I once created a cooking class, called 'Zen in the Kitchen'. Then wrote a book called the same. Then started the group with that name and the blog came after. All this happened in Turkish. Now is the time for the English version of it. Let's see what will cook here!

Friday, October 19, 2007

Pickles pickles


These peppers are from the market. The tuesday market in Antalya. From a very colorful fall market. Incredibly beautiful. You see all colors; purple, red, green, yellow, orange... These are all peppers. They are hot. Extremely hot. Some people eat them, some don't. They make a special pickle with these, with tomatoes. What you do is to buy half a kilo of these peppers. Wash them. Then cut just a little from the bottom or make a little hole with a needle or a knife. You then need lots of tomatoes. Grated tomatoes. At least two kilos, even more. And lots of garlic, 4-5 heads of it. You have to add 3 tablespoons of seasalt. Mix'em well and put in a glass jar. You may want to cover them with celery leaves, to give a nice flavor. You may also add few daphne leaves, for additional flavor. Cover it well and keep it in a cold, dark place. At least for few weeks. Your hot hot pickly pickles are ready to eat. They are ready, are you?

Saturday, October 06, 2007

Simple, cheap, tasty


Sometimes the cheapest and the simplest ingredients are all you need, to create a tasty dish. The whole wheat for example, I purchased it from an old villager woman. It cost me less than a dollar per kilo. Onions, garlic, they're always in our pantry right? So all we need is to buy celery, red and green peppers, to make this dish. Whole wheat needs to be soaked in water for at least 4-5 hours. Then you need to boil it, as you boil dried beans. You must know how to sautee onions and vegetables, so I don't need to tell you what to do. I use virgin olive oil, sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, sautee onions first, then add peppers and celery. Last, I mix all the ingredients and cook for few more minutes. That's it. Yes, I truly believe that to cook a tasty meal, you don't need fancy and expensive ingredients. Usually, it's the opposite, like the life itself. Isn't it so?