Rasberry and Lemon Muffins

These are probably the best looking muffins I have ever made. The juice of the raspberries made them very moist and my friend doesn't really like to have muffins very sweet. So I baked them with less amount of sugar than I normally would, this way you can have loads of it and still wouldn't feel tired of eating them. I mean you can have dozens of it and it wouldn't be too sweet. The flavour of lemon is intense in this muffins, highly recommended if you are a citrus lover. Scroll down for the recipe.

Ingredients: (yields  12-14  muffins)

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup granular white sugar (you can use 1/2 cups if you want it to taste more sweet)
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• Zest of 5 lemons approximately 1/3 cup zest
• 1/4 cup yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 3/4 cup self raising flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 130 grams of frozen raspberries
• 1 egg
• 5 grams of vanillia powder (you can use vanillia extract)
• 1/2 cups of unsalted butter melted

Icing:

• 105 grams of frozen or fresh raspberries
• 4 tbsp icing (powdered) sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon juice

Recipe: 

1. Place the zest of lemons, brown sugar, granular sugar in a bowl or in a mortar
2. Pestle until everything is incorporated this process will help to extract the essential oils 
3. Line or grease your muffin tin and set your oven 180 C/ 360 F
4. Add the egg and whisk it with sugar
5. add the lemon juice '
6. vanillia powder whisk it and add the milk and yogurt keep whisking until everything is incorporated
7. Add the melted butter and whisk until everything is incorporated
8. In another bowl mix lightly the flour and baking powder
9. Add the frozen berries to the bowl and coat it with flour 
10. Add the liquid to the dry mixture mix it with a spatula until flour disappear 
11. Spoon the mixture to muffin tin
12. Bake it for 20-30 (mins mine took 20)
13. After baking let the muffins set for 10 minutes 
14. In a bowl mix and pestle the icing ingredients and spoon them on top op the muffins and serve it.

Pasta with Mushrooms, Asparagus, and Fresh Herbs

I have been cooking pasta for about ten years now. I font even remember how it used to taste like but I probably can not even eat the first pasta I ever cooked. After all we are not all born gifted. Although, pasta is a simple dish to cook in my opinion it is tricky to male one. I manage to get some clues from the itallian fair on how to cook the dry pasta. Apparently for all those years I have been over cooking the pasta and it turns if it is cooked al dente pasta would be more delicious and al dente is also good for your digestive system. You want to have a big pan preferably tall one especially if you are making spaghetti with loads of water to cook the pasta. The pasta should be able to move freely in the pot. You don't want to put oil into the pasta water but you want to add some salt into the water. Also another common mistake is not waiting for the water to boil perfectly. You want the cook the pasta in a boiling  water not hot or warm water. Now I don't want to mislead with saying that I boil my pasta for 5 - 8 mins because there is so many different pasta varieties out there and I don't think I am an authority to make a generalisation on that but I would say make sure it is al dente check the instructions on the pasta package if necessary and taste your pasta to check whether it is done.

Tips for cooking the dry pasta:

• use a big pot
• add good amount of water check the packaging of the pasta for instructions
• do not add oil to the boiling water
• add salt before adding dry pasta
• cook the pasta al dente 

Pasta

I was searching on the web for a good mushroom sauce. Most of them are using bacon in the sauce so i decided to add a meaty flavor which in my opinion can be added with using asparagus. And this recipe turned out to be very chili i don't think Italians would appreciate spicy pasta:) The  Crème fraiche  was very sour so to mask its taste i had to add a strong flavor. I would use double cream instead as a sauce.

Pasta with Mushrooms and Asparagus

Ingredients : (2 serving ) 

• Dry spagetti for two (from the instructions on the package split the pasta)
• 4 button mushrooms
• 5 chestnut mushrooms
• 8 asparagus tips
• 1 spanish onion
• 3 garlic cloves 
• 3 tbsp olive oil<\li>
• 125 ml crème fraiche (i would use single or double cream instead  crème fraiche  was very sour)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper (optional)
• 1 bird eye chili (optional)
• salt for taste 
• 15 grams of fresh dill for garnish
• 15 grams of fresh  flat leaf parsley for garnish

Reci. pe:

