Tag Archives: made in adana

Chicken Chalupas – Made in Adana

This week’s Made in Adana Recipe for Chicken Chalupas is from page 243 of the “I Need Help in Turkey Cookbook.”  I was very happy with how this recipe turned out, it was really tasty, something a little different, and all of us loved it. Here’s how I made it.  Note that the recipe below, which we made, is for a half recipe.  Double everything and use a full size cake pan for a larger batch.

Step 1:  Chop two large chicken breasts into a few pieces and boil them in water on the stovetop until completely cooked (20-30 min).  When it’s finished, you should be able to cut the largest piece in half, and the inside will be totally white.  I added some pepper corns, a sprig of rosemary and salt while the chicken was cooking (optional).

Chicken boiled with 2 sprigs rosemary, peppercorns, bay leaf and salt

< While the chicken is boiling>

Step 2: Grease a small cake pan

Step 3: In a large bowl combine the following:

  • 1 package of Labne Peynir (200g light Cream Cheese)
  • 1 small can of green chilies (optional)
  • 2 green onions chopped up
  • ½ c black olives – chopped up
  • 150 g kaşar peynir
Chicken Chalupa Ingredients

Boiled Chicken, Ceam of Chicken Soup Packet (Kremali Tavuk Çorbası) Kaşar Cheese, Labne Cheese, Green Onions, Black Olives

(preheat the oven to 350F/180C)

Step 4: After the chicken is cooked, take out the chicken, and set it aside to cool a bit.  Use some of the broth from the chicken to mix up one packet of cream of chicken soup.  Use half of the required water for the soup packet.  Mix up the soup well, and then add the soup to the mixture in the bowl.  Mix it all up well, and then set aside 1 Cup of the cheesy mixture.  Shred the chicken into really fine pieces and add it to the sauce bowl.

Chicken All Chopped Up

The Chicken Shredded, Cheese Sauce Assembled, 1 Cup set aside, Cheese for the top shredded.

Step 5: Fill 6 tortillas with the cheese/sauce/chicken mix. Roll them up and put them in the cake pan.

Stuffing Chicken Chalupas

Stuffing Chicken Chalupas with cheese mixture

Step 6: pour the remaining sauce over the top of the tortillas.  Cover with shredded cheese.  Bake for 35-40 minutes. Serve

Chicken Chalupas Ready for the Oven

Chicken Chalupas Ready for the Oven

Chicken Chalupa Dinner

Chicken Chalupa Dinner - unfortunately the black olives colored everything a little pink.

Shopping List

  • 6 Large Flour Tortillas
  • 2 Large Chicken Breasts
  • 1 Package of Cream of Chicken Soup
  • 1 Package of Labne Peynir (200g)
  • 300 g Kaşar Peynir
  • 2 green onions
  • 1 can green chillies (optional)
  • ½ cup sliced black olives

Quiche (easier than you think) – Made in Adana

Quiche (easier than you think) – Made in Adana

This week’s Made in Adana recipe is a day late.  Sorry for that.  This week’s recipe is Quiche from page 98 of the I Need Help in Turkey Cookbook.  My sister Laura fixed it for breakfast on Easter morning and it was the perfect food for an Easter breakfast.

Here’s how it’s made.

  • Step 1. You’re going to need a pie crust spread in a pie tin or a square pyrex pan.  If you don’t have a pie crust recipe that you use regularly, try Mark Bittman’s Flaky Pie Crust from the book How To Cook Everything.  I’ve been using that recipe for about a year now and it’s never failed me.
  • Step 2: Saute a 1-1/2 to 2 cups of vegetables (whichever are in season).  You can try mushrooms, onions, zucchini, red pepper, leeks…. Whatever.  Just make it a nice mix.  You may want to add steamed spinach, olives or minced jambon. You want about 2 cups of food.
  • Step 3: mix 3 eggs, 1 cup milk, 1 cup cheese, a dash of salt all together in a big mixing bowl
  • Step 4:  Add the mixture from step 2
  • Step 5: Pour into the pie shell.  Bake at 180⁰ C (350⁰ F) for about 20-25 min.  When it’s done, you’ll be able to stick a knife in it, and it’ll come out clean.
  • Enjoy.

