Gourmettravelcook

Baked Parmesan Garlic portobello
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Very easy appetizers that have so much taste. A vegetarian dish with meaty texture.

Recipe:
1) pre-heat oven at 400C
2) Wipe clean portobello mushrooms and remove stems
3) Grate or chop very finely a lot of garlic. Put it in a small bowl
4) Add to bowl a lot of dried thyme. Add salt and pepper and a dash of smoked paprika.
5) Add as much extra virgin olive oil to submerge the ingredients. Mix well.
6) Put the mushroom on a baking tray lined with a baking sheet
7) Spread mixture inside mushroom equality such that all the inside is lined. Add a very thin layer of butter on each mushroom .
8) Bake for 15min. Remove from oven and sprinkle a generous amount of parmesan cheese
9) Bake another 5min

Our yearly tradition with my friends from Muslim countries to cook a lavish dinner at the end of Ramadan.

This time, we had a rack of lamb slowly cooked sous-vide over 4h and finished on the cast iron on a bed of pearl couscous and veggies. On the side, a range of meze (appetizers) and an overnight slow cooked black Dahl (courtesy of .whiticar_____ ). For dessert, Künefe and Ekmek Kadayıf with clotted cream (kaymak).

Breakfast for my roommate:
Half baguette with herb butter toasted topped with Boursin cream cheese, smoked salmon and poached eggs.
Side of roasted butternut squash and roasted fig with cream cheese, walnut and Boursin

Potato pizza (have to try)
With it's creamy consistency, it's been on of my favorite pizza lately. It's a popular topping in Rome. The trick is to cut it thin and leave it in water so that it is less starchy and it steams a but when it cooks.

Method:
1) Either with a mandolin or a knife, cut a whole russet potato into very thin slices.
2) Submerge them in water for 10min.
3) Meanwhile, roast two entire garlic bulbs in the oven.
4) Drain water from potato and dry potato with paper towels. Put the potatoes in a bowl.
5) Add to the potato a grated white onion, olive oil, fresh minced rosemary, salt and pepper and mix.
6) To the pizza, spread a base of Alfredo sauce. Spread roasted garlic pieces.
7) Place the potato slices in a spiral by only slightly overlapping edges in order to cover the entire pizza.
8) Add just a bit of shredded mozzarella or parmesan.
9) Lightly pour extra virgin olive oil, a sprinkle of salt and pepper.

Cook and enjoy 😊

Classic Turkish breakfast:

Menemen: slowly cook 2 diced onion, 1 diced green pepper, 4 diced tomatoes with generous amount of olive oil and butter. Sprinkle salt and pepper. When the water is mostly evaporated, add 3-4 whipped eggs.

Freshly baked bakes: simit, poğaça, açma.

Salted cucumber, feta in cube, Kalamata olives, pistachio nut butter, black Turkish tea

Pan fried salmon with skin with Tumeric quinoa

Shakshouka:
Easy breakfast that is sure to please. If you have a can of diced tomatoes and eggs, this is your answer. Other ingredients are mostly suggestions and can be substituted.
Ingredients:
1) Can of diced tomatoes.
2) 4 or more eggs
3) 1 onion
4) 3-4 garlic cloves
5) Spices(salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, red pepper flakes, oregano)
6) fresh mint on top

Method:
1) Slowly cook the diced onions in a bit of olive oil until tender.
2) Add minced garlic.
3) Add the spices and a can of tomatoes.
4) Simmer for 10min on low for it to thicken a bit.
5) Crack enough eggs on top to cover the surface of the pan. (You can make some little indents in the sauce to crack the eggs in)
6) Cover the pan and cook slowly until the eggs are just set.

Feel free to add what you want such as mushrooms or sausage bits.

