Chicken and Vegetable Loaf with Tomato and Basil Sauce

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN "Domates ve Fesleğenli Sos Eşliğinde Sebzeli Tavuk Köftesi"
PER ITALIANO "Polpettone di Pollo e Verdure con Salsa al Pomodoro e Basilico"

We are back from another Istanbul visit which was full of meetings, long chats, breakfasts, dinners and in addition, brightened with warm weather.

Our travel though started and ended a bit troublesomely.
Our flight had a slight delay, the airport was so busy that we waited in passport control queue as we never did before, but above all my baggage was lost!
Until the last minute I kept waiting with hope, I didn't even want to accept that it was within the bounds of possibility however the moment that airport personnel started to collect the unclaimed baggage on the baggage carousel was to be the moment that shattered any hopes left.
The worst part was that all the things in the luggage were mine. This sentence can give a wrong idea as if I'd be more content if they belonged to Stefano so let me correct it:) It would sound better to put it this way: All of my stuff was in that luggage! ;)

In fact, with the experience of our many air travels, we always divided our stuff in two luggage thinking that if one of them got lost we both would still have some things to use, always but this time. This time we did it in a hurry. Consequently I ended with no clothes at all. (A small confession: it was the first time that I prepared the baggage, not Stefano)

Fortunately my luggage was found the day after and delivered in the evening. I got by with the same clothings one day only.
However as soon as we opened the suitcase the room became overwhelmed with a dense smell of wine. One of the wine bottles that we brought as present was broken and wet whatever inside. I was obliged to wash almost everything thanking my lucky stars that it was the white wine, not the red one!

As for my misadventure on the way back.. I got sick. How horrible it is to be obliged to travel on the very same day that you get sick! Nevertheless I prefer not to be sick during our visit but after.

Our days passed with meeting the most people possible, family, relatives, friends...  If we actually lived there, probably there would often be some problem, obstacle, excuse from one of the sides and we couldn't see each other this easy and this frequently. Since our visiting dates are always predetermined and the time is limited everybody is obliged to plan accordingly.

I didn't use to eat kebap that often when I lived in Turkey, I am not even that fond of meat but I guess because of longing that was caused by living in another country our days passed by eating many kinds of kebap from kuyu kebap to adana, from iskender to urfa :) 
One of the things that I want to make justly is kebap. I had several trials but failed to obtain a close enough taste. It might have something to do with the fact that I can't find tail fat of sheep I suppose.

As for today's recipe...

Ingredients:
100g green beas
100g carrot, diced
100g red pepper, diced
50g onion, diced
400g water
10g parsley
500g chicken, bones and nerves removed, cubed
1 egg
25g bread crumbs
Sale
Pepe

Sauce:
Tomato and Basil Sauce


Preparation:

Chicken Scaloppini

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN "Armut ve Peynirli Tavuk"
PER ITALIANO "Scaloppine di Primavera"

 

The blog has recently had some on and off again days, I know. The duration between the recipes got longer.

The main reason for that was I wanted to make some changes and alterations in our garage. 
I started removing partially the tiles, plastering, sandpapering, painting... 
At the beginning I was not sure if I could handle all by myself but I saw that the most important thing is to have enough will, one could learn almost anything. I worked as I pleased. I finished cleaning and painting. I have few more alterations to do with time.

Working days in garage were followed by our 3 days weekend escapade. 
We bought a 2 nights accommodation plus dinner package offer through Groupon a few months ago. We were able to book only last weekend, the place was fully booked by then. We felt kind of unlucky when we found out that it would rain all those days however we weren't annoyed by the rainy weather even a bit. On the contrary, we enjoyed the calm and quiet environments and used it to our advantage by taking hundreds of pictures thanks also to the digital revolution. 
Most of the time there were only two of us as if those places existed only for us to visit!

I would like to share a few pictures from our trip. They were fantastic places.

Parco Sacro di Bomarzo... Park of the Monsters of Bomarzo...

The dying town... Civita di Bagnoregio...

Palazzo Farnese di Caprarola... 

Villa Lante di Bagnaia...

Civitella del Lago...

Todi...

Friday there will be a new trip which is waiting for us. We haven't been to Istanbul since last August, it's about time, longing levels are running high.


I won't be around here next week so I wanted to publish at least a couple of recipes before we left.


