Last session of Turkish Cooking classes was last Saturday, December 5th. We had a very exciting "Sarma Competition". All participants were very good at making sarma's, however, who could make as many and as beautiful rolls in 5 minutes was the winner.
Janie, the winner of the Sarma Competition with her special gift.Melanie received "Chef's Special Gift" upon attending all classes this semester.Fine Bulgur Salad Cooking Class Completion Certificate Ceremony. Melanie and Tawa President Ipek Isikli. Janie and Mrs. Isikli Turkish Pastry
It was a great time, thank you all very much, especially our chef, Nevin and everybody in the cooking class team. We are so grateful for these fantastic classes and recipes. Not to mention the students, it would not have been any good without your presence :) We will have a semester break and our classes for the Spring semester will start in January.
BOREK (Turkish pastry) Ingredients 1 package Turkish style triangle phyllo dough 1 cup feta cheese 1 cup finely chopped parsley ½ tablespoon flour oil
Mash feta cheese and mix with parsley and flour. Put down one teaspoon of feta cheese on the large side of the triangle shaped phyllo dough, fold the two edges inside and roll towards the pointing edge. Deep fry in oil.
KISIR (Fine bulgur salad) Ingredients 2 cups fine bulgur 2 cups hot water 5 green onions ½ bunch of parsley 1 onion 2 tomatoes 1 cucumber 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1 tablespoon red pepper paste 5 pickled cucumbers Olive oil 1 lemon Black pepper, red pepper, salt Romaine lettuce
REVANI (Semolina dessert) Ingredients 4 eggs 1,5 cups sugar 1 cup yogurt 1 package vanilla 1 package baking powder 1 cup flour 1,5 cup semolina Syrup 5 cups sugar 5 cups water few drops of lemon juice
Whisk eggs with sugar and vanilla, add yogurt and continue to whisk. Add flour, semolina and baking powder, mix well and pour onto an oil sprayed tray. Bake at 350F. Prepare the syrup by boiling water and sugar, add the lemon juice after it reaches the boil and continue to boil for 7-10 minutes. Pour hot syrup on to cooled cake. Serve with dried coconut flakes.
We have a jury of talented experienced cooks for the Sarma competition. The winner would definitely have a special gift but also all students will get Turkish Cooking Classes completion certificates.
Come join us on December 5th and let's enjoy healthy and tasty brunch specials.
After this class we will have a semester break and our classes for the Spring semester will start in January.
Our fifth session of Turkish Cooking Classes was today. We had a great time learning and sharing our knowledge on dishes of the menu which included:
Winter Salad Baked Trout Fish Rice with Almonds Rolled Baklava
In the mean time, we introduced some new Turkish words especially the words for the dishes of the menu. We had fun learning the correct pronunciations of words by "repeat after me" method :)
Come join us for the next cooking class. It is a lot of fun and you get way more than what you pay for. Plus, if you would be coming for the first time, guess what, yes you are going to be our guest! Hope to see you all on December 5th!
Students also had the chance to try making rolled baklava themselves and we found out that they were all very good at this.
Ingredients Trout fish 2 finely chopped tomatoes Lemon and pepper seasoning Olive oil Salt ½ cup parsley leaves
Wash the trout fish, marinate with olive oil and seasoning. Place them on an oven tray. Sprinkle chopped tomatoes and parsley leaves on the fish. Bake at 350F until tender.
RICE WITH ALMONDS
Ingredients 2 cups white rice ¾ stick butter 2 cups hot water Salt Almonds
Soak the rice in salty warm water for 15 minutes. Drain the water and rinse the rice well. Stir the rice with half stick butter for couple minutes and add salt. Add boiled water and close the lid. Cook on low heat until the water is drained. In a separate pot, melt the remaining butter and roast the peeled almonds. Serve the rice with roasted almonds on top.
WINTER SALAD
Ingredients 2 carrots 5 small radish ½ red cabbage Romaine lettuce Lemon juice, olive oil, salt
Grate the carrots and radishes. Slice the red cabbage thin and rub with salt. Slice the lettuce and mix them all. Sprinkle lemon juice and olive oil before serving.
Syrup 2,5 cups sugar 2,5 cups water Few drops of lemon juice
Defrost the phyllo dough in the refrigerator the day before. Bring the phyllo to room temperature before beginning, and do not open the package until the filling has been prepared and you're ready to start making the pastry. Lay two layers of phyllo dough and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of melted butter. Spread 2 tablespoons of walnut on the long side and roll with a thin stick. Constrict the two edges towards the center and remove the stick carefully. Cut the roll into 4 equal pieces, place onto an oven tray tightly. Sprinkle the remaining melted butter on top and bake at 350F. In a separate pot add 2,5 cups of sugar and 2,5 cups of water and bring it to a boil. Squeeze few drops of lemon juice and boil around 5 minutes. Add warm syrup onto cooled baklava.
