Laz Böreği

Laz Boregi

[Black Sea Region, Turkey]

The dough in laz boregi has a special recipe but I used this special type of filo pastry (also called filo pastry for baklava)

Ingredients

28 sheets of filo pastry for baklava

250 gr butter

For the custard:

1 litre milk

7 tablespoons of sugar

4 tablespoons of flour 

3 tablespoons of starch

2 tablespoons of rice flour

2 egg yolks
10 gr vanillin sugar

A pinch of black pepper (Yes. You have read true:))

For the syrup:
4 cups of sugar

3 cups of water

Squeeze of 1/2 lemon

Method

First prepare the syrup: Add the sugar and water in to the saucepan. Bring to boil. Then add the lemon juice. Set aside to cool. 

Then prepare the custard: Add flour, starch, rice flour, sugar, egg yolks and milk in a saucepan. Cook it, stirring all the time. When it is cooked, add vanillin sugar and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well and set aside to cool.

Melt the butter and pour it into a glass. Set aside it. (Tip: If you leave the butter in the saucepan after you melt it then the hot saucepan may burn the butter. So it is important to transfer the melted butter into a bowl/glass.)

Grease an oven tray with butter. Place 7 filo pastry sheets. After the 7th sheet, brush it with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Then place 7 more pastry sheets and spread the custard on it. Then place 7 more pastry sheets, and after the 21st sheet brush it with 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Place the rest of the pastry sheets. Cut the dessert into big pieces. Pour the melted butter on it.

Preheat the oven to 170C degrees. Bake it until its top becomes brownish. 

When it is baked, wait for a while (about 5-10 minutes) before you pour the syrup. Before serving it, wait until Laz borek absorb the syrup. Serve at room temperature.

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[Karadeniz Bolgesi'nden]

Malzemeler
28 adet baklavalik yufka
250 gr tereyag
Muhallebisi icin:
1 litre sut
7 yemek kasigi seker
4 yemek kasigi un
3 yemek kasigi nisasta
2 yemek kasigi pirinc unu
2 yumurta sarisi
10 gr sekerli vanilin
Bir tutam karabiber (Evet. Dogru okudunuz:))
Surubu icin:
4 su bardagi seker
3 su bardagi su
Yarim limonun suyu

Hazirlanisi
Ilk olarak surubu hazirlayin. Su ve sekeri tencerede kaynayıncaya kadar pisirin. Sonra limon suyunu ekleyip, sogumaya birakin.

Muhallebinin hazirlanisi: Unu, nisastayi, pirinc ununu, sekeri ,yumurta sarilarini ve sutu bir tencerede, karistirarak pisirin. Pistikten sonra, sekerli vanilin ve bir tutam karabiber ekleyip, cirparak karistirin. Bir kenarda sogumaya birakin.

Tereyagini eritin. Bir bardaga alarak, sogumaya birakin. (Puf noktasi: Eger tereyagini, erittiginiz tavada sogumaya birakirsaniz, isinmis tava tereyagini yakabilir. Bu sebepten yagi sıcak tencereden bir kabin/bardagin icine almak onemlidir.)

Bir firin tepsisini erimis tereyag ile yaglayin. 7 tane yufkayi ust uste tepsiye yerlestirin. Yedince yufkanın uzerini 1 yemek kasigi erimis tereyagi ile fircalayin. Ardindan 7 tane daha yufkayi ust uste yerlestirin. Uzerine ilimis muhallebiyi esit miktarda her yerine dagitin. Sonra 7 yufka daha yerlestirin ve 21. yufkanın uzerini erimis tereyag ile fircalayin. Son olarak 7 yufka daha yerlestirin. Tatliyi buyuk parcalar halinde kesin. Tereyagini yufkalarin uzerine dokun.



Onceden isitilmis 170C derece firinda, ustu kizarana kadar pisirin.

Firindan aldiktan 5-10 dakika kadar sonra, surubu dokun. Servis etmeden once, surubun emilmesini bekleyin. Oda sicakliginda servis ediniz.

Enginarlı Pilav

Artichoke Pilau

[from Aegean Region, Turkey]

Ingredients
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, cut into small pieces
3 artichokes
1/5 cup of olive oil + 1 tablespoon of olive oil
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 tablespoon of sugar
2 lemons
1+1/2 cups of rice
Dill, finely chopped
Salt
Tap water, as necessary

Method
Trim and clean artichoke hearts. Wet each one with lemon juice immediately (You can use one of the lemons for that process). Then place it in water+lemon juice (of the second lemon) mixture.

