Lentils again. Yes, they’re good for you and they taste great! Here's another of those typical all-in-one dishes that are so common in this cuisine. Etli actually means 'with meat', beef or lamb, ...
Beef / Lamb
Kuru Köfte: traditional Turkish Köftes
No self-respecting blog about Turkish food would be complete without a recipe for kuru köfte! The word kuru literally means dry when they are anything but. In fact they are rather moist with a ...
Casserole of Lamb with Quince and Cinnamon or Kuzu ve Ayva Yahnisi
This casserole or yahni is quite simply the most fabulous combination of flavours you can possibly imagine: tender kuzu cooked gently with aromatic spices and quince or ayva, is quite simply ...
Izmir Köfte – casserole of meatballs, potatoes, tomatoes and peppers
Up until just a few days ago, Istanbul was in the grip of severe snow with crippling below zero temperatures. I am just back from summer in Oz so the contrast has been sharp.Something really Turkish ...
Minced Beef with Mint and Parsley: a Dish from Antakya
I am slightly disappointed with my newly-acquired cookbook Antakya – City and Cuisine. The pictures are fabulous but the recipes leave a lot to be desired in terms of detail or rather lack of. If I ...
Lamb in Yogurt /Yoğurtlu Kuzu Eti
Here is another simple but delicious supper dish that I made the other night. The ingredients are not fancy: kuşbaşı lamb with chopped onion and tomatoes but it’s the flavouring that makes ...
Beef with Green Lentil Bulgur Pilaf/Mercimekli Bulgurlu Dana Kebabı
I bet you think that kebabs come in chunks on a skewer, right? Well no. Often they do (and that's when they are called şiş kebab as şiş (pron: shish) means skewer) but they also come in other ...
Stuffed Marrow: an English dolma!
A few days ago the garden gate creaked and the familiar figure of our nextdoor neighbour Leyla appeared round the corner. She was bearing a tepsi/tray full of produce from her garden and what a ...