This is the only way I have tried fennel and I absolutely love it! Funny too cause I do not like licorice yet I love fennel surprisingly! It tastes and smells just like it! One of my best friends Hatice taught me this dish, its so yummy….especially with plain yogurt on the side. My friend prepares this with stew meat, and it turns out so tender and yummy….I never have such luck so I use ground beef. I usually have cooked ground beef in the fridge to add to dishes like this.
Green Beans with Olive Oil – Zeytinyagı Taze Fasulye in Turkish, is a simple and tasty vegetarian dish, you can serve with rice on the side and plain yogurt.
Gjellë pronounced gel, means dish or food and then you list whats in it, so this would be gjellë me spinaq dhe klitharaq literally translates into dish with spinach and orzo . In Albanian cuisine we make a variety of different pot foods, everyone makes their own kind of food using a variety of ingredients.
You may have seen my spinach-and-rice post, this is similar but this is with orzo. My mom and grandma always make spinach and rice with veal or beef, I am not a big fan of that, I prefer it without meat or with a little ground beef for lezet, which means flavour, or taste…it can have a variety of meanings depending on how you use it.
Turlu is a mixed vegetable stew in Albanian and Turkish Cuisine. Meat is added as well, either stew or ground meat and its optional you may make it vegetarian if you like.
Rice is served on the side along with yogurt for those who like it, my children do! Its a healthy stew filled with a variety of veggies, tasty too!
There is no real measurements for this recipe, when I go to the grocery store I just grab the fresh green beans and okra, so I checked my receipt to give you an idea of how much you need, and the green beans came to 0.365 kg and the okra came to 0.425 kg so both don’t even come to a full lb!
My kids love Imam bayildi, and I love making it for them…wasn’t feeling that well today, but dinner still needs to get on the table whether I am feeling good or not! Since I promised that I would make it today, I made it the easy way!
Mmmm green bean casserole with homemade mushroom soup….can it get better than that!? I love cream of mushroom soup, and I love green beans this is the first time making it into a casserole! It turned out delicious! I didn’t have any bread crumbs for the top, if you have any on hand just sprinkle some on with Parmesan for a nice crunchy topping.
Mashurka in Albanian or taze fasulye for fresh green beans in Turkish. This is a very common dish around the Mediterranean, you can make it with stew meat or ground meat, or with out meat at all!
I love it with stew meat, but my hubby isn’t a big meat eater, so I don’t add much…sometimes I add ground beef, you can always make it vegetarian….its delicious in anyway you make it! I get my meat from the butcher, and pack it in the portions that are suitable for my meals. One lb of stew meat is an approx amount that you will need, use as much or less as you prefer.
The added peas is also optional, I didn’t always add them until a friend of mine Hatice made it and I loved it like that, she also makes hers with snow peas…mmm so good!
My sons dinner request tonight…lamb stew! The whole family loves this dish, especially when prepared this way…if you don’t have a cooking clay pot you can use a dutch pot, or something that is thick and heavy duty. You may also use a Crock pot, all you have to do is prepare it the same way, then add ingredients to the pot, add some water set it and leave it!:)
First I sauté the peppers and meat, too seal in the flavours then transfer to the oven.
These leeks are fresh from my garden, what a difference it makes in taste! I like this dish on its own, but my hubby likes it with yogurt on the side. It is customary to add a few spoons of cooked ground beef to the dish while cooking, it is totally optional, I do as that is what my Mother in law does.
This is a Turkish dish simply called pras meaning leeks.
Baked beans with lamb is one of the most popular Albanian dishes, fasule beans, me mish with meat. You can make this vegetarian, tastes great either way!
