It’s been snowy for more than two weeks, which makes us crave for soup and oven dishes more. Oh and of course for green tea, sage tea and salep! When it first snew this year, we rushed out even it was night time to feel the star shape snow on our face after a long summer and fall time.

We couldn’t wait more for playing snowball. It wasn’t only two of us who were joyous because of snow. Lots of people were out enjoying themselves with snow, they were playing snowball, making snowman, walking and even lying on snow.

We have already got used to living with snow and it’s not very likely to see people outside playing with snow these days. People are trying to escape from snow anow and they are rushing into their homes to have a cup of hot drink. It looks like they are bored of snow and they start to wait for sunny spring days! This is human nature, isn’t it?

This roasted chicken and veggies was made on such a snowy weekend. We love to cook inside when it’s rainy or snowy outside! This fantastic dish came out with what we had in the refrigerator. We had it with a large bowl of green salad.

Put chicken tighs and all vegetables except tomato and two green peppers in a large bowl.
Dissolve pepper paste with water in a bowl. Add 3 tbsp olive oil, salt, spices and flax seed in it.
Pour the mixture on chicken and vegetables. Rub them with your hand to coat each of them with the liquid mixture.
Preheat oven to 200C.
Transfer first chicken tighs into a baking dish. (Mine is a gift from Dilek, my sister-in-law. Would love to thank her from here!) Then add vegetables on tighs and pour any remained sauce over them.
Place tomato rings and two whole green peppers on the top randomly. And drizzle ½ tbsp olive oil on them. Cover it with the lid or aluminium foil.
Roast them in oven for 50 minutes. Enjoy!

Wash chicken. Chop lemon with its zest, mix it with salt, rub chicken with these and wait for about 10 minutes to remove any unpleasant smell it has. Wash it again and put aside.

Mix all filling ingredients.

Sew the neck hole of chicken with a heavy needle and thread before stuffing so that the filling doesn’t leak out. I used the same thread used for sewing clothes.

Stuff it through the other hole on its end. Don’t press down the filling firmly as bulgur will rise when cooked. Sew up this hole in the same way. If you have leftover filling, you can make it pilaf in a small pan pouring a little hot water.

Put stuffed chicken in a big pot. Pour 1 liter water over it and boil. You can increase the amount of water until it covers the chicken. Boil it for about 40 minutes.

Preheat oven at 200C.

Transfer the stuffed chicken into an oventray. Pour a few ladles of water in which you boil the chicken. Spread butter on it and cook until golden.

As we love to pair them with roasted peppers, I also roast some red bell peppers. These skewers could also be wonderful party food, I’m sure your guests will love them much.

Chop chicken breast in cubes.

Mix all other ingredients in a bowl and add chicken cubes into this mixture.

Cover with a plastic wrap and wait it in refrigerator overnight. If you are in a hurry, wait it at least half an hour, but you will get the best result if you wait it at least 8 hours. Chicken cubes will absorb the marinade more, which means they taste much better.

Wait wooden skewers in freezer for 15 minutes so that they won’t burn.

Preheat the oven at 220C.

Lay a baking sheet on a tray.

Place 4 or 5 chicken pieces on each skewer and place them on the tray.

Cook about 20 minutes in oven until golden. Then turn them over and let the other side get golden for another 10 minutes. That’s it!

Serve them hot with roasted vegetables and fresh salad like piyaz.

The mushrooms we picked were very different from what we buy at markets today. They were brownish and they didn’t have that hat like mushroom top. We call this kind of mushroom kuzugobegi in Turkish. This can be translated as lamb belly, but I really don’t know what is the relation and why it is called so. When I searched on the Internet, I’ve found that it is called morchella esculenta in science.

As we don’t have these brownish mushrooms at markets now, we buy cultivated mushrooms, which I find so cute in shape. I love to use them in different ways, sometimes in the form of side dish (cheese stuffed mushrooms), sometimes in the form of main dish ( sauteed mushrooms). This time I combined it with chicken and it made a great lunch for us.

