Lamb Kabobs

 Lamb Kabobs

Ingredients: 2 pounds lamb cut in cubes (remove any fat or grizzle), 6 ounces tomato paste, 1 tbs crushed garlic, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp paprika, cinnamon, cumin, thyme, salt & pepper, 1/2 tsp cayenne

Optional veggies: Onions, bell peppers and tomatoes.

Put the lamb and all the ingredients in a freezer bag and marinate for several hours. Remove from the bag and put on skewers with any vegetables you want. Cook on a medium high heat on the grill approximately 3-5 minutes per side.

Serve with pita bread and either garlic sauce or a yogurt dip.

Hummus - Turkish Style

 Hummus - Turkish Style

Ingredients: 1 can of drained garbanzo beans, 6 cloves of garlic, 3 tbs olive oil, 3/4 cup tahini, 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tsp cumin, paprika & white pepper, 1/4 cup water.

Garnish: Dried, cured meat like prosciutto. Here I used Bresaola. 

Mix everything in a food processor until smooth. Super easy. Super flavorful!

Gluten Free Zucchini Fritters

 Gluten Free Zucchini Fritters

Ingredients: 3 shredded zucchini (squeeze out extra moisture), 3 eggs, 1 cup brown rice flour, 2 tbs fresh dill & mint, 1 tsp salt and pepper. Vegetable oil for frying.

Mix everything together and roll into patties. I put on a baking sheet in the fridge for a few hours and then drained the excess moisture off of them. I also drained them on paper towels before I fried them.

Fry on a high heat in vegetable oil. I served it with my Turkish Yogurt Dip called Haydari.

They were great!

Yogurt Dip - Haydari (Turkish inspired)

  Yogurt Dip - Haydari

Ingredients: 1 cup plain Greek yogurt, 1/2 cup cream cheese, 1/2 tsp salt, 6 cloves of garlic, 1 cup loose fresh parsley, 1/2 cup loose fresh dill.

Garnish: Fresh Mint

Put everything in a food processor until smooth.  You'll thank me for this one!!!!

Buttery Rice With Orzo

 Buttery Rice With Orzo

Ingredients: 3 tbs butter, 2 tbs olive oil, 2 cups Jasmine rice, 1/2 cup orzo, 3 cups chicken stock, 1 tsp salt.

Brown the orzo in the butter & oil. Once browned, add everything else and simmer until rice is soft.

This rice has awesome flavor and was a big hit!

Sausage Stew (a.k.a. Sausage Lecso)

 Sausage Stew

This is another Hungarian inspired recipe that was a huge hit!

Ingredients: 1 large onion, 1 yellow, orange and red bell pepper, 6 cloves garlic, 2 packages of polish sausage, olive oil, 1 tbs Hungarian paprika (more if you like things spicy!) 1 32 ounce can of tomatoe sauce

Cut up everything. I fried the peppers, onions and garlic in some oil in a heavy skillet until soft and browned. I set the pepper mix aside. Then I friend the sausage in batches until it was browned as well and set it aside. I put the tomato sauce and paprika in the pan and scraped all the burnt sides into the sauce. Once the sauce was heated and had the right amount of spice, I added everything to the skillet, heated it thoroughly and it was ready to eat!

We served it with slightly toasted fresh bread. 

Mushroom Soup

 Mushroom Soup

This is a Hungarian inspired soup.

Ingredients: 4 tbs butter, 1 large chopped onion, 6 chopped garlic cloves, 1 1/2 pounds chopped mushrooms, 1/4 cup fresh dill, 1 tbs hot Hungarian paprika, 2 tbs soy sauce, 2 tbs fresh lemon juice, 2 cups chicken broth, 1 tbs salt & pepper.

Garnish: Fresh parsley & sour cream. 

Sauté the onion, garlic & shrooms in the butter until they are soft. (about 10 minutes) Add everything else and simmer for half hour.