Cream of Mushroom Soup

From the Joy of Cooking

Prepare for cooking:

½ pound (250 grams) mushrooms with stems

Sauté lightly in

2 tablespoons butter (1 ounce or 25 grams)

Add them to:

 2 cups stock

 ½ cup chopped celery (or celeriac)
 ¼ cup chopped onion (I use more)
 2 tablespoons shredded parsley

Simmer covered 20 minutes. Drain the vegetables, keep the liquid, and put the vegetables through the food processor.
(I put all of it through the blender).

Make a white sauce (or béchamel sauce- see below for instructions)

Pour the liquid slowly into the white sauce, cook and stir until the sauce almost reaches a boil, add the vegetables (I just put it all into together). Heat but DO NOT BOIL.

Season the soup with:

½ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon paprika (I use more and Turkish spices)

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg (optional)
3 tablespoon dry white wine (optional)

Garnish with paprika and chopped chives

 White Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

1 ½ to 2 tablespoons flour

1 cup warm milk

Melt the butter over low heat. Add the flour and blend for 3 to 5 minutes. Slowly stir in the warm milk. Cook and stir the sauce with a wire whisk until thickened and smooth. (If you get a thick sauce with lumps you can try putting it through the blender to see if that helps).

Zucchini Fritters- Kabak Mϋcveri

I have modified this recipe a little. One of my students posted a recipe for the fritters and I decided to combine the two recipes and am quite happy with the results.

1 ½ pounds small firm zucchini (courgette), grated (4 cups)

2 carrots, grated
1 bunch scallions trimmed and finely chopped (or if you do not have enough, grate some onion or add anyway)
1 red or yellow bell pepper
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, finely chopped
2 tablespoons finely chopped dill
3 eggs
1 tablespoon paprika
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 ounces (250 grams) crumbled feta cheese
1 cup flour
Vegetable oil for frying

 Combine grated zucchini and carrots in a colander, sprinkle with salt and let it drain at least 15 minutes. Squeeze out the excess juice and place mixture in a large bowl, add onion, bell pepper, dill, parsley, eggs, and paprika-mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in feta cheese and flour a little at a time and incorporate them well.

 Heat oil in a skillet. Scoop out tablespoonfuls of the mixture and gently drop into the hot oil. (Do not crowd them in the skillet). Fry them all over until they are golden brown, about five minutes. Drain on paper towel.