4th session of Turkish Cooking Classes was held on Saturday, February 20th. We all had great time enjoying freshly cooked dishes and funny "Temel jokes" of Black Sea region. We also enjoyed meeting our new cooking class students. Don't worry if you have missed this class, join us on March 6th for the next session! :))

How to place anchovy into pan

Fried Anchovy

Black Sea Flat Bread with Cheese

Green Salad

Butternut Squash Dessert

Time to enjoy! :))

Session # 4 Recipes

Turkish Cooking Class February 20th Menu

FRIED ANCHOVY

Ingredients:

2 lbs anchovy (cleaned and washed)

1 cup corn flour

Salt

For frying:

1 teaspoon butter

2 teaspoons corn oil

Mix corn flour and salt in a large bowl. Coat the fish with the flour and shake off the excess flour. Place the fish into a pan with oil and butter. Turn them upside down after frying one side and add more oil to the pan.

BLACKSEA FLAT BREAD WITH CHEESE

Ingredients:

1 and 1/3 cups water

2 tablespoons milk powder (optional)

1 and ½ tablespoons salt

1 tablespoon sugar

2 tablespoons butter or margarine

3 and ¼ cups flour

1 tablespoon yeast

Filling:

Feta cheese

Chopped parsley

1 egg

Make dough using the above ingredients. Knead well until it becomes smooth. Cut egg-sized pieces and Cover them with a clean damp cloth, put aside for 10 minutes. Crumble feta cheese and mix with chopped parsley. Give an oval shape to the dough pieces with a rolling pin. Spread the filling on the each dough. Fold the sides towards the inside. Beat the egg and place 1 tablespoon onto each pide. Bake the pides in hot oven until the color turns pink. Spread some butter after removing from the oven.

GREEN SALAD

Ingredients:

Romaine lettuce

Tomatoes

Carrots

Red onion

Reddish

Canned corn

Olive oil

Lemon juice

Salt

Slice the onions in half ring shape, add ½ teaspoon salt and rub the onions with salt. Wash the onions and drain. Chop all the other ingredients and mix with onions. Whish olive oil, lemon juice and salt and pour all over.

BUTTERNUT SQUASH DESSERT

Ingredients:

1 large butternut squash

3 cups sugar

1/3 cup water

chopped hazelnut

Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds and pulp. Peel the butternut squash. Cut into 1-inch chunks. Place them carefully into a pot and add 1/3 cups of water and sugar. Close the lid and simmer over medium to low heat for 40 minutes or until tender. Remove from heat and allow it to cool. Refrigerate for two hours. Garnish each serving with 2 tsp. chopped hazelnut.

Dessert may be prepared up to a day ahead and refrigerated (covered tightly with plastic wrap).

Session # 4 @ February 20th

Session # 3 Photos

TAWA organized the 3rd session of Turkish Cooking Class on Saturday, February 6th. It was a lot of fun to learn about Mediterranean Region and its special and very delicious dishes. Here're some photos of this session!

Fellah vegetarian balls before boiling

How to make stuffed zucchini

Stuffed Zucchini (Kabak Dolmasi)

Fellah Vegetarian Balls (Fellah Koftesi)

Semolina Helvah (Irmik Helvasi)

Yogurt (Yogurt)

and enjoy the feast!! :)

Session # 3 Recipes

Turkish Cooking Class February 6th Menu

STUFFED ZUCCHINI WITH YOGURT

Ingredients:

6 zucchinis

Stuffing

½ cup rice

1 onion

2 teaspoon dried mint

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon dill weed

1 tablespoon tomato or red pepper paste

½ pound ground beef

2 tablespoons butter

2 tomatoes

Wash and drain the rice. Chop the onion and crush the tomatoes. Mix all the ingredients for the stuffing thoroughly. Wash the zucchinis and cut from the middle so you will have two pieces from each zucchini, carve out the insides. Stuff the zucchini and leave some room at the top for rice to expand. Place the stuffed zucchinis into a pot. Place a small butter cube on all zucchinis and place a tomato slice on the top. Pour hot water from the side about an inch long and cook at low heat around 30 minutes.

FELLAH VEGETARIAN BALLS

Ingredients:

2 cups fine bulgur

2 cups hot water

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon tomato paste

½ teaspoon ground cumin

1 egg

1 tablespoon lemon juice, Salt

Sauce

1 tablespoon sour pomegranate molasses

3-4 grated tomatoes

3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ tablespoon oil

1 teaspoon tomato paste

Black pepper, red pepper

Chopped parsley

Dried mint flakes

Salt

In a bowl wet bulgur with hot water. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or a lid and let soak for 10 minutes. Later, add tomato paste and ground cumin and knead about 15 minutes. Add the flour and egg and make dough. Take dime size pieces from the mix and roll it in between your palms. Press on top with your index finger, use warm water to wet your hand to prevent sticking and place then on a tray. In a big pot add about 2 quarts of water, salt and lemon juice and boil. Throw the balls in boiling water slowly. Boil the button shaped balls about 15-20 minutes and drain the water after they are cooked. Meantime, prepare the sauce by putting the oil into a pan and mixing it with tomato paste, grated tomatoes and minced garlic. Simmer them all until cooked. Add sour pomegranate molasses last and turn off the heat. Add salt, black pepper, red pepper, dried mint and parsley as desired. Serve fellah balls with the sauce.

YOGURT

4 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons plain yogurt

Boil the milk in a pot and let it cool down at room temperature until you can put your finger in few seconds. Milk should be quite warm but not too hot. Lay a towel or a cloth on your kitchen bench and place the pot on it. Mix the plain yogurt into the milk and close the lid of the pot. Cover the pot with the cloth well. Let it incubate 8-10 hours in winter and 6-8 hours during summer days. You can serve yogurt after it is refrigerated at least one day.

SEMOLINA HALVAH

Ingredients:

1 lb semolina

2 cups milk

2 cups water

3 cups sugar

2 sticks butter

½ cup pine nuts

Boil milk and water with 1,5 cup sugar. In a separate pot, stir roast pine nuts with butter, add semolina and fry until nuts turn brown (not too much). Turn the heat off, pour the syrup on the semolina and mix them well. Close the lid of the pot while still on the stove until all the syrup is absorbed. Remove the pot from the stove and spread 1,5 cups sugar, mix very well and close the lid. Stir everything again 5 minutes later and close the lid. Serve with coconut flakes or cinnamon.

Session # 3 February 6th