dilzy's kitchen

Avocado Salad with Sumac (Sumakli Avokado Salatasi)

2012-01-16T20:43:00.001+11:00

We were having our usual salad the other day, when I decided to sprinkle some sumac onto the salad. A little sumac goes a long way — it added a nice tangy zesty flavour to the salad. You can use whatever vegetables you like for your salad.

Ingredients

tomatoes
lettuce
red bell pepper/capsicum
red onions
avocado

Dressing:

Lemon Juice
Oil
Salt
Sumac (I just sprinkled it on my salad, you can always add it to dressing as well)

Banana Date Chocolate Chip Streusel Coffee Cake

2012-01-13T21:18:00.012+11:00

Firstly, I should apologise for not blogging lately. I have realised it has been one year since my last post!!!

Thanks to some special guests that came to visit from London today, and some very ripe bananas crying out to be eaten in my fruit bowl...the result was this super yummy banana, date, choc chip struesel cake. Oh and of course, what brought it all together was the recipe - I should thank Elizabeth from FreeFoodBoston who originally found and adapted Megan's who found it at Epicurious . I should add, I did deviate from Elizabeth's and Megan's adaptation.

The original recipe uses walnuts in the struesel, however as I did not have any walnuts in my usually well stocked pantry, I did by great chance have some fresh dates in my fridge — Totally lucky! Perhaps one day I'll try the walnut version, but for the time being this cake is a keeper!

I also used less chocolate chips and self-raising flour instead of the whole wheat flour.

However, I should note that this recipe is quite sweet — the natural sweetness of the dates combined with sugar makes it quite rich. If you are wanting to use dates, but don't have such a sweet tooth, I would suggest you reduce the quantity of sugar used to 1/2 cup where it says 2/3 cup.

Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel
adapted from Elizabeth at FreeFoodBoston
Makes 12 servings

1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips - (I used 1 cup)
2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar (use 1/2 cup if making with dates)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts - (I used about 4 large fresh dates instead)
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour - (I used self-raising flour)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda - (I didn't use this)
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup (packed) brown sugar (use 1/2 cup if making with dates)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 1/3 cups mashed very ripe bananas (about 3 large)
3 tablespoons milk

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees celcius. Butter and flour 8x8x2-inch metal baking pan.
Stir chocolate chips, 2/3 c. brown sugar, walnuts or dates, and cinnamon in small bowl until well blended; set streusel aside.
Combine flour, baking soda (if using Self Raising flour I guess you can leave this out), baking powder, and salt into medium bowl. Using electric mixer, beat 2/3 c. brown sugar, room temperature butter, and egg in large bowl until fluffy.
Beat in mashed bananas and milk. Add dry ingredients and blend well.
Spread half of batter (about 2 cups) in prepared baking pan. Sprinkle with half of streusel. Repeat with remaining batter and streusel.
Bake coffee cake until tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool coffee cake in pan on rack.

Mushroom Saute (Mantar Sote)

2011-01-24T08:40:00.004+11:00

Finally, I have updated the photo for this recipe! Looks much more appetizing. I would eat this as a main, but in our household it ends up becoming a side dish.

Ingredients

400g mushrooms, diced
1/2 red capsicum, diced
2 tomatoes, skinned and grated/crushed
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup chicken stock (optional) or 1/2 cup water

Method

Wash and dice mushrooms. Set aside
Fry up the onions and garlic in the oil, then add in the capsicums.
Mix in the mushrooms and fry until brown.
Make a well in the centre of the pan, and add in the tomato paste. Once you have mixed the paste through, in goes the crushed tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper
If you have some chicken stock or stock powder on hand you can add it now, otherwise add a little water.
Saute until tender. About 20 mins or so.

Guacamole - Avocado Dip (Avokado Sos)

2010-12-24T16:41:00.017+11:00

Hmm, so I was updating the photo for this post (today Jan 16, 2011) — when somehow deleted the whole post! You think that I would actually have a back up of my blog entry...well, unfortunately I didn't.

Fortunately, I did remember I found this recipe off the SBS website, so here it is:

Ingredients

3 ripe avocados
½ fresh jalapeno chilli (optional)
2 tsp chopped coriander (I didn't use this)
Spanish onion, chopped
1 tomato, diced
Juice of ½ lime (I think I used lemon)
1 tsp salt

Preparation

Halve the avocados, remove the seed and using a spoon scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add chilli, coriander and a little onion.
Mash together with a fork. Add tomato and lime juice and season with salt. Gently fold through.

Note:

Guacamole should be made just before serving. Returning the seed of the avocado to the mixture will help keep the guacamole green.

