Friday 24 July 2009

Covent Garden Market 2


I had a great experience last Thursday in Covent Garden Market and learnt many things about food presentation and sales.
I had a couple of busy days to prepare all the food and then the big day came on Thursday.When we arrived at the market,the UKFBA stall was ready.Ben,the Market Manager greeted us and introduced himself and gave us a lot of information about the stall and market and made us feel comfortable.Throughout the day we saw Ben many times and each time he checked if we were ok and gave us many useful tips.
I prepared Turkish boreks with potato and feta cheese and some Turkish apple pastries with apple and cinnamon.I made bulghur(similar to couscous) salad and english traditional sponge and carrot cakes.



It was fantastic how I sold the traditional Turkish boreks so easily but found it much harder to sell the english cakes.After some feedback from Ben and looking at other stalls, I thought that the customers were looking for nice and interesting food presentation and a consistent food theme.
It was a hard work but rewarding.I really enjoyed it and slept very well that night!
I am going on holiday this week but I will post my borek and apple pastry recipes as soon as I can while I am lying on the beach :)
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Tuesday 21 July 2009

Covent Garden Market

Hi Everyone,
I am delighted to announce that I will be having a food stall at Covent Garden Market on 23rd of July with the UKFBA(UK Food Bloggers Association) .I will be selling some Turkish food.

Nice,fresh and different Turkish food like boreks,kisir,gozleme are waiting for you.Hurry!
Hope to see you there.

Turkish/Turkce

Bu persembe Birlesik Krallik yemek sitesi blogger sahipleri birligini temsilen Covent Garden Yiyecek Pazarinda olucam.Elmali Kurabiye,Gozleme,Borek ve kekler olucak standimda.Simdiden cok heyecanliyim.Kisa zamanda size o gunden resimler gostermek umuduyla...
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Sunday 19 July 2009

Mother nature's goodies



We dont notice mother nature's goodies during our daily routine do we?I was out going to hospital to take an x-ray and I was a bit upset about it.

After hospital,Peter and I decided to walk along the canal near the hospital to feel better.We saw canal boats and goodies as we walked.It was lovely to see them.It is the season of blackberries and plums in the UK and we picked nice and sweet blackberries and some green plums.I was obsessed to eat all the blackberries according to Peter.He was right!

I took a photo to show you how irresistible they look .


Turkce/Turkish

Bazen gunluk kosusturmanin icinde dogadaki guzellikleri farkedemezsiniz.Hastaneye film cektimek icin gitmistim biraz moralim bozuktu.Hastaneden sonra bana iyi gelir diye Peter ve ben hastanenin yakinindaki su kanali boyunca yuruyuse karar verdik. Birlesik Krallik'ta bogurtlen ve yesil erik mevsimi simdi.Tatli ve hos kokulu bogurtlenlerden ve eriklerden topladik kanal boyunca.Peter'a gore butun iri ve olgun bogurtleri yemek istiyordum.Hakliydi da. Onlarin size ne kadar dayanilmaz olduklarini gostermek icin fotograflarini cektim. Iste bazi ornekler...
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Wednesday 15 July 2009

Home made strawberry jam


Two days ago,I bought some really nice strawberries to make a desert but I didn't have time to make it.I was thinking how I can use these strawberries and then I remembered my mum's home made jam.
In Turkey,April is the time to buy small,sweet and nice smelling strawberries.My mum was usually buying a couple of kilos and giving them to me to wash.I ate half of them as I washed :)
These days I don't have several kilos so I must save every single strawberry, no matter how delicious they look, to make my jam.


Ingredients

500 g strawberry
500 g caster sugar
1/2 lemon

Put all of the strawberries in a bowl and cover with sugar. Leave it overnight. The next day, you will notice all of the sugar has been absorbed by the strawberries and now you can see the sugary water and strawberry combination.
Put it in a saucepan. Heat the pan until the water becomes sticky. Take a spoonful and pour some of the mixture on to a dish. If its thick and doesnt run it means the jam is ready. Add the lemon juice to the mixture and stir before turning the heat off. Leave to cool and pour into a jar.

Spread some on your hot toasted bread. Enjoy!
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Thursday 9 July 2009

Chicken with mushroom and red pepper

I haven't added anything from last weekend because I was so busy taking some food photos.It is amazing feeling to get some shots and see how you created them.I will add these shots my flickr and UKFBA(UK Food Bloggers Association) page soon.I also joined Jamie Oliver recipe challenge with this recipe.


It is very healthy,easy and delicious meal which you can cook for loved ones for any occasions.


Ingredients

4 chicken thighs
150 gr mushrooms
1 big size red pepper
1 tbsp olive oil
Parsley and black olives to serve

Cut chicken tighs into small pieces without bones.Cut the mushrooms and red peppers.Heat a fry pan and add 1 tbsp olive oil .Add the chicken pieces .Fry it until chicken colour is changing.Add mushroom and stir 2 mins and red pepper.Add a pinch of sea salt.Stir all mixture together and fry it until all ingredients well cooked as red pepper and chicken give some colour and oil in the pan.Serve with parsley and sliced black olives without stone .Enjoy.

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Saturday 4 July 2009

Turkish bulghur pilaf -Bulgur pilavi



I would like to give you very nice and healthy Turkish recipe which is called "Bulgur Pilavi".Bulghur is more nutritious than rice and couscous, because it contains more fiber, more vitamins and minerals.Bulgur is a common ingredient in Turkish and Mediterranean dishes.