1. put 1 LT water to a large Pam and bring it to boil 
2. chop the mushrooms and dice the onions 
3. wash and finely chop the dill and parsley and set aside 
4. add the olive oil and onions to a nonstick pot, stir and cook until they are brown
5. add the mushrooms and let it cook until the mushrooms loose their juice 
6. when the water started the boil add some salt and the dry pasta with the help of a fork twist the pasta into the water
7. let it cook for 5-8 mins and check it to see if it is done you want it to be cooked al dente 
8. drain the pasta and set aside
9. add the cremè   fraiche  or double cream to the mushrooms  and let it boil for 3-5 minutes 
10. add black peppers and chili to  the sauce
11. add the pasta into the mushroom sauce and mix let it boil with the sauce for 15 -30 seconds 
12. boil or steam asparagus until tender, i boiled them for 2-3 mins
13. serve the pasta in mushroom sauce and place asparagus on top and sprinkle some  dill and parsley

Ingredients chestnut mushrooms, button mushrooms, asparagus, crème fraiche, onion, garlic, dill, flat leaf parsley

La Dolce Vita : Itallian Fair for Londoners

Every year in Islington The Business Center  becomes a host for an event called "La Dolce Vita" meaning sweet life. The event as it's name suggests is an italian fair displaying, promoting, selling the Italian products mainly food and wine products. This year thanks to my lovely Italian friends I went to the fair and had loads of good food. The displayers are either companies/small business owner's based on Italy or london based Italian product providers. Italy is amazingly rich in terms of food and wine culture and La Dolce Vita event is a good option to taste and learn about the food culture in Italy. Now I can not really start conversations and talk about food with strangers and if you are like me i would recommend go to the fair with your Italian friends. My friends were really kind and they explained whatever i asked about the products in the fair so now it is my turn to write about what i learned from the fair and from my friends.

Buffalo Mozzarella

Our first stop was a stall serving mainly bufalo mozzarella that has been brought from Naples. The products were not on sale rather the stall was a promotion for a restaurant called "Fratelli La Bufala" that is going to be opened in Piccadilly circus on 27th of March. The Buffalo's milk almost miraculous it is richer in protein, calcium, and fat than cow's milk.  People suffering from intestine problems or eczema find it hard to consume diary products made with cow's milk and when they switch to buffalo milk they start to feel an improvement in their conditions. Lactose intolerance is another common problem, where as buffalo milk is easier to digest. I have never came across to a Buffalo milk in my local grocerry store so I can't tell you what the Buffalo milk tastes like but the  mozzarella we tasted was different in terms of smell and taste from the regular cheese that has been sold in our local grocery stores in UK which is not suppose to be called mozzarella rather it turns out it should have been called fior di latte. Because the mozzarella can only be made from Buffalo milk. The mozzarella we tasted wasn't smelling like milk, that was the first thing I noticed since I am a bit sensitive when it comes to smell of any food (and anything really). In terms of taste it had a spesific sweetness that is in my opinion comming from the milk itself. When I was in States we used to buy this milk called horizon organic and i think the sweetness of the mozzarella reminded me of horizon's taste. The texture was soft felt very natural. Back to the restaurant, they were advertising that they will be bringing the mozzarella from Naples. So i made a small research it turns out in Naples there is water buffalo or  Mediterranean  buffalo farms which is originated from Mainly sub Indian continent. There is regulations in Italy to protect the buffalo cheese from Campania. If a restaurant claiming that they are serving a real Neapolitan pizza, it is against the law in Itally not to use buffalo cheese in the pizza. 

Sicilian Pesto Stall

Our next stop was a stall from scilly with pestos for sale. I have bought a broccoli pesto with sun flower seeds, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, and  raisins in it, when i first tasted it i thought it was  a familiar taste.I have also bought an interesting sauce with bird eye chillies and sweet marmelade together in one small glass container. Later on my Italian friend told me that they usually eat this sauce with meat. I think the sauce reminded me of Thai food, maybe stir fried noodles with tofu and peanuts on top which taste sweet and spicy at the same time. My friends bought almond and artichoke pesto. Actually i think i will try to make the brocoli pesto later on, and will try the pesto my friends bought as well, with the extra virgin olive oil i bought again produced in Sicily but from the next stall.

Olive Oil Brought from Different Regions of Italy

Olive Oil Stall 

Olive Oil with Gold Flakes

When we came across the olive oil stall i asked my friend if he can tell the difference between two olive oils and he answered me back yes. When I tasted the olive oils one after another i was surprised by the richness of the taste. I think that was a turning point in my life in terms of olive oil, at that point i was amazed to realize that an olive oil can come up with so many different flavours. All the olive oils was extra virgin olive oil.  Back than I thought there was only two types of olive oil mild and strong and when it is mild that means it is not extra virgin if it is strong that means it is extra virgin and the bitter it is the better extra virgin olive oil. But it turns out this is not the case olive oil can be extra virgin and mild can be fruity and nutty. I think this is just amazing, it is hard to put it in words. The extra virgin olive oil again can be bitter and you can feel the bitternes first or you might not feel the the bitterness until you swallow it  as if it is leaving a bitter trace in your mouth. It is just absolute pleasure i highly recommend you to buy different olive oils ay the same time and maybe make a tasting on your own to experience what i just described. You wont regret it. Oh by the way my fiance tells me there is this restaurants in Europe where there is no lighting and you go in and try dishes. If you cant see anything your sense of taste is going to improve. I am planning to make a blind olive oil tasting on my own to tell the difference. 