Sweet Coconut Pastry Dessert (Hindistan Cevizli Tatli)

2010-12-24T16:34:00.004+11:00

Post to follow soon...

Yoğurtlu Şehriye Çorbası (Yoghurt Soup with Risoni)

2010-12-22T19:04:00.006+11:00

Turks love anything to do with yoghurt and that means even yoghurt soup! Really, why not, yoghurt is healthy after all. This is a great soup for when you just want to have a light dinner. Also it's a good soup to have when you feel like a cold or flu coming on and you need a little help with your appetite. It has a slightly sour taste, which actually is very appetizing and not to mention EASY to make...that's always very important!

Ingredients

1/2 cup risoni pasta or any other small pasta shape. I use a soup mix.
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon plain flour
4 cups Ayran (which is just a yoghurt turkish yoghurt drink made from yoghurt and water, I just used approx 2 cups yoghurt and 2 cups water blended together)
salt
dried mint
paprika
butter

Method

Melt butter in a saucepan and fry the risoni and flour together until the risoni changes colour to a soft brown.
Mix in the blended yoghurt and water or Ayran Drink, keep stirring as you do this
Simmer on low heat until the risoni is cooked
Just before serving add in the salt
In a seperate pan, melt butter until it starts to bubble, add in the mint and paprika to create the sauce for the soup. Use this sauce to dress the soup just before serving.

Source: Lezzetler.com

TURKCE

Nefis ve kolay bir cobra. Hastalar icin cok faydali.

Malzeme

1 çay bardağı şehriye (tel veya arpa)
2 çorba kaşığı tereyağı veya margarin
1 çorba kaşığı un
4 su bardağı ayran
Tuz
Kuru nane
Kırmızı pul biber
Tereyag

Yapılışı

Yağda unu ve şehriyeleri kavurun.
Ayranı karıştıra karıştıra ilâve edin.
Kısık ateşte şehriyeler pişene kadar kaynatın.
Tuzunu ateşten almadan önce ilâve edin.
Çorbayı kâselere döktükten sonra naneyi ve pul biberi biraz tereyagda kizartip üzerine serpin.

Kaynak : Lezzetler.com

Choc Chip Blueberry Muffins

2010-12-22T08:31:00.003+11:00

My brother absolutely loves blueberry muffins, so I tried this recipe and it turned out MUCH better than the previous blueberry recipe I posted. The difference I think is actually using fresh blueberries and having the choc chips in there also helps.

Ingredients

2 cups self-raising flour
165g (¾ cup) caster sugar
100g choc bits
2 eggs, lightly beaten
180ml (¾ cup) milk
60ml (½ cup) oil
200g blueberries

Method

Place all ingredients except blueberries in a large bowl and stir for 1 minute.
Add blueberries.
Fill greased muffin tins three-quarters full with mixture, bake at 200°C for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve warm or cold.

Source : Australian Women's Weekly/Ninemsn Website.

2010-08-24T08:13:00.001+10:00

Foofer's Delight Pancakes

2009-12-27T23:19:00.008+11:00

Photo: courtesy of foofer.

These pancakes have been such a hit at our place recently, especially with the girls. What is even more exciting is having Foofer in the kitchen. He came up with this recipe on his own, he started with a basic pancake recipe and then after a bit of experimenting he fine tuned it. The secret to these pancakes are caster sugar and PURE Canadian Maple Syrup. We normally double the recipe when we make it to feed a family of 4.

Ingredients

1 cup self raising flour
1 cup milk
1 egg
2 tablespoons caster sugar
few drops of vanilla essence

To serve:

fruit of your choice (strawberries, bluberries etc)
whipped cream
PURE Canadian Maple Syrup

Method

Pre-heat and lightly grease non stick frypan (we use margarine)
Mix all ingredients in a bowl
Use ladle to pour desired amount of batter into pan and cook until bubbles form on surface of pancake
Turn and cook other side.
Serve using fresh fruit, whipped cream and maple syrup. YUMMO!

Potato Salad (Patates Salatasi)

2009-09-11T22:45:00.005+10:00

I have been a bit slack with my posts recently, so I apologise. Just been a little busy with Ramadan. I actually had a good run with making lots of food but missed the photo opportunities, so until next time.

I had this picture on hand so I'm posting it, even though it is one of the most simplest recipes.