Ingredients:
600g chicken breast, sliced
30g flour
A pinch of salt, pepper, ginger, nutmeg
600g water
300g Williams pear (not very ripe), chopped into small pieces
15g fresh lemon juice
150g Galbanino cheese* or similar, cut into slices 
Olive oil
Optional: finely chopped parsley (I haven't used)

* Galbanino is a solf, mild Italian cheese which melts in the mouth. It is not salty or strong. It melts great in he oven. If you like you can use another kind of melting cheese up to your taste, mozzarella, provolone, cacciocavallo...etc.

Preparation:
 

Steamed and Stuffed Celeriac

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN "Buharda Kereviz Dolması"
PER ITALIANO "Sedano Rapa Ripieno di Verdure Miste"

 

Ingredients (4 servings):
1 freshly squeezed orange juice
1 freshly squeezed lemon juice
500g water
2 celeriacs (My 2 celeriacs weighed 650g unpeeled, 500g peeled)
70g carrot
70g green peas
70g potato
70g onion
Salt
Extra virgin olive oil
Parsley


Preparation:

Cheese Stuffed Chicken Meatballs

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
PER ITALIANO

Ingredients:
50g parmesan
3 sage leaves
1 sprig of rosemary
40g bread crumbs (or stale dry bread)
400g chicken breast, cut into pieces
20g olive oil
Salt
Nutmeg
Freshly ground black pepper
1 egg
30g butter
100g fontina cheese (or some othere cheese you like, I used emmenthal)
30g onion
200g beer
200g water
1 tsp Thermomix vegetable concentrate
Flour


Preparation:

Chicken Breast With Sage

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
PER ITALIANO

Dear Friends,


Upon some requests I've decided to include also Italian versions of the blog's recipes which means I will be publishing the new recipes in 3 different languages, may God help me:)


With Stefano's help, we will try to translate old recipes as well. So this update is the reason why you might be seeing some old titles back again.


See you...


Ingredients:
50g onion
20g butter
200g milk
200g water
1 tsp Thermomix Vegetable Stock Concentrate
Salt (I didn't use, Veggie concentrate contains enough salt for me)
Black pepper
8 fresh sage leaves
500g chicken breast (small slices)
Flour
50g Emmenthal, roughly chopped (or Gouda, Fontina...etc)
1 egg yolk


Preparation:

Hazelnut & Almond Crusted Steamed Salmon Fillets and Fennel

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
PER ITALIANO

   
There is not much to say. So delicious! If you are after a light and healthy meal, this could be it. Salmon which is steamed just for the right amount of time melts in your mouth.

Another advantage of it is practicality. It could be prepared and served in half an hour. 

Those who are not a fan of fennel could replace it with zucchini or some other vegetables which they find more appealing.

Here is the recipe:   

Ingredients:


20g hazelnuts
20g almonds
15g sesame seeds
A handful of parsley leaves
Salt
Black pepper
4 salmon fillets (each is around 200g)
Extra virgin olive oil
400g fennel
500g water
100g white wine
1 bay leaf
Green salad


Dressing:
25g extra virgin olive oil
15g balsamic vinegar
Salt


Preparation:

Zucchini and Carrot Salad

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN

Lasagne... pizza... desserts... And we put on weight again after the holiday :) Luckily this time it was only 1 kg per person. I will keep making light recipes for a while I guess. We need to get prepared for our Istanbul holiday which is in 10 days :)


Today's recipe is very light and simple. Cooking time is very short so that the veggies would remain a bit crunchy. You can increase or decrease steaming time depending on your preference:

Steamed Salmon with Champignon Sauce

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN

 
I served this with salad just because we are on diet but I strongly believe that rice pilaf would be great to serve with this saucy dish.

This sure deserves a much better picture than the one above. I sometimes rush too much while taking photos.  

Here are the ingredients and preparation:

Ingredients:
600g salmon (skin&bones removed)
Salt
Black pepper
Fresh juice of 1 lemon
450g champignon mushrooms
500g water
50g onion
30g extra virgin olive oil
80g white wine
120g ricotta
Grated peel of 1 lemon (without the white)
Nutmeg
120g cream

Preparation:

Pasta and Peas with Stuffed Zucchini

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN

Stuffed Zucchini
10g parsley
40g bread crumbs
50g parmnesan
3 big zucchini (my 3 came 600g in total)
50g prosciutto cotto or mortadella
1 egg
Salt
Pepper