This one is ready for Quiche

Enjoyed by both kids

Made in Adana: is a collection of recipes posted every Wednesday for wonderful foods that can be made with ingredients purchased right here in Adana (or anywhere in Turkey.) Most recipes are from the “Help I’m In Turkey Cookbook” which I hope to have available here soon.

Whole Grain Pancake Recipe from Scratch – Made in Adana

Whole Grain Pancake Recipe from Scratch

Made in Adana

This week’s Made in Adana recipe is a bit of a detour from the “I Need Help in Turkey Cookbook.”  We’ve made these pancakes at least 2 times a week for the last 6 months. Rana and I love it, the kids love it, and it’s super healthy.  This recipe comes from the cookbook Nourishing Traditions by Sally Fallon.

This cookbook was recommended to us by our friends Adam and Hanni last summer when we were in Minnesota, and I have to say that it’s a treasure trove of information about eating a more traditional diet.  We’ve only just started to dig in, but this book has really helped us to develop a mindset of avoiding packaged foods and preferring traditionally prepared foods.  This recipe itself has been worth the cost of the entire book.

Here’s how you make them (this recipe is actually a half batch, more than enough for me, Rana, Aksel and Mia).  Note that you need to start this recipe the night before you intend to eat it.

Step 1: (The night before eating) Mix 1 cup of Whole Grain flour and 1 cup of plain yogurt in a bowl.  Leave it to sit on the counter to soak overnight.  If you live in America, you’d better be making your own yogurt, because it’s dang expensive.  Here in Turkey, it’s super affordable.

Setp 2: (The next morning) add one egg, ¼ tsp sea salt, ½ tsp baking soda (kabartma tozu), 1Tbsp melted butter. Stir well (this is a good time for a helper)

Step 3: spoon out the mixture onto a hot cast iron skillet or other frying pan.  Cook them like normal pancakes.  Serve fresh (they lose a lot when they’re cold)

Step 4: Top with butter and Maple Syrup or Honey.

I have to say that if you want a great source of Maple Syrup or Honey, check out Sapsucker Farms owned by our friends Jim and Debbie Morrison.  Their honey and syrup are very affordable while being certified organic.  They’re a mom and pop operation run by really cool people in my home town of Mora, Minnesota.  We actually bring Syrup and Honey with us from the US, it’s that good.  They ship worldwide and have just bottled this year’s maple syrup.

Made in Adana: is a collection of recipes posted every Wednesday for wonderful foods that can be made with ingredients purchased right here in Adana (or anywhere in Turkey.) Most recipes are from the “Help I’m In Turkey Cookbook” which I hope to have available here soon.

Best Ever Meatloaf – Made in Adana

Best Ever Meat Loaf – Made in Adana.

Adapted from page 180 of The “I Need Help in Turkey” Cookbook.

Rana made this meat loaf and it turned out amazing.  She made one mistake; she cooked it a few hours before dinner time and we left it in the oven over the afternoon, so it was a bit dry by dinner time.  Other than that, the flavor, the texture, everything was amazing as a meatloaf dinner, and the next day as a Meatloaf Sandwich (I used to love those at Boston Market… does Boston Market still exist, I wonder?)  This is a great and easy recipe.  I recommend having the beef ground in front of you, so you know what you’re getting.  This is Turkey after all.

This all brought back good memories of my grandpa who died when I was in grade school.  We used to have meatloaf at grandma and grandpas on Sundays after church quite often.   The smell and flavor of meatloaf always reminds me of him.  I wish I could have cooked with him.  He loved to be in the kitchen.

Step 1. Beat 2 eggs, add 2/3 cup of milk and 3 slices of bread that have had the crusts removed and cubed.  Wait 5 minutes.

Step 2. Stir in the following:

  • ½ cup finely chopped onion
  • ½ cup grated carrot
  • 1 cup shredded kaşar cheese
  • 1 Tbsp parsley (chopped)
  • 1 tbsp salt
  • 1 tbsp dried basil/thyme/sage (optional)
  • ¼ tbsp pepper.