Heat olive oil in a wok. Throw chopped chicken breast into it. Saute stirring occaionally over high heat.

When it releases and absorbs its water, add mushrooms, garlic and red bell pepper. Stir. Wait until they absorb the the water they release.

Pour milk and stir. You can increase the amount of milk if you like.

Finally toss in chopped green onions along with salt and spices. Stir it roughly for the last time and take it from stove. Serve hot.

You can serve a kind of pilaf and yogurt or cacik with this tasty chicken and mushroom combination.

I made these cute guys on my cast iron skillet. And there is absolutely a big difference between these and the ones cooked on a regular non stick skillet. These are perfect! This skillet is my first cast iron item in kitchen and it will not be the only one. But how did I decide to start using cast iron? Just after reading this article by Oysterculture, I was persuaded not to use teflon (non stick) pans that often and this was the starting point of my cast iron experience. When you read her article, you will see that there is an unbelieavable link between teflon and dead birds.Go read that article if you want to learn further on how chemicals harm nature and our body.

(Before seasoning)

Searching cast iron on the Internet, I learnt that it is the healtiest cookware material. I must admit that I was so excited when we brought this skillet to home. You have to look after cast iron cookware, which makes it special and different from other pans. And it needs a process at the beginning before starting to use it called seasoning. With the guidence of salesman’s advice, we washed it just with water (no detergent), dried, brushed all around it with olive oil (including its holder), and cooked it in oven at 200C for 1 ½ hours. Then it was ready to use!

We love to grill beef or chicken on this skillet. As heat distributes equally on cast iron, this is a perfect way of grilling. And the cleaning part is not difficult.  Just wash it under water, use salt instead of detergent to remove any remnants, dry, and oil it again before placing it on shelf. This method is like a natural seasoning and you will see how tasty your beef or chicken is each time you use it. So the more you use your cast iron skillet, the more scrumptious results you have. You can check this article out at Macheesmo to learn more reasons for using cast iron. Thank you Nick for listing these!

I generally marinade chicken or beef in a simple olive oil and tyme mixture, but I used a different one this time. I saw this great marinade here by dokuzuncubulut. Her sauce is much more flavorful, so it was a must for me to try. It is mainly a Turkish blog with many scrumptious recipes with helpful tips. Besides she shares not only her vacations but also her gardening and craft experience. It’s always fun to visit her blog and I always learn something from her blog. You know what? She also has some recipes in English, too. Go visit her blog! I’m sure you will find many things you like there.

I adapted this marinade from her recipe with what I have in my kitchen. She used red and black peppercorns, but I used ground blak pepper only as I didn’t have peppercorns. Also, I used a bay leaf and dried thyme although she didn’t. And also I used ginger powder although she used grated fresh ginger.

Demir Dökümde Piliç Bonfile
Ingredients
-    10 chicken fillets
Marinade
-    ½ cup soy sauce
-    ½ cup sunflower oil
-    1 lemon zest, grated
-    4 cloves garlic, peels on, just broken gently with palm
-    ½ tsp turmeric powder
-    ½ tsp ginger powder
-    ½ tsp ground black pepper
-    ½ tsp dried thyme
-    1 bay leaf

Mix all ingredients of marinade in a bowl.

Put fillets in a plastic bag and pour the sauce on them. Make sure all fillets are coated with sauce. And tie the bag. Put it on a plate and wait it in refrigerator for about 5 hours.
Put your cast iron skillet on stove over high heat (I didn’t add oil in it as I already keep my skillet oily as explained above). When it’s heated enough, you see fumes rising up.

(After seasoning)

Bring it to low heat and place chicken fillets on skillet. Turn them over after about 5 minutes. And brown the other sides for another 5 minutes. When they reach the color you desire, take them on a plate. Repeat the same steps until you finish the fillets.