Pistachio Cream an Amazing Alternative to Nutella

The region called Emilio Romagna is one of the most developed regions in Italy. The region is also known as the inventor of one of the most known Italian desert tiramisu. Although there is a debate about it other regions such as Venetia is  also claiming to be the inventor of the famous tiramisu desert.  Also Parmagiano Reggiano the famous parmesan cheese is coming from this region. The region is also known with meat products. Also in this stall they were selling the balsamic vinegars up to 8 years old which was amazing and expensive:)

Italy is famous with many dishes and products. When i asked my dearest Italian friends what would they like to add to this list their response was chocolate and coffee. Although Italy is not as famous as Switzerland in terms of chocolate production, Italy is a major player in the history of chocolate in Europe. For example  Tuscany based chocolate brand is the official supplier of Royal Family in UK. Turin region is famous with the hazelnut chocolates called gianduia. An the Sicilia region was the first producer of chocolate bars in Europe. The chocolate bars produced in Sicilia was made of cocoa paste instead of cocoa butter and the sugar crystals were visible. On the other hand coffee is very common in Italy. In Italy every bar suppose to serve coffee; however, Italians have bars dedicated to coffee only, which is not the sense of coffee shop rather you stop by for an espresso and sip it in the bar. And Italian coffee is an absolute joy. I would like to thank my lovely Italian friends for tirelessly telling me about Italian culture and language. 

Finally, if you want to visit the Italian fair next year keep your tickets and go there both Saturday and Sunday. On Sundays you might get some discounts since the producers wants to get rid of the remaining products. But some products runs out quickly so it is not guarantied that you will get to see or try every product on Sunday so go there both Saturday and Sunday. 

Emilia Romagna Region 

Parmesan Cheese

Balsamic Vinegar

Ricotta Cheese I bought From Gastronomica stall

Gastronomica Stall Cheese with Grapes

Pistachio Gellato and  Choclate Chuncks Gellato 

Gellato Stall

 Spotted Celebrities

Gino D'Acampo

Alessio

Khaleda

Oscar

Paolo  

chocolate muffins with white chocolate chunks and St. Patric's day decorations

It is a rainy cold day here in London but i think the weather conditions is not going to stop the Britons to celebrate the St. Patric's day. Some weeks ago there was a post in this blog on the pancake day. Let me remind you what pancake day is: during the transition from winter to spring according to the Christianity consumption of some foods such as butter, eggs are restricted for purifying purposes. This time of the year is called lent. However at the St. Patric's day the constraints of the lent is lifted and at the beginning of  the  17th century it became a festive day so it has become another excuse for celebrations.

Muffin with white chocolate chunks

Originally St. Patric's day is representing the arrival of Christianity to Ireland however this St. Patric's day is evolved into  a celebration of Irish culture especially in commonwealth countries and USA.  Nowadays during the celebrations wearing green, drinking Guinness beer , and using shamrock as a clothing item became a custom. According to the wikipedia St. Patric arrived to Ireland with a three leaf shamrock representing the trinity. Hence shamrock is the symbol of the St. Patric's day. 

Dry ingredients, muffin tin, muffins with St. Patric's day decorations

I was going to bake cupcakes but the feedback i received from friends made me bake muffins instead.  My friends think that the cake of cupcakes are less tastier. But when you are placing the frosting there is a disadvantage associated with muffins since they rise uniformly so you end up with a rough surface. So the icing doesn't look perfect. But the taste is worth it! 