Setp 3: Add 750 gr. Ground beef and mix very well.

Step 4: On the oven tray, shape the mixture into a loaf.  Bake for 45 min at 350⁰ F.

Step 5: Combine ½ c tomato sauce (2 T. Tomato paste with 6T. Water) + 1/3 cup honey (or ½ cup brown sugar) + 1tsp mustard.

Meat Loaf after adding the sauce.

 

Setp 6: After the 45 minutes, add the sauce to the top of the meat loaf.  Cook for about 30 more minutes, occasionally adding more sauce to the top.

You’ll know it’s done where it’s firm and there is no longer any pink inside.  If you have a thermometer, it’s supposed to be 160⁰ F inside.

Almost Done

 

Made in Adana: is a collection of recipes posted every Wednesday for wonderful foods that can be made with ingredients purchased right here in Adana (or anywhere in Turkey.) Most recipes are from the “Help I’m In Turkey Cookbook” which I hope to have available here soon.

Cream of Tomato Soup – Made in Adana

Cream of Tomato Soup is this week’s Made in Adana recipe.  Rana made this last week and it was delicious, and surprisingly easy, not to mention very healthy.

Here’s how she made it.  (adapted from the recipe on page 134 of “The I Need Help in Turkey Cookbook”)

Step 1: Chop up and sauté one small onion and one clove of garlic in 3 Tablespoons of butter until they’re soft.

Step 2: Blend in 3 Tbsp Flour, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt and 1/8 tsp black pepper.  Add a dash of garlic salt, basil, oregano and thyme (we use an “Italian spice” mix from the States).

Step 3: Remove from heat and add 1 Kg of tomatoes chopped up.

Step 4: Bring to a boil, stirring constantly, boil for one minute

Step 5: (optional) Use the hand blender to blend it half way leaving some chunks

Step 6: Stir in 2 cups of milk.  Heat to almost boiling.

Serve with a salad (perhaps the Spectacular Overnight Coleslaw)

Made in Adana: is a collection of recipes posted every Wednesday for wonderful foods that can be made with ingredients purchased right here in Adana (or anywhere in Turkey.) Most recipes are from the “Help I’m In Turkey Cookbook” which I hope to have available here soon.

Easy Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

Made in Adana

When I first came to Turkey back in 2003, I read a few “things to bring to Turkey” lists.  Most of the lists said to bring the “cheese” packets from Kraft Mac & Cheese.  Well, I can’t imagine what they put in those  “Cheese” packets, but I’m sure that eating real food is going to taste better and be much better for us and the kids.  So I’d like to humbly suggest that before coming to Turkey, one should learn a good Macaroni and Cheese recipe, rather than bring packets.

This week’s Made in Adana recipe, which comes from page 159 of the “Help I’m in Turkey Cookbook” is just that; a simple and delicious recipe for homemade Macaroni and Cheese that can be made with ingredients found easily in Turkey.

Step 1: Start to boil one bag of macaroni (500 g)  or twist noodles.

Step 2: Make the Cheese sauce –

  • Melt 3 Tbsp Butter in a saucepan
  • Stir 2 Tbsp flour, a dash of pepper and ½ t salt into the melted butter
  • Bring to a boil, then add 2 cups of milk – cook and stir until it’s thick and bubbly – then cook and stir for 2 more minutes
  • Add 2 cups of cubed Kaşar cheese and stir until it’s all melted

Step 3: Combine — by this time the pasta should pretty much be done.  Drain the pasta, add the cheese sauce and serve.

There you have it!  Homemade Macaroni and Cheese – Easy! Without the box!

Mia liked it as is.

I added a bit of chopped up basil and parsley from the balcony and had it with a salad. It was wonderful.

Made in Adana: is a collection of recipes posted every Wednesday for wonderful foods that can be made with ingredients purchased right here in Adana (or anywhere in Turkey.) Most recipes are from the “Help I’m In Turkey Cookbook” which I hope to have for sale here soon.

