Mud Pie

This is one of the most presentable pie if you want to impress people. Looks awesome, tastes delicious and very easy to make. You don't have the make a pastry, digestive biscuits are doing the trick in this chocolate pie. All you need is a thin pie pan. Very quick to make, quick to bake and quick to eat. Try not to fight over the crumbs left on the tray! =) Personally, I can't keep my hands away from it.

Ingredients:
180 gr digestive or whole grain biscuits
1 table spoon of brown sugar
1/2 tea spoon of cinnamon
1/2 cup of walnuts or pecan nuts 
2 table spoons of melted butter

150 gr dark chocolate
200 gr margarine
2-3 table spoons of honey
3 eggs
1 cup of walnuts

How to:
1. We begin with putting the biscuits into a blender along with the cinnamon, sugar and walnuts and mix them until it looks like bread crumbs or a crude flour. If you don't have a blender or if you can't be bothered with it, put everything in a cloth bag and smash it with your knife or against the kitchen counter.
2. Add the melted butter onto your crumbly biscuit mixture, mix thoroughly, put on your pie tray and leave to chill in the fridge for half an hour.
3. Take out a sauce pan and put the margarine, chocolate and honey. Melt all of them together to make a very yummy chocolate mixture. You can use milk chocolate or dark chocolate or both according to your taste of chocolate. I prefer using dark chocolate, it gives more cocoa taste. Once you get a homogenous sauce, turn off the heat and beat in the eggs very quickly in order not to cook the eggs. Last, add the chopped walnuts. Make sure that you leave the walnuts a bit crunchy.
4. Take out the pie tray from the fridge, pour in the amazing chocolate mixture and bake in the 180 degree oven for 35 minutes. Serve when warm or cold, with or without vanilla ice cream.

This slice shows the chunks of walnuts inside the pie.

When I took it out of the fridge, I sprinkled some icing sugar to make it look more dreamlike.

Penne With Shrimps and Tomatoes

So easy to make you won't believe, such a nice looking cool dish in almost 15 minutes-time! This recipe is one of the first dishes I came up with using shrimps. I am never the biggest fan of shrimps but every now and then, we feel like having something different. So shrimps and a glass of wine is our little treat on week days. Generally shrimps are cooked with butter, first fried in butter or fried on a hot pan and then mixed into the meal. In my pasta though, I cook the whole sauce all together. The main key is I like to keep it simple, use little ingredients that go a long way. Lots of garlic, onions, tomatoes, chilli pepper and shrimps. Mixed with pasta and a touch of olive oil. Garnished with finely chopped parsley. That is my idea of indulgence!

Ingredients:
1/2 packet of penne pasta 
200 gr of small shrimps
2 table spoons of tomato purée
1 table spoon of tomato paste
1 big onion
5 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)
1 tea spoon of chilli pepper
Salt, pepper
Olive oil
A handful of finely sliced parsley

How to:
1. First boil some water to cook your pasta in. When the water is boiled, add your penne and make sure to cook it for 12 minutes in salty water (no less, no more).
2. Chop the garlics and onion on a chopping board, then start to cook in a hot sizzling pan with olive oil. Add your shrimps and fry them for 5 minutes, mixing all the time.
3. Add the tomato purée and tomato paste, season with salt and pepper, stir in some hotness with chilli pepper and take in low heat. Leave it to simmer for 10-15 minutes.
4. When the pasta is cooked, drain it and add into the shrimp sauce, toss everything together and add some more olive oil.
5. Take your pasta onto a nice plate, garnish with chopped parsley, pour a glass of red wine and enjoy your dish. Bon apetite!

Perfect Leftovers Pie

Art of getting creative with cooking! When you have some food left from the previous day, be it beef stew, vegetables or pasta, I enjoy taking it, turning it around and making a new dish out of it.  And today's dish is not complicated. Actually, if you don't have leftovers, you can still make this pastry dish from scratch. This week I made roast chicken but we couldn't finish it. So there was plenty of good cooked soft and juicy chicken pieces. There were bits and pieces of vegetable in the fridge drawer and I took these as well in order to come together as a totally fresh recipe. With all the chicken I have and some mushrooms in the fridge, all I could think about was to turn it into a nice British Chicken and Mushroom Pie which my mother-in-law makes fantastically. However I realized that I didn't have all of the ingredients for her pastry recipe. Then I had to go along and make my own pastry. So here you are: An amazing yummy chicken and vegetables pie. You can make these pies quite big like I did in the picture (like one pie per person), or you can make smaller pies with less amount of mixture inside. It is up to your taste. Fish out all the bits and pieces of vegetables, cheese and meat from your fridge, quickly make the dough and put it in the oven. You will love it; your family will love it; your friends will love it. Let's cut to the chase and write the full recipe, which can be adopted easily. 

Ingredients:
Pieces of roast chicken or stewed chicken breast (a big cup will be enough for four people)
Roasted mixed vegetables (in my roasted vegetables dish I had mushrooms, carrots, Brussel sprouts, red onion. It could be anything. You can even stir fry all of these quickly)
1 onion
150 gr of mushroom
1 cup of feta cheese or crumbly cheese
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

For the pastry:
300 gr flour
5 table spoons of milk
5 table spoons of olive oil 
2 eggs
1 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of thyme

How to:
1. Shred all the chicken and vegetable pieces you have. As I said, you can make this recipe from scratch; if so, put some chicken in the boiling water and stir fry the vegetables.
2. Chop the fresh onion and mushrooms and stir fry them in the pan. (If you're making this from scratch, add all the vegetables in one go with salt, pepper, cumin, thyme and some water).
2. It's up to you to decide the seasoning and the spices you add. Since it is with chicken and vegetables, I prefer to add a little bit of cheese. The cheese I used in these closed pies is not a strong cheese, it is like feta cheese, very mild in taste and very light in fat. Mix all of the ingredients in one big bowl, chicken, vegetables, stir fried mushroom and onions, crumble some feta cheese and put it aside.
3. For the pastry, first separate one egg yolk to brush over the pies. Mix everything else in a big bowl. You should have a soft, a bit elastic but not sticky dough.
4. Divide your pastry into four. Roll each piece 1/2 centimeter thick on a clean surface. Then put two-three spoonfuls of the mixture on one side and close it from the other edge to form a semicircle shape. I divided my dough into four pieces; you can divide it into eight or ten pieces and have smaller pies as well. My aim was to make one big pie per person. In order to secure the sides, we press with a fork.
5. When each and every pie is ready, brush the egg yolk with some olive oil onto the pies. Bake in the 180 degrees hot oven for 40 minutes or until the pies are crispy.
6. These leftover pies will not only save your food from being wasted, but also make a perfect dinner meal with a green salad on the side, maybe some gravy sauce or yoghurt. That's what I call comfort food! Enjoy!

This is the result; below is the procedure. 

Mushrooms, as many as we like.

 Loads of onion; guarantee to make every dish yummy. :)

 That is how my mixture looked like, before the cheese. 

Now adding the cheese and it gets mouth-watering for me. I can't wait to have one warm pie.

 It looks like Italian calzones as well. Except that they are really crispy on the outside!

Ready for my lunch. ;)

Easy Apple and Cherry Pie

So simple, so quick for every day and it is a pretty light recipe. Made with mainly fresh apples and some cherry jam, this pie can take other fruits such as strawberries, cherries, blueberries, raspberries, peaches, apricots, pears and nuts. I first made this in autumn when first fresh apples were on the market and I wanted to sweeten them with my home-made thick cherry jam, instead of using only sugar. With a very thin and crispy base, yummy-smelling cinnamony topping this easy pie will win your heart.

Ingredients:
4 small sweet apples
Juice of one orange
Juice of one lemon
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
Thick cherry jam

130 gr of flour
3 table spoons of butter
1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
2 teaspoons of granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt

How to:
1. First squeeze the lemon and orange and pour the juice inside a bowl. Peel and chop the apples in small pieces, put them inside the orange and lemon juice. You can add the rind of either the orange or lemon if you like. Especially, the orange rind will give an amazing flavour. In this recipe I focused on cinnamon, so didn't add either of them.
2. Add the cinnamon and toss all of them together. Now add 3-4 tablespoons of thick cherry jam, with the cherries inside. Alternatively, you can add any other jam you like, but make sure it has little juice and big pieces of fruits. This is the only sweet the pie topping has, so try to adjust it to your taste.
3. Now mix all of the ingredients to make a pie pastry and chill for 15 minutes. Use this time to clean up your kitchen, heat your oven and prepare your pie tray. Once the pie crust is ready, roll it out on a clean counter. A small tip here: Instead of using a rolling pin, try rolling your dough with a cold bottle from the fridge. The coldness will help the dough to spread without crumbling.
4. Leave a small piece of the dough aside and take the rest and spread on your baking tray. Pour the apple mixture on top of the dough. Cut small shapes with the leftover pie pastry to decorate. Easy as that. :)
5. Next, the yummy pie goes into the 175 degrees oven for 35-45 minutes. Eat and enjoy!

Pirassopita / Leek Pie

Welcome to my Cretan table! =) I am absolutely in love with this cuisine. Everybody loves Mediterranean diet, however not many people know Cretan cuisine. Cretans have the longest span of life in the world and can we guess why? All the food they eat is fresh, right from their garden into their salad. They like to eat slow, drink slow, chat long, have fun, be friendly, enjoy their day and not stress about things. I feel very lucky because I got to know Cretan food from first hand experience. My husband is from this beautiful island and we spend every summer there. Each and every time I go, I always dream about the delicious food I am going to have there. So when we come back, we try to bring a piece of Crete on our plates. This recipe is one of the first dishes I had at a village taverna. My husband tried it when I made at home and says it is like the original one, so I can share it here. =) In Istanbul, sometimes I serve it at tea tables because we like savoury warm pies for tea time. You can have it as a main course for lunch or dinner as well.

Ingredients:
5-6 sticks of leek
400 gr of minced meat (preferably lamb, beef will also do)
3 table spoons of tomato purée
1 teaspoon of grated nutmeg
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
A pinch of red pepper

350 gr of flour
1/2 cups of olive oil
1/2 cups of milk
A pinch of salt
1 egg
Sesame seeds and black cumin seeds

How to:
1. Put two table spoons of olive oil onto a pan. When the oil is heated, add the mince meat and start cooking.
2. Meanwhile, wash the leek and chop finely. After the minced meat has changed colour, add the leeks and fry together. Add three table spoons of grated tomatoes and mix, then sprinkle the grated nutmeg. Nutmeg is essential to the Cretan dishes and it gives a very nice smell to the food you cook, especially with minced beef. Season with salt, pepper and a tiny bit of chilli pepper. Leave to simmer for a while on low heat.
3. On a clean counter, sieve 350 grams of flour, make a well and pour the olive oil and milk and start kneading it into a dough. If you feel like the dough is too sticky, you can add a little bit of flour; in the opposite way, if it is too solid add some olive oil or milk to soften it. It has to be a tough pie dough that doesn't stick to the hand.
4. Divide the dough into two. Roll one piece out with a rolling pin and carefully transfer to the oven dish or casserole dish (which you oiled beforehand). We need a deep tray for this recipe. It will have a thin layer at the bottom and on top. 
5. After the first layer of pastry is spread evenly (you can also do it by hand), pour in the leek and beef mixture. If your mixture is runny and you are worried that it will soften the dough and make it soggy, just sprinkle a handful of bulghur onto the bottom. This way the bulghur will take the excessive water and prevent your crispy pie dough from going soft.
6. Next, we roll out the second piece of dough in order to cover everything and make a nice cap on our pie. If you like puffy pastry, you can add a little bit of baking powder into this bit of dough before spreading it over the top.
7. The last step, lightly whisk one egg and brush it on the top dough. Sprinkle generous amount of sesame seeds and black cumin seeds. It is ready to go into 190 degrees hot oven and bake for 45 minutes, until the top crust is golden and crunchy.
8. Serve when warm. It can keep in the fridge for at least two days and it is very easy to warm in the microwave. Your guests will totally adore this recipe; even people who don't eat leek lick their fingers with this yummy pie. Bon apetit!

I like to serve it with fresh thyme on top and some old cheese, like cheddar cheese.

Cauliflower With White Sauce

 Not everybody likes cauliflower. Maybe it's the smell, maybe it's the taste, but it is a very underestimated vegetable in my opinion. Since I am a vegetable person and since I like food in the oven, I tend to experiment a lot. Especially by using vegetables, you can make the best pastries, savoury dishes or garnishes. Today's dish is pretty typical dinner party dish in Turkish houses. I made a couple of changes in the original recipe. I made it lighter by not using cream and reducing the amount of butter; also I added garlic because I know that it transforms everything. I also added broccoli stems. Whenever we buy a bunch of broccoli, we like to steam the nice flowery parts but the stems go to waste. Why? Actually, they are very good in taste and they are crunchy. I sometimes chop them very thinly and add in salads, they taste really nice. Plus, in this dish it gives a nice pale green colour, which is very delightful. Cauliflower with white sauce can accompany your grilled meat, meatballs or chicken, or if you are a vegetarian, you can have it like a main course. It is that delicious!

Ingredients:
Serves 4
A bunch of cauliflower
Stems of a bunch of broccoli
1/2 litre of milk
2 table spoons of flour
2 table spoons of butter
2 cloves of garlic (crushed)
1 cup of grated melting cheese
Salt and pepper


How to:
1. Wash the cauliflower and the broccoli stems and boil or steam them for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the white sauce.
2. For the sauce, take a saucepan and add the butter and flour together. Start mixing quickly on medium heat and once they blend together, mix for 2 or 3 minutes more and then start adding the milk. The milk has to be cold, otherwise your flour will clot.
4. Keep on mixing the flour, butter with milk and it will thicken nicely. At this step, add your crushed garlic inside and turn off the heat.
5. In a deep casserole dish, put the cauliflower and broccoli stems, mix with some salt and pepper and pour in the white sauce. Make sure that the sauce goes everywhere, you can stir with a spoon.
6. Cover everything up with your grated cheese and put in the 160 degrees oven for 20 minutes or until the cheese melts and you have a golden crust. Serve when warm. Bon apetite!

Three Chocolate Chip Cookies

I love it. My husband loves it. Our friends love it. Three types of chocolate and plenty of walnuts, little flour, some sugar and here you are a yummy, soft and crunchy at the same time, totally delicious American cookies. Really very easy to make, these cookies will make you feel like a real baker! After you taste these, you will never be able to buy those dry cookies from the supermarkets. You don't have to have any special equipment or ingredients, just use your regular eating chocolate, all it takes is 30 seconds to cut them into chunks. And the best part is it only takes 15 minutes to make, 12 minutes to bake, 2 minutes to devour! =) Come on, get into the kitchen.

Ingredients:
50 gr of milk chocolate
50 gr of white chocolate
50 gr of bitter chocolate
1/3 cup of walnuts
100 gr un (1 cup, give or take)
1 egg
1 glass or 1,5 cups of brown sugar
3 table spoons of butter

How to:
1. Start with heating your oven to 190 degrees. Prepare your baking sheet or thin-edged tray.
2. Chop the chocolates and walnuts all together on a big cutting board randomly, do not bother too much or try to make them in equal sizes. Some might be tiny crumbs and some can stay as big as hazelnuts. That's the whole point of this cookie recipe.
3. Add the flour, brown sugar, egg and room temperature butter on top and start kneading. In 2 or 3 minutes, your dough should start taking shape.
4. When you have a nice, soft and a little bit sticky dough, take out small pieces, maybe a size of a meatball, round it inside your palm, put on your tray and press with your thumb to make it flat, but they shouldn't be too thin. They will become flatter while baking in the oven, so your dough must be half a centimeter, almost one centimeter thick on the tray. Also, don't forget to leave 2 centimeters of space in between. Another tip here, try to use a tray with very thin edges, the more the cookies are in contact with the warm air inside the oven, the better. Deep trays cut the flow of heat.
5. Bake for exactly 12 minutes in 190 degrees. They should look golden but they should feel soft when you press with your fingers. They tend to toughen a little bit later on, so don't worry. We are trying to have crunchy cookies with a chewy feel on the inside. That's why, you can try baking them for 10 minutes first and if they are really soggy or the same colour, you can go on for a couple of more minutes. Whatever happens, don't leave your cookies inside the oven. Once you turn off the oven, take the tray out and let them rest for 10 minutes, if possible on a tin. Otherwise, they will go dry and very tough and unpleasant.
6. Now you are ready to have one with a cup of coffee. Make and share this happy recipe with your friends, it is a very nice home-made gift. Have joyful coffee breaks!