Ingredients

8-9 Potatoes, boiled and diced
Good bunch of parsley
Onions, shallots (optional)
2-3 lemons, juiced
2 -3 tablespoons oil
salt, pepper

Method

Wash and boil potatoes, do not over cook or your salad will be mashed potato. Peel and dice potatoes. Set aside in a large bowl.
If using onion/shallots, dice and add to potatoes.
Chop Parsley and put this in a small jar as it will become part of the salad dressing. I like to make a separate dressing of oil, lemon juice, seasonings and add the parsley to this mixture and give it a good shake. This way I find the parsley wilts a little and is easier to eat.
Pour the dressing over the potatoes and mix. Yummo.

Easy Apple Pie Cake (Elmali Turta)

2009-06-17T14:05:00.008+10:00

Found this recipe off the Yemek Gunlugum website and tweaked it a little by adding some walnuts into the cake mixture.

Another great recipe which can be made on short notice, because most of the ingredients would be on hand. The only part where you might need a little patience is layering the apples on top, but it's well worth it.

Ingredients

For the cake:

2 eggs
1/2 cup oil
¾ cup sugar
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon vanillin powder
Handful of roughly crushed walnuts (optional)

For the topping

2-3 apples, peeled and sliced thinly
icing sugar to decorate

Method

To make the cake, mix all the ingredients together until well combined. (Add the walnuts after all the other ingredients are combined so mixing is easier)
Preheat your oven to 175 degrees and empty the mixture into your greased cake tin.
To layer up the apples, start from the side of your cake tin and work towards the centre. There is a way to ensure they don't sink into the cake mixture, set aside some plain flour in a small bowl, dip the bottom of the apple slice in some plain flour and push the floured side down onto the cake mixture at an angle.
Bake your cake for about 30-35 minutes. May require more or less time according to your oven but I usually let it brown on top and test with a skewer. If the skewer comes out clean your cake is ready.
When your cake has cooled down a little, sprinkle some icing sugar for decoration. If you have left over cake, just warm it up the microwave before serving.

Cracked Wheat (Bulgur) Pilaf with Chicken and Chickpea

2009-04-29T15:38:00.003+10:00

A variation to the standard Bulgur Pilaf -made with Chicken and Chickpeas gives it more nutrition and chunkiness.

If you are vegetarian just omit the chicken.

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
Small piece chicken breast, diced
1/4 red capsicum, diced
3 small tomatoes or 2 medium tomatoes, skinned and diced
1 cup bulgur (cracked wheat)
1/2 can chickpeas
1 cup water
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon paprika
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Fry up the onion in the oil, once wilted add in your chicken breast and cook until brown.
Add capsicum and cook while stirring on medium heat.
Next goes in the washed cracked wheat and water. Add in your tomato paste.
Cook on low heat for about 10 minutes.
Finally before you take it off the heat add in your canned chickpeas and seasonings and give it a good mix. Let it simmer for a few more minutes until all the water has evapourated.
Close the lid on your pot so the flavours absorb into one another.

Cracked Wheat Salad (Tabouli)

2009-03-21T00:21:00.009+11:00

Finally I have gotten around to making my signature tabouli...just gotta put up the recipe.. Here is the pic though! I'm not too happy with the picture, but it will have to do for now.

A month or so later......

The base recipe that I am providing is for approximately 4 people. If you want to make more, measure 1/2 cup extra per person and just increase the remainder of the vege ingredients.

Now be warned - I never make tabouli to a specific formula. It always depends on how many people I am making it for and I usually just taste it at the end and add in whatever else I think is needed. The recipe below is a good basis to start with. You may need to adjust it.

Ingredients (4 Person)

2 cups cracked wheat
3-4 Tomatoes, diced
1 Onion, diced
Small bunch Spring onions (if on hand and if you prefer - not essential)
1 bunch parsley
1-2 Chillies, diced
2-3 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon red pepper powder
2 tablespoons Oil
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups Boiled Water
2 lemons, juiced

Method

1. Add hot water to the cracked wheat and mix, let it stand, cover the top of the bowl so the cracked wheat softens.
2. Chop up all the vege ingredients and add to the mix.
3. Add in seasonings and tomato paste.
4. Wash your hands well and then use them to mix and squish the ingredients together like you are kneading dough. (You can use spoons to mix but this method is better.)
5. Taste test before serving - you may need to add in more lemon juice, oil, salt, more tomatoes or parsley depending on what you think it is missing.
6. Serve with lettuce leaves, Pohca (Cheese pastries)...yummo.

Stuffed Capsicums (Dolma)

2009-03-21T00:18:00.007+11:00

Okay I have finally gotten around to putting up the recipe...I had to remake this to jolt my memory!

This can be made without the mince meat.