Cream of Broccoli Soup – Made in Adana

Cream of Broccoli Soup – Made in Adana

This Wednesday’s Made in Adana recipe is Cream of Broccoli Soup.  In these lingering days of Adana winter, the soup still tastes great even though it’s not cold anymore and the broccoli is bountiful in the markets.  I recorded a video today showing off the recipe and I hope you enjoy it.  If you watch the video, would you leave a comment letting me know that you watched it and what you thought?

This recipe is a loose adaptation of the recipe that Rana has perfected over the last 5 years that we’ve been married.  We’ve never gone wrong with this recipe, but we’ve adapted it to our tastes and to what’s in our kitchen at the time.  This Recipe is found on page 127 of The Updated “I Need Help in Turkey” Cookbook. Here’s how we made it.

Prep: Peel and chop up 3 medium onions, peel, wash and dice 4 medium potatoes, cut the florets of broccoli off of two medium sized heads of broccoli.

Onions: melt (approx) 2 Tablespoons of butter into a big pan and the throw the onions in there.  Sauté until they’re translucent.

Other Veggies/Stock: add the potatoes and the broccoli to the pot and fill it with water and vegetable bullion (made by our friend Romy).  Put enough water to cover the veggies.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are soft.** see note on “stock” below.

Blend: Turn off heat and then use a hand blender to process the soup.  You want to blend or process about ¾ of the vegetables.  So you’re holding that blender in there and blending it until it looks like a blended soup, but you still have some potato and broccoli chunks.

Milk: Stir in 1-1/2 cups of Milk, bring to boil, and then stir while simmering for 4 minutes.

Serve

This soup turned out great for us and I hope it does for you as well.  Let me know if you try it.

See more Made in Adana Recipes here

** Note on “Stock”: For soups, it’s always going to better if you use something other than water as the base liquid.  We have a few options that we use at home. Today we were fortunate to have this natural homemade vegetable bullion from our friend Romy.  Usually we’d use one of the things below.  They all make great soups.

1. Chicken of beef stock.  We’ve boiled chicken or beef and saved the water.

2. Vegetable stock: we’ve boiled a mix of vegetables and saved the water.

3. Bean or Chickpea stock: we’ve cooked beans or chickpeas and saved the water.

4. Whey (the liquid byproduct of cheese making.)

We avoid those bouillon cubes cause they’re full of MSG and seem like about the least natural thing in the world.

This Wednesday’s Made in Adana recipe is Cream of Broccoli Soup.  In these lingering days of Adana winter, the soup still tastes great even though it’s not cold anymore and the broccoli is bountiful in the markets.  I recorded a video today showing off the recipe and I hope you enjoy it.  If you watch the video, would you leave a comment letting me know that you watched it and what you thought?

 

This recipe is a loose adaptation of the recipe that Rana has perfected over the last 5 years that we’ve been married.  We’ve never gone wrong with this recipe, but we’ve adapted it to our tastes and to what’s in our kitchen at the time.  This Recipe is found on page 127 of The Updated “I Need Help in Turkey” Cookbook. Here’s how we made it.

Prep: Peel and chop up 3 medium onions, peel, wash and dice 4 medium potatoes, cut the florets of broccoli off of two medium sized heads of broccoli.

Onions: melt (approx) 2 Tablespoons of butter into a big pan and the throw the onions in there.  Sauté until they’re translucent.

Other Veggies/Stock: add the potatoes and the broccoli to the pot and fill it with water and vegetable bullion.  Put enough water to cover the veggies.  Bring to a boil and simmer until the vegetables are soft.** see note on “stock” below.

Blend: Turn off heat and then use a hand blender to process the soup.  You want to blend or process about ¾ of the vegetables.  So you’re holding that blender in there and blending it until it looks like a blended soup, but you still have some potato and broccoli chunks.

Milk: Stir in 1-1/2 cups of Milk, bring to boil, and then stir while simmering for 4 minutes.

Serve

This soup turned out great for us and I hope it does for you as well.  Let me know if you try it.