You can serve these well browned chicken fillets with a minced parsley topping. And a fresh green salad is a perfect companion for them.

I came home earlier today and we could have a lunch together with hubby. He prepared one of our favorite chicken dish. We love it because it’s very easy to prepare. And maybe he loves to make this because of the same reason!

I stopped by a supermarket on the way home to do some grocery shopping. Although I hate shopping on clothes or that kind of stuff, I am crazy about grocery shopping. So whenever I enter a supermarket, I want to buy almost everything there. I just forget how much I can carry. I think supermarket trolleys must be designed smaller so that people like me don’t fill it up with items they don’t need. My favorite aisles in a supermarket are grocery and detergent aisles. Sometimes I can’t realize the time I spend there.  This time I just took a glance at the soaps, detergents, shampoos, etc. but didn’t examine them closely. I decided to spend time at grocery aisle when I saw it was all in green. There were a lot of herbs which were newly brought to the market so I absolutely bought several bunches of parsley, mint, basil, arugula, thyme, dill and scallion. You see I just lost my control and could hardly stop putting still some other herbs into the trolley. Besides, I bought some summer fruits like cherries, plums, apricot, peach and pineapple. Finally I bought chicken breast as hubby had told me before and ran out of the market not to buy anything more.

Seeing me tired carrying bags full of fruits and veggies, hubby took the responsibility of cooking the lunch. And while he was dealing with the chicken, I washed some of the herbs under water and waited them about 10 minutes in water and vinegar mixture until the luch was done. We always wash the herbs in this way. The measurement is like this: 1 liter water is mixed with ¼ cup vinegar. Vinegar cleans herbs from bacterias which cannot be seen with naked eye. Besides, it helps the sand sink to the bottom. After washing them well, I took them in a large bowl, sequeeze lemon on them. So our lunch was sauteed chicken with green peppers and herbs. Wonderful, isn’t it?

Tavuk Sote
Ingredients
-    2 pieces chicken breast
-    4 green peppers, chopped
-    3 garlic cloves, minced
-    2 tbsp olive oil
-    Salt
-    Red pepper flakes
-    Black pepper
-    Cumin
-    Dried thyme

Cut the chicken breasts in thin stripes. Put them in a wok. Cook them until they release water. Let it cook in that water for a while until the water is about to disappear. Season it at this time. Then add olive oil, stir. And add garlic and green peppers. Stir occasionaly and cook until everything gets tender enough. That’s it! Enjoy your chicken with herb salad.

As you know chicken is one of the most beneficial nutrition, which is so important for child growth. Moreover, it has no negative effect on old people’s health like red meat. Everyone should eat it without any fear. But of course the cooking style matters. If you prefer frying, you make it impossible to mention the benefits of chicken although you create a scrumptious dish.

I perefer a better and easier way, saving its nutritional value: baking it in oven, which is as tasty as fried one. Also, you don’t need to clean your kitchen deeply as you do after frying, which is so important for me as I’m a working girl. I can count a lot of reasons here why I love cooking it in oven. Then you have to wait longer to read the recipe, so not to make you angry, I’ll stop here and tell you how to cook this hearty chicken with potato easily.

Firinda Patatesli Tavuk

Ingredients (serving: 2)
•    4 chicken legs
•    2 middle potatoes
•    2 tomatoes
•    2 green peppers
•    6 cloves garlic
•    ½ tbsp pepper or tomato paste
•    3 tbsp olive oil
•    2 tsp salt
•    1 tsp black pepper
•    1 tsp red pepper flakes
•    1 tsp thyme
•    3 tbsp water

Preheat oven to 200C (400F)

Coat a small oven tray with 1 tbsp olive oil.

Peel the potatoes, cut them in apple slices and place them in the oiled tray. We should put the potato slices first because the cooking time of them is longer than chicken.

Discard the seeds of peppers, chop them in big pieces and place them on potatoes.