Ingredients

6 small capsicums
1 cup rice
1 onion, diced
parsley, small bunch
mince meat, 150g cooked
salt & pepper to taste
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup water

Method

Making the Filling

1. Cook the onion and the mince together until the mince is brown
2. Add in the washed rice and cook a little
3. Next add in water, you don't want to add too much because you want to keep filling al dente. It will cook again once you stuff the capsicums.
4. Finally as you are about to take it off the heat, add in tomato paste and give it a mix. Add in seasonings.
5. Sprinkle in parsley and mix until it wilts.
6. Stuff into capsicums
7. Line the stuffed capsicums into a pot add some water to cover 1/3 of capsicums and cook until the capsicums are soft - about 40 minutes or so.

Chocolate Baby Cupcakes

2009-01-22T14:02:00.010+11:00

This is the best chocolate home made cake recipe that I have come across. I absolutely love this recipe because it's so easy and I usually have the ingredients on hand to make it on short notice. The result is a cake that is moist and looks and tastes like those packet betty crocker mixes. You can also use the same recipe to make these cute little cupcakes.

What's even easier is that I use Nutella for my icing/topping. It tastes great and doesn't require any mixing! You could leave the icing out if you prefer and just dust the cakes with a little with icing sugar when serving.

Ingredients

1 1/3 cups plain flour (you can use self raising flour, just cut out the bicarb soda)
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1/3 cup cocoa powder
1 cup sugar
1 cup milk
2 eggs
125g butter, melted, cooled
1 teaspoon vanillin sugar

Topping

Nutella/Chocalate Ganache or the usual chocolate butter icing.
Sprinkles

Method

Preheat oven and grease muffin tins. I usually use those mini patty cases and just spray some canola oil in them.
Sift flour, bicarb soda and cocoa into a bowl. Add in the sugar and vanillin sugar.
In a seperate bowl or jug, combine the milk/buttermilk, eggs and melted butter.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mix and pour in your wet mix.
Use an electric mixer, first beat on low until the mixture is combined. Then increase the speed and beat the mixture until it looks creamy (a bit like mousse).
Pour mixture into cake pan or into muffin tins and bake at 170 degrees for about 35 minutes if your baking a cake and about 15 minutes if your making the mini muffins.
In either case I usually test to see if they are done by interting a knife to see if it comes out clean.
Cool the cakes on a wire rack then ice with your preffered topping.

Pohca/ Poğaça (Cheese and Parsley Pastries)

2009-01-13T16:01:00.023+11:00

Ingredients

1/2 cup yoghurt
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup oil
salt to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
3 cups self raising flour (may require more)
1 egg + 1 egg white (keep the yolk)

For the filling:

half a bunch of parsley (optional)
feta cheese, shredded

Method

Mix yoghurt, milk, oil, egg white, salt and flour to form a soft dough. You may need to add more flour as you kneed the dough.
Break small pieces of the dough to form little balls.
Flatten the balls between your palms to form a small circle and lay flat on table, fill it with parsley and shredded cheese and roll back into a ball shape. (I made mine into crescent shapes. To make them like the picture, just place the filling mixture on one half of the circle and fold the other half over, press down the edges).
Place pohca's on a greased oven tray making sure there is room between them.
Brush the top of the pohca's with egg yolk and sprinkle some sesame seeds and nigella seeds.
Cook at about 160 degrees until brown on top.

Thanks for looking. Please check out my other Turkish recipes and not so Turkish ones also! I will be posting a new Pohca/Poğaça recipe very soon. It's probably the softest Poğaça I have ever made.

TURKCE

Malzemeler

1/2 bardak yogurt
1/2 bardak sut
1/2 bardak sivi yag
tuz (1 tatli kasigi gibi)
3 bardak mayali un (belki fazla alabilir)
1 yumurta + 1 yumarta beyazi (sarisi ustune surmek icin)

Ic Malzeme:

maydanoz
beyaz peynir

Yapilisi:

Yogurt, sut, yag,yumurtalari, tuz ve unu yogur. Gerekirse daha fazla un ekle ve kulak memesi gibi yumusak bir hamur olsun.
Hamurdan ufak toplar yapin.
Ellerin arasinda bastirarak yuvarlak seklendirin. Masanin ustune koyun ve arasina ic malzemeden ekleyip ikiye katlayin.
Yaglanmis tepsiye aralikli dizin.
Ustlerine yumurta sarisi surun, susam ve corekotu serpin.
160 derece firinda ustleri kizarincaya dek pisirin.

Yakinda yeni bir Poğaça tarifi ekliyecem. Cok acayip yumusak Poğaça ve kolay bir tarif.

Snowflake Coconut Balls

2009-01-07T23:58:00.004+11:00

Ingredients

3 cups dessicated coconut
1 cup milk powder
3/4 cup sugar
200ml thickened cream

Method

Mix all the ingredients together to form a soft dough.
Make little balls and dip into some coconut
Refrigerate until it is firm (a few hours).