** Note on “Stock”: For soups, it’s always going to better if you use something other than water as the base liquid.  We have a few options that we use at home. Today we were fortunate to have this natural homemade vegetable bullion from our friend Romy.  Usually we’d use one of the things below.  They all make great soups.

1. Chicken of beef stock.  We’ve boiled chicken or beef and saved the water.

2. Vegetable stock: we’ve boiled a mix of vegetables and saved the water.

3. Bean or Chickpea stock: we’ve cooked beans or chickpeas and saved the water.

4. Whey (the liquid byproduct of cheese making.)

We avoid those bouillon cubes cause they’re full of MSG and seem like about the least natural thing in the world.

Menemen – Made in Adana

Menemen – Made in Adana

This Wednesday’s Made in Adana recipe is from page 96 of The I Need Help in Turkey Cook Book. Menemen is classic Turkish recipe that is one of my favorites for a simple and healthy breakfast.  I haven’t made it in quite some time, but this morning’s breakfast was so good, I might just make this again tomorrow morning.

Just a reminder that Made in Adana is a series of weekly blog posts featuring recipes from The I Need Help in Turkey Cook Book. This book has helped us to live a an un-deprived life while shopping from the Turkish markets.  I hope that these recipes encourage you to that end.

Here’s the recipe — adapted to the foods in our fridge.

Step 1: Chop up one leek, one medium onion and one red or green pepper.  Fry them in 2 T butter until tender.

Step 2: While the veggies are cooking, dice a medium tomato and beat 5 eggs with a bit of salt.

After the veggies have softened, add the tomato, salt and pepper, and a bit of red pepper flakes ( acı biber).

Step 3: When the tomatoes have been in the pan for a minute or two, pour the eggs over the entire mixture and reduce the heat.  Simmer over low heat until the eggs are almost firm.  Add ½ cup shredded kaşar cheese.  Let the cheese melt and the eggs cook completely.  Serve immediately.

If you haven’t done so yet, I’d appreciate it if you’d go over to the Foreign Perspective Facebook Page and hit that Like Button.  It’ll be a nice way to stay connected to A Foreign Perspective.

"Beef Stew" – Made in Adana

Made in Adana (click here to learn about the Made in Adana category)

I have to admit that I don’t have much to compare today’s homemade beef stew to.  It’s not a meal that I grew up eating. As far as I can remember, it wasn’t until I was a college student with a microwave and a budget, that I developed a taste for beef stew.  I think you know where this is going.  Dinty Moore (yuck).  In those days, canned soup felt like health food compared to chips, frozen pizzas and fruit loops, and thus I developed a taste for the stuff.

Well, it’s 2011 and we don’t do much processed food or meals in a can at home anymore, but when I saw the recipe for Beef Stew on page 135 of the “I Need Help in Turkey Cookbook,” I was transported back to that college dorm room reminded of that microwave with beef stew and chili spattered all over the inside.

The thought of making a homemade stew with real foods, sounded like a perfect late-winter lunch.  It was.  The stew was amazing, and I can’t wait for leftovers tomorrow.  I hope you try this recipe!

Here’s how you make it.

Step 1: Combine ½ cup flour, ½ t salt, ½ t pepper in a big bowl. Add 1kg* of beef (dana sote) that has been cut up into 1” chunks.  (they’ll do the cutting for you at the market obviously.) Roll the meat in the flour mixture until it’s nicely coated with the four.

Step 2: Heat 2T of oil in the pot where you’ll cook the stew.  When the oil is hot, add the meat and brown it.

Step 3: Add 5 Cups of Whey* and 1 tsp garlic powder.  Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer on the stove for 1 hour.

Whey and Beef

So the beef and Whey don't look that appetizing at this point.

Step 4: Add the following vegetables: 4 sliced carrots, 6 Potatoes, cut into chunks, 500g of skinned little onions (arpacik soğan) , 1 bag of frozen green beans (or 400g fresh green beans.) Let it all come back to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes.