Pasta and Peas
40g extra virgin olive oil
30g spring onion
50g pancetta or sausage
300g green peas
250g tomatoes (peeled & seeds removed)
850g water
1 tbsp Thermomix stock concentrate
250g ditaloni

Chicken and Vegetable Patties

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN

You may have noticed that it's been a while since I published any dessert or bread recipe. We can blame this on the weight I gained! My desire to try and publish new recipes for the blog, Turkey visit, lunch & dinner tables and invitations while mom was here and birthdays resulted as 3-4 kilos so my researches on glycemic index, calorie calculation, wii fit and balance board games have gained much speed :)


The biggest disadvantage of making bread with Thermomix is the challenge to set limit while slurping freshly baked and warm ultra delicious bread which you've just made! 
The unlucky thing is this has just happened after I bought a bread recipes book. I have many bread recipes which I'd like to try and adapt for TM. As soon as I loose a couple of kgs I am planning on going back into bread business, but moderately this time! :)

Meatballs and Fennel with Bechamel

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
       

   
Meatballs
30g parmesan
2 eggs
30g flour
20g milk
50g bread crumbs
Salt, pepper
300g minced turkey
200g minced meat

Pineapple Stuffed Chicken Rolls with Kiwi Salsa

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN

Kiwi salsa, pineaple-cheese filling and chicken...

It is quite an interesting combination. I could at least say that this wouldn't be coming from neither Turkish traditional kitchen nor Italian:)

I loved each ingredient individually, I wondered how they would turn out altogether so I decided to try this recipe and I must say I am quite glad of the result


Ingredients:
8 chicken breast slices
30g extra virgin olive oil (+ extra to oil chicken slices)
Salt
200g pineapple (diced)
200g Provolone cheese (Gruyère, Cacciocavallo or some other cheese would be ok) (chopped)
80g spring onion
150g kiwi (roughly chopped)
350g whole milk
20-30g apple cider vinegar (up to taste)

Pinapple and kivi slices for decoration


Preparation:

• Tenderize and flatten chicken slices with meat pounder (Carefully not to tear them). Oil and season with salt
• Place diced cheese and pineapple over each slice and then roll them
• Wrap each one with aluminum folio and place in Varoma Bowl
• Chop onion for 5 seconds on Speed 7. Scrape down the sides with spatula
• Add oil and cook for 3 minutes at 100ºC on Speed 1
• Add kiwi, milk and vinegar. Place Varoma Bowl. Steam for 30 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 1
• Set Varoma Bowl aside. 
• Blend salsa for 30 seconds on Speed 7, add salt if needed. (I didn't add)
• Decorate plates with pineapple and kiwi slices. Put chicken rolls, dress them with some salsa and serve

Afiyet olsun...


Note: You can use canned pineapple instead of fresh one provided that it is natural and not in some sugar syrup! I used canned pineapple slices


It's adapted with a few changes from the recipe called as Petto di Pollo all'Ananas in Salsa Kiwi from the book named Oggi...Frutta

Cauliflower Salad with Wholegrain Mustard Sauce

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
PER ITALIANO

700g cauliflower, cut into florets
250g green peas
500g water
100g yogurt
30g extra virgin olive oil
40g wholegrain mustard
30g fresh lemon juice
Salt
4 slices of whole wheat bread
5 green salad leaves
30g thinly sliced parmesan (parmesan flakes)

• Put water into TM Bowl
• Place cauliflower florets in Varoma Bowl and peas in Varoma Tray
• Steam for 25-30 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 1. (If you like it crunchy you may want steam less)
• Put steamed veggies into a deep bowl
• Empty TM Bowl
• Put yogurt, oil, wholegrain mustard, lemon juice and salt in TM Bowl and mix for 10 seconds on Speed 3
• Pour sauce onto veggies, mix and add salt if needed
• Cut bread slices into around 2 x 2 cm pieces. Grill until browned
• Add grilled bread pieces and hand chopped salad leaves into salad mixture and mix all

• Serve into the plates and with thinly sliced parmesan on the top

Afiyet olsun...

