We are a coffee loving household! Well more like me, my husband needs a nice large cup in the morning which he takes with him and I need at least two maybe three cups during the day.  Yes, I know it is a lot of coffee, but I prefer a light brew with a decent amount of nonfat milk. Since coffee plays a large part in our daily diet in take, it is important to me to always have a freshly brewed cup of coffee.  With our regular brewer I often made enough coffee for one cup or two and if I didn’t have the time, I would make instant coffee with Nescafe instant coffee granules by adding a cup of boiling water.  Two months ago our coffee brewer retired, by that I mean it stopped working and my search for a new coffee machine began.  This gave me the opportunity to look into single serve coffee brewers.  I was familiar with the Keurig single cup brewer from work and I knew a brewer like that would work best for our coffee needs and I was not looking to spend $2299.99 for a coffee machine.  Upon searching online and reading customer reviews,I decided to purchase the Bosch Tassimo T-Disc brewer.  There are several brands of single coffee maker, choose one that work best for your needs.  I personally liked how the Bosch Tassimo looked as well how simple the use is and the small amount of counter space it took up.

I’m really happy with this single cup coffee brewer, it is very convenient for my husband in the morning and also for me because I can have a freshly brewed cup instead of one that has been sitting in the pot for several hours.  The T-Disc come in a variety of flavors and they can easily be purchased at Macy’s, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Amazon or at your closest kitchen department stores.

PS: I love Turkish Coffee to, but in the mornings I prefer a cup of American Coffee as said in Turkey.   

Note: This a personal review of a personal purchase.  Bosch is not sponsoring this item review.

All the pictures were taken by my husband, as I was preparing the soup at the last minute.

This weekend was the official start of Ramadan and that means making and baking away for if-tar and sahuur.  Saturdays if-tar dinner was spend at the store with the family, of course I was the chef, but because we were so crowded I could not snap pictures.  Sunday night my husband and I were home and I took advantage of the day and spend hours in the kitchen just preparing simple dished that I had previously shared with you all. 

During Ramadan, we spend countless hours thinking what should I make, what should I prepare?  I fall into this syndrome as well, the best thing is to keep it simple because after all  sometimes a bowl of soup is more than enough.

I started off with a few simple cold appetizers:

Red lentil & bulgur Kofte - recipe can be found at this link

Fried Zucchini – recipe here

Green lettuce & carrot salad

Tarhana Soup – Recipe to follow

Okra & basmati rice

Home made Plum juice compote

Make your meals as special, healthy and most of all as satisfying it is to you and your family.  Wishing you all wonderful dishes. 

Frozen okra, basmati rice, red lentil, whole wheat cracked bulgur, tarhana, Mejdool dates & chopped meat can be easily found and at A&D Turkish Halal Meat & Grocery Market. 

I honestly could not find the correct English translation for this plum compote drink.  It is not like a compote, but rather more like the juice of the plum.  In Turkish we have several names for it but for the love of me, I could not come up with an English translation.  If you get the idea and concept of the drink, thats all that matter and if you have a name for it, tell me!!

This is a very popular drink often served during the summer and enjoyed at meal times during Ramadan