Place onions, carrots, artichokes, salt, sugar, flour, 1/5 cup of olive oil and 2 cups of water (more if needed) in a saucepan.

Cover the lid and let it cook.

When it is cooked, place the artichokes in a spare plate.  Transfer the remaining water in the saucepan (including carrots) to a glass. Add tap water in the remaining water. Obtain 1+1/2 cups of water-mixture in total.

Place the rice in saucepan. Add in the water-miture and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Cover the lid and let it cook. When it is cooked, cover the lid with a kitchen towel and rest the pilau. Then stir in dill. Place the pilau on a serving plate. Place the artichokes on the top.

Can be served hot, at room temperature or cold.

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[Ege Bolgesi'nden]

Malzemeler
1 sogan, ince dogranmis
1 havuc, kucuk kupler halinde dogranmis
3 enginar
1/5 su bardagi zeytinyagi + 1 yemek kasigi zeytinyagi
1 yemek kasigi un
1/2 yemek kasigi seker
2 limon
1+1/2 su bardagi pirinc
Dereotu, ince dogranmis
Tuz
Su (musluk suyu), yeteri kadar

Hazirlanisi
Enginarlari temizleyin. Her bir enginari temizler temizlemez, limon suyu ile enginarin yuzeyini iyice islatin (bu islem icin limonlardan birini kullanabilirsiniz). Diger limonun suyunu da su ile karistirin. Enginarlari bu suyunu icine alin.



Sogani, havucu, enginarları, tuzu, unu, 1/5 su bardagi zeytinyagini ve 2 su bardagi suyu (gerekirse daha fazla) bir tencereye alin. 



Tencerenin kapagini kapatip, pisirin.

Enginarlar pistiginde, ocagin altini kapatin. Enginarlari bir tabaga alin. Tencerede kalan yemegin suyunu (havuclarla beraber), bir su bardagina doldurun. Uzerine musluk suyu ekleyip, toplam olarak 1+1/2 su bardagi sivi elde edin.

Tencereye pirinci yerlestirin. Bu 1+1/2 su bardaklık siviyi da tencereye ilave edin. 1 yemek kasigi zeytinyagini da ekleyin. Tencerenin agzini kapatip, pisirin. Pistiginde, pilavin uzerini bir bezle kapatip demlenmesini bekleyin. Demlenen pilava dereotlarini karistirin. Pilavı bir servis tabagina alıp, uzerine enginarları yerlestirin.

Sicak, oda sicakliginda veya soguk olarak servis edilebilir.

Pırasalı Peynirli Börek

Leek and Feta Cheese Borek

Ingredients

Filo pastry, as necessary

1 onion, finely chopped

~700 gr leeks, finely chopped

200 gr feta cheese, chopped

3 eggs + 1 egg white + 1 egg yolk

1/2 cup of milk

1 + 1.5 tablespoons of oil (I used sunflower oil)

Black onion seeds

Sesame seeds

Black pepper

Chilli/paprika powder

Salt

Method

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a saucepan. When it sizzles, add onions and fry them until they are translucent. Add leeks, cover the lid and fry them -stirring occasionally- until the leeks are tender. Then stir in cheese. Season with black pepper, chilli/paprika powder and salt. Last, add 3 beaten eggs. Stir well and cook for about 2-3 minutes. Then turn off the heat and set aside to cool.

In a bowl combine milk, 1.5 tablespoon of  oil and egg white. 

Pour 1 tablespoon of the milk-mixture on a triangular-shaped filo pastry. 

Place leek-cheese mixture. 

Wrap the pastry.

Preheat oven to 200C degrees. 

Place the pastries successively on a greased oven tray (let no space between them). Pour the rest of the milk-mixture on them (Here, I used 2 oven trays. So don't consume all the milk-mixture on the first tray). Brush them with egg yolk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and black onion seeds. Bake it.

