Dolmalık Bulgur (Stuffed Bell pepper with Bulgur) serve with Yogurt Salad

Dolma is stuffed vegetable dishes in the cuisines of the former Ottoman Empire and surrounding regions such as Russia, Middle East, and the Caucasus, and Central and South Asia. Perhaps the best-known is the grape-leaf dolma (yaprak sarması). Common vegetables to stuff include onion, zucchini, eggplant, tomato, and pepper. The stuffing may or may not include meat. Meat dolma is generally served warm, often with sauce; meatless ones are generally served cold and often eaten with yogurt.

One of traditional Turkish meal which daily served on Turkish' family dinner table. Experience Turkish flavor by making it in your kitchen

Ingredients
Filling:
 8 ~ 9 medium bell pepper (any color you have)
 2 medium size onion, grated
 2 cloves garlic, finely grated
 ± 150 g minced beef
 1 ½ cup fine bulgur
 2 tablespoons olive oil
 2 tsp cumin powder
 1 tsp pepper powder
 2 teaspoon red sweet pepper powder
 2 tsp cayenne powder
 2 tsp salt or to taste
 tomatoes for topping, slices


For the sauce:
 2 medium tomatoes, grated
 1 tbsp tomato paste or chili paste
 1 ½ cup hot water
 A little salt

method:
A) In large bowl, combine all filling ingredients (except bell pepper and tomatoes for topping). Knead until well blended. Test the taste.
B) Seeded bell pepper (as shown), sprinkle with fine salt. Then prick the bottom of those bell pepper once with a knife. Fill with stuffing mixture and cover the top with tomato slices (as shown). Arrange in pan with lid.

C) Combine all sauce ingredients and pour over the Dolma. Cook over medium heat until cooked about 20 ~ 25 minutes. Remove from pan and serve warm with yogurt salad

How to make yogurt salad:

• 1 large cucumber, finely cubed
• 1 handful fresh mint, finely chopped (or 1 tablespoon dried mint)
• 1 handful of parsley or dill, finely chopped
• 2 ~ 3 tbsp thick plain yogurt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Pinch of salt
Mix all salad ingredients and mix well. Serve cold or room temperature.

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Peynirli Pide with Ezme (Pita with Cheese filling, served with Ezme salad)

In Turkey, pita (called pide) has a soft, chewy texture. The pizza-like foods called lahmacun are made with oval-shaped pieces of pide dough topped with finely chopped meat and herbs before baking. Pide also refers to another pizza-like food made of pide dough topped with different ingredients. Regional variations in the shape, baking technique, and topped materials create distinctive styles for each region. Such pides can include chicken, beef, cheese, potatoes, garlic and many other ingredients. Beside Pide with meat topping, chicken topping, Turkish sausage topping, this time I made it with cheese filling. Served it with Acılı Ezme and you can choose ayran for drink.

Serve: 8 pieces medium size

Ingredients:
PIDE bread Ingredients:
 4 cups flour, divide.
 4 tsp instant dry yeast
 1 tablespoon sugar
 1 ½ cups lukewarm water, divide.
 6 tablespoons olive oil (or other vegetable oil)
 2 teaspoon salt

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Acılı Ezme (meze)

Acılı Ezme is hot spicy freshly mashed tomato with onion mix with other herb ingredients. The Hot spiced leveling can be vary according each one's taste and favor.

Although ezme look like sauce, but these dish include in salad variant usually served with other traditional Turkish foods such as kebabs, kofte (Turkish meatball), pide, lahmacun and other favorite foods

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Soto Ayam (Indonesian Chicken spicy soup)

Soto Ayam is one of traditional Indonesian dish. Iis a yellow spicy chicken soup with lontong or nasi empit or ketupat (all compressed rice that is then cut into small cakes) and/or vermicelli or noodles, commonly found in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, and Suriname. Turmeric is added as one of its ingredients to get yellow chicken broth. Besides chicken and vermicelli, it is also served with hard-boiled eggs, slices of fried potatoes, Chinese celery leaves, and fried shallots. Occasionally, people will add "koya", a powder of mixed prawn crackers with fried garlic or bitter Sambal (orange colored). Krupuk are a very common topping.

Served 5 ~ 7 servings
 1 kg chicken breast, boiled in 3 liter of water until cooked.
Ingredients A:
 4 shallots (or half medium red onion)
 5 cloves garlic
 1 segment (2 cm) ginger
 1 tsp peppercorn
 5 ~ 6 candlenut
 2 cm turmeric (or 1 ½ tsp turmeric powder)
 1 stalk lemongrass, crushed, set aside

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Condolences to the lost of the earthquake in Turkey

Last Sunday about 13.00 Turkish time, there was 7,2 SC earthquake in south eastern Turkey. The earthquake hit some area, but according some news source on local TV the center of the earthquake and suffer great damage were in Van city and small town near it, Erciş.