Ingredients

500 gr Bulghur
1 onion
1 big tomato
1 cube chicken stock
2 tsp tomato puree
4 tbsp vegetable oil

Chop the onions finely. Cut the tomato like cubes. Dissolve chicken stock in hot water.

Heat a pan.Add oil and chopped onions.Fry onions until they are soft.Add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree.Stir and fry all for 3 Min's.Add bulghur and fry all mixture for 2 Min's again.Add the chicken stock to cover the mixture.Water level must be 2 cm higher than the mixture surface.Boil it until water is completely disappeared.Turn heat off.Put two kitchen paper towel on the pan and cover with seal for 10 Min's.This will give it more taste.Enjoy it.
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Easy desert-yoghurt with honey and walnut



I had been in Athens 6 yrs ago and loved Greek food which is so tasty and light.Most of Turkish and Greek recipes are similar and even sometimes the dish names.Dolmaki in Greek is dolma in Turkish and Caciki is cacik.I can give you many examples like that.
I would like to give you a Greek desert recipe which is very light and easy.

7 tsp Greek yoghurt
3 tsp honey
some walnut

Take a small desert ramekin.Put yoghurt and add honey on the top.Sprinkle some walnut on the desert.Enjoy.
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Friday 3 July 2009

Kofte with roasted potato and tomato(firinda kofte)



My grand mother and father have moved from Thessaloniki in Greece in Balkan war,1911 to Trakia part in Turkey.Some of my mums recipes are influenced from Greek kitchen.Kofte with roasted potato and tomato is one of them.



12 Koftes
1 big size potato
1 big size tomato
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp tomato puree

Prepair koftes as my previous recipe.Preheat oven t0 200 C.Peel the potato and slice it.Take an oven tray.Put sliced potatoes first and drizzle olive oil on the top.Put koftes and sliced tomatoes on the potatoes.Put it in the preheated oven and cook for 15 mins.Mix one tbsp tomato puree with 1 cup of hot water and stir well.Add this sauce on the koftes in the tray.Cook it for 20 mins.Serve with a fresh salad.Hope you will enjoy it.
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My son's favorite pasta


Hi everyone,
I am enjoying with the cool weather today after yesterdays hot weather.As I mentioned yesterday,I went to watch my son while he was attending the sports day in his school.He came near me and said "Mum,can you cook my favorite pasta today.I am so hungry now and I am thinking about it".And I cooked his favorite one" pasta with bolognaise sauce".Kids love this recipe.If you would like to know where bolognese sauce is coming from here it is .



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolognese_sauce



Any kind of pasta cooked
250 gr minced beef
1 tomato
1 tbsp tomato puree
half medium size onion
1 piece of garlic
parsley
2 tbsp olive oil
salt

Chopped the onions and garlic.Add olive oil to the pan and heat it .Add onion and garlic.Stir just 3 mins.Add minced meat and fry untill meat is browned.Add chopped tomato and tomato puree and fry for 1 mins.Add a half cup of hot water ans some salt and boil it until the water has gone. Add some parsley and parmesan cheese on the top if you like.Enjoy.
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Thursday 2 July 2009

Fresh avokado salad with pasta



There is a nice recipe for hot summer days if you would like to have something light and healthy.


1 ripe avocado
1 tomato
some feta cheese
Pasta cooked

Cook pasta as usual.Strain the water.Take a salad bowl.Slice avocado, tomato and feta cheese into the bowl.Add cooked pasta and some dressing on it.(I usually prefer lemon and olive oil dressing).Enjoy.
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Figen's Rasberry and meringue desert
















Today, my son had a sports day in his school and most of parents and kids we all went to park nearby.

It was very hot again and we were carrying water bottles.It was nice to see kids racing.My sons team won and became first.He was so happy.

I will give you a desert recipe to make you feel fresh and cool . :-)

These ingredients for two:

300 ml double cream
2 meringue crushed
Rasberry fruit frozen or fresh
Vanilla ice cream
1 tbsp icing sugar
1 tsp caster sugar

Whip double cream with icing sugar and make a cream.Put rasberry fruit, 1 tbsp water and sugar in the pan and boil it to make a fruit sauce.Turn heat off after boiling it and leave it cool.

Take one ice cream goblet.Put fruit sauce first and add cream ands crashed meringues. Add ice cream on the top and serve with some fresh rasberries .Enjoy it.






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Wednesday 1 July 2009

Home made lemonade in a long hot summer












Hellooo everybody,

Today is the hottest day in UK isn't it? I was suffering with hot temperature and drinking plenty of water.Suddenly,I have remembered my mum's home made lemonade.She was prepairing it in hot days in my village in Turkey.My village is near sea side where is called "Kiyikoy"(old name is Midye).It is very lovely small town.I have spent all my summer holidays in there until 16 yrs old.

If you are interested in seeing it,here is a link for you.I am sure you will love it!


My refreshing lemonade recipe here it is:

6 middle size unwaxed lemon
1,250 lt water
120 gr caster sugar

Put 100 gr sugar and 250 ml water in a pan stir well until sugar is dissolving under heat.Turn heat off and leave it cool.

Take lemon zests and squeeze all lemons in a bowl.Add 20 gr sugar in to the zest and lemon juice mixture and leave it for 15 mins.Strain it to remove unwanted lemon particules.Take a jar and add 1 lt water,cooled shorbet,zest and lemon juice mixture.Stir them well together and put it in the fridge to cool.Serve with mint in this hot summer!


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