Sores Dogan : Vegetarian Turkish Classic

Here’s my take on a Turkish classic. Some shape this salad into patties, to create a
vegetarian version of the Lebanese dish kibbeh nayyeh (lamb and bulgur tartar), but I
prefer it loose, a bit like a couscous salad. In the south of Turkey, near the Syrian
border, they tend to use pomegranate molasses instead of lemon juice in their kisir. I use
both, and then go to town by garnishing the dish with pomegranate seeds, too. Serve with
fresh lettuce leaves, either as a starter or as part of a meze. Serves four.
Ingrdients :
2 large onions, peeled and finely chopped
90ml olive oil, plus more to finish
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 tomatoes, peeled and chopped
90ml water
400g coarse bulgur wheat
1½ tsp pomegranate molasses
1 tbsp lemon juice
6 tbsp chopped parsley
3 spring onions, finely shredded, plus an extra one to garnish
2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp ground cumin
Salt and black pepper
Seeds from 1 pomegranate
1 handful mint leaves, some whole, some roughly shredded
In a large saucepan, sauté the onions in the oil until they turn translucent – about five
minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook over medium heat for two minutes, stirring all the
while with a wooden spoon. Add the chopped fresh tomatoes, leave them to simmer on a low
heat for four minutes, then add the water. Bring to a boil, remove the pan from the heat
and stir in the bulgur.
Add the molasses, lemon juice, parsley, chopped spring onion, chilli, garlic and cumin.
Season, stir, then set aside until the salad has cooled to room temperature or is just
lukewarm.
Taste, adjust the seasoning as necessary – it will probably need plenty of salt – and
spoon on to a serving dish. Roughly flatten out the salad with a palette knife, creating a
wave-like pattern on the surface, then scatter pomegranate seeds over and about. Drizzle
olive oil over the top and finish with the mint and the extra spring onion.

- Sores Dogan

Baked Vegetable Fritters : Sores Dogan

Ingredients : 

1 zucchini, grated
1 potato, grated
1 carrot, grated
3 spring green onions, chopped
1 green or red pepper, finely chopped
1/3 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped
1/3 cup fresh dill, chopped
1/4 cup fresh mint or basil, chopped
2 eggs
1/2 or 1/3 cup white cheese or feta, crumbled
1/3 cup, pitted ‘real’ black olives, chopped
2-3 tbsp olive oil
1/3 – 1/2 cup flour
2 tsp baking powder
sesame or nigella seeds
Method : 
-Heat oil in a pan. Add first pepper, then carrot, then potato, and finally zucchini. Sautee until wilted, but not totally cooked.
-Transfer this mix in a bowl and let it cool down.
-Add green onion, parsley, dill, mint, eggs, cheese, olives, baking powder, and flour.
-Pour the mixture in a greased oven safe dish. Make sure the mix is not thicker than 1.5 inches in the dish.
-Sprinkle sesame or nigella seeds on top. You can also decorate it with sliced canned olives.
-Bake in a preheated oven at 400F for ~1 hour or until it gets golden brown on top or on the sides. Check with a clean knife or a wooden toothpick/skewer.
You can serve baked vegetable fritters as a side dish with dinner, with afternoon tea, or for breakfast.
- Sores Dogan

Sores Dogan : Root vegetable recipes

Root vegetable recipes: Turkish carrots and lentils
Serves four to six
You can serve it as a side dish, or as a main course with rice or bulgur wheat. It also makes a very good meze, served at room temperature with other 'little’ dishes.
4 tbsp olive oil
Related Articles
Cooking with root vegetables 19 Feb 2010
How to make perfect French toast Santander
1 onion, cut into slim crescent-moon slices
4 cloves garlic,
finely chopped
1½ tsp coriander
seeds, crushed
½ tsp chilli flakes
100g (3½oz) green or puy lentils
6 large carrots, cut into rounds
2 tbsp tomato purée
2 tsp caster sugar
275ml (9½fl oz) water or vegetable or chicken stock
2 tbsp chopped mint, parsley or dill (or a mixture of two of these)
good squeeze of lemon
extra-virgin olive oil, to serve
Heat the oil in a saucepan and sauté the onion until it is soft and pale gold. Add the garlic, coriander seeds and chilli and cook for a further two minutes. Now add very thing else except the herbs, lemon and extra-virgin oil. Season, going easy on the salt if you are using stock rather than water. Bring to the boil and cook until the carrots and lentils are tender and the liquid has been absorbed (top up the liquid if you need to). It should take about 30 minutes, but it might be a bit more.
The lentils should not become mushy but should retain their shape; green ones need extra vigilance. Taste, add whatever herb you are using and a good squeeze of lemon, then taste again and adjust the seasoning. Add a good slug of extra-virgin oil. Serve at any temperature you like. Greek yogurt into which you have stirred some crushed garlic is great on the side.

Turkey Lasagna By Sores Dogan

Ingredients

Original recipe makes 4 serving

1 onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

2 cups cooked and chopped turkey

1 cup cooked chopped broccoli

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1 1/2 cups milk

1 (16 ounce) package instant lasagna noodles

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. In a medium skillet saute the chopped onions, celery and garlic in oil until soft and tender. Add chopped turkey and broccoli. Set aside.
2. To make white sauce: In a small saucepan over low heat melt butter or margarine. Remove from heat and add flour, salt, and pepper; and blend well. Return to low heat, whisk in milk and cook until thick.
3. To assemble, in the bottom of a casserole dish place a thin layer of white sauce, then a layer of noodles. Next, place a layer of the turkey mixture, followed by sauce, and then 1/2 cup of the shredded mozzarella cheese. Repeat layering process with turkey mixture and sauce. Top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake in a preheated 350 degree (175 degree C) oven for 45-60 minutes until bubbly and heated through. Let stand 10 to 15 minutes before serving.

LIMONLU PEYKEK

LEMON CHEESE CAKE

Ingredients:

For the crust:
20 chocolate graham cookies ( finely crushed )
2 tbsp of salted butter ( melted )

For the filling:
16 oz cream cheese
3/4 cup of granulated sugar
Zest and juice of a lemon
2 eggs
1/2 cup of thick plain yogurt
2 tbsp of wheat starch

For the topping:
Juice of two lemon 1/2 cup of granulated sugar
2 tbsp of wheat starch


Preheat the oven to 325ºF.
Mix chocolate graham cookie crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 8-inch spring form pan.
Beat cream cheese, 1/2 cup yogurt, lemon zest, lemon juice, 1 cup sugar and 2 tbsp of wheat starch with mixer until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.
Wrap bottom half of pan in foil. Pour in filling; place in a roasting pan. Pour in boiling water to come halfway up side of spring form.
Bake for 1 hour minutes or until center is almost set.
Bring lemon juice, 1/2 cup of sugar and wheat starch to boil in saucepan on medium-high heat; simmer on low heat 8 to 10 min. or until sauce is slightly thickened stirring occasionally. Cool and pour onto cheesecake.
Refrigerate 4 hours. Remove rim of pan before serving cheesecake.

cooking tips by Sores Dogan

Turkey crown recipes

CROWN
Sores Dogan talking about Turkey crown recipes
Crowns are basically a whole turkey with the legs and wings removed to give you a joint of white breast meat on the bone. Quicker to cook, and easy to carve, many small families opt for a crown to avoid too many leftovers! Treat a crown exactly as you would a whole bird. You can sit the crown on a bed of stuffing or push flavoured butter under the skin. Or cover it in strips of bacon or herbs and butter before cooking. Weigh it with any stuffings before calculating cooking times.