My deep sympathy to the lost and  families. May  God give a lot of patience and ease from this tragedy. and hopefully everything could recover soon. For latest information about this you can check this source: http://www.todayszaman.com/news-260787-earthquake-death-toll-reaches-279-as-efforts-to-rescue-hundreds-under-way.html

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Molten Chocolate Lava Cake

I think winter is really coming. Starting 3 days ago the sky was so dark and the rain never stopped falling. Although several hours stopped early afternoon, but again it poured down again during night. The temperature drop suddenly below 10 deg C. Although I've got winter clothes ready, and keep all our summer clothes back in other cupboard, but my husband were not ready to prepare our electric heater. So..I got cold and felt pain in my back. Just lay down and watch TV for few days, order dinner outside.. it was terrible for me. My emotion was swung up and down-- I didn't know why.. something change on me..

Well, anyway today I'm a bit better, my back pain eased although my flu and fever still remain. Before few days ago I was planning to make a yummy dessert for dinner as my hubby requested ...but did not have any idea at all until I saw one of my friend's upload lava chocolate cake on her facebook from one of the restaurants in Istanbul. So .. why don't I make it too? and voallaa ... here's my "homemade" molten chocolate lava cake.

 serve 4~6


Ingredients:
 3 tablespoons flour
 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
 3 egg yolks
 2 egg whites
 90 grams (± 6 tablespoons) butter, plus for grease molds
 1 cup chocolate chips (I use dark chocolate chips)
 ¼ tsp fine salt
 Icing sugar for topping (optional)

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Corn flour Bread---My other "Bread adventure" @(^_^)@

Hahahahaha... maybe you think: another bread??!! Yes, why not? I'm not done explore my "bread adventure"...It's fun though... and maybe you will see other bread post on my page later on. Nothing better than warm homemade bread in your breakfast, isn't it?

 There is a strange feeling which I can not explain when my whole house smell with baking bread -- especially for my hubby, he said smells like this always reminded him of his childhood.... @(^_^)@

Yield: 2 medium loafs

Ingredients:
• 3 cup all purpose flour
• 1 tsp instant yeast 
• 1 ¼ tablespoon granulated sugar
• 1 ¼ dessert spoon salt
• 1 ½ cup warm water
• Enough corn flour/ corn meal

1) Mix 3 cup all purpose flour and salt in large bowl, set a side. Dissolve and stir sugar plus yeast in 1 ½ cups warm water, let stand ± 5 minutes. Mix into the flour + salt, stir with wooden spoon until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap / paper towels and let stand in warm place until foamy and fluffy at least 2 hours (or keep in refrig over night).
2) Sprinkle work surface with a lot of corn flour/ corn meal. Move the dough onto the work table sprinkled with cornmeal. Fold the dough a few times toward it self. Cover again with plastic wrap / towel and let it rest ± 20 minutes.
3) Divide the dough into two equal parts with sharp knife (wet the knife with water to prevent sticking). Prepare two oval pan (or whatever you have),basting with vegetable oil or Cover with baking paper. Place each dough into the pan, cover with plastic wrap / towel and let stand about 180 mnts (up to 2 hours).
4) Preheat oven at 250 ⁰C (maximum heat) at least 30 mnts previously. Bake about 45 minutes until the bread golden brown in color. And when you tapped it surface, it'll sound like hollow 


Cool on rack until room temperature before being cut.

Enjoy your warm homemade bread.

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Chicken Kebab in Pita Bread

Looking for weekend lunch/ diner idea? Why don't you try this chicken kabob.... it can also feast your last picnic basket in this autumn before the weather become really chill-- if you still planning to have another family picnic @(^_^)@

Served about 8

You will need half recipe of Pita Bread (you can see recipe here), or about 3 ~ 4 ready pita bread.

INgredients A:
 a boneless chicken breast (± 600 g), cut into squares
 ½ tablespoons garlic powder (or use 3 cloves fresh garlic, finely grated)
 ½ tablespoons powdered red Parika
 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
 1 ~ 2 tsp ground cumin

 2 tsp dried thyme 1 teaspoon spicy hot chili powder (you can add or reduce the amount)
 4 tablespoons olive oil (or other vegetable oil)
 2 tsp salt or to taste
 few bamboo skewer

Mix all marinade ingredients with chicken, stir and let stand in refrigerator at least 2 hours or overnight. Puncture and arrange the chicken in skewer, then grilled over coals or in oven(temperature 190 ⁰C) until done.

Meanwhile, get ready with your salad filling

Ingredients B:
 3 large onions, slice crescent shape
 Some celery, just pick the leaves 
 2 tsp powdered sumac--you can substitute with 1 tsp lemon juice
 2 tsp isot biber (hot black chili flakes)--you can replace with red chili flakes
 Pinch fine salt
 some lettuce
 Tomato, thinly sliced

Mix well: onions, celery, sumac, isot biber and salt , set aside.

How to serve:
Halved your pita bread. Fill with lettuce, ​​tomato sliced, onion mixture and chicken kabob. Serve warm immediately.

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