Rice Crispy Snacks

As a child I remember eating these sticky chewy treats and not really knowing what I was eating. As kids my friends and I loved them. They were also a big hit for school parties and such. Now I choose ones that are made with halal ingredients and it is hard to find. I decided to try and make my own. It was a bit chewier than I would have liked but it was good and my son loved it. Afiyet olsun!

3 c puffed rice
1 lg. bag marshmallow (halal) or 3 small bags
1/2 stick butter

First butter the sides of your glass pan. then in a large pan melt your butter on a low heat being careful not to burn it. Then slowly add your marshmallows and stir. Continue to stir until all melted. Then remove from heat and add your puffed rice. Stir and make sure to coat well. You must work quickly. Place in your pan and place a piece of parchment paper on top. Press down with your hands and make level. Cool and cut into squares. Afiyet olsun.

Mixture can be melted in microwave but I have not tried that way before.

Limonli Dörtgen ~Pucker UP! Lemon Squares

I remember as a young girl growing up going to picnic and having gooey lemon squares. I searched through many recipes and decided to go with one from San Francisco Pastry Chef Emily Luchetti. There were many articles wrote about her and her confections, and her book "Classic Stars Desserts" Everyone said how delicious these lemon squares were so I had to try.
Well after squeezing 7 lemons I finally had enough juice to make the dessert. Dough turned out nice and filling looked wonderful after baking. It cooled in the refrigerator for an hour and then I cut a small piece to try. I placed it on my tongue and then Bang! I felt like I just took a bite our of a lemon. It was so tart and such a shock to my taste buds. I would have to wonder if anyone tested her recipes for accuracy. Do you really need over a Cup of juice to attain a lemon flavor? The dessert looks really good in pictures, and presentation is nice. If rating these, flavor I give this dessert a 4 out of 10. It was not extremely terrible if you like sour. I will add though that after sitting in the refrigerator overnight they acid in the lemon flavor did seem to mellow a bit. I will be posting a new recipe for lemon squares soon hopefully. Afiyet olsun


Crust:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2-cup confectioner's sugar
1 stick and 2 tbsp butter(cold)

Filling:
6 large eggs
3 C sugar
1 cup plus 2 Lemon juice (about 7 lemons)
1/2 cup flour
Powder sugar (dust top)

Crust:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine flour and confectioner's sugar in a bowl. Add butter and continue to mix with mixer until the butter is the size of small peas, about 30 seconds.

The mixture will be very dry. Gently press the mixture evenly onto the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch greased/lined baking pan. Bake until light brown. Make sure not to over cook. Let cool to room temperature. Reduce the oven temperature to 300 degrees.

Filling: In a large bowl, whisk together eggs and granulated sugar until smooth. Stir in lemon juice and then flour. Pour the filling on top of the crust. Bake until the lemon filling is set, about 40 minutes. Let cool to room temperature and then put in the refrigerator for an hour. Cut into squares, dust tops with confectioner's sugar.

Turkish Tiramisu~Tiramisu Made with Luscious, Velvety Turkish Coffee

All the world knows tiramisu. It's luxurious cream and espresso soaked ladyfinger cookies melt in your mouth. I never could imagine that it could be made at home. It is rich and creamy and chocolaty. I was so intimidated to make this dessert. All the preparations and step not to mention the dirty dishes. In the end it was all worth it. My husband works out of town and is only able to taste my food I prepare on the weekends. He has been asking me for a while to make tiramisu. We bought all the ingredients to make it and I watched many videos and read many recipes. Cook the eggs one said the other said raw. Most of them ruined the recipe by adding some liquor. I made my first tiramisu last Thursday night at around 2 in the morning. We tried it the next day at around 2 pm. (estafrula) It was so great. My husband loved it and we devoured it over the weekend. Today I decide to make one for the girl coming to my home for sohbet and it was a bomb. Not a total disaster but I think I didn't fold in the cream and it lost its fluff. Oh well I will try again. I hope you enjoy the first recipe I made. Don't be afraid to experiment with yours. Afiyet olsun!

