It
only seems appropriate that I post about Turkish food today as I’m headed to Istanbul this afternoon.
I
know it’s only been two months since my last visit when I enjoyed my Breakfast
by the Bosphorus, but I simply cannot stay away! Like a first love, Istanbul
completely stole my heart when we lived there, and I miss my friends.
Funny
enough, I probably have cooked more Turkish food at our home here in Warsaw than I even did
in Istanbul. I no longer can call up Ali Baba and get a quick dinner delivery
or stop by the kebab vendor down the street. If I want Turkish food, I best
make it myself.
Sure,
Warsaw is full of döner kebab vendors
all over the city, but it’s definitely not the same. I don’t want some strange
tomato or yogurt sauce in my döner.
I’ve
always loved Turkish mezes!
So a few weeks ago, I invited a new couple over for dinner and decided to make kabak yoğurtlu (zucchini with yogurt), patlıcan salatası (roasted eggplant
with yogurt) and Turkish shakshuka/şakşuka (fried
eggplant with tomatoes and yogurt). Luckily, I’ve found several brands of thick
Greek yogurt here that works quite well to substitute for Turkish yogurt.
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| Here are my meze dishes of patlıcan salatası and kabak yoğurtlu. |
I
turned to three of my favorite Turkish food bloggers for my recipes and
inspiration – Claudia of A Seasonal Cook in Turkey,
Ilke of Ilke’s Kitchen and Ozlem of Ozlem’s
Turkish Table. Luckily, I’ve met all of these lovely ladies in person
when I lived in Istanbul and love reading their blogs from afar. I highly
recommend checking them out for delicious Turkish recipes!
I
used a combination of recipes for the shakshuka/şakşuka from Ozlem and Claudia. Check out both recipes here: Fried
aubergine eggplant, courgette and peppers with tomato sauce and Shakshuka
Aubergine Meze.
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| Be sure to serve plenty of bread with this meze as you'll want to eat every last drop of it! |
We
can find decent eggplant here in Poland so I’ve used Claudia’s recipe several
times now to make my own patlıcan
salatası. So simple and so delicious! I use a mortar to crush my
garlic with salt before mixing in with my yogurt.
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| My market haul to make to make this Turkish meal at home. |
For
the third meze, I used Ilke’s recipe for kabak
yoğurtlu. This is another simple, but delicious recipe.
For
a salad course, I made this summery Turkish tomato-pomegranate salad called gavurdağı salad.
I realize we also tried this yummy salad when we were on our southeast Turkey
road trip last year in Gaziantep.
Finally,
for our main course, I made stuffed peppers Turkish-style…otherwise known as biber
dolması, which is my version. I’ve made these dolmas so many times
now that it’s easy enough to make vegetarian versions as well as differently
spiced ones depending on what I have at home.
Looks
like no matter, where I live, I’ll always find a way to make some of my favorite
Turkish recipes too.
Smacznego!