Fish with Caper Olive and Tomato Sauce

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
 

800g fish (bones removed)
50g onion (quartered)
50g celery stick (roughly chopped)
40g extra virgin olive oil
50g capers (washed and drained)
50g pitted green olives
100g white wine
350g tomato puree
Salt, pepper

• Wash fish and wipe with paper towel. Brush with oil and place in Varoma Bowl and Tray
• Chop onion and celery for 5 seconds on Speed 7. Scrape down the sides of TM Bowl with spatula
• Add 30g oil and cook for 3 minutes at 100ºC on Speed 1
• Add capers, olives and wine. Cook for 2 minutes at 100ºC on Reverse / Soft Speed
• Get 2 tbsps of the sauce and mix it with 2 tbsps of tomato puree. Spread it on the fish. Season with salt and pepper

• Add tomato puree, salt and pepper into the remaining sauce in TM Bowl. Place Varoma Bowl and Tray and cook for 10 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Reverse / Speed 1
• Turn the fish. Continue to cook another 10 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Reverse / Speed 1
• Transfer fish into serving dish, dress with some sauce

Afiyet olsun....


Note 1: During steaming if you feel any need add 50g of water

Note 2: You can use the remaining sauce as pasta sauce to go with spaghetti, linguine, gnocchi etc



It's adapted with a few changes from the recipe called Pesce Spada alla Ghiotta in Io e il Mio Bimby

Salmon with Mustard Sauce

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN

4 Portions
4 salmon fillets
450g spinach
500g potatoes
Salt, black pepper
Optional: 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley


900g water

Sauce
100g white wine
200g milk cream (I used light cream)
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
70g butter
70g mustard
A pinch of salt
Black pepper

• For the sauce, warm wine for 5 minutes at 100ºC on Speed 1
• Add cream, chopped butter, mustard, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix for 30 seconds on Speed 3, transfer into a sauce bowl and keep aside

• There is no need to wash TM Bowl. Put 900g water, insert Steaming Basket and bring it to boil for 7 minutes at 100ºC on Speed 1
• Place chopped potatoes in Steaming Basket
• Place chopped spinach in Varoma Bowl
• Steam for 10 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 1
• In the meantime salt and pepper salmon fillets and place them in Varoma Tray
• After steaming the veggies for 10 minute place Varoma Tray on the top and steam for 20 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 1. (Before you place the Varoma Tray mix spinach with a fork so that steam could go through the holes and the fish would be cooked properly)
• After steaming all for 20 minutes, set the veggies aside. Continue to steam fish for 5-10 minutes
• Drizzle potatoes and spinach with a little oil, adjust the salt
• Warm the sauce again in microwave oven
• Serve salmon with sauce and veggies
• You can sprinkle with parsley if you wish

Afiyet olsun...
 

It's adapted with a few changes from this recipe
Thanks to magico5619 for sharing

Salmon, Peas and Rice

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
  

750g water
1 tsp coarse salt
20g onion
1 tsp fresh or dried bay leaves (I used dried)
1 tsp fresh or dried thyme (I used dried)
20g grated ginger
250g rice
600-750g salmon (without bones)
150g red pepper, cut into mid-sized pieces
250g green peas
Salt, black pepper
Extra Virgin Olive oil "EVO"(optional)

• Put water, salt, onion, bay leaves, thyme and ginger in TM Bowl
• Insert steaming basket and place the rice inside

• Place salmon fillets and peppers in Varoma Bowl

• Place peas in Varoma Tray

• Steam for 21-25 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 2-3
• Serve into plates, season and drizzle with EVO if you wish (I didn't use EVO). Serve warm

ALTERNATIVE

• You can serve this as rice salad if you like. Put rice and vegetables in a bowl. Add chopped salmon. Drizzle with some EVO and season with salt and pepper. Mix all and let it cool down in the fridge before you serve

Afiyet olsun...


It's adapted with a few changes from this recipe

  
  

Fish with Capers and Cherry Tomatoes

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
  

 
2 cloves of garlic
15g parsley leaves
40g capers (washed and drained)
2 Atlantic Bonito Fish, 600g each (I used fish fillets that I had)
35g extra virgin olive oil
Salt, blackpepper
350g cherry tomatoes
100g white wine
250g water

• Put 1 clove of garlic, parsley and 10g capers in TM Bowl. Chop for 5 seconds on Speed 7
• Brush Varoma Bowl with a little oil and place the fish
• Spread half of the parsley mixture over the fish
• Drizzle with a little oil and season with salt and pepper
• Cut 10 of cherry tomatoes in halves. Remove the seeds and put them in Varoma Bowl together with fish

• Add the remaining 30g capers, 1 clove of garlic and 35g oil in TM Bowl together with the remaining half of the parsley mixture. Cook for 4 minutes at 100ºC on Reverse / Speed 1
• Add wine, water and the remaining cherry tomatoes. Place Varoma and steam for 20 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Reverse / Speed 1
• Serve the fish together with sauce

Afiyet olsun...