Recipe

6 egg yolks (brown cage free)
1 C sugar, plus 2 tbsp (for coffee)
2 C water
2 tsp instant coffee
1 tsp Turk kahve (turkish coffee)
1 tub Lebneh (turkish style mascarpone)
1 pint heavy whipping cream
Large bag lady fingers (depending on size of pan)
1/2 C cocoa powder

What to do:

In a large cup place 2 cups water, coffee, turkish coffee and sugar. Microwave on high for 2 minutes then set aside to cool. Place a frying pan on stove and bring some water to a boil. Separate your egg yolks from your whites. Place whites in refrigerator. Mix sugar and eggs together until they take on a pale yellow color. Place bowl for whipping cream in freezer along with whipping cream. Let chill as you "cook" your egg and sugar mixture. The bowl containing the eggs should be placed in the shallow bath of boiling water. Continuously stir to prevent the eggs from curdling. with a rubber spatula continue to fold and keep eggs moving. When fluffed and more pale yellow remove and place in a sink of cold water to cool. Add two tsp of coffee mixture. Now add your lebneh or mascarpone cheese. Gently fold in, to keep the fluff. There may be some small lumps but it is OK. Don't over mix. Remove bowl from freezer, add your whipping cream and whip. When you see firm peaks remove from mixer. Gently fold into your egg and cheese bowl.

How to arrange:

Layer cream on bottom. Now quickly dip ladyfinger in coffee and then arrange on top of cream. When finished place another layer of cream 1/2 inch thick and cover with cocoa. Now repeat these steps. When placing ladyfingers in pudding be careful not to push down too hard. Also don't over soak or your cake will be mushy. Top layer add remaining cream and top with cocoa. Wipe cocoa off edges of bowl. Cover and place in refrigerator overnight. Afiyet olsun!

Muhallebili Kadayif~Shredded Filo W/ Pudding

For a long time now I have been wanting to make this dessert. I saw it the first time on Portacal Agaci's website. I read the recipe but it didn't give complete instructions of how to layer the pudding and if you cook the bottom first. I ask a few friends and they all said "Ask Arzu" she makes it the best. Well Arzu lives on the East Coast now and is very busy but I called. She was happy to help me, and laughed at my telling what the other girls said. I tried it out tonight since it was my night to hold sohbet. It was so delicious. It turned out perfect. I was so pleased, Elhumduillah! My friend Fatma said it was the best she had tasted. How sweet of her. OK so try this one it is not too difficult and it will really wow your guest. Afiyet olsun!

Recipe

1 box of shredded filo dough (fresh)
1 stick margarine (melted)
1 stick butter (melted)

Pudding

4.5 cups whole milk
6 tbsp rice flour(full)
2 tbsp sugar

Serbet/Syrup

3.5 C sugar
3 C water
3 drops lemon juice

9/13 cake pan

What to do:

Start by making your Serbet. Add water and sugar to pot and boil untill it thickens, then add drops of lemon. Heavily spread margarine on bottom and side of baking pan. On a cookie sheet, spread out your filo dough. Pour over melted butter/margarine mix. Massage butter/margarine into dough and tear into smaller pieces. Once fully coated, place half of your dough in the bottom of baking pan, or two small pans. Spread evenly. Using the palm of your hand firmly press dough into the bottom of pan. Now make your pudding by adding all ingredients and stirring constantly. Once pudding is very thick, close heat and pour slowly over filo. Let cool on counter for 10 minutes. Now you must place the pudding in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Remaining Filo should be brought to center of your pan and covered with a damp paper towel. After one hour is complete remove and place remaining filo on top. Gently push down with palm of your hand. Place in a 350* oven. 20-30 minutes. Make sure that the top is a darker shade of golden brown. After you drizzle your syrup over the color will lighten. Remove from oven and pour cool syrup over top. Let cool on a towel and then when cool enough to touch place in refrigerator. Serve cold.

Note: I made two smaller sized plates, an oblong and a pie plate. To do so you must increase the milk 1 C, 1 tbsp rice flour, 1 tbsp sugar. Just seperate enough dough for each pan.

Yalanci Tavuk Goksu~Unreal Chicken Breast Pudding

This evening friends from TASC/Niagara and I went to Ikbal's home for Turkish coffee night. Turkish Coffee Nights are a tradition at TASC. It is a way for us to meet new friends and to introduce Turkish culture to them. We showed a video presentation, had a mock henna gecesi, danced and ate authentic Turkish food.

Henna Gecesi is a traditional pre-marriage celebration. It is a ceremony performed by the bride and her family and her new mother-in-law. A bride is dressed in a red gown with a red veil covering her face. All of her closest female friends and family have come to celebrate and participate in the ceremony. The bride enters the room with family members walking behind her with lit candles and singing a song of henna night. The bride is made to sit on a chair and the others walk around her with lit candles, singing a song of how she will leave her family. The song continues until the bride sheds her first tears. Then henna paste is brought in on a tray, with lit candles. The mother in law places henna in her right hand first, then her left hand, laying the henna on thick, Then she tries to lay a gold coin in the same hand but the bride refuses. She must try again, then finally the bride accepts. This symbolizes the bride accepting the mother in law and her soon to be husband. The bride’s hennaed hands are completely wrapped, henna, coins and all. Then her mother in law slides a silk embroidered bags over her hands. Some times if the bride wants, her feet and hair can also be hennaed. When the henna is finished the bride and her new family and friends celebrate with dancing, music and food. Most celebrations last until morning. In some regions in Turkey this celebration can last a week.

Near the end of our Mock henna we had some delicious food, Boreks, Revani, Pilav, Kisir, Et. We gave the ladies their very own Turkish coffee cup and we enjoyed some fresh coffee ourselves. This evening I made Unreal Chicken Breast Pudding. The reason it is called "Unreal" is because the original recipe calls for shredded chicken breast. I added two eggs to mine. They come from chickens right? ha ha he he! Many people call and make this pudding as you see below. The original recipe is very tedious and time consuming. Enjoy.

Recipe

5 C milk
9 tbsp sugar
7 tbsp flour
2 pkts. vanilla
2 eggs
1 tsp butter
pinch salt

Cinnamon
Cocoa

First prepare your 9/13 cake pan. You can either butter it, or you can rinse with water. Both are effective for the pudding to not stick. Add all ingredients into nonstick pan. Use an immersion blender to blend all together. Then turn on high heat until it starts to warm up. Continuously stir. Then turn on Med/low heat. When mixture starts to thicken again use your immersion blender. (try not to let air in) Continue to cook and stir as if you were mixing a cake batter. When pudding is thick and rich, poor immediately to pan. Smooth and place in refrigerator.
Now here is the fun part. Cut out designs to match your holiday or season, get creative. I used a thick, firm paper. You can either spray with a non-stick spray or gently lay on cooled pudding. then just add your cinnamon and cocoa to sifter and gently tap. Serve Cold. Afiyet olsun!

Elmali Milfoy~Apple Puff Pastry

Today at the Niagara Cultural Center we had a going away party for our friend Somer. Dilek had called and ask me to bring a dish to pass. I decided to go with something sweet and flaky, homemade apple puff pastry.

I surfed the Internet for a pastry dough recipe. While searching, I found that this dough is difficult, time consuming and really an art. (video) Butter is added to the center of a basic dough, covered and then rolled in. It needs to be folded over and over, to make the delicate flakes in this pastry. After seeing how difficult it was, I resorted to buying a boxed dough.

Cutting the dough was a little tricky at first but then after folding you see how it lays in place. The first attempt, I braided tightly and it turned out very narrow. The second attempt was beautiful. I folded the strips loosely. After baking you could see the bubbling filling oozing out the openings. Serve with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. Afiyet olsun!

Recipe

1 Pkg. Puff Pastry

Filling:
6 lg. Gala Apples
1 C water
1/2 C sugar
1 pkt. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
few drops of lemon juice

Extra:
2 tbsp. sugar (topping)
1/2 cup Flour (for rolling out dough)

Peel and chop apples in small pieces. Place in sauce pan. Add all of the above ingredients. Simmer until all apples are soft. Optional: Place cooked apples in food processor and puree too a chunky texture. Preheat oven to 375.

Place a small amount of flour on counter and open dough. Keeping dough square, roll out dough to increase it's size. (both directions) Fold dough in half (vertically) and place on parchment paper. Cut off right top corner diagonally. Then cut 1/2 inch strips down whole right side. At bottom center make one vertical cut from bottom-center up. Make this cut up too last strip. Open and arrange onto paper.

Place cooled filling in center,from top to bottom. Fold down center flap, to keep filling in. then rotate left and right strips over one another. At bottom fold bottom center flap up and fold last strips over. Gently place your dough that is on parchment paper onto baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 375 until golden brown. Cool on counter. Serve warm.

Note: Save time by making your filling ahead of time and then freeze. Take out and defrost before using.

Tul Kurabiye~Lace Cookies

Tonight at TASC the ladies celebrated a successful bazaar/bake sale. We all worked really hard last weekend to prepare and give everyone a taste of Turkey . Some made Gozleme, others cooked Manti. Some ladies sat at the tables and answered guest questions. Others ran after children, and helped with the final clean up. It was such a blessing to all be together and to achieve our goal. Thanks be to God! Anyway so we walked into the cultural center tonight, and there was a huge lamb stuffed with rice and almonds and pine nuts. Many trays and trays of desserts and salads lined the table. It was wonderful to have so delicious food and spend time with good friends. I wanted to bring a dessert that wasn't to complicated to make and that everyone would love. I knew these would be light and crisp. They are a nice ending to a rich meal.

Recipe

3 tbsp flour
1 stick butter (room temp)
1 packet vanilla
3/4 C sugar
1 egg
1 C oatmeal (reg.)

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350* Lay parchment paper on your baking tray. Mix all ingredients together. If too soft place in freezer for a few minutes. Role in to small balls. and place about 2 inches apart on your cookie sheet. Make sure not to make the balls to large or close together because they will spread out very much. Bake in oven 5-7 minutes or just until the outer edges get brown. Then remove from oven. Remove your sheet from pan and let cool on counter. Place cookies on a paper towel to absorb extra butter. Afiyet olsun!

Bulbul Yuvasi~Knightingales Nest

Bulbul or Knightin gale is a bird well known to Turkey and around the world. It is best known for it's beautiful music. This dessert just melts in your mouth. The green pistachios cradled among golden ridges of crisp filo dough. Drizzled with warm syrup (serbet) and served with a hot cup of coffee. Special Thanks to our friends at Jennifer's Kitchen~Ebru TV Afiyet Olsun!

Recipe
1 box of filo (#5)
1 C sugar
1 C water
3 drops lemon
1 stick butter
2 tbs vegetable oil
Fresh Pistachios hulled and chopped

What to do:

Preheat oven to 350. Start out by making your Serbet/Syrup 1 C Sugar, 1 C water. Boil until syrup lightly coats metal spoon. Add three drops of lemon.

Unroll filo and cover with wet paper towel. Melt butter and oil, add to bowl. One by one take your filo sheets. Brush sparingly here and there with butter mixture. Use a Pencil/stick (longer is better) shape and start at short end rolling to opposite end, leaving about 3/4 of an inch unrolled. The key here is not to roll too tightly but move quickly so your filo dough doesn't dry out. Squeeze both ends towards center of stick, accordion like.(don't worry if some filo cracks) With two fingers slide filo off the end of the stick. Try to keep your dough scrunched. Put end to end and push center down. This will make the floor of the nest. Put in pan and place the open end towards the wall of your pan. Pack closely together. When finished pour remaining butter on top of each nest. Bake in oven until they are dark golden brown. Remove from oven and spoon in your pistachios. When cool splash syrup over each one, fully saturating them. Afiyet olsun.

Here is a poem I found from www.slife.org The author is an amazing man dedicated to bettering humanity through his eloquent words, actions, and prayers.

THE CRY OF THE NIGHTINGALE

At the moment when flowers are dancing,
The nightingale sings in gardens secluded.
Each of its tunes sounds like the whistling wind
To those seen as foreigners in their native land.
It cries, like my ceaseless wails and laments,
Each resonates, high and low through the slopes.
It bemoans all night until the sun rises,
Each breath comes out as a burning sigh.
On virgin trees untouched by man’s hand,
It groans unceasingly for a lifetime,
And sheds tears, full of grief; but who is there
To appreciate it, to sympathize with its pains?

M Fethullah Gulen

Karamel Etimek Puding~Carmel Bread Pudding Oh sooo good!

A good book, some nice hot tea, and a taste of this delectable Carmel pudding is all you need on a cold winters day. Afiyet Olsun!

Recipe

4 c whole milk
1 pkt vanilla
3/4 c flour
8 Biscotti breads (Eti)
5 Tbs sugar
1 egg yolk
pinch of Salt
1 9/11 cake pan (glass)

Syrup
1 1/2 c sugar
1 1/2 c water (hot)

What to do:

First start out by making your Carmel syrup/glaze. In a medium sauce pan add you sugar and turn on medium/high heat. Do not leave unattended! While continuously stirring, let your sugar gently burn on the sides, thus creating a Carmel flavour. CAUTION! Place pan in empty sink when adding your hot water. Slowly add the hot water to the sugar. It will bubble and splatter. Once all water has been added and has calmed, return to stove on a medium/high flame. Constantly watch and stir occasionally. Add all ingredients into a non-stick pan, leaving out 1 cup of milk and the flour. Gradually mix flour with milk to make a smooth thickener. Add to pan. Check your syrup. Dip your spoon in syrup, if it coats back of spoon (metal) nicely it is done. Pour sparingly over bread that you layered on the bottom of your 9/11 cake pan. Save 1/4 sugar and return to stove. Cook pudding on Medium to low heat until thickened. Make sure to constantly stir so not to get lumps. Pour over bread and let cool in refrigerator. Continue to simmer the remaining syrup approximately 10 more minutes on low. Let cool. When pudding is completely cool decoratively poor on top of dessert. Walnuts, Cinnamon, Coconut can be used in place of sugar glaze.

