cook-food

Two years ago, I made a spinach and feta börek and prepared the recipe and all the pictures step by step and never got around to publishing it. Just recently, I made this börek and documented it again. This time, I made a few changes in the recipe and I decided to publish this version instead of the previous one. The taste of this one surpassed the previous one, so I decided to publish this version. Note: The Phyllo dough sheets can be found in the frozen section of most markets. If the Pyhllo sheets are too big for the tray or Pyrex dish you are using, the phyllo sheets can be folded to reach the size of the baking dish. 1 package Phyllo sheets ½ cup yogurt ½ cup olive oil 1 egg For the Filling: 2 bunches fresh spinach (approximately 2 lb) 2 cloves of garlic (chopped fine) 2 shallots (chopped fine) 1 cup feta cheese (crumbled) ¼ cup olive oil ½ tsp black pepper ¼ tsp cayenne pepper ½ tsp cumin ½ tsp salt (if the feta cheese is not too salty) Pinch of black sesame seeds Preparation of ...

The taste of dandelions my mother picked selectively from the weeds from our garden many years ago has been active in my palate since childhood. After developing a curiosity for cooking, the name of this wild weed that tasted superb was a question in my head. I had guessed that it may have been dandelions, but to me dandelions were bitter weeds that are not very tasty. I purchased them every once in a while just because they were extremely healthy. One day, it was confirmed that the unforgotten weed with a delicious taste reminiscent from my childhood was indeed dandelion and I was not cooking it properly. The good taste of this green weed wasn’t being maximized. The secret was the way it was prepared. I remember every single ingredient in that dandelion salad my mother made when I was still a kid so, I decided to recreate it to acquire the same exact taste. Most of the dandelions that were available to me at grocery stores and the farmer’s market were more mature and hence chewy. Luck...

One of the indispensible food items for breakfast in Turkey is olives. Whether green or black, plain or with sauce, olives must exist on every Turkish person’s breakfast table. In order to break away the bitterness, green olives are cracked but still served as a whole with the pit. In smaller towns, families purchase large quantities of fresh olives once a year which they crack and cure for the year’s supply. Black olives are not pitted or cracked and cured in such away that there is no trace of the bitterness. I personally find much more flavor in cracked green olives that are not commercially pitted. If using for salad, I usually pit them myself. Pitted olives rarely enter my house as I think that most of the flavor is diminished when the pit is removed commercially. We purchase some very good quality olives here in the States that are not cracked (can’t find cracked ones) and not pitted and I find them a little bitter. Therefore each time I visit Turkey, I bring cracked green olives...

Muhallebi is a milk based dessert that is known throughout Turkey and the surrounding regions. Traditional Turkish muhallebi can be consumed all year around however in my opinion the best season to relish this delightful dessert is during the summer months. One spoonful of cold muhallebi is refreshing in the heat of the summer and will enliven your palates. Authentic muhallebi does not include mastic gum flavor, however people have become creative and have made it with various flavors such as chocolate, vanilla, almond and etc. My all time favorite flavor is mastic gum (to see pictures of mastic gum: go to my Cardamom Mastic Gum Pistachio Cake post) which can be found in Mediterranean grocery stores in the U.S. It usually comes in small pieces and mortar and pestle can be used to grind it. Grinding it in a blender or food processor will result in having sticky gum on your machine which actually happened to me. I still cannot get the small tiny sticky gum from my blender, so now I stic...

Although I do not cook lobster often, this was the first time I cooked a lobster with spices rather than just steaming. Using ingredients commonly used in Mediterranean cooking, the lobster turned out to be very flavorful and light. It was still tender after being steamed and sautéed in oil. The sautéed lobster can be a delicious ingredient for a sandwich as well being served as a salad, side dish or main dish. We ate it with rice pilaf and steamed vegetables. 1 whole steamed lobster 2 tbsp white onion 1 garlic clove (chopped) 2 tbsp fresh parsley 1 tbsp olive oil ¼ tsp paprika ¼ tsp ground black pepper 1 tbsp white vinegar ½ tsp salt Cut whole lobster in half lengthwise and remove meat from the tail and claws of the lobster. A cracker will be needed to remove meat from the claws. Roughly chop the meat. Set aside. Heat olive oil on medium heat. Sprinkle paprika, black pepper and salt on the oil. Add garlic and onions. Sauté until onions are translucent. Pour vinegar. Add the lobster pi...