This easy breakfast dish comes together quickly and is deliciously simple. Sautee garlic and onion, add spinach, add eggs and voila!

I love my eggs with runny yolks but you can cook them to whatever consistency you like. Be sure to take the eggs off the heat a little before they are perfect because they will continue to cook in the hot spinach.

Soak up every last drop with a crusty slice of bread. Afiyet olsun!

The post Recipe: Spinach with Eggs (Yumurtali Ispanak) appeared first on Working Out the Details.

To successfully make this molasses-laced breakfast cinnamon delight, you are going to need at least four bowls. Maybe because I don’t bake that often, this seems excessive to me. Bakers, are my feelings correct?

I used frozen raspberries (the fresh ones at the market were looking a bit sad) but you can use blueberries, blackberries, or even a mixture of all three! I’d like to taste that!

I love the depth of flavor the molasses adds to this cake. It’s unlike any other coffee cake you’ve ever had before!

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The weather outside was still unstable and the transportation system was crippled. I felt lost and disoriented. So I did the only thing I could think of to help myself feel a little better. I made bread.

I decided to make katmer, a Turkish griddle bread. No yeast, just an egg-based dough rolled paper thin and folded over a feta cheese filling.

Kneading the dough together felt therapeutic. Here was something I could control, that I could create.

I got out my French rolling pin to roll out the dough. Flour got literally everywhere. I wasn’t worried about being neat.

As each little 8 inch envelope came together, a sense of accomplishment filled my soul. I buttered the skillet and cooked each until they were lightly browned.

After an hours worth of work, I had 12 (almost) perfect griddle breads. Making katmer is not a quick process but the end results are oh so satisfying. Enjoy with a piping hot cup of tea and plain yogurt.

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The batter is your base. From there, use your imagination. I’ve included my favorite in the recipe below: petite chopped tomatoes, crumbled salty feta and finely chopped fresh parsley.

The result is not your traditional omelette. The flour gives it a texture, a lift that your taste buds will adore. I recommend using heavy cream or whole milk over water but I understand if you want to cut the calories!

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The devastation this storm left in its wake is just incredible. I feel disoriented, numb from the images of fear and desperation that cross my television screen.

Power lines tangled in trees on Astoria’s 30th Avenue

I was very lucky. My neighborhood survived relatively unscathed. When I ventured out yesterday to check out the damage, people were out and about in the streets. Most of the local places were open and very busy, but somehow, the energy was different than usual.

I stopped at the grocery store to pick up some food and some shelves were almost completely empty. I grabbed a few things and left.

Right now I’m at home. The buses are up and running again but the subways are still flooded. I am hearing that traffic is deadlocked and people have been stuck on these buses for hours just trying to get into or out of Manhattan. My email inbox is eerily empty. Text messages from my friends are coming in frenzied blasts, all coming through when the signal finally finds a way through the downed cell towers.

I’ve turned off the news because it’s just depressing to have it on all the time. These aren’t images of a disaster that happened on another shoreline in another country to another people. These are my people. And some have lost everything.

Thank you for all the emails and Facebook messages asking if I made it through okay. It’s comforting to know that I have people praying for me all across the world.

Please join me in donating to the American Red Cross. It’s going to be a long, long road to recovery.

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After studying Turkish for almost three years, I finally got to Istanbul this past summer. The trip was incredible.

We stayed in Istanbul for the first week, spent a weekend in Bursa and then returned to Istanbul to soak in a few more days before returning to New York. The trip was organized by the Turkish Cultural Center of New York.

Since returning, the one question I’m asked over and over again is “what was your favorite part?”.

The people, the history and the FOOD.

I swear everything tasted better in Turkey. Brilliantly red tomatoes bursting with flavor in simple, chopped salads. Verdant green peppers that make American peppers seem like shadows of taste.

My mouth is watering just thinking about them.

Early on in the trip, we spent an afternoon at the Grand Bazaar. A typical tourist attraction, it was filled with travelers from Saudi, France, England, Asia…

I actually didn’t buy much there. It was much more fun practicing my Turkish with the vendors. They all speak some degree of English so when my Turkish ran out, the conversation didn’t get awkward!

After our shopping concluded, we walked to the Tarihi Sultanahmet Koftecisi for dinner.

Sultanahmet is the oldest section of Istanbul. It’s here that you’ll find the famous Blue Mosque and Hagia Sophia, two of the most beautiful buildings I’ve ever laid eyes on.

Our group came hungry and left happy. We ate out on the balcony a few floors up.

I’m not sure if you can see the sweat drying on our foreheads but the weather was insanely hot. It was in the 90s every day and that day was no exception. Waters all around!

Then the main course, the restaurant’s famous kofte. Simply delicious and highly recommended.

What is your favorite restaurant in Istanbul? Any that you’d recommend?

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I swear that since I started eating yogurt almost every day of the week, I get sick less often. My body just feels like it runs better, cleaner. Maybe it’s all mental but hey, it doesn’t hurt that the stuff is delicious too.

I made this soup constantly this summer. It is relatively fast (for a soup) and is made with very simple ingredients that I always have on hand.

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

The post Recipe: Minted Yogurt Soup (Yoğurt Çorbası) appeared first on Working Out the Details.

Two things to know before you make your first ricotta cheese making attempt.

1. Prepare for a mess. No matter how careful you are, some milk will “burn” to the bottom of your pan. A good soak and some elbow grease will take care of it.
2. You’re going to have a lot of whey left over. I keep it in the original milk container. Use it as the liquid in your Turkish Flatbread or Lavash. Just don’t accidentally use it in your cereal.

The post Recipe: Homemade Ricotta (Lor Peyniri) appeared first on Working Out the Details.

This dish is deceptively simple. The magic of this dish is in the balance of crispy potato to creamy potato. This is achieved by frying at a temperature that is not too high, not too low while simultaneously “steaming” the potato to cook them through.

Intimidated? Don’t be. Just follow the recipe below!

The post Recipe: Potatoes with Eggs (Patatesli Yumurta) appeared first on Working Out the Details.

This recipe is adapted from the Atlantic Magazine’s The Secret of the Irish Scone.

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