Remove the skin of chicken legs. If you love them, you can leave. Rinse the chicken pieces in water. Rub each chicken legs with the spices given above. And put them on potatoes and green peppers.

Slice the tomatoes in big pieces and lay them on chicken pieces. Do not slice the garlic cloves, just peel them and intersperse in the tray randomly. Sprinke 2 tsp salt on it.

Dilute ½ tbsp tomato/pepper paste in 3 tbsp water and pour it on the raw dish. Finally add the the rest of the olive oil and put the tray in oven. Cook it about an hour. When you check it poking one of the legs with a knife at the end of this time, it shouldn’t be juicy or the color inside shouldn’t be pink. You can cook it about 10 minutes more if you hink it’s not cooked enough.

You can serve rice with carrot as a side dish near this hearty chicken cooked in oven. And serving them with a season salad is a must.

I love chicken dishes, but grilled chicken is my favorite. This may be your main dish, but it is a kind of appetizer for me and my husband as we like eating this chicken with glasses of beer. Many people prefer french fries with their beer, but grilled chicken is better for us. We cook it on an electric griller. The smell of the chicken on griller is as scrumptious as its taste. If you don’t have a griller, you can cook it in oven, as well.

Izgara Tavuk Kanat

Ingredients
•    500gr chicken wing pieces (depends on the number of people)
•    Salt
•    Dried thyme
•    Cayenne pepper

Wash the chicken pieces and drain. Sprinkle all spices on them. Incorporate all of them.

Place the chicken wing on your griller and roast them by turning occasionally. After this first group is grilled enough, take them from the griller and put on a plate. Without wasting time, place the second group of chicken and while they are roasting, you can eat the ones you’ve put on a plate accompanied by a large glass of beer.

I decided to cook a chicken dish today, but I wanted to cook something different. Generally I cook chicken saute or grilled chicken. But for the dinner today, I didn’t want those. Then my dear husband offered to cook the dinner. So this time, I was the helper, he was the chef. And here is his special recipe: Chicken in Hot Pot

Hot Pots are very popular in Turkish cuisine. These are very special pots made of clay and soil. The taste of the dish you cook in these pots is certainly different from the dishes in ordinary pots. This one adds its taste. We prefer these hot pots especially for meat, chicken dishes and Turkish rice pudding.

Guvecte Tavuk

Ingredients

•    1 chicken breast, chopped in cubes
•    A cup of mushrooms (200gr), sliced in big size
•    1 tomato
•    2 green peppers
•    1 onion
•    Tomato paste
•    salt
•    black pepper
•    3 cloves garlic, sliced
•    thyme
•    2 tbsp olive oil
•    yellow cheese, grated

Saute the onion in a pan until, golden. Add chicken pieces and cook them until they whiten. Then put the sliced mushrooms and garlic. Sprinkle salt, black pepper and thyme on it.

In a small bowl, mix tomato paste with little water to liquefy it a bit. Then pour it into the pan. And cook it for 20 minutes ove medium heat.

After it’s done, put this saute evenly into small hot pots or ovensafe bowls.

Preheat the oven to 200 C. (392F)

Garnish the saute in bowls with grated yellow cheese and put them into the oven. Cook it until the cheese melts.

Serve it hot with some whole mushrooms stuffed with yellow cheese.  (This will be my next recipe).

Cacik goes very well with this dish. You can search its recipe in my archive.

Ingredients

• 4 or 5 pieces of Chicken (or a whole chicken)
• 2 carrots
• 2 onions
• 1 celery
• 4-5 cup water
• ground black pepper
• cumin
• salt to taste

Place the chicken pieces in a  pan (if you wish, remove the chicken’s skin).

Chop all the vegetables and put them in the pan.  Add water and cook. After about 15 minutes (when water boils), add salt. Boil them together (at least 30 minutes).

Serve it hot either without its water or with its spicy water. I suggest you having its water, too especially when you are cold. If you serve without water, you can store it in refrigerator to use it in other dishes like soup or pilaf.