H is for Homemade Pasta

I love pasta. It is one of my favorite dishes in this world.  I can eat it every single day. Not kidding, every single day. I think a good pasta is a little bit tender however soft enough so that you can enjoy that yummy bite. 

Even though the packed dry pasta is an easy choice you can also challenge yourself with this amazing  recipe for a homemade pasta. Believe me you will be satisfied by the result. It is definitely different than those in paper boxes. And I love the taste of a creamy homemade pasta. Plus it is definitely much more healthier than the ready pasta. 

Every summer we go to Çanakkale, where our summer house is, and we start cooking things for the winter. First we start of with tomato sauce and then we cook some jam and we finish off with some noodles or pasta. This year we prepared some noodles. As you can imagine they were gone by the beginning of December. So, I wanted to buy my own pasta machine because if I had one I could still have that amazing homemade pasta for lunch or dinner. 

I was walking in Kadıköy a while ago and I discovered a small shop. There were millions of stuff related with cooking there, anything you could imagine of; cookie cutters, rolling pins, whisks and many more. I was looking for a piping bag and I saw this amazing pasta machine. I was also searching for the prices for a pasta machine for a while, they were around 200-300 TL. But this one was just for 65 TL. I was shocked. I couldn't believe and since I wanted to buy it for a while I decided to buy. 

The first time I used the machine the result was okay. It was yummy but the dough that I used was very soft and it was hard to cut the pasta. That's why I changed the recipe and this was the result. I hope you'll like it. 

P.S.: If you do not have a pasta machine you can just use a rolling pin and a knife. 

Chewy Chocolate Brownies

Brownies. They are one of all time favorite desserts or snacks, whatever you like to call them. I like to call them small cake bars. Everyone likes these fudgy, intense and the moistest chewy brownies. If you serve it while they are still warm with a scoop of ice cream on top, you will double that amazing taste. 

I love baking chocolate involved recipes and brownies are the one of the easiest recipes. This recipe is also very a "dishwashing friendly" one because it only involves 1 big mixing bowl. Yes you've heard it right: only 1 bowl. If there is anything I hate the most in this world; it is definitely washing the dishes. I just hate them. I don't like to deal with those filthy stuff. I only like the clean and the fun part; which is the cooking or baking involved. Since this recipe does not involve many dirty bowls at the end and also very yummy; I bake these a lot. 

I bought a new mixing bowl. Mason Cash. Yes you've heard it right. From now on I have a Mason Cash. I looooove those bowls. I first saw these bowls on the "Gordon Ramsay's Home Cooking" show. There are million options for these bowls. Any they are very cute. They come in classic patterns or they come in fruit patterns. I was in love with the green one with apples on sides. And then I learned that there was a discount. Wow, time out here. I had got to buy that. Anyways, just because I really wanted to use my brand new bowl, I used two different mixing bowls in this recipe. So don't be shocked if you see two bowls in the picture. I used a stainless steel bowl for melting the chocolate and I used my new bowl for mixing all the ingredients. Yes, I know I am guilty. 

Nom Nom Nom, My Guilty Pleasure: Mac n Cheese

Mac N' Cheese. 

Does it really need any more explanation? It is an all-time favorite. Cheese, Pasta and Deliciousness packed all together in one bowl. (Wow that sounded like a commercial)  I am obsessed with this meal as you can understand from my effort in describing which sounds like an advertisement. Whenever I want something creamy and whenever I want to have it for a meal, I cannot think anything rather than a plate of creamy Mac N' Cheese.

Mac N' Cheese is a classic American comfort food. To be honest Mac N' Cheese is not popular in Turkey. As you know we Turkish people love to eat meat. And we are not a fan of the Cheddar cheese. We like "white cheese" which is salted and kind of like feta. But the closest cheese to cheddar cheese is "kaşar (kashar) cheese". But no we don't use it in pasta. We eat cheese for breakfast not with pasta. Usually. That's why cheese and pasta are not very compatible in our culture. However I love it. 

As much as I love the easy Mac N' Cheese (you know the ones in the box), I prefer to cook my own. Not because it is very hard to find them here in Turkey (just kidding it is also a reason) but because it is much healthier to cook my own. I know that 5 minute pasta sounds tempting however when you cook your own it is definitely more fun than just stirring a mixture in a box or a can. I never ever buy things that I can cook myself at home. For example; chicken broth or soup or even frozen pizza. That's not my thing. I am the type that always prefers the homemade. Maybe that’s why I love cooking so much.

A Grandma Proved Recipe- Poğaça

French have croissants. We have poğaça (poh-ah-cha). 

Poğaça is a savoury baked good kind of like a biscuit or a bread roll. Normally we eat the famous poğaça for breakfast. The freshly baked, warm and yummy poğaça is a sunday breakfast favourite or an easy "to go breakfast" if you trying to get to work in the Istanbul traffic.

My grandmother is the queen of baked goods. She is good at every single one. And I wanted to share this family recipe with you. It is one of our family classics. 

There are many variations for poğaça. It can be plain or it can be more sophisticated: stuffed. There are many variations for the stuffing; cheese, olives, potato, spiced ground beef etc. However some people prefer to add some herbs to the dough as well like dill, oregano or any other fresh or dried herbs. 

I like mine with potatoes. I know it sounds strange; potatoes in a bread. Doubled the carbs.  But it is like eating a mashed potato in a bread roll. If I don't bake the potato one, I prefer with cheese or olives. Olive ones are also really yummy if you like a little bit of sour taste. If you are one of the people who try tasting new stuff, go ahead and create your own stuffing. This recipe can be adapted in to millions of versions. If you are one of the people you like the classics better, go enjoy the plain one. It is also very yummy. 

So here is the recipe for a perfect poğaça:

New Year, New Beginnings and some Onion Rings

Happy New Year everyone.

Don't worry I am not going to be talking about my new year's resolution, or how I started my new year. 

Before I was in this new year madness, I was enjoying my Christmas Break. I woke up every single day saying to myself that I was going to study for the finals. But I wasn't "in the mood". I just wanted to relax, have fun and most importantly seize the day. And that's what I did. 

Since last time I went to a cooking course; which was about 2-3 years ago by the way, I wanted to attend another one. But I never got the time or I was not impressed with the content of the workshop etc. However this time since I was in a break and I actually was very excited about the menu of the workshop, I decided to attend. 

So I did. On the 23rd of December I attended a Burgers and Fries Workshop in Maslak with a friend. It was amazing. But also a little bit disastrous. It was my first time cooking with someone else rather than my mother. 

I had fun. However, some of our styles were not really compatible with each other. That's why the french fries look like this, some short, some long, some thin, some thick. Probably all kinds of fries exist here. No offense but this do not look appetising. But don't let the look change your mind about the dish, it was delicious. 

If we come to the things that I've learned: