Meze - Turkish Starters

Barbunya Plaki - Starter

TurkishFood — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:35:33 GMT

Barbunya Plaki - Starter

Piyaz - Bean Salad - Starter

TurkishFood — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:23:39 GMT

Piyaz - Bean Salad - Starter

Piyaz is what we call bean salads in Turkey, but the term is actually Persian and means "onion." Piyaz is usually prepared with northern beans and kneaded onion; dressed with olive oil and vinegar; spiced up with pepper flakes; and decorated with tomatoes, parsley, and hard-boiled eggs. Depending on the region, piyaz might gave green onions or sumac.

2 cups of cooked northern beans
1 onion, cut finely in half-moons
1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped
1 tsp crushed pepper
1 or two hard boiled eggs, sliced
1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup tahini
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic, minced

-Soak the beans over night. Bring them to a boil and then on medium heat cook them until soft. Or use canned beans.
-In a bowl mix tahini, vinegar, lemon juice, and garlic for the sauce/dressing. It shouldn't be too runny or thick. Since different tahini brands have different density, it's hard to find the perfect mixture. If the dressing you make with the measures above is thick, add some of the water that you used to cook the beans or use the juice in the can. If it's runny than you can thicken it with more tahini.
-Pour the tahini dressing over the beans and mix them well.
-Slice the onion thinly julienne style in half moon shape. In a bowl knead it with 1 tsp salt. Rinse.
-Mix the beans with onion and parsley.
-Decorate the bean salad with tomatoes and slices of hard-boiled eggs.

White Bean salad - Starter

TurkishFood — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 21:10:02 GMT

White Bean salad - Starter

Ingredients:

500 gr. white beans
4 medium sized tomatoes
1 bunch parsley
3 dry onions, medium salt
1 teaspoon rad pepper
black olives

for the dressing:

1/2 cup olive oil
1 tea spon vinegar
1/4 lemon iuice salt

Preparation:

Wash the beans and soak: in cold water over-night. Cover with cold water and put on to boil. When boiling, remove from heat and leave aside.
Return beans to the boil in their soaking water, simmer gently over low heat until tender but still intact. Add salt to taste after 1 1/2 hours cooking. When tender, drain and place the beans in a bowl.
Crush onions with a little salt. Then slice thinly into semicircles. Add to hot beans with lemon juice, vinegar and combined oils. Add the chopped herbes and chill salad for 1-2 hours.

Serve in a deep bowl. Garnish with sliced green pepper and quartered hard-boiled eggs. Wash and chop the parsleys and save a little for later.
Boil the eggs and cut them into 4 pieces or slices when cool. Stir the dressing in a bowl and pOUT on the beans. Add the dry onions, sliced parsley and part of the tomatoes and stir. Decorate the piyaz with the rest of the tomatoes, egg slices black olives and parsley.

Mezes Starters

TurkishFood — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 15:58:03 GMT

Mezes Starters

Beyin Salatasi - Brain Salad - Starter

TurkishFood — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 02:02:14 GMT

Beyin Salatasi - Brain Salad - Starter

Beyin Salatasi - Brain Salad

8 Servings
1 sprig of parsley
2 tomatoes
4 lambs' brains
4 soup spoons olive oil
a few olives
the juice of one lemon
Soak the brains in cold, salted water for 20 minutes, then remove the membranes that cover them.

Place the brains in cold water to which vinegar and a little salt have been added. Boil for six minutes, counting from the time that small bubbles begin to appear. Let cool in the cooking water. Place the brains on a serving platter. Sprinkle with olive oil and lemon juice. Decorate with parsley and olives.

Midye Tava - Fried Mussels - Starters

TurkishFood — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 01:48:08 GMT

Midye Tava - Fried Mussels - Starters

Midye Tava - Fried Mussels
4 Servings
1 1/2 cups salad oil
1 cup beer
1 cup trator sauce
1 egg lightly beaten
1/2 cup flour
16 mussels
Salt
Open the 16 mussels by inserting a knife along the flat side and running it along to the other side, remove them from their shell. Wash and dry mussels, flour each one separately. Dip them first into beer, then into the beaten egg. Fry in hot oil until golden brown on all sides. Sprinkle with salt and serve immediately with a bowl of trator sauce.

Kuru Fasulye Pilakisi - Dry White Bean Pilaki - Starter

TurkishFood — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 22:32:23 GMT

Kuru Fasulye Pilakisi - Dry White Bean Pilaki - Starter

DRY WHITE BEAN PILAKI - Kuru Fasulya Pilakisi
6 Servings
1 and 1/2 coffee spoons salt
1 and 1/2 coffee spoons sugar
1 carrot
1 celery, 1 potato, 1 tomato
1 clove of garlic
1 coffee cup water
1 finely chopped onion
2 and 1/2 cups olive oil
250 grams dry beans

Soak the beans in water overnight. Place them in a saucepan of water, heat on low flame for 45 minutes and then drain. Peel and dice the vegetables, and cut the garlic into thin slices.

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the onion and garlic and brown for 2 minutes. Then add the carrot and brown for 2 minutes, then add the celery and potato and brown them for 2 minutes as well. Finally add the beans, the grated tomato, water, salt and sugar and cook on a very low heat for 1 hour. Serve when cool.

Barbunya Pilaki - Dry Red Beans - Starter

TurkishFood — Tue, 05 Sep 2006 21:36:42 GMT

Barbunya Pilaki - Dry Red Beans - Starter

DRY RED BEANS "PILAKI"- Barbunya Pilakisi

4 servings
1 big onion
1 carrot
1 tablespoon of tomato paste
1.5 glass dry red beans
8 cloves of garlic
Half a glass of olive oil
Salt, lemon, sugar

Soak beans overnight in cold water. Cook them in plenty of water for about 25 minutes. Drain. Brown chopped onions in olive oil. Add carrots cut into slices, tomato paste, 1 teaspoon sugar, garlic, salt and about 3 glasses of water. When boiling add beans and cook on big heat until beans are tender.

When cool decorate with slices of lemon and parsley.