Pink Birthday Cake for Princess

2009-01-07T23:44:00.005+11:00

I baked a simple butter cake (marble) for my princess. Decorated it with some pink "Krem Santi" - you can pick it up from the local turkish grocer. It is the equivalent of pink whipped cream. I am sure you can achevie the same outcome by whipping up some cream and adding food colouring to it. Never tried it but I am sure it's possible.

I was very proud of the decoration though. It was a joint effort between, myself, hubby and aunty Nin and some very new icing piping equipment we picked up recently. Oh I made the little candy princess by the way - Not! I bought them from woolies. Certianly adds a semi professional touch to the cake.

Butter cake recipe is listed below, it was taken from the huggies website:

Ingredients:

These quantities make one standard cake.

125grams of softened butter
2/3 cup of caster sugar
2 eggs (lightly beaten)
1 tsp Vanilla Essence
2 cups SR Flour
2/3 cup milk

Method:

Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy
Add eggs and Vanilla Essence (Beat until well mixed)
Add small amounts of flour and milk until well mixed in together.
Place into a lined and greased tin and cook for 45mins in an oven pre-heated to 180C.
Test with a skewer to ensure that it is cooked.

Variations:

Chocolate cake
To turn this recipe into a chocolate cake add 2tbs of cocoa and 2tbs of milk to the mixture and beat through.
Marble Cake
Separate mixture into 3 equal parts in different bowls.
Add a couple of drops of pink food colouring to one part.
Add 1tbs of cocoa and 1tbs of milk to one part.
Now spoon the different mixtures into the tin, one spoonful at a time, so that the colours alternate. To finish off the effect use a knife or skewer and swirl the colours together.

Honey & Soy Chicken Stir Fry

2009-01-07T23:29:00.008+11:00

I don't normally measure ingredients, so according to how much you would like to make or whatever ingredients you have on hand, just throw in what you think would be enough. A rough estimate is listed below.

Ingredients

Chicken Breast, 400g
Brocolli, small bunch
Corn Spears, 1 can
Red Capsicum, half
Mushrooms, 300g
Onions, 1 diced
Oyster Sacue 1 to 2 tablespoons
Soy Sauce, 1 to 2 tablespoons
Honey, 1 to 2 tablespoons
salt

Method

Dice onion, fry in oil. Add in the chicken and fry until brown. Set aside in a seperate bowl.
Add some more oil to wok if necessary, start with the "hard" vegetables so fry brocolli until it wilts a little.
Then carrots, corn spears,capsicum, mushroom.
Add the chicken back in once the veggies are cooked to your liking.
Finally, drizzle in your sauces. Give it a good mix and serve with some rice.

Pink Love-Heart Cake

2008-10-19T00:55:00.006+11:00

So Ninny has landed herself a full time job. Congratulations!! Her recent success deserved a cake, so I promised Ninny I would bake her a pink cake. I had to try out my newly purchased Love Heart Cake Pan, Pink Food Colouring and ready to roll ready icing....Someone had to be the guinea pig.

To save time, I picked up a ready made cake mix (chocolate), baked that, slapped the ready made icing on top which I had coloured with pink icing a few days ago and this is what I got. Not too bad for a first timer ey? Although the cake didn't look that smooth, most likely because I rushed it - but overall it looked pretty good for my first attempt.

Potato and Broccoli Bake

2008-10-19T00:12:00.008+11:00

I served this with Braised Diced Lamb and Red Cabbage Salad.

Ingredients

6 potatoes, diced and boiled
broccoli small bunch, boiled
salt
Mozzarella Cheese, shredded

For the bechamel sauce

3 tablespoons margarine
6 tablespoons flour
salt/pepper
2 tablespoons cheese spread (kraft brand)
2 cups milk, heated

Method

1. Boil potatoes for about 10 minutes, add broccoli and boil further 5 minutes. Drain.

2. Make the bechamel Sauce. Melt margarine, brown the flour, add in heated milk slowly whilst whisking so that lumps do not form. Add salt/pepper, stir through cheese spread and cook until sauce thickens.

3. Grease baking dish, add in the potatoes and broccoli, mix through with the bechamel sauce and sprinkle generously with mozzarella cheese. Cook until golden brown and crusty on top.

Braised Diced Lamb

2008-10-18T23:55:00.012+11:00

I made this and served it up with Red Cabbage Salad and Potato and Broccoli Bake.