Ingredients (yields 10 - 12 muffins)

• 1 cup chopped white chocolate chunks
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cups of butter unsalted
• 2 tbsp granular sugar
• 1/4 cups of soft brown sugar
• 3 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 5 grams of vanilla powder (you can alternate this with 1 tsp vanilla extract)
• 1 3/4 cups self raising flour 

Recipe

1. Set the oven to 180 C/ 360 F and line or grease your muffin tin
2. In a bowl mix the granular sugar, cocoa powder, flour,  baking powder 
3. Add the chocolate chunks to the mixture mix lightly with a spoon
4. Crack the egg to another bowl  add the vanilla powder and beat it heavily
5. Add the butter an sugar to the bowl and beat it with an electric mixer
6. Add the milk to the mixture and keep beating in medium speed
7. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones and mix it lightly with a spatula or spoon until the flour disappears 
8. Spoon the mixture to the muffin tin
9. Bake it for 15-30 mins (mine took 20 mins) 

Icing: 

• 200 grams of white chocolate
• 3 tbsp light cream cheese
• 1 tbsp icing sugar 
• 1 tbsp green food colouring

1. Melt the chocolate in a bowl by placing the bowl in a hot water
2. Dip the top surface of the cooled muffins into the melted white chocolate  
3. Wait for the chocolate to solidify you can put them into the fridge for 5-10 mins to speed the process
4. Mix the food colouring , cream cheese, and icing sugar and draw 

Decorated hearth shaped muffins 

Creamy Mushroom Soup

It is a grey and gloomy day here in London, so are the pictures in this post. Mushrooms are a big part of my diet especially chestnut and portobello mushrooms are the ones that I use probably the most. But shitake mushrooms are my favorite in terms of taste and texture. I used to make this soup with shitake mushrooms back in States as they were available in local grocery store all year long. But they are harder to find in London at least in my local grocery store. So I used button and oyster mushrooms instead. It is a very tasty soup and I highly recommend you to try this recipe if you are a mushroom fan like myself. I have been making this soup since 2008 and the recipe is originated from the blog called Ev cini.

Oyster mushrooms, button mushroom, Spanish onion

Chopped onions and mushrooms sizzling with olive oil

Mushroom soup with toasted bread 

Ingredients (4 serving):

• 10 button mushrooms
• 12 oyster mushrooms
• 500 grams of warm/room temperature milk
• 500 grams of warm water
• 4 tbsp olive oil 
• 4 tbsp flour (i used self raising)
• 1 medium size spanish onion 
• 1/2  tsp freshly grounded black pepper

Recipe

1. Finely chop the onions
2. Chop the mushrooms in small sizes 
3. In a non-stick pan/pot caramelise the  onions with 2 tbsp olive oil 
4. Add the chopped mushrooms to the pan 
5. Let them cook until the mushroom juice is evaporated (at this point mushrooms should be more brownish and much smaller in size)
6. Take the cooked mixture out of the pan
7. To an empty pan (i recommend non-stick again) add 2 tbsp olive oil and 4 tbsp flour
8. Cook it in low by stirring until the flour looks tanned
9. Add the cooked mushroom and onion mixture to the pan with flour 
10. Add the black pepper and keep stirring
11. Add the milk slowly to the pan and stir heavily, bring the stove to boil
12. Add the  warm water
13. When the soup is boiled serve it to the bowls and add some chopped parsley on top 

Ricotta Cheese and Three Fresh Herb Muffin

In this post i decided to let the picture speak about the food. The savory muffins were delicious and i used the ricotta cheese i bought from La Dolce Vita Italian Fair. I will write more about it soon in another post. Now enjoy the pictures and scroll down for the recipe. 

Cooked savory muffins

Step by Step Muffin Dough: thyme leaves, sun flower seeds, muffin dough.

Dry ingredients with three herbs

Savory muffins at the silicone hearth shaped muffin tin

Savory ricotta and three fresh herbs muffins

Ingredients: (yields 8 - 12 muffins)

• 2 cups self raising flour
• 1 cup yogurt 
• 100 grams of ricotta cheese (about 1/3cups)
• 1/3 cup sun flower seeds
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tbsp apple cider
• 1/2  1/2 tsp salt 
• 1 egg 
• 6 branches of fresh basil (finely chopped )
• 6 branches of dill
• 12 branches of fresh wild thyme

Recipe:

1. Wash and chop the fresh herbs (for thyme tear the leaves and throw away the rest) and set them aside for drying or towel dry them 
2. Toast the sun flower seeds with 1/2 tsp salt 
3. Set your oven to 360 F/180 C and grease or line your muffin tin 
4. Leave the salt at the pan and take the toasted sun flower seed out to a bowl
5. Add the flour, baking powder, salt to the bowl mix it lightly
6. Add the finely chopped basil, fresh thyme, and finely chopped dill to the dry mixture and lightly mix it  
7. Crack the egg to another bowl and add the apple cider beat it with a whisk 
8. Add the yogurt and keep whisking
9. Add ricotta cheese to the liquid mixture and keep whisking
10. Add the liquid mixture to dry mixture just mix it with a spatula until the flour disappears (do not over mix it) and spoon it to the muffin tins  (this mixture still will be more dense than your regular fluffy muffin dough)
11. bake it for 15-30 mins mine took 20 mins