It's adapted with a few changes from the recipe called "Palamita con Capperi e Pomodorini" in "Voi..Noi...Bimby"
 
   

Steamed Meatballs with Caper Sauce and Potatoes

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
  

100g onion, quartered
40g bread crumbs
1 egg
400g minced meat
1 tsp salt (I used 5g)
800g water
1 tbsp Thermomix Vegetable or Meat Stock Concentrate (I used 40g)
700g potatoes


Caper Sauce
500g steaming water
200g milk cream
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
50g flour
Black Pepper
60g capers (desalted by running under cold water)
  

• Chop onion for 5 seconds on Speed 5
• Add bread crumbs, egg, salt and minced meat. Mix for 50 seconds on Reverse / Speed 4
• Prepare meatballs (around 3-4cm diameter) and place them in Varoma Tray

• Put water and Thermomix Stock Concentrate in TM Bowl
• Insert steaming basket and place in chopped potatoes

• Place Varoma and Steam for 30 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Reverse / Speed 1

• Set aside meatballs and potatoes, keep warm

• Set aside steaming water
• Put 500g of the steaming water back in TM Bowl (If you have less than 500g, add some water)
• Add cream, lemon juice, flour and pepper. Cook for 5 minutes at 100ºC on Speed 3
• Add capers and mix for 10 seconds on Reverse / Speed 2

• Serve meatballs into the plates together with potatoes and some sauce

Afiyet olsun...

It's adapted with a few changes from Polpettine in Salsa di Capperi Con Contorno di Patate Recipe in Bimby - Cucinare a Modo Mio...

  

Fish in Foil Packets

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN

2 portions
2 fish fillets (I used 2 somon fillets, 125g each)
30g carrot, roughly chopped
30g celery stick, roughly chopped
30g shallot, roughly chopped
Butter
Black Pepper
Salt
500g water

• Put carrot, celery and onion in TM Bowl and chop for 1-2 seconds by speeding up from 2 to 5. Repeat it until the veggies are chopped as you desire
• Cut two pieces of aluminum foils. Place the fish in the center and veggies over the fish

• Sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Place 1/2 tsp on the top, and wrap them into packets

• Put water in TM Bowl. Place foil packets in Varoma Bowl. Steam for 25 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 1
• Serve into the plates with foil.

Afiyet olsun....

Turkish Meat Loaf Roll

TÜRKÇE İÇİN TIKLAYIN
PER ITALIANO
   

 
It's been a long break. During this time I've collected many recipes, I even tried some. I will try to publish one recipe every weekday as I did before. With this delicious Dalyan Kofte recipe let's continue our journey from where we left ;) 
  
Meat Loaf Mixture
500g minced meat
50g onion, quartered
50g bread crumbs
1 egg yolk (keep egg white aside to brush on the top later)
Salt
Black pepper
Cumin


Filling
3 eggs (at room temperature)
2 carrots (not very thick ones)
50g green peas
700g water (to steam)


Tomato Sauce
You can prepare your tomato sauce using the Tomato and Basil Sauce recipe which I published before

• Chop onion for 3 seconds on Speed 6. Clean down the sides of TM Bowl and repeat it
• Add minced meat, bread crumbs, egg yolk, salt, black pepper and cummin. Knead for 1 minute
• Wrap it with plastic film and let it rest in the fridge for 1 hour

• Put water in TM Bowl.
• Insert steaming basket. Place the eggs 
• Place Varoma Bowl. Put green peas and carrots
• Steam for 23 minutes at Varoma Temperature on Speed 1
• Let them cool down

• Spread meat mixture on some baking paper. Place the eggs, carrots and peas in the center as in the picture. 

• Roll it and close the ends tight
• Cover oven tray with baking paper. Brush it with a little olive oil
• Place meat loaf in oven tray
• Brush with slightly beaten egg white

• Cook in the oven at 170ºC for 50-60 minutes (I didn't preheat the oven)
• Slice and serve into the plates

• Dress with tomato sauce.

• If you like, you can decorate with some steamed vegetables as I did. To do so increase the amount of the peas to 100-150g and additionally dice 1 big carrot and cook altogether in Varoma

 

Afiyet olsun...