Ingredients

1 kg diced lamb
Salt/Pepper
Season all (optional)

Method

1. Wash the lamb.

2. Place the lamb in a pot and cook on high heat until it starts to absorb its juices.

3. Add some hot water until the meat is covered and reduce the heat to low and let it simmer Check the water level every now and then as you may need to keep adding more. I usually cook this for about 1.5-2 hours. Until the meat is nice and soft.

4. Add seasoning and serve.

Red Cabbage Salad (Kirmizi Lahana Salatasi)

2008-10-18T23:43:00.007+11:00

I made this salad and served it with some braised diced lamb and potato and broccoli bake.

Ingredients

4 leaves of lettuce, sliced
2 tomatoes, diced
1/4 small red cabbage, sliced

Salad Dressing

Half a lemon
Oil
Salt

Method

1. Wash all ingredients.

2. Slice the red cabbage and place in a separate bowl. Add oil and salt to soften it.

3. Slice/dice rest of ingredients and place in a bowl. Add the softened red cabbage.

4. Squeeze lemon and add to salad ingredients, add oil and salt and mix.

Notes

Depending on what I have available other things I usually add to this salad are:

capsicum
4 bean mix
parsley
cucumber
onions
carrots

Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake

2008-10-18T22:39:00.009+11:00

This pasta bake actually turned out really nice. It's probably because I threw it together using leftover ingredients I had from dinner the night before - Chicken with Mushroom Sauce.

All I did was cook some pasta (I used spiral pasta), drain and lay into a greased baking dish. Stir through the mushroom sauce and add the cooked diced chicken, sprinkle generously with mozzarella cheese, cook in the oven until the cheese is brown and crusty. So easy when you have everything ready. If you wanted to make this dish from scratch then here is the recipe. This recipe would probably feed about 4 people.

Ingredients

300g chicken breast, cooked and diced
Chicken Seasoning/Season All (Whatever you prefer to season with)
salt
half a packet of pasta (your choice)
mozzarella cheese, shredded

For the sauce

300ml thickened cream
200g mushrooms, sliced
chicken stock powder (optional)
1 tablespoon cornflour/flour
salt/pepper

Method

1. Cook the chicken according to preference and dice. Either pan fry/grill or boil it. I think pan frying is the tastiest but probably not the healthiest.

2. Make the sauce by sauteing mushrooms in some oil, when the mushrooms have softened remove them from the pan, into a bowl and stir through some cornflour or flour until the mushrooms absorb and look gluggly. Add cream back into the same pan, place the mushrooms back in, add in your seasoning. Simmer until sauce thickens.

3. Cook pasta and drain.

4. Grease baking dish, add chicken, sauce and pasta and mix through. Sprinkle genouroulsy with mozeralla cheese and cook in the oven until the top is golden brown and crusty.

5. Serve with salad.

Notes

You could omit the chicken if you didn't have any on hand.

Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

2008-10-15T15:54:00.008+11:00

Ingredients

1kg chicken breast, thinly sliced
Chicken Seasoning/Season All (Whatever you prefer to season with)
oil, salt

For the sauce

600ml thickened cream
400g mushrooms, sliced
chicken stock powder (optional)
2 tablespoons cornflour/flour
salt/pepper

Method

1. Cook the chicken according to preference. Either pan fry/grill it. I think pan frying is the tastiest but probably not the healthiest.

2. Make the sauce by sauteing mushrooms in some oil, when the mushrooms have softened remove them from the pan, into a bowl and stir through some cornflour or flour until the mushrooms absorb and look gluggly. Add cream back into the same pan, place the mushrooms back in, add in your seasoning. Simmer until sauce thickens.

3. Serve with some rice and/or salad.

Notes

If you have any leftovers, you can make chicken and mushroom pasta bake.

Tahini Cookies

2008-10-14T22:58:00.014+11:00

I had some Tahini left in the fridge that was annoying me, I came across this recipe from the Devletsah website and it was so simple I had to try it. These cookies are the melt in your mouth type, I enjoyed eating them because they don't contain any butter/margarine, so it seemed a little healthier than the usual shortbread type cookies.

Ingredients

1 cup Tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 cup icing sugar
1 cup oil
25g Vanillin Sugar
1 cup walnut pieces (cut into smaller chunks)
4.5 cups plain flour

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients together and form a soft dough

2. Rest the dough for 10 minutes under a wet tea towel

3. Divide dough into small balls, roll and flatten

4. Place cookies on a greased tray and cook in the oven for about 30 minutes. Until it looks golden brown

5. Dust with icing sugar whilst warm.

Carrot Yoghurt Dip

2008-07-18T22:05:00.026+10:00

Ingredients

6 carrots, grated
1 kg yoghurt
3-4 cloves garlic, minced

Method

1. Grate the carrots and saute in some oil until they are cooked. Don't overcook them.

2. Cool the cooked carrot.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the minced garlic and yoghurt, and salt and mix it together with the cooked carrot. You need to make sure the carrot is well cooled down before you mix it in with the yoghurt.

