Leek With Olive Oil

Zeytinyagli Pirasa

Leek is one of the vegetables that many children hate eating. In Turkey, moms struggle a lot to have their children eat it. There becomes an invisible fight between moms and children and the winner of the fight depends on moms’ different kinds of methods. Some moms threaten them to tell their father that they don’t eat leek. Some remind their children of poor people who can not find any food. Some make leeks talk to their children, leeks say that they feel so sorry when they are refused and they ask crying why children don’t love them. You decide which method is more effective.

You may ask the method of my mom. I think she was luckier as we had some vegetables in our garden including leeks and she used to take me with her to pick some leeks. She used to love the vegetables she grew with dad so much that she used to pick all vegetables by flattering and talking to them. As a child I thought that these vegetables were like members of our family, so never refused eating it. And I understood how delicious it is when I grew older, it’s one of my favorite dishes now. Most children feels the same when they grow, but of course there may be some stubborn ones.

Olive oil is the key point of this dish. If you have the chance of finding natural olive oil, it becomes more tasty. It is served  cold or warm (but not hot) as a main dish or a side dish/appetizer.

Ingredients
-4 leeks
-1 carrot
-1 lemon, squeezed
-1tsp salt
-1tsp sugar (or one cube sugar)
-1/4 cup rice, washed
-1/4 cup water
-1/3 cup olive oil

Some people also add onion, but as leek itself is coming from onion family, I think making it without onion is better.

Cut the tops of the leek and wash them well. Cut them into diagonal slices. Set them aside.

Peel the carrot and cut it vertically into four pieces, then slice them as big as a half finger.

Put half of the olive oil in a pot and saute the carrot slices first. Add sugar and then the leeks. Stir them well and add the lemon juice and cover the pan. Cook it over medium heat for 15 minutes and then add rice, water and salt in it. Bring the heat to the lowest and cook it until the rice cooks. After it is cooked, let it cool in the pan. And finally drizzle the rest of the olive oil on it before serving. This is another important tip; when you add some raw olive oil before serving, all the dishes with olive oil tastes even better.

Mom And Child Leeks

The child leek comes home with a big disappointment and tells her mom that she doesn’t want to go out any more. It is her first day at school and she’s learnt that children don’t like leeks. It is a shocking reality for her as she’s always dreamed of meeting some human friends and presenting its taste to them.

When the mom leek sees her daughter at the garden gate with a down face, she decides to ask some help from her. She wants her daughter to forget her sadness for a while. While they are hanging the washed clothes together, she tells her daughter that all children will love them if they are cooked right. (drawing by mom)

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Bulgur Pilaf with Green Lentil

Mercimekli Bulgur Pilavi
This pilaf is another rare recipe even in our country. So many people don’t know this pilaf, they generally cook tehm seperately, bulgur pilaf near green lentil stew. I love them, but I also love them combined in the form of a pilaf. If you have a kind of stew, this pilaf will be a perfect side dish.

Ingredients
•    1 cup bulgur
•    ¼ cup green lentil, boiled
•    2 cups water
•    2 green pepper, 1 onion
•    2 tbsp butter
•    1 tbsp olive oil
•    1 tsp black pepper
•    2 tsp salt
•    ½ tsp cinnamon

Melt the butter in a pan and add olive oil. Saute chopped  green pepper  and onion until soft, then add bulgur and boiled green lentil in it. Saute them for 5 minutes until bulgur gets crispy. Then pour water and sprinkle salt, black pepper and cinnamon in it and stir. Cover the pan and bring the heat to the lowest. When all the water’s gone, let it rest.

To serve it, put some in a small bowl and reverse it on a plate. You can garnish it with fresh dill or parsley. And if you have a bowl of homemade yogurt near it, you enjoy it more.

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Spinach with Yogurt

Yoğurtlu Ispanak

We thought that we’d been living the last days of winter, but this morning we understood that it’s too early for winter to leave us. It was so cold and snowy again this morning. So I thought we still have time for cooking fresh spinach.

There was an open market in our neighborhood today and we bought some winter vegetables from there such as spinach, leek, celery, carrots. And we gave the priority to spinach. I generally prefer cooking it with eggs or making borek with it, but today I tried something I learnt from mom again. While she was giving the recipe on the phone, I didn’t think it would worth writing it here as it was so simple. I think the word “simple” exactly defines it.  And mom must have realized my thoughts on her recipe as she continually added how tasty it was.

I decided to give this spinach salad a chance. We made it as a side dish near pasta topped with white cheese. And it becomes one of our favorite. It was incredibly delicious.