TAWA organized the fourth session of Cooking Classes for Fall 2009 this Saturday, November 7th. We had a great time learning Shepherd's Salad, Sarma (Stuffed Grape leaves), Roasted chicken with Mushrooms and Pyramid Cake. Students had the chance to learn rolling Sarmas individually and get prepared for the upcoming "Making Best Sarma" competition on December 5th. Roasted Chicken with Mushrooms was delicious and everybody loved how easy and how tasty Tea Biscuit Cake could be!
Do not hesitate to e mail us for your questions and comments. To RSVP for our next class on November 21th, simply send an e-mail to contact@tawadallas.org
In a separate pot, mix the melted butter with flour and add the milk. Stir milk and flour until it reaches a pudding thickness. Add some salt and spread over the chicken. Sprinkle some grated mozzarella cheese and bake until cheese gets golden brown.
Cut the onion from middle, slice thinly. Add half teaspoon salt; rub salt and onion and then rinse to remove the salt. Add cubed cucumbers, tomatoes and chopped mint and parsley.Pour olive oil, lemon juice and salt right before serving.
PYRAMID CAKE
Ingredients
1 cup flour
1,5 cup sugar
4 tablespoons cocoa
5 cups milk
1 tablespoon butter
1 egg yolk
2 packages of tea biscuits
½ cup coconut
Mix flour, sugar and cocoa in a medium size pot. Add milk and butter and constantly stir on medium heat until it reaches pudding thickness. Add the egg yolk and mix well, remove the pudding from the heat.
Dip one biscuit into the pudding and place vertically into a rectangular pyrex tray and follow by a non dipped biscuit. Continue with one dipped and one non-dipped biscuit. Spread the remaining pudding onto the cake. When cools, sprinkle coconut on the cake.
Third session of Cooking Classes was this Saturday. We had three Azerbaijani cooks, Sevinc, Asmar and Pervin. Not only they taught how to cook four delicious Azerbaijani dishes, they also danced and sang for us. We had a lovely afternoon enjoying new taste of freshly cooked dishes and also had the pleasure of meeting new Cooking Class students. If you have missed this class, do not worry! RSVP for our next class on November 7th. Before the class
Pervin, Sevinc and Asmar
This is our class. We had many new students.. Serving Dumpling Soup with garlic in vinegar.. Preparing Chicken Salad
Chicken Salad is ready..
Making Zebra Cake Seeing on the computer screen is not enough, you should come and taste it. Especially for the dumpling soup, you need to be trained by the cooks to learn the right way to fold it. We are thankful to our cooks, we all had a great time. Hope to see you next time!
DUMPLING SOUP / DUSHBERE Ingredients 2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for kneading
½ teaspoon salt
1 egg
2/3 cups water
Filling
8 oz / 225g ground lamb or beef
1 small onion, finely chopped or grated
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
Broth
3 tablespoons oil (corn or vegetable) or butter
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/3 teaspoon salt
8 cups water
To serve
About 6 tablespoons grape vinegar mixed with 2 gloves crushed garlic
CHICKEN SALAD WITH BELL PEPPERS Serves 4 Ingredients 1 pound (450 g) skinless boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 teaspoon salt, for boiling
1 medium fresh cucumber, peeled (you can substitute with pickled cucumber)
2 medium carrots, boiled and peeled
1 medium green bell pepper, cored and seeded
1 medium red bell pepper, cored and seeded
1 medium yellow or orange bell pepper, cored and seeded
1/3 cup or more, to taste, fresh chopped dill
salt, to taste
ground black pepper, to taste
For the dressing:
4 tablespoons lite mayonnaise (You can also mix 2 tablespoons of mayonnaise with 2 tablespoons of sour cream)
Method:
1. Place the chicken in a pot with about four cups of water. Add salt. Bring to a boil. Cook for about 20 minutes or until chicken is tender. Drain and set aside. When cool enough to handle, cut the chicken into julienne (long thin) strips using knife or tear it using your hands.
2. Cut the cucumber, carrots and bell peppers, into julienne (long thin) strips.
3. In a mixing bowl, combine the chicken, vegetables, and fresh dill. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to mix. Serve slightly chilled.