Szechuan style minced beef eggplant 🍆🍆
I just love how tender and delicious the eggplant becomes when cooked like this. Bit spicy, oily and full of flavors, on a bed of rice, it's a great hungover food.
Ingredients:
* 2 Chinese eggplants cut into 1 inch thick slices
* 300-400gr of minced beef
* 1 yellow onion (diced)
* 4-5 cloves of garlic (minced)
* 2 tbsp of spicy chilli crisp sauce
* 1 tbsp of chilli garlic sauce
* 2 tsp of cumin
* 1/2-1 tsp of cayenne pepper (optional)
* 2 tbsp of soy sauce
* A dash of Chinese white wine

Method:
1) Heat some oil in the pan at medium high heat. Sprinkle a bit of salt. Add the eggplant and onion in the pan and cook and mix until the eggplant is soft and browned.
2) In parallel, add a bit of oil in a non-stick pot and add the minced meat. Sprinkle salt and pepper. Let it cook for a bit until the juices get absorbed. Add Chinese white wine first and mix. Then add both spicy sauces, soy sauce, garlic, cayenne and cumin.
3) Cook the meat mix for a couple more minutes and add the eggplant mixture to it and mix.
4) Cover the pot and change the hear to a simmer. Cook for 30min or so more until the eggplant is super tender.
Serve with rice :)

Çılbır 🍳 (Turkish eggs with yogurt)
Just as you think you can no longer be surprised by new ways of cooking eggs, here is a Turkish dish that will blow your mind. The runny poached eggs drenched with spicy butter might seem a bit spicy but the fire is quickly extinguished with the garlicky yogurt it sits on.
Ingredients:
* Eggs (poached)
* Greek yogurt 2 cups
* Grated or pressed garlic (3 cloves)
* Fresh dill (handful)
* 1 teaspoonRed Pepper flakes
* 1/2 stick of salted butter
* 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
* 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
* Pinch of dried mint
* Salt and pepper

Method:
1) In a small bowl, mix yoğurt, garlic (grated or pressed for maximum flavor), finely chopped dill and a bit of salt. Set aside to warm up to room temperature,
2) In a pan, on medium-high heat, melt the stick of butter. Just when it started to bubble, add paprika, pepper flakes, cumin and a pinch of plack pepper. Mix and remove from the heat.
3) Poach an egg: look for a video on YouTube to learn how to. In short, bring a pot of water to a boil and set to simmer. Add a bit of white vinegar to the water. Create a vortex in the water with a ladle by twirling the water and delicately place a cracked egg in the center of the vortex and let it cook for 3-4 min. Remove the egg with a slotted spoon and put on paper towels.
4) On a plate, smear the yogurt and leave a crater in the center.
5) Place the egg in the center.
6) Cover with a spoon of the melted butter and a pinch of salt and mint.

Serve with toasted thick bread or Turkish simit.

Et voilà.....

Turkish Mantı (kind of like meat raviolis) with spicy smoky garlic yogurt sauce 👌👌🔥🔥
This is a typical Turkish comfort food that used to be one of my favorite dishes as a kid. It's such a different taste and feel to pasta that it will make you rethink what you know about it. Depending on where you live, it might be hard to find the Mantı. I found it at a local Mediterranean grocer.
Ingredients:
* A bag of Mantı
* Plain Balkan style yogurt
* 3-4 gloves of freshly minced garlic
* 1-2 tbsp red pepper paste (or tomato paste)
* 1 tbsp of smoked paprika powder
* Half cup of salted butter
* 1/2 tbsp fine Salt (add more as you like)
* Dried mint flakes (optional)

Method;
1) Boil the Mantı until tender (about 10min)
2) Prepare the yogurt sauce by mixing yogurt, garlic and salt
3) Prepare the spicy sauce by gently melting the butter and adding the pepper/tomato paste, a bit of salt and paprika.
4) Serve as shown. Sprinkle some mint as desired.

Spicy olive oil:
Straight from Italian restaurants, it's a delicious condiment for Italian pastas and pizzas and more. It's also super easy to make if you need it on a pinch.
Method:
1) On medium heat, heat some extra virgin olive oil just to the point where it's about to smoke. (Burning olive oil will change its taste)
2) In a bowl, add a bit of crushed dries chilli and a few whole chilli.
3) Pour hot oil on the chilli and stir.
4) Let it cool for at least 2h.
5) You can either strain the solids or leave them in to turn the oil reder and spicer over time.
Enjoy