July 29th, 2011 §
This African originated vegetable is very low in calories, contains no fats or cholesterol. It is rich in minerals, vitamins and anti oxidant.
In some places it is known as ladies finger and belongs to the same family with hibiscus.
A traditional Turkish soup of this season.
- 250 gr okra
- 1 medium onion(grated)
- 1 small clove garlic (minced)
- 1/2 rib celery (sliced)- optional
- 2 grated ripe tomatoes
- 1 T extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 lemon juice
- salt- to taste
Wash okra and leave them to dry completely for a while. This way, the okra will not be sticky.
Trim the crown end(tip or head) carefully. Take great care not to slice or dice the okra, in order to preserve its musilage and sticky character inside.
Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, tomato, lemon juice and celery. Sauté it until all of them are tender.
Add okra and bring to a boil.
Sprinkle with salt and cover. Simmer for at least 30 minutes until okra is tender.
March 18th, 2011 §
Don’t miss out this Brussels sprouts soup served with flat oven breads!
for the pide (focaccia):
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 cup lukewarm water
- 6 gr fresh yeast or 1 t instant yeast
- 1 t sugar
- a pinch of salt
- extra virgin olive oil
- black pepper flakes
- pine nuts
- thyme
Dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water. Add sugar and let stand in a warm place about 30 minutes.
Put flour and salt in a bowl and make a well in the center and put dissolved yeast in this center. Make a dough. Knead the dough 10 minutes. Form into a roll. Make two incisions on top of the dough and cover, let rise for an hour in warm place.
Put the dough in a lightly floured place. Divide it into 4 pieces.
Roll each piece to thin long ovals. Brush it with extra virgin olive oil. Sprinkle with pine nuts, black pepper flakes and thyme.
Bake in a pre-heated 200°C oven until golden for 20 minutes.
Serve the pide with hot soup.
for the Brussels sprouts soup:
1/2 kg Brussels sprouts
1 medium onion(chopped)
3/4 cup milk
2 T extra virgin olive oil
80 gr white cheese
ground nut meg (grated)
salt
black pepper flakes
Trim ends off brussels sprouts, remove the external leaves if demaged. Boil them slightly. Leave 6 Brussels sprouts aside. Puree the rest of the Brussels sprouts in a food processor or with a hand blender until smooth.
Saute the chopped onion with olive oil. Add the puree mixture, milk and 1/2 water. Bring to boil and simmer until the soup has consistency. Add white cheese. Season with salt, black pepper and grated nut meg.
Pour soup into serving bowls. Portion out 6 Brussels sprouts and serve immediately with pide(foccaccia). 
April 16th, 2010 §
Nutritious kale soup
Kale or cavolo nero also known as black cabbage, descends from wild cabbage which is originated from Asia. The season for kale is between winter and mid spring. It is considered to be a highly nutritious vegetable with powerful antioxidant properties. Kale is very high in beta carotene, vitamin K, vitamin C and rich in calcium. It is a fashionable super food which also stops breast cancer. In some places yearly kale festivals are held. You will be glad to prepare this soup!
Nutritious kale soup
Wash kale throughly and shred them finely.
In a pan with a tight fitting lid, saute onion. Add kale, bulgur, corn flour, cubed carrot, chopped celery stalk and frozen beans. I usually buy the beans in season and clean them. Then store in deep freezer by putting them in plastic bags. Simmer until the beans and the bulgur cook. Add red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to taste. Just before serving add yogurt by stirring constantly and let boil for 5 minutes. Serve immediately.
Nutritious kale soup
January 15th, 2010 §
- tripe soup
It is a very known repertoire of Turkish soup! Excellent for winter season.
Although generally, the dinner starts with a soup, the tripe soup widely accepted as a remedy for a hangover.
1 kg. veal tripe (try to buy the ready cleaned tripe)
6 cup water
3 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 T flour
1 onion
1 clove garlic
4 T yoghurt
2 egg yolks
1 lemon juice
salt
Tripe must be washed and meticulously cleaned. For that reason, I generally buy the ready cleaned tripe and wash and clean it again at home.
Finely grate-smooth away the tripe with a knife. It is ideal to boil it several hours until tender. I use pressure cooker to save time.
Put 6 cups of water, 1 garlic clove, onion and salt into the pressure cooker and boil the tripe for 1 hour.
Take the tripe out of the pressure cooker and cut it into pieces. If it has grease, remove it. Then with a food processor blend the pieces until smooth.
Filter the boiled water in order to get rid of its foam.
Place a pot on heat, stir olive oil with flour. Add the filtered water strirring constantly until it boils for 10 minutes. Then add the blended tripe and continue to boil.
Just before serving, mix egg yolks and yoghurt with a little of the hot soup. Add to soup and serve with sauce.
Sauce:
3 garlic cloves (smashed)
5 T cider vinegar
Mix the smashed garlic together with vinegar, put it into a sauce service pan and serve with soup.
For topping:
Melt butter and red pepper flakes or powder and decorate the soup!
January 4th, 2010 §
fish soup
The perfect symbol of the healthy Aegean eating!!!
1/2 kg. sea robins(in Turkish kırlangıç, in Greek ????????) or scorpion fish (in Turkish iskorpit, in Greek ????????) or sea bass (in Turkish levrek, in Greek ???????)- best with scorpion fish!
1 onion
1 carrot
2 celery stalks with ribs (chopped)
1 bay leaf
1 ?. flour
1 T. green peas
1 lemon juice
2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 egg yolk
salt, ground black pepper, red pepper
parsley to decorate
Put the cleaned and carefully boned fish into a pan and add bay leaf, carrot, onion, chopped celery stalk with ribs, salt and pepper. Cook them in 1.5 lt. water until the fish flakes easily with a fork for about 20 minutes.
In another pan, combine 1 T. flour with extra virgin olive oil. Strain the fish water and add it to the flour-oil combination. Bring it to a boil for 15 minutes all together, stirring consistently.
Take the boiled carrot from the pan and cut it into cubes .
Add cubed carrot with 1 T. peas to the flour-oil liquid and cook for 15 minutes.
Take the fish out of its pan. Pull the boiled fish to shreds and add to the flour-oil mixture. Cook them all together for another 5 minutes.
Before serving, beat egg yolk with 1 lemon juice in a small pot. Add some fish water bit by bit by stirring continuously. Finally add it to the soup.
Pour red pepper, pepper and parsley if desired for decoration.
