Menemen - Turkish breakfast of scrambled eggs

I have always loved making menemen for breakfast.  And even though I’m trying so hard not to have eggs everyday for my early morning meal, I still make menemen once in a while (at least once in a week) to satisfy my appetite for this delicious Turkish-style scrambled eggs.  If you’ll ask me why, its because in making a single serving of menemen, you just don’t consume one whole egg but at least 2-3 more.  Now I don’t want to have too much eggs in my diet, so I have to stick to my rule that I should only have menemen once or at most twice a week.  And most of the time,  I do prefer to have menemen on my breakfast table during a lazy weekend.  

How to Make Mushroom Saute – Mantar Sote

Mushroom sauté or more commonly called in Turkish as mantar sote is one of the many delicious quick and easy dishes you can make at home. First of all, it is one of my favorite side dishes that include mushrooms.  I just love the taste of mushrooms! It's even one of the major ingredients I want in my pizza.

Pirasali Borek, Turkish Leeks-Filled Puff Pastry

Mondays in the place I live in are usually the best time to shop for fresh produce such as fruits and vegetables that come straight from the farmers’ garden as well as fish, yogurts, cheese of every variety and everything else that’s not just food. This happens every week in our mahalle where an outdoor street market is often held on this particular day which we traditionally call açık pazar or open market. Almost every mahalle in Istanbul has it, though as I've said earlier the open markets in every town or city are scheduled differently at a particular day every week.

Turkish Pilaki - Delicious bean starters and side dish

Pilaki, a kind of Turkish starter or side dish (known in Turkey as meze) is usually cooked in thick sauce made mainly with olive oil, carrots, potatoes, garlic, tomatoes, green peppers, and onions.

Pilaki dishes made with white beans (fasulye pilaki) and borlotti beans (barbunya pilaki) are the most commonly cooked in Turkish kitchens.  Pilaki dishes may be served warm or cold - depending on individual preferences and are usually garnished with parsley or drizzled with fresh lemon juice.

Bulgur Pilavi - Nutritious Bulgur Pilaf Recipe

Bulgur pilaf, also called bulgur pilavi in Turkish is a very nutritious pilaf made from wheat and is one of the many pilaf varieties in Turkish cuisine.  It is usually served with meat dishes such as kofte (meat balls), kebap (kebab), izgara (grilled meats) and casserole dishes. Usually, red tomatoes, onions, green peppers, olive oil, and other spices are usually added in making bulgur pilaf to make delicious and healthy side dish.

Ispanakli börek for a healthy breakfast.

Come winter and every kind of freshly baked börek is a welcome sight in every Turkish breakfast table.  Obviously,  we are in the month of December where one can easily feel the winter chill not only in Istanbul but also in the other towns and cities as well as other regions of Turkey.  This also means, its time to have something deliciously hot in the kitchen table to snack on.  Yes, I mean cold winters would go well with steamy or sizzling hot foods.