Kadayif Tatlisi~Shredded Filo Dough Dessert

Simple ingredients patience, fresh shredded filo dough and a good friend to talk you through it, are all you need to make this dessert. Hatice one of my best friends made this for me and some of our other girlfriends. It was so beautiful, as it looked like a rose. A month or so ago I had her show me how to do it.

Recipe:

1 box of shredded filo dough(fresh)
Walnut halves (or Almonds)
1 stick of butter
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 C Water
3 drops Lemon

What to do:

First start your Serbet/Syrup. Add your sugar and water. Bring to a boil and let simmer for 5-7 minutes. Take a small amount on a metal spoon, remove and blow to cool. If it coats spoon it is done. Add your lemon to prevent hardening. Preheat oven to 350*. Rule of thumb for most Turkish desserts is: Hot dessert cold serbet and visa verse. Then take groups/strands of filo dough without taking out of bag (approx. 20) approximately 5-6 inches long. Pinch top together with left hand and take a walnut half in the other. Role dough around nut with right hand. Keep your pointer finger and thumb on ends of nut, as you role. When arranging, place the open end towards the side of the glass pie pan. Work your way toward the center, keeping them the same size. Bake until dark golden brown. Remove from oven and pour cold syrup over top. Serve room temperature. Afiyet olsun!

Turkish American Society of Chicago's 2007 Asure Winner!

Noah's Pudding! Let's break it down

Noah's Pudding
2 C wheat
1 C Chickpeas
½ C white beans
1 apple (peeled and shredded)
1 pear (peeled and shredded)
13 dried organic (Turkish) apricots (cut in small pieces)
½ C Organic black raisins
½ C Organic green raisins
½ C dried black currants
¾ C whole milk
1 tsp red lentils (shelled)
1 tsp long grain rice
1 tsp Bulgar
1 tsp semolina wheat
2 small (Turkish) figs (chopped small pieces)
4+ cups water (add more if needed)

Spices
1 C sugar
1 packet vanilla
2 tsp cinnamon (one tsp for garnish)
1 pinch salt
¼ tsp of lemon

Garnishes
½ C raw walnuts (rinse pat dry)
½ C pomegranate seeds (rinse)
¼ C pumpkin seeds (roasted)
¼ pistachios (shelled, skinned)
1 sliced fig
1 fresh mint
¼ currants

First soak all dry legumes separately overnight. The water needs to be about 2 inches above the ingredient. Next day, rinse and add fresh water. Separately cook the wheat, chickpeas and white beans until tender (don’t overcook). After completing the cooking process drain and remove chickpeas skins. Then combine the following items in your final cooking pot; 11/2 -cup of wheat, chickpeas, beans, lentils, Bulgar, semolina rice, water, sugar, peeled and shredded apple and pear, raisins, vanilla, salt, lemon. Turn your stove on high heat and let ingredients come to a fast boil. Take the remaining 1/2-cup of wheat and milk and blend in a mixer. The consistency should be a smooth milky paste. After boiling your mixture about 15 minutes add the remaining items: 1/4 currants, vanilla,1/2 of the cinnamon, coarsely chopped (Turkish) apricots, figs. Turn mixture down to a medium heat and simmer Slowly mix in the wheat paste until your pudding thickens. Continue to simmer and occasional stir for 20 minutes. Cool and
Put in serving cups and sprinkle with garnishments, add final sprig of mint.
(a quick note: instant rice can be used; as it takes less time to cook)

~The Asure Competitors~

Niagara Foundation held its annual Asure contest for 2007. Here are some of my friends entries. The first one is by my friend Aynur who I shared first place with.







This last Asure is by my friend Dilek.

We had so much fun preparing and testing our Asure. I bought all different types of ingredients and tested them. Some beans gave too much color would break down and make the dish gelatinous. Also I tried to use the best organic dates and raisins.I wanted to add a twist so I added the apple and pear, which you would not normally find in Asure. I won first place along with my friend Aynur(who's asure pic is not present) I was shocked that I had even placed in the top three, because my friends dishes were so wonderful. This was also my first time making this pudding. I really appreciate the help from my friends Hatice, Dilber, Semanur and Tuba and of course her sweet mother. They were my advisers and taste testers. They gave me ideas on how to make my final pudding the best.