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Malzemeler

Yufka, yeteri kadar

1 sogan, ince dogranmis

~700 gr pirasa, ince dogranmis

200 gr beyaz peynir, dogranmis

3 yumurta + 1 yumurta aki + 1 yumurta sarisi

1/2 su bardagi sut

1 + 1.5 yemek kasigi siviyag (ben aycicek yagi kullandim)

Corek otu

Susam

Karabiber

Kirmizi toz biber

Tuz

Hazirlanisi

1 yemek kasigi siviyagi tencereye alin. Yag cizirdamaya basladiginda, tencereye soganlari atin. Soganlar yari-saydamlasincaya kadar kavurun. Pirasalari da ilave edin. Tencerenin agzini kapatip, sebzeler yumusayincaya kadar -arada karistirarak- pisirin. Peyniri de ilave edin. Karabiber, kirmizi toz biber ve tuz ilave edin. Son olarak, 3 tane cirpilmis yumurtayi da ekleyin. Iyice karistirip, 2-3 dakika daha pisirin. Tencereyi ocaktan alip, sogumaya birakin.

Bir kasenin icinde sut, 1.5 yemek kasigi siviyag ve yumurta beyazini karistirin.

Sut karisimindan bir yemek kasigi, ucgen kesilmis yufkanin uzerine dokun.

Pirasali harci yufkaya yerlestirin.

Yufkayi sarin.

Borekleri yaglanmis bir firin tepsisine yan yana dizin (aralarinda bosluk kalmayacak sekilde). Geri kalan sut karisimini boreklerin uzerine dokun (Ben 2 tane firin tepsisi kullandim. Ilk firin tepsisinde, tum sutlu harci harcamamaya dikkat edin). Boreklerin uzerini yumurta sarisi ile fircalayin. Susam ve corek otu serpip, onceden isitilmis 200C derece firinda pisirin.

Baharatlı Tavuklu Bezelye

Spicy Chicken and Peas in Tomato Sauce

[A delicious version of Peas in Tomato Sauce]

Ingredients 

(The amounts of spices can be changed to taste)

2 cups of peas

300 gr chicken breast fillets, chopped

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

2 potatoes, chopped

2 tomatoes, cut into wedges

1 carrot, sliced

1 onion, finely chopped

1-2 cloves of garlic, grated

Corn oil/sunflower oil

~1/2 tablespoon of turmeric

~1/2 tablespoon of sumac

~1/2 tablespoon of cumin

~1 tablespoon of thyme

Red pepper flakes

Ground chilli/paprika pepper

Salt 

Black pepper

~700 ml hot water (more if needed)

Method

In a frying pan, heat some oil. When it sizzles, add chicken breasts and fry them until they become white. 

Meanwhile, add some oil in another saucepan. Fry onions until they are translucent. Add the garlic and fry for a while. Then add tomato paste (at this point, you may add a little water to avoid the ingredients to stick to the pan). 

Add potatoes and hot water. Cook it for about 10-15 minutes. Then the chicken and the rest of the ingredients. 

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[Bezelye Yemegi'nin lezzetli bir versiyonu]

Malzemeler

(Baharatlarin miktari, damat tadiniza gore degistirilebilir)

2 su bardagi bezelye

300 gr tavuk gogsu filetosu, dogranmis

1 yemek kasigi domates salcasi

2 patates, dogranmis

2 domates, elma-dilim seklinde kesilmis

1 havuc, dilimlenmis

1 sogan, ince dogranmis

1-2 dis sarimsak, rendelenmis

Misirozu veya aycicek yagi

~1/2 yemek kasigi zerdecal

~1/2 yemek kasigi sumak

~1/2 yemek kasigi kimyon

~1 yemek kasigi kekik

Kirmizi pul biber

Kirmizi toz biber

Tuz

Karabiber

~700 ml sicak su (gerekirse daha fazla)

Hazirlanisi

Tavuk etini, beyazlasincaya kadar yagda kavurun.

Bir baska tencereye, biraz yag ekleyin. Soganlari, yari saydam bir hal alincaya kadar kavurun. Sarimsagi da ekleyip biraz daha kavurun. Salcayi ekleyin (bu noktada, malzemelerin tencereye yapismasini onlemek icin biraz su ekleyebilirsiniz). 

Patatesleri ve sicak suyu tencereye ekleyin. 10-15 dakika kadar pisirin. Tavuklari ve geri kalan malzemeyi de ekleyip, pisirin.

Susamlı Somon / Sesame Salmon

This delicious fish recipe is a joint work of my friends Murat and Zahidur. 

Ingredients

Salmon steak/fillets (I used ~300 gr)

1/4 tablespoon of hot chilli/paprika powder

1/4 tablespoon of turmeric

~1 tablespoon of thyme 

2 tablespoons of sesame seeds

1 tablespoon of oil (I used olive oil)

1 clove of garlic, grated/mashed

Salt

Method

Mix spices, salt, oil and garlic. Marinate the fish in this mixture (Don't remove the scale, just clean it well). You can either grill or grill in oven or bake the fish in oven. If you are using an oven, preheat it to 200C degrees. Cover an oven dish with kitchen foil, and place the fish on it. Bake it.