When this was done, it was so good.  Rana and I both just loved it. It was so hearty, so healthy, so full of real fresh food and so easy to make.

Let me know if you make this, I’d love to hear how it turns out.

I try to post a Made In Adana article post most Wednesdays.

*Note #1 : Obviously most people don’t have 5 cups of Whey in their fridge.  It’s a byproduct of my cheese making habit and I love to put it to use, this was a perfect use for it.  The recipe actually calls for beef broth, or 3 bouillon cubes in 5 cups of water.

Note#2: One way that I made it a bit easier was to peel and cut up the carrots and potatoes the night before and soak them in water (so the potatoes don’t get brown), I also skinned the onions the night before too.  This was super easy, I just threw them in a pot of boiling water and let them boil for 3 minutes, then sliced off the root end and squeezed the skin… the inside of the little onions pop right out.

With this stuff all prepped, making the stew went super smoothly

Shopping list:

½ c Flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1KG Dana Sote (beef cut into 1” cubes)

2T oil

1 T garlic powder

5 cups Beef Broth (or Whey, or 3 bouillon cubes and 5 cups of water)

4 carrots sliced

6 potatoes cut into chunks

500g little onions (arpacik sogan) peeled

1 bag frozen green beans.

 

“Beef Stew” – Made in Adana

I have to admit that I don’t have much to compare my homemade beef stew to.  It’s not a meal that I grew up eating. As far as I can remember, it wasn’t until I was a college student with a microwave and a budget, that I developed a taste for beef stew.  I think you know where this is going.  Dinty Moore (yuck).  In those days, canned soup felt like health food compared to chips, frozen pizzas and fruit loops, and thus I developed a taste for the stuff.

 

Well, it’s 2011 and we don’t do much processed food or meals in a can at home anymore, but when I saw the recipe for Beef Stew in the “I Need Help in Turkey Cookbook,” the thought of making a stew with real foods, sounded like a perfect late winter lunch.  It was the perfect winter lunch.  It was amazing, and I can’t wait for leftovers at lunch tomorrow.  I hope you try this recipe!

 

Here’s how you make it.

 

Step 1: Combine ½ cup flour, ½ t salt, ½ t pepper in a big bowl. Add 1kg* of beef (dana sote) that has been cut up into 1” chunks.  (they’ll do the cutting for you at the market obviously)

Coat roll the meat in the flour mixture until the meat is nicely coated with the four.

 

Step 2: Heat 2T of oil in the pot where you’ll cook the stew.  When the oil is hot, add the meat and brown it.

 

Step 3: Add 5 Cups of Whey*, 1 tsp garlic powder.  Bring it to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer on the stove for 1 hour.

 

Step 4: Add the following vegetables: 4 sliced carrots, 6 Potatoes, cut into chunks, 500g of skinned little onions (arpacik soğan) , 1 bag of frozen green beans (or 400g fresh green beans.) Let it all come back to a boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for 30-40 minutes.

 

When this was done, it was so good.  Rana and I both just loved it. It was so hearty, so healthy, full of real fresh food and so easy to make.

 

One way that I made it a bit easier was to peel and cut up the carrots and potatoes the night before and soak them in water (so the potatoes don’t get brown), I also skinned the onions the night before too.  This was super easy, I just threw them in a pot of boiling water and let them boil for 3 minutes, then sliced off the root end and squeezed the skin… the inside of the little onions pop right out.

 

Obviously most people don’t have 5 cups of Whey in their fridge.  It’s a byproduct of my cheese making habit and I love to put it to use, this was a perfect use for it.  The recipe actually calls for beef broth, or 3 bouillon cubes in 5 cups of water.

 

Let me know if you make this, I’d love to hear how it turns out.

 

Shopping list:

½ c Flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp pepper

1KG Dana Sote (beef cut into 1” cubes)

2T oil

1 T garlic powder

5 cups Beef Broth (or Whey, or 3 bouillon cubes and 5 cups of water)

4 carrots sliced

6 potatoes cut into chunks

500g little onions (arpacik sogan) peeled

1 bag frozen green beans.