dough:
- 1 ½ tbsp instant yeast
- 1 cup milk(warm)
- 3 cups flour
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp sugar
Filling mixture*:
-    1 cup yellow mashed poppy seed
-    1 cup olive oil
-    ½ cup raisin/currants
Mix all the ingredients for dough, knead it and wait it for 1 hour to rise. It shouldn’t be sticky, if it’s still sticky, then add a little more flour.
Preheat the oven at 180C.

Then knead it once more. Sprinkle a little flour on the counter and roll it out in a rectangle like shape.

Mix mashed poppy seeds and olive oil very well, it mustn’t be thick, must be like a flowing mixture. Spread this on the dough and then throw the raisins/currants on it.

Then roll the dough tightly.

Cut the dough roll into two with a sharp knife.

Turn their insides with filling mixture upside.

Put one half on the middle of the other half and give them a shape of hook.

Plait each pieces until the end.

Oil a circle oven tray and place the bread dough gently in a circular shape. Combine the two ends of the dough and stick them together by pressing gently with your fingers.
Bake it for 35 minutes and serve it with black tea or coffee.
*If you can’t find mashed poppy seeds, here is an alternative recipe for its filling:
-    ¾ cup poppy seeds
-    ¾ cup raisin/currants
-    1 cup milk
-    2 tbsp corn strach
-    1 egg yolk
-    2 tbsp butter

Put the poppy seeds, raisin and half of the milk in a pot. Boil it over the lowest heat until the seeds and raisin rise and there is no milk left. It takes for about 10 min. Meanwhile, whisk corn starch, yolk and the other half of milk in a bowl. At the end of the cooking time of poppy seeds and raisins, add the yolk mixture into the pot and boil stirring until it gets thick enough. Take it from fire and finally add butter and stir well.  Spread this mixture on the dough you roll and bake it in the same way.

This is a traditional bread, generally baked over wood fire in villages. When my grandpas were alive, we used to visit them  very often. They used to live in a village and whenever we went there, grandma would always bake bazlama for us. She would also brew a teapot of tea again over a wood fire. I don’t know why, but the fire of wood changes the taste of everything. If you have the chance of cooking a dish over wood fire, you’ll understand what I mean. Even tea gets a different flavor when brewed over it.

Grandma would always serve bazlama with a piece of butter she herself made and with some olive oil which they themselves produced. So this simple breakfast became a feast for us. Imagine a piece of newly baked bazlama, still fuming, and dipping it into some very natural olive oil or spreading some fresh butter, which has a milky scent, on it.

As I don’t have a chance of baking it on a wood fire, I bake it on a non stick pan over the lowest heat of the oven. Today the special item for our big Sunday breakfast was this bazlama. We ate it dipping in olive oil.

Bazlama

Ingredients
•    3 cups flour
•    ½ cup yogurt
•    1 cup warm water
•    1 dessert spoon instant yeast
•    ¼ olive oil
•    2 tsp sugar
•    2 tsp salt

Put the flour in a bowl. Add yogurt and mix it. Then add olive oil, sugar and salt. Mix the warm water and instant yeast in a cup very well and pour it in the mixture. Then knead all of them. You see my measurement cup here.

The dough should still be sticky, don’t worry. Cover the bowl and wait it in a warm place at least 5 hours to rise well. Waiting it for a day is better.

When the dough is OK, you can bake it and eat hot. Sprinkle some flour on the counter, take a piece of dough, a bit bigger than orange. Round it in your palms, then put it on the counter. Widen it by pressing your hands on it. You don’t need to use a rolling pin as the dough is so soft.

Heat a non stick pan, and put the shaped dough on it. Cook it turning it out continually over the lowest heat. It will be done in about 10 minutes. I make five bazlamas from these ingredients.

You can serve it with olive oil near it. We also sprinkle some dry thyme in our natural olive oil.

Note: I made this before reading the article, 10 pre-polluted Americans by OysterCulture, which is about food safety including the harms of teflon. And now, I’m definitely confused about using non stick pans. There should be a substitute.

Sabiha Gökçen

March 22 is a very special day for Turkish women. We are so honored by Sabiha Gökçen, who is the first woman combat pilot of the world, and first woman pilot of Turkey. She was born on 22 March 1913 and was one of the adopted daughters of Atatürk.