I have still some suspicions on eating spinach and yogurt together, I made some search but couldn’t find a consensus on it. Some say yogurt makes it healthier, some say yogurt decreases its vitamins. I decided not to be so cautious this time for the sake of this hearty spinach salad. We love it so much that we’ll make it often.

Ingredients
•    500g spinach
•    1 cup yogurt
•    3 cloves garlic,mashed
•    2 tsp red pepper flakes
•    3 tbsp olive oil
•    2 tsp salt

Wash and clean the spinach very well. Put it in a pot, add salt on it. I prefer not chopping them. Cover the pot and cook it over medium heat until the spinach leaves change their color to dark green and become soft. Do not add any water as the leaves release their own water. Don’t overcook them, 10 or 15 minutes will be enough.

Take the boiled spinach leaves on a plate. Set it aside.

Mix the mashed garlic with yogurt and pour some on the spinach.

In a small pan, heat olive oil and fry red pepper flakes. Drizzle it on spinach and yogurt.

You see how simple it is, but I can gurantee you’ll be a fan of this side dish/salad just like us after trying. Of course if you don’t have any problems with vegetables.

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Ash Plov

This is a special pilaf in Osh city of Kyrgyzstan (Central Asia). And this is not my own recipe, a very kind blog friend of mine,  Jyldyz  Chynybekova sent it to me. In fact, she is so kind that she sent a file of Kyrgyzstan recipes with pictures. I’m always very curious about different Asian dishes, so I’m very pleased to publish her recipes here. And this is just one of those exotic dishes. The rest will come later.

Ingredients
•    1 kg (2.3 lbs) red rice (or any if you can’t find it)
•    1 kg (2.3 lbs) meat – lamb, beef or chicken
•    1 ½ kg (3 1/3 lbs, 5 large carrots) carrots – yellow is the best
•    3 pieces, average sized onion – any type
•    1 cup vegetable oil – sunflower (you can use lamb fat also)
•    1 tbsp cumin seeds
•    About 3 L (3 quarts) water or lamb broth
•    2-3 whole head of garlic

Saute chopped onions in oil until it gets red, then the meat (chopped into many medium pieces) is added. Meat is fried until a tender reddish crust appears.

Add the carrots (shredded) and fry it for about 10 minutes. Pour water and stew it for 20 minutes. Add rice, put heat on high. Bring to a boil and tuck a bunch of unpeeled garlic cloves down into the rice. I use a whole head. Reduce heat a little to prevent burning, add cumin seeds, stir and watch it until the water has evaporated.

Push the rice towards the center. Then poke holes in several places with the handle of a wooden spoon. Cover and simmer until meat, garlic and carrots are tender for 25 minutes and all the water has evaporated. Do not allow the plov to burn.

Serve rice on a plate and put the meat, garlic on top. Pop the garlic out of its skin to enjoy it. Salads with fresh or pickled vegetables, tomatoes, cucumbers are good additions for enjoying plov.

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Potato Puree

Among all vegetables, potato is on the top of the consumption list in Turkey. As potato has a wide range of growth in various regions of Turkey, it’s the cheapest vegetable. That’s the reason for its fame. You can’t find a kitchen in Turkey without potato. It’s the main ingredient of Turkish kitchen. At our outdoor markets, onion and potato are always together on counters because onion is the second most popular vegetable in our country. Growers generally grow these two together and onion is as cheap as potato here.

And it’s an indispensable vegetable of my kitchen. I mostly make its puree and soup, sometimes its salad. Among these, my dear husband and I are so fond of potato puree (mashed potato) that we can eat it at any time. We prefer eating it as a side dish with any meat or chicken dish. Rather than spreading ketchup, mustard or mayonnaise on meat/ chicken, we prefer potato puree. We think it is healthier. In addition to being a side dish, potato puree also serves to us as a kind of snack. I must say that I’m eating this delicious thing right now while writing about it.

Most people know how to make potato puree, but anyway, I want to give my recipe for those who still do not know.
Ingredients
•    3 middle potatoes
•    2 tbsp butter
•    3 tsp salt
•    1 ½ cup milk (if you like it thicker, add less)
•    ½ cup grated yellow cheese

You will see how easy it is to reward yourself when you come home from work  when you try this recipe.

Boil the potatoes until they are soft. You can check it with a fork if they are soft enough or not. Do not let them cold. This is very important beacuse if they are cold, butter don’t melt when you add.

Then peel them and divide them into big pieces with a fork. Now grab blender and mash them until smooth. Add butter and grated cheese when they are still hot. Go on mixing and add milk and salt. You can decide the amount of these according to your taste. After the mixture is smooth, taste it and if you want it to be more milky, add more.  And serve it with any dish you like.

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Grilled Chicken Recipe

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.

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.

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