Easy Red Lentil Soup - Chunky Style (Kolay Kirmizi Mercimek Corbasi)

2008-06-09T10:44:00.023+10:00

There are so many ways to make lentil soup.... This is the way I love my lentil soup. It's the way my mum makes it, only my mum doesn't blend the soup at the end — she just leaves everything all chunky. Enjoy with lots of lemon :)

Ingredients

1 cup red lentils, picked and washed
1 cup chicken stock (optional)
7 cups water
1 onion, diced
3-4 tablespoons tomato paste
salt
vegetable oil

Method:

1. Pick through the lentils to ensure there are no stones, and wash a few times in water until the water runs clear.

2. Then place the lentils in water and leave it to boil. As the lentils boil, you will notice foam build up at the top of the pan, keep scooping this foam off with a big spoon until the lentils boil. Once boiled, turn off the heat and let the lentils sink to the bottom of the pan. The reason for this is its easier to drain some of the water without losing the lentils. So drain some of the water off the top and refill with hot water and let the lentils boil.

3. In a separate pan, heat up some vegetable oil and fry up the onions, add some hot water to the tomato paste so its runny then add this into the onion mixture.

4. Add the onion mixture to the lentils and mix. Add your salt.

5. Blend the soup if you wish.

6. When serving squeeze some lemon juice and enjoy with crusty bread.

Hummus

2008-06-03T09:55:00.010+10:00

I got this recipe from the Exclusively Food website. They suggest making this dip one day earlier so the flavours develop. I modified this recipe according to my taste buds - I like my hummus quite garlicky and lemony.

Ingredients

400g canned chickpeas, drained
salt to taste
3 medium cloves garlic, peel and mince
Juice of one lemon (you may need more depending on how juicy the lemon is)
2 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons tahini
2.5 tablespoons water

Method

Blend all ingredients together in a food processor until well combined. Easy!! You will need to taste it and see if you need to add any more garlic or lemon juice depending on how you like it.

Yoghurt Soup (Yayla Corba)

2008-02-21T23:36:00.013+11:00

I realised my previous yoghurt soup recipe was a little complicated and sometimes ended up a little too ricey. I have a new and improved recipe that is not only easier but much more tastier. (Photo still needs updating).

Ingredients

1 tablespoons flour
1 egg
1/4 cup rice, washed
2 cups yoghurt
5 cups water (may need to add more if the soup looks too thick)
salt (only add this at the very end so the soup doesn't curdle)

For the sauce to dress the soup:

3 tablespoons margarine
1 teaspoon mint
1 teaspoon paprika

Method

1. Wash rice and put in a pot. Add in the egg and yoghurt.

Mix together the egg, flour and rice and yoghurt. Once that is mixed evenly slowly add in the water whilst still mixing.

2. In a seperate pan, heat up your oil and add in flour. Brown until you loose the floury smell. Stir into the yoghurt mixture, making sure all ingredients are combined. Add in water and mix again.

3. On medium/high heat using a whisk continually mix the soup until it boils. Once it has boiled reduce the heat to low and simmer until the rice is cooked. Add in salt.

3. Once the rice is cooked, turn off the heat. Do not close the lid of the pot otherwise your soup may curdle - wait until it cools.

4. When serving the soup, in a seperate pan, melt the butter and add in the mint and fry it up a little, before the oil brown or burns add in paprika. This is your sauce to dress the soup. Enjoy with crusty bread.

Peri-Peri Chilli Chicken Burgers

2008-02-07T21:03:00.007+11:00

This burger is great for those days you just don't want to cook anything. You can either buy a pre-cooked roast chicken or buy yourself some chicken breasts and cook it up on the grill (George Foreman or something similar) or just pan fry. We used roast chicken for the above photo. These burgers were prepared by Foofer and his buddy Dilshan.

Ingredients

Pre-cooked Roast Chicken or chicken breast, grilled/pan fried.
Burger Buns
Tomatoes, sliced
Avocado, either mashed or sliced
Lettuce, sliced
Mayonnaise
Tomato Sauce
Peri-Peri Sauce Hot or Mild (This is a must!)

Method

1. If you are using chicken breast, slice it into thinner strips and cook whichever way you like.

2. Toast your buns

3. Butter buns, add tomato sauce, lettuce, tomato, chicken, avocado, tomato sauce and peri-peri sauce, top with mayonnaise and there you have it, your very own burger. Very easy and very yummy!

