All posts tagged: buckwheat

Lamb Meafloaf with Buckwheat and Turkish Spices, No Eggs

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I’m writing this post from London so it feels a bit strange but I thought I’d write this off to fill the void between my departure and my arrival. It’s going to be a long trip, 2 weeks, – again? I know, I know – it’s a luxury but I have to keep feeding my thirst and passion, WINE. I’ve been visiting different wine bars for tastings and been eating all the things I’ve missed. Tomorrow I’ll attend Raw Wine London and I will try my best to taste and discover as much as possible and share with my readers. I’ve also squeezed a Cheese Making Course into my schedule so that I can finally tick off another item on my bucket list. While I was getting all excited packing for the trip, my poor hubby was a bit upset that I was going away for so long. So prior to my departure, I prepared a big batch of food for me to get through my absence and he beamed with joy when he saw all the food I’d brought …

Persimmon Banana Buckwheat Bread

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At this time tomorrow I’ll be in Korea… for another wedding or two, first mine and then my brother’s. How lucky am I to have two weddings? Oh, three actually. You bet! Nah…. However, the traditional Korean wedding ceremony might be quite interesting, lots of bowing, throwing live chickens, lots of noise from SamulNori(Traditional music performance), lots of food and drinks, and above all, beautiful Korean traditional clothes, Hanbok. Everyone around is excited about experiencing a traditional wedding, which is long forgotten as almost all couples do a western wedding these days. So it’s going to be a memorable event for all … …..especially for in-laws and Mr.O’s friends coming all the way to the far away land full of rumours and myths. “Do they have cheese? Do they have bread? Do they really eat rice for breakfast?” and many more. Anyway, we’re taking lots of bread and cheese with us, and even Simits for my nephews, who liked them so much when they came to Turkey last year. As I was trying to empty out the fridge …

Palamut(Bonito) Freekeh Sarma with Tahini Soy Sauce

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Let’s have a break from the Sicilian story and talk about what I’ve been cooking. I’ve been cooking more Asian foods lately and experimenting a combination of Korean and Turkish flavours. I have affinity  to everything wrapped or rolled, which is ‘sarma’ in Turkish. It sounds even similar to the Korean word for wrapping, ‘ssam’! You’ll see this stuffed leaves or stuffed vegetables everywhere in Turkey, and they are usually made with rice and meat. Of all, the most common type is stuffed vine leaves and I have a very funny story to tell. We had a big row over the vines in our garden over the summer. Some friends of an upstairs granny came around to pick vine leaves from time to time but I ignored them, finding it rather cute that people even in the city go around foraging. Also, the vines needed pruning anyway. But then one day I came home to find the ladies in the garden and the vines stripped naked of leaves so I told them not to pick the leaves from inside. One day while our helper lady was …

kohlrabi fritter

Kohlrabi Kimchi Curry Fritters

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As Chinese cabbages start to appear at markets, I’m pondering the idea of ‘Annual Kimchi Project’, but this time in a grand scale; I need to think harder how I’ll make it happen. Koreans have already got their kimchi made and tucked away to ferment but I’m still not too behind in this part of the world. Towards the end of the year, every household has stinky over-fermented kimchi. When I was in Korea in October, I noticed that kimchi didn’t appear on the table that often; kimchi was running out! So all Koreans must be feeling rich and secure by now. But here I hardly have kimchi in my fridge so using kimchi in cooking is unthinkable. As you know, I made Calamari Kimchi Fritters at my Korean Soiree, using the precious kimchi I had brought, which was a big hit. So you must try making some if you’ve got some kimchi to ‘spare‘. A few nights ago Mr.O and I played a game, ‘10 dishes you must try in different countries‘. When it …

Zucchini series #3 – Candy Festival and Buckwheat Zucchini Fritters

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How lucky am I to have all the lovely people around who make a little mouse “me” – feel cared for and happy. On the day of Candy Feast or Şeker Bayram in Turkish, this holy gracious amaretto liqueur was served to us by Mr.O’s parents, along with the best almonds and almond paste. Surprised by this unexpected treat, I bugged Mr.O again with questions related to this Turkish amaretto. Perhaps, the reason Mr.O is losing weight despite all the food he eats with me is to be interrogated about food and food history. Anyway, what a treat it was! This is  one of the reason I love Mr.O’s dad so much; he reads my culinary mind perfectly. And we left with more zucchini….and you know what will happen, right? This series will never have an ending. Kids, whether they are 10 year olds or 30 year olds, are equally treated with sweet things during this festival. After a lovely meal, we made a visit to the oldest in the family, Mr.O’s aunt. We tend …

Taste of Savoie and Jura / Healthy Buckwheat Banana Bread

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Cyrille and I cooked amazing dishes every night during the 3-week holiday, which wasn’t good for his regime, however, sometimes having a guest is an excuse to spoil yourself. Now I’m back home, next stories on my Jura holiday would be written in retrospective. One of the longest exploring the region was to Gex, the town of Bleu de Gex cheese, up the Jura Mont Rond, down through Mijoux, a ski town, and through Comte farms. So this post will have many photos of the beautiful sights but not as many as I’d like to share. I visit each cheese town as if I were a holy pilgrim; paying a visit to the towns where my favourite cheeses are made and that give me so much pleasure is almost spiritual, and the same goes for wines. We walk through small streets, soaking in the sun and autumn colours. Stalls at the weekend market were packing up but we managed to get a few goat cheeses, one of which I’d forgotten of and had on my last …