girlwithanearring

Hello! 
For this post, I will be describing the detailed recipe of "Chickpea Salad" from my latest healthy food vlog. Watch my youtube video for a better sense of how I make one modern and one traditional dish with several traditional winter staples from Turkish cuisine! 

For the recipe of "Traditional Turkish Green Lentil Soup with Erişte" head over to this post.

Let me know in the comments, what kind of recipes would you like to see here and my Youtube channel.



chickpea salad, my modern take 

This is a perfect main dish for lunch or a side dish for dinner. It is filling and hearty. You can add whatever fresh produce you have in the fridge. I always make my salads based on what I have which leads to several different versions of the same recipe. This has nothing to do with me not liking to follow a recipe to a T. Promise.

The must-have elements for this type legume or grain salads are always fresh greens, juicy produce like cucumbers or tomatoes, and some sweet produce like an apple or a carrot, or both. And a sour and sweet dressing. If I didn't use both a carrot and apple, I'd add some pomegranate sauce into the dressing for sweetness.

I personally don't like raw onions whether it's regular or green. But if you like them, apparently they go well with these type of salads. I also chopped some scallions for my parents. So keep that in mind.

The vlog starts off with my morning routine a.k.a. coffee and breakfast, as usual. 



ingredients

1 bowl of chickpeas, soak them overnight and the next morning, boil them for half an hour.
1 medium cucumber, julienned
1 apple, julienned
1 medium carrot, grated
1 green pepper, finely chopped (or any type of pepper of your choosing)
1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, finely chopped
half of an iceberg lettuce or head butter lettuce, roughly chopped
a small bunch of scallions, if you prefer, chopped
fresh mint, if available

for the dressing,

1 tsp dried mint
1 tsp sumac
1/2 tsp black pepper
juice of one lemon
1/4 cup olive oil
salt



method

for the case of chickpeas,

you can use canned chickpeas, however, soaking them overnight and boiling them is always better. you can also soak all the chickpeas you have overnight, drain and rinse them the next morning and then freeze to keep them ready for the future. you can do this for any type of grains and legumes.

boil the soaked chickpeas, drain, rinse and set them aside.

the method is simple, you can julienne, or roughly chop or dice everything. that is entirely up to your choosing. this time I julienned most of the things.

combine everything and put the chickpeas last.

for the case of dressing,

combine everything, you can add more black pepper or more mint.

pour the dressing an hour before serving the salad, let the chickpeas absorb the lemon juice.

Hello, this is my first post and it is about pancakes. The video of making the pancakes and vlog of setting the table is on my youtube channel: "girlwithanearring". My best friend was coming over that morning, and I wanted to make something I've not been making for a very long time. And it was pancakes! (For the Recipe in Turkish: CLICK)



This is honestly my favourite PANCAKE RECIPE. I don't like dense and chewy pancakes. So, this recipe from Jamie Oliver's "Something for the Weekend" book is perfectly airy, fluffy and light. In my opinion, it is relatively simple. It involves whisking the egg whites and the yolks separately but you can always use an electric mixer instead of a whisk, obviously. Though it is tiring, I like to use a whisk, like in the video.


details & changes I made to the recipe

• The ingredients may look less in the video than the given amounts in the recipe because I made a batter for only two people.
• The only big difference I made to the recipe was adding some sugar (4 tsp). This is optional and you can add more or less. I just like pancakes a little bit sweet.
• I also sifted the flour to make it extra fluffier.
• I also lightly, very lightly, buttered the pan only once and gently wiped it with a paper towel in the beginning. My advice: never use oil, unless you are frying something, which also tastes better with butter, or making a vegetable dish.
• You should add a pinch of salt to the egg whites before whisking.
• Sometimes, I refrigerate the leftover batter and use it the next morning, it is still good.

ingredients

115 gr plain flour, sifted
1 heaped tsp baking powder, sifted
140 ml milk
3 large eggs, separated
4 tsp sugar, or more
a little bit butter for cooking
a pinch of salt for the egg whites

method

First separate the eggs, putting the whites and the yolks into separate bowls.

I always start with whisking the whites. Add a pinch of salt into the whites and start whisking until you get form stiff peaks, as seen in the video. Again you can use an electric mixer. You should be careful while whisking, as soon as you get the stiff peaks, you should stop. Set aside.

Whisk the yolks with sugar until its airy and bubbly. Add the milk and whisk a little more.

Now, start adding the flour and baking powder slowly into the yolks and whisk until there are no lumps. You can see the consistency you need in the video.

After the yolks are smooth and airy, add all the whites. With the help of a spatula, fold the cloudy whites into the yolk batter as seen in the video. If there are white lumps in the batter, that will result in cooked eggwhites inside the pancake, which is not good. So slowly and carefully fold the whites into the batter.

Take your favourite non-stick pan out and heat it in medium heat. Put just a little bit butter into the pan, let it melt. If there are any butter is visible, just wipe it with a paper towel all over your pan. If the melted butter in the pan is visible, the pancakes will "fry" and you won't get the smooth brown look. I mean, they will get cooked but not going to look like these.

With a small ladle, pour the amount you like into the pan. Let it cook and form a shell at the bottom. Check it with a spatula if they are done and flip it. Again, see the video for a visual description. :) I cook pancakes two at a time usually, depending on the size of the pan.

serving

I don't like pancakes when there are no sides. I certainly don't like it with crème fraîche. Pancakes need imagination for serving. Use all sorts of jams, definitely natural honey instead of some syrup, clotted cream, butter, and any fresh fruits you have. Try pancakes with orange or mandarin. Nutella, no one can resist. Orange and nutella go so well together.