Cracked Wheat (Bulgur) Pilaf

2008-02-05T22:45:00.012+11:00

Ingredients

1 onion, diced
2 green chilli peppers (omit if you don't like chilli or you can substitute with red capsicum), diced
4 ripe Tomatoes, peeled and diced
1/2 cup cracked wheat (bulgur), washed
2 tablespoons Canola Oil (Olive oil if you prefer)
2 cups hot water
1 cube chicken stock powder, or use chicken stock if on hand (optional)

Method

1. Sweat the onion and peppers in the oil, add the tomatoes and cook on low heat crushing the tomatoes as you cook it.

2. Pour in the hot water and boil up the tomatoes, then turn the flame to low heat and add in the bulgur, let it simmer for 10 minutes.

3. Finally mix in the chicken stock powder and season with salt. I don't like my bulgur pilav too dry so i turn off the heat when its a little juicy.

I usually serve this dish with some chicken. In this instance I marinated some chicken drumsticks and potatoes with paprika,olive oil, salt and pepper and cooked in an oven bag for 1.5 hours at 180c.

Bocconcini Salad

2008-01-27T22:28:00.015+11:00

It doesn't get any easier than this! This was made by foofer. You could even have this for breakfast with some yummy crunchy toast.

Ingredients

1 large tomato, sliced
2 pieces of Bocconcini cheese, sliced
Olive oil
cracked black pepper
salt

Method

1. Layer up the tomato and cheese on a plate.

2. Drizzle some olive oil over the top, season with salt and pepper.

Black Eyed Pea Salad (Borulce Salatasi)

2008-01-23T22:31:00.011+11:00

Ingredients

1 Bunch Black Eyed Pea
2 lemons, juiced
2 tablespoon oil
1 onion, diced
1/4 cup water
Salt to taste

Method

1. Cut up the black eyed pea and boil in water.

2. Drain and set aside.

3. Add oil into a separate pan and saute the onion.

4. Add the boiled black eyed pea, lemon juice and water. Mix together for a minute on low heat, adding salt to taste.

Pumpkin Soup

2008-01-23T11:30:00.032+11:00

Ingredients

2 tablespoons canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1/2 kg peeled pumpkin, diced
1 medium potato, diced
1 cup chicken stock
water
cream for decoration when serving

Method

1. Cook onion in oil until softened.

2. Add pumpkin, potato and chicken stock, pour in water to cover the vegetables and bring to the boil.

3. Simmer for 30 minutes, add salt.

4. Blend the soup, you may need to do a few batches.

5. Return soup to pan, and reheat gently. Add some cream when serving.

This recipe is suitable to freeze. I have done it before and it tastes just as good. If you plan on freezing the soup, make sure you freeze without adding the cream.

dilzy's kitchen

Avocado Salad with Sumac (Sumakli Avokado Salatasi)

Banana Date Chocolate Chip Streusel Coffee Cake

Mushroom Saute (Mantar Sote)

Guacamole - Avocado Dip (Avokado Sos)

Sweet Coconut Pastry Dessert (Hindistan Cevizli Tatli)

Yoğurtlu Şehriye Çorbası (Yoghurt Soup with Risoni)

Choc Chip Blueberry Muffins

Karnabahar çorbası

Karnabahar çorbası

Karnabahar çorbası

Karnabahar çorbası

Karnabahar çorbası

Karnabahar çorbası

Foofer's Delight Pancakes

Potato Salad (Patates Salatasi)

Easy Apple Pie Cake (Elmali Turta)

Cracked Wheat (Bulgur) Pilaf with Chicken and Chickpea

Cracked Wheat Salad (Tabouli)

Stuffed Capsicums (Dolma)

Chocolate Baby Cupcakes

Pohca/ Poğaça (Cheese and Parsley Pastries)

Snowflake Coconut Balls

Pink Birthday Cake for Princess

Honey & Soy Chicken Stir Fry

Pink Love-Heart Cake

Potato and Broccoli Bake

Braised Diced Lamb

Red Cabbage Salad (Kirmizi Lahana Salatasi)

Chicken and Mushroom Pasta Bake

Chicken with Mushroom Sauce

Tahini Cookies

Carrot Yoghurt Dip

Easy Red Lentil Soup - Chunky Style (Kolay Kirmizi Mercimek Corbasi)

Hummus

Yoghurt Soup (Yayla Corba)

Peri-Peri Chilli Chicken Burgers

Cracked Wheat (Bulgur) Pilaf

Bocconcini Salad

Black Eyed Pea Salad (Borulce Salatasi)

Pumpkin Soup