TARHANA SOUP

Ingredients 100 gr. yeast 300 gr. onions

1000 gr. very ripe tomatoes

250 gr. big red peppers (may be hot or sweet according to taste)

250 gr. natural yogurt (unsweetened and unflavored)

2000 gr. flour 1 glass of water

Directions

Mix yeast with water and make it into a paste. Peel and strain tomatoes. Chop the peppers thinly. Grate the onions. Mix the yeast, yogurt, tomatoes, peppers and onions in a bowl until they turn into a thick liquid. Start kneading the mixture by adding flour gradually. Knead the dough until it becomes very thick. Flour a tray, put the thick dough on the tray and cover it with a piece of cloth. If the dough is in a warm place it will puff up in 1 hour, if it is in a cool place it will puff up in 5-6 hours. When the dough has puffed up, remove it from the tray and knead well. Then put it on the tray as before and cover it. Go on with the same procedure until the dough no longer puffs up. Now that your tarhana is ready, you can take a piece of the dough and see that it breaks without stretching. Form the dough into small pieces, place pieces on a cloth and let them dry. Check the pieces as often as possible for drying. Crumble the dried pieces. (It is necessary to check the dough often, because if the dough dries too much, crumbling gets more difficult.)

When crumbling is over, put the crumbles in a fine sieve and sieve then, put tarhana in dry jars and cover with lids. Your tarhana is now ready for cooking.

ÇİĞ KÖFTE (UNCOOKED MEATBALL)(SNACKS OF RAKI)

Ingredients 700 grams minced meat salt

300 grams fine bulgur (cracked wheat)

pepper

1 egg 50 grams crushed walnuts

1 teaspoon cummin

20 grams pine nuts

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

20 grams currants

1 bunch parsle

3 onions

20 grams margarine 220 grams vegetable oil

Directions

Boil bulgur in plenty of water until soft. Drain and set aside. Melt margarine and lightly brown chopped onions and pine nuts. Add 350 grams of meat and saute until juices evaporate. Remove from heat. Add pepper, salt, cummin, crushed walnuts, currants and choped parsley. Mix. In a large bowl, combine the remainder of meat with the bulgur. Add cayenne pepper and egg. Mix and knead well. Take a large walnut sized piece of mixture and roll into a ball. With index finger, make a hole and push the inside, making a large cavity. Stuff the cavity with the meat mixture,press hole with fingers to close. Lightly press meatball in palm of hand to shape like an egg. Repeat procedure, making as many meatballs as possible. Add meatballs to salted boiling water and boil for 5 minutes. Remove and drain on absorbent paper. Heat oil in frypan and lightly fry meatballs until golden brown. Drain and serve.

ÇERKEZ TAVUĞU (ÇERKEZ CHICKEN MEAL )

Ingredients 4 lbs. boneless chicken breasts 2 cups shelled walnuts

5 lbs. with bones

3 slices French bread (enough for 1 cup crumbs)

2 medium onions, quartered

1 clove garlic

1carrot, scraped, trimmed and cut into chunks

A pinch of cayenne or hot paprika

1/4 cup whole sprigs parsley

2 tsp. paprika

2 bay leaves

3 tbsp. walnut or olive oil

1-1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. Pepper

Directions

Although other parts may be used, chicken breasts work best. They cook quickly and evenly; have little fat and no veins; no meat is left clinging to the bone; and the long grain of the white meat makes it ideal for shredding.

Put chicken breasts, vegetables and seasonings into a large pot, and cover with 4 cups of cold water. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes, until the chicken is just cooked. Transfer the chicken and stock to a large bowl and let it all cool gradually. Once cool, remove the chicken from the bowl and rinse it off, strain and reserve all of the stock, reserve 1/2 cup of the cooked onions, and discard the rest of the vegetables. By hand, shred the chicken along the grain of the meat into thin strips, 1" to 2" long.

Clean out the pot, put the stock back into it and simmer it down to 2 cups. Remove crusts from the bread, then use a blender or food processor to reduce it to 1 cup of crumbs. Set aside the crumbs and put the walnuts into the blender or food processor; grind them finely; then add the garlic, reserved onion, and bread crumbs, and blend them all together. A little at a time, blend in up to 2 cups of stock, until you have a smooth, thick puree. Add salt, pepper, and a pinch of cayenne or hot paprika to taste. If the puree is too thick, add a little milk or water; if too thin, simmer over low heat until it thickens again.

In a small pan combine oil and paprika over very low heat until the oil begins to redden. Turn off the heat, let the oil cool, then strain, reserving the oil and discarding the paprika.

Mix up the chicken with half of the sauce, then put it into a serving platter. Spread the rest of the sauce over the chicken like frosting on a cake. Drizzle with paprika oil. Serve chilled or at room temperature.

İÇLİ KÖFTE (SPECIAL MEATBALL)

Ingredients 2 glasses of dried Haricot Beans 4 glasses of water

1 dessert spoonful of salt

Dressing: 10 cloves of garlic, 1 tablespoonful of salt, 1 teaspoonful of boiled beans, ½ glass of sesame oil, ½ glass of lemon juice, ½ glass of water

On Top: 1 glass of chopped parsley, 2 boiled eggs

Directions

Pick over the beans, wash, boil and sprinkle some salt and boil 5 more minutes and drain. Crush the garlic, add two table spoonful of boiled beans, one tablespoonful of lemon juice and beat them. Whip the remaining lemon juice, sesame oil and water. Arrange the beans on a plate, put some dressing on, decorate it with parsley and yolk. Serve it.

KÜNEFE DESSERT

Ingredients Sugar 2 1/2 cup Water 1 3/4 cup

Lemon juice 2 teaspoon

Pistachionuts (chopped) 2 3/4 cup

Margarine 1 Spoon Kadayif (Shredded pastry) - 500 gr

Directions

Combine sugar and water in a saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar is dissolved. Boil gently for 5 minutes. Add lemon juice; stir. Boil for 1 minute. Set aside. Combine kadayif shreds and melted butter in a pan. Break. kadayif shreds in butter blending well with tips of finger. Divide into half. Spread one half in a slightly greased baking pan 25x25 cm (9x9 inch). Press with finger slightly. Sprinkle with crushed or ground nuts. Press again using a spoon. Repeat same with remaining half, pressing firmly this time. Bake in a moderate oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Let stand for 2 minutes. Pour warm syrup over. Cover and let stand until syrup is absorbed. Cut into 5-6 cm (2-2 1/2 inch) squares. Arrange on a serving plate. Serve warm or cold.

AYRAN (TRADITIONAL DRINK FROM YOGURT)

3 cup plain yogurt 1/2 cup water 1 tsp salt

This is very straight-forward but tastes great: Put all of the above in a blender. Mix for about 35-40 seconds. Pour into glasses. Also after blending, at the top, you will see bubbles and that's the best part. Makes 4 portions.

Origins of the word "yogurt":The word comes from the Turkish word "yoğurt", deriving from the verb "yoğurtmak", which means "to blend" - a reference to how yogurt is made.