FRESH HERB OMLETTE / KUKU Ingredients 4 cups chopped fresh cilantro (coriander)
4 cup chopped fresh dill
2 cup chopped fresh green onions
1 cup chopped fresh mint
1 cup chopped fresh spinach (optional, can be substituted with cilantro)
1cup chopped fresh green garlic, green parts only
8 eggs
salt, ground black pepper
8 tablespoons unsalted butter
garlicky-yogurt sauce
In a large mixing bowl, combine the chopped fresh herbs and eggs. Add salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly.
Melt the butter in a medium frying pan over medium heat.
Pour the herb-egg mixture into the pan to fill it completely, leveling it with the back of a spoon or by slighlty tilting the pan. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown on the bottom. Using a knife, carefully cut the omlette into 4 wedges (or smaller ones), and with the help of a spatula, gently turn them over to brown the other side for another 10 minutes. Add more butter if needed. Remove from heat. Transfer the ommlette wedges onto a serving platter. Serve immediately with garlicky-yogurt sauce and bread on the side or as the addition to rice pilaf. Or, chill it and serve as an appetizer.
ZEBRA CAKE Ingredients 4 large eggs, at room temperature
1 cup (8 oz / 250 g) granulated sugar
1 cup (8 fl oz / 250 ml) milk, at room temperature
1 cup (8 fl oz / 250 ml) oil (corn, vegetable or canola is fine)
2 cups (10 oz / 300 g) all-purpose flour
1/3 teaspoon vanilla powder
1 tablespoon (equals 3 teaspoons) baking powder (if not available, substitute with 1 teaspoon baking soda)
2 tablespoons dark cocoa powder (make sure it is not very bitter) such as Dutch-processed
In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and sugar. Using an electric mixer beat until the mixture is creamy and light in color. Add milk and oil, and continue beating until well blended. In a separate bowl, combine and mix flour, vanilla powder and baking powder. Gradually add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and beat just until the batter is smooth and the dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated. DO NOT OVERBEAT to prevent air pockets from forming in the batter. Divide the mixture into 2 equal portions. Keep one portion plain. Add cacao powder into another and mix well. Preheat the oven to 350F (180C). Lightly grease the pan with oil. Scoop 3 heaped tablespoons of plain batter into the middle of the baking pan. Then scoop 3 tablespoons of cacao batter and pour it in the center on top of the plain batter.
Third session of Turkish cooking classes Fall 2009 will be held on October 24th. We will be enjoying Turkic dishes such as Dumpling soup, Chicken Salad, Spinach Dish and Zebra Cake.
Second session of Turkish Cooking Classes was held on October 10th. As always, we had a great time learning, tasting and enjoying new dishes from Mediterranean cuisine. Do not worry if you have missed this class, join us on October 24th for the next one!
Turkish black tea was served in its original way..
Potato SoupFreshly Baked Moist Cacao Cookies
Manisa Kebabs
They were all very delicious..We are grateful to our cooks Nevin Gezgin and Zuhal Torlak. Thank you very much!...
Turkish American Women Association (TAWA) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and stimulating an interest in the colorful and diverse culture of the Turkish community in America. Encouraged by the extreme diversity present in the United States, TAWA was founded in 2003 to represent Turkish culture and to foster cultural interaction between the Turkish and American communities. Utilizing the positive role and effect of women in society and drawing on the feminine values of compassion and understanding, we believe that we can serve as a bridge between the Turkish and American communities. We provide a wide variety of programs and activities ranging from cooking class, Turkish class, picnics, charitable events and community events.
How To Register for Cooking Classes?
Turkish Cooking Classes are organized by TAWA volunteers and whoever is interested in learning more about Mediterranean Cuisine or Turkish Cooking Styles can enroll for the classes. Registration fee is $50 for semester (6 classes) or $10 per class. Registration fee is accepted as cash or checks.
Classes are held in Turkish Cultural Center: Address: 1416 E.Collins Blvd. Richardson, TX
RSVP before classes is required. Please RSVP to: contact@tawadallas.org
Janie, the winner of the Sarma Competition with her special gift.
Melanie received "Chef's Special Gift" upon attending all classes this semester.
Fine Bulgur Salad
Cooking Class Completion Certificate Ceremony. Melanie and Tawa President Ipek Isikli.
Janie and Mrs. Isikli
Turkish Pastry
Students also had the chance to try making rolled baklava themselves and we found out that they were all very good at this.
Turkish black tea was served in its original way..
Potato Soup
Posts