Stuffed Peppers: Turkish Style

Stuffed vegetables are one of the main and probably the most consumed  and loved dish in Turkish households. It can be stuffed in many different ways, as you wonder through the country, trying stuffed vegetables from different regions you can see many variations. Two main difference everywhere in the country is either stuffing them with ground meat filling or just with vegetarian filling. The meat filling can have different spices and also rice in it. My favorite is the one without meat so called "zeytin yagli". Another main distinction in this dish is stuffing either dried vegetables or fresh ones. In my opinion, if you are stuffing fresh vegetables i think you should make it vegetarian and for dried vegetables using a meat filling is a better option. Make sure you put loads of fresh dill when you are using meat in the filling. Vegetarian filling can be just rice and spices or in addition to that it can have pine nuts, sugar, and small sized dried grapes.  

Uncooked stuffed peppers 

In Turkey the most common stuffed vegetable is pepper, unlike Europe or US Turkey has smaller, crunchier, and of course better tasting peppers. So the size of the stuffed vegetable is much smaller sometimes it can even be a bite size. The second most popular vegetable is zucchini (courgette), and i think the third would be the dried eggplant (aubergine). Usually my mum throws couple of stuffed tomatoes into whatever stuffed vegetable she is  cooking. But if you are planning to do so as well i would advise you to use the oven. I will come to that in how to cook the stuffed vegetables. After stuffing the vegetable we usually close the top of the vegetable with a piece of tomato this will help you keep the stuffing inside the vegetable and the sour tomato will leave a beautiful flavor.

Another way of making stuffed vegetables is using grape leaves it is very common even in England you can find stuffed grape leaves but it is never as good as your mum's stuffed grape leaves if you are Turkish, Middle-eastern, or Greek . My parents usually stuff the grape leaves with vegetarian filling and it can be eaten cold or warm. When my grandmother or my mum is using meat filling they stuff the cabbage leaves. In the western part of the country around Aegean sea coast it is popular to stuff the pumpkin/zucchini flowers. 

Cooked stuffed pepper

The cooking is both straight forward and tricky. I usually boil them some people cook them in the oven which make sense if you are especially using tomatoes.  You don't want to overcook them the rice should be  still in good shape. I haven't manage to cook them perfectly yet but i will let you know when i do so. I will give you one i learned from my mother, if you are using fresh grape leaves and you want them to look green after cooking you want to slice lemons when you are boiling them. 

Recipe test with Behice Unal: Lemon & Popyseed Muffins

Behice shares her experience with us on baking the Lemon & Popyseed (L&P) muffins. Behice described her love for baking and shared the beautifully taken pictures of the delicious L&P muffins she baked. I would like to thank her for sparing the time on taking pics and writing her opinion on baking and L&P muffins. Also special thanks for trusting the recipes on this blog. Here is what Behice says: 

Hey guys!  :)

well... I dont have a blog but do follow blogs including Tuba's :) and the lovely recipes she posts with the pictures

I enjoy coooking as well...actually i prefer baking instead...well lets say a bit of both shall we? :)....I am a muffin person...sorry :| that didnt make sense did it? well... erm i like baking muffins  :) and have tried a lot from my hummingbird book. spinach and cheese and blueberry muffins are my fave i have to say ;).... 

Skimming through tuba's blog: I've found the lemon and poppyseed one...as I'm a lemon lover tooo!! i had to try it out!... 

I've used the exact ingridients, well i didnt have coconut oil so i used a bit of butter...and 3/4 of golden caster sugar instead. And used 3 lemons instead of six but i will try 6 lemons next time. 

Plus: i never knew we can add yogurt into muffins!...  :)) 

results: well... i had visitors at home and offered them some of the muffins: (compliments to the chef :D ) they loved it! not only the visitors but also my BUDGIE! who kept flying to the muffins and trying to have a taste (ofcourse i didnt let him! his not allowed sugary stuff) :)) well although they were not too sugary or fatty :)

but yeh.... thanks Tuba for sharing ur yummylicious 'try this at home!' recipes :)) I'm sure i will be trying other recipes she has posted

ooooh...and i do recommend u try out he spinach and cheese from hummingbird bakery...i'm sure they will have it online....

Behice used the silicone liners to bake her muffins