Hot Spinach Dip

Martha Stewart Recipes

2 teaspoons olive oil, I use more

1 medium onion, diced

2-4 garlic cloves, minced

2 pounds spinach, 1 kilo, cleaned trimmed and coarsely chopped

½ cup milk

6 ounces cream cheese

3 plus dashes Worcestershire sauce

3 dashes plus tobasco sauce

(The Worcestershire and tobacco can be substituted with good Turkish spices and maybe soy sauce or a little rice vinegar).

¾ cup shredded mozzarella (I use stronger cheese)

Course salt and ground pepper

Baguette slices, breadsticks or crackers for serving

Preheat the oven to 425 F (200 C). In a large wok, heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook until lightly browned, about 5 minutes.

Add the spinach in two additions, allowing the first batch to wilt before adding the second batch. Cook until completely wilted. Transfer to a colander and drain, and press out excess liquid.

In the same wok, warm the milk over high heat, add the cream cheese and stir until melted. Add the spinach, Worcestershire, tobasco and ¼ cup of the mozzarella cheese. Put in a lightly greased pan and sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the top.

Bake until bubbly and golden brown, about 20 to 25 minutes. 

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.

Sausage and Cheese Kolaches- from Dave's Blog

I worked on a recipe from Dave's blog, Kolaches. They are great. So I thought I would share the link!
The International Texican, plus there are more good recipes there.
Yum!! Made Eggs Benedict and placed them on top of the Kolaches!

Lamb Shanks

This is one of Kelani’s favorite dishes. I have made some adjustments to the original recipe as I do not have the proper pots/pans.

4 lamb shanks
Flour, salt and spices for dipping the shanks in (I like the smoked red pepper flakes)
1/3 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 bunch of scallion, green onion chopped (including some of the green)
3 tomatoes cleaned and coarsely chopped
3 teaspoons oregano
3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 tablespoons red pepper paste
1 cup red wine
4 cups water (or lamb stock or beef stock)
2 carrots, diced
¼ cup coarsely chopped fresh Italian parsley

Heat oven to 375F, 190 C.

Dip the shanks in the flour mixture. Quickly fry them in the olive oil until lightly browned on all sides. Place shanks on a plate. Pour off excess oil and add the butter to the pan to melt. Cook garlic and scallions for about a minute stirring until soft but not browned. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, green pepper paste, oregano, wine and water, I also add the leftover flour mixture but this is optional. Bring liquid to a boil.

Place lamb shanks in a 9 X 13 pan, pour the hot liquid over them. Cover tightly with foil and place in oven for 1 hour. After an hour, add the chopped carrots and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

Remove from oven add the parsley and serve. I like to use a bowl and put mashed potatoes or baked French fries in the bottom before placing meat and sauce.

TMs Chicken Cordon Blue

4 skinless and boneless chicken breast halves

Salt
Pepper
Spinach pesto
Sliced Swiss cheese (I grated Emmental- two types don’t know as were Turkish)

Thinly sliced ham (we use thinly sliced beef as can’t find ham here very easily)
½ cup seasoned bread crumbs


Preheat oven to 175 C, 350 F. Butter a 9 X 11 (or smaller) baking dish.



Pound chicken breasts until they are 6 mm thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper. Place a spoonful of spinach pesto on each slice and spread. Place a slice of “ham”on each layer of pesto, and then a thin layer of grated cheese Roll this up and place a toothpick in the roll to keep it from unraveling.

Place rolled chicken in the greased pan and sprinkle the chicken evenly with the bread crumbs. I poured a little chicken broth in the bottom of the pan so that the leakage from the rolls would not burn. Place in oven and cook for about 30 minutes, until chicken is not pink. Take the pan out of the oven and sprinkle some cheese on top of the chicken pieces and cook for another five minutes.

Take out the oven, remove the toothpick and enjoy. I suggest serving with a little red sauce to enhance the flavors.

Spicy Peach Chutney

4 pounds (2 kilos) sliced peeled peaches
1 cup raisins, I like the yellow raisins
3 or 4 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup chopped onion
½ cup preserved ginger (I used the pickled stuff you use for sushi b/c I don’t have preserved ginger)
1 ½ tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon mustard seeds
1 teaspoon curry powder
4 cups sugar plus 1 ½ tablespoons molasses (OR 4 cups brown sugar)
4 cups apple cider vinegar
¼ cup pickling spice tied up into cheesecloth

In a large heavy pot, stir together all the ingredients (add the cheesecloth wrapped spices last).

Bring to a boil and cook, uncovered, over medium heat until the mixture is the consistency you want it to be. This will take about 1.5 to 2 hours. Stir frequently so that the bottom does not burn.

Take out the spice bag and ladle the mixture into hot, sterilized jars. Wipe rims and seal closed, then place in lightly simmering water bath for 10 minutes. This will seal the jars so that you do not have to refrigerate them until you have opened the jar- if you skip this step you will have to keep the mixture in the refrigerator.