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Bu lezzetli balik tarifi, arkadaslarim Murat ve Zahidur'un ortak calismasidir.

Malzemeler

Somon biftek/fileto (Ben ~300 gr kullandim)

1/4 yemek kasigi aci kirmizi biber

1/4 yemek kasigi zerdecal

~1 yemek kasigi kekik 

2 yemek kasigi susam

1 yemek kasigi siviyag (Ben zeytinyag kullandim)

1 dis sarimsak, rendelenmis/ezilmis

Tuz

Hazirlanisi

Tum baharatlari, tuzu, yagi ve sarimsagi bir tabakta karistirin. Baliklari bu karisimda dinlendirin (Baliklarin pullarini cikarmayin, sadece onceden iyice yikayin). Baliklari izgara yapabilirsiniz ya da firinin izgarasinda kizartabilirsiniz ya da firinda pisirebilirsiniz. Eger firinda pisirmeyi secerseniz, firini 200C dereceye ayarlayin. Bir firin kabini folyo kagidi ile kaplayin. Baliklari firin kabina alip, pisirin.

Turp Salatası / Radish Salad

Ingredients

1 small onion, chopped

7 radishes (or as many as you want), chopped as in the photo

1 tomato, chopped

Sumac

Salt

Squeeze of lemon

Method

Season onions and radishes with sumac and salt. Add tomatoes and lemon juice. Mix everything. 

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Malzemeler

1 kucuk sogan, dogranmis

7 kucuk turp (ya da istediginiz kadar), fotograftaki gibi dogranmis

1 domates, dogranmis

Sumak

Tuz

Limon suyu

Hazirlanisi

Sogan ve turplara, sumak ve tuz ekleyip karistirin. Domates ve limon suyunu da ilave edip, herseyi iyice karistirin. 

Morney Soslu Mezgit / Cod Mornay

WARNING: The ingredients must be fresh.

Ingredients

Cod fillets (~450 gr)

250-300 ml milk + more milk if needed

2 tablespoons of butter

2-3 tablespoons of flour

1/2 cup of grated cheese (I used Edam cheese)

Nutmeg

Black pepper

Chives (I couldn't use it that time)

Method

In a shallow pan, place the fillets and milk. Cover the pan and cook it until the fish is cooked. When the fish is ready, take the fish on a plate. Keep the milk. Season the milk with nutmeg and black pepper. 

In another saucepan, melt the butter. Add the flour. Mix it for 2 minutes, whisking all the time. Add the warm milk. Continue on whisking. At this point, if it is too thick, you may add more milk to reach a creamy consistency. Continue on whisking until it boils. Then turn off the heat and stir in the cheese. Mix well, whisking. Pour the sauce on the fish. Sprinkle with chives.

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ONEMLI UYARI: Malzemeler taze olmak zorundadir.

Malzemeler

Mezgitgillerden "cod" filetolari (~450 gr)

250-300 ml sut + gerekirse biraz daha fazla

2 yemek kasigi tereyag

2-3 yemek kasigi un

1/2 su bardagi rendelenmis peynir (Ben Edam kullandim)

Muskat

Karabiber

Frenk sogani (bende olmadigindan, bu seferlik kullanamadim)

Hazirlanisi

Bir tavaya baliklari ve sutu ekleyin. Tavanin agzini kapatip, pisirin. Baliklar pisince, onlari bir tabaga alin. Sute muskat ve karabiber ekleyip, bir kenara alin. 

Bir baska tencerede tereyagini eritin. Unu ekleyin ve 2 dakika boyunca cirparak pisirin. Ilik sutu de tencereye ilave edin. Devamli cirparak pisirmeye devam edin. Bu noktada, eger sosun kivami cok koyu olduysa, biraz daha sut ekleyerek kivamini daha kremamsi bir hale getirebilirsiniz. Sosu, kaynamaya baslayincaya kadar cirparak pisirin. Sos kaynayinca ocagin altini kapatin ve peyniri tencereye ilave edin. Cirparak iyice karistirin. Ve sosu baligin uzerine dokun. Uzerine Frenk sogani serperek servis edebilirsiniz.