I also will make a video of my homemade "nutella" recipe soon. So stay tuned for that!

Also, jazz it up your table with cheese, olives, breads, fresh greens like rockets and dills, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, etc. Sorry it's not a breakfast nor a brunch if there are no cheese and olives on the table. :)

While I am continuing my new coaster experiments {grazing cute lamb is done and it turned out so cute} I remembered this recipe that I tried couple of weeks ago. There is nothing like orange cake in Winter. Especially, if they rose like these ones... The main reason of my love for this recipe is that you use the whole orange, not just its juice. Nothing is wasted and it smells and tastes so nicely. Ingredients, (25 - 30 cupcakes)

• 1 small orange, peeled and puréed 
• 1 medium carrot, extra small grated
• 2 egg
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt (read the recipe, the amount may change)
• 1,5 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup olive oil
• 2,5 cup flour 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• One pinch of grated nutmeg

Preparation,

1. Mix flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and grated nutmeg in a bowl and set aside.
2. Purée the peeled orange with a hand blender. Put it in a cup and fill up the rest with yogurt. (It must be 3/4 cup orange purée + 1/4 cup yogurt. But it can also be 1/2 cup orange purée + 1/2 cup yogurt.)
3. Grate the carrot as tiny as possible. I used a mini garlic grater. 
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the eggs with sugar until light and fluffy for 10 to 15 minutes. Then add orange purée and yogurt, continue beatting for half a minute.
5. Reduce the speed and add the flour mixture slowly and continue beatting slowly and steadily. When you are sure it is smooth enough, add grated carrot and mix the batter with a spatula or a spoon. 
6. Pour the batter into the cupcake molds. Fill each cupcake mold 2/3 full.
7. Put the cupcakes into the 350°F/175°C heated oven and bake them for 25 to 30 minutes. 

Finally, Ramadan has begun!!! : ) Tonight is the first "sahur," so I baked these.

Ingredients;

For the dough;

150gr. butter, softened

3 eggs (one's yolk will be set aside for brushing over the pastries)

5 tbsp yogurt

1/2 cup olive oil

2 tsp baking powder

550 gr. flour plus more for shaping

1,5 tsp salt

For the filling;

100 gr. soft white fatty cheese, mashed

1/2 cup parsley, minced

1 tomato, diced

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

1/4 bunch dill, thinly sliced

6-7 black Mediterranean olives, seeded, sliced

If you wish; sesame seeds and black cumin seeds to sprinkle

Preparation;

1. For the dough; put butter, 2 eggs and 1 egg's white (set aside 1 egg's yolk), 5 tbsp yogurt, salt, olive oil in a large bowl, and then blend with your fingers.
2. Add the flour and baking powder and knead. You will obtain a soft dough.
3. For the fillings; I made some of them with only cheese and parsley and the remaining with tomato, olives, green pepper and dill mixture.
4. In a bowl, put mashed cheese and minced parsley, mix well. Set aside a half of this cheese mixture. Add tomato, pepper, dill, olives into the remaining mixture. So you have two different cheesy mixtures.
5. Sprinkle a little bit flour over the countertop. Take a 4 cm diameter balls from the dough, and make flat with your palm and fingers or a rolling pin on floured surface (I used my own palm and fingers.), if it is necessary, sprinkle a little flour on your hands or dough, too.
6. (See; above photo) You have almost 30 rounds. Put cheese filling in middle of the rounds and close an edge over the filling, and take the next edge and close on cheese. Repeat closing process by giving a shape of pleat.
7. Place pleated pastries on a baking sheet. Preheat your oven to 360 Fahrenheit / 180 C.
8. Whisk remaining egg yolk and brush over the pastries.
9. Sprinkle black cumin seeds or sesame seeds.

Bon Appétit

Due to being Turkish; Sahra and I chose a very traditional Turkish dish from the old times, which is made of yesterday's bread. But the bread must be lavosh in this dish. Because, lavosh is unleavened flat bread, it doesn't absorb liquid fast, it just softens. If you use a leavened bread, it absorbs all of the liquid of the dish with its spongy structure and we wouldn't want that.

The original name of this dish is “Ekmek Aşı” which means "Bread Dish”.



Ingredients;

• 5 green tomatoes
• 5 red tomatoes
• 2 potatoes
• 5 onion
• 4 green peppers
• 2 eggs
• 150 gr. butter
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• ½ tbsp red pepper paste
• 3 big lavosh bread
• Water as needed

Preparation;

1. Peel potatoes, onions and tomatoes. Cut them into 2cm dices. Slice peppers into 2cm.
2. In a big pan, melt the butter. Stir-fry diced onions until wilted. Add and stir tomato and red pepper pastes.
3. Add potato and pepper. After stirred them on low fire for a short while, add tomatoes. Put the water as needed and let it boil but the vegetables should not get mashed so much.
4. Whip eggs in a bowl and add them into dish, stir quickly and then remove from fire (I prefer without egg, so if you wish, you don't have to add egg.)
   
   
   
5. Cut dried lavosh (yesterday's lavosh) into small pieces. Put lavosh pieces into a big plate. Pour the cooked dish over lavosh. Wait five minutes for lavosh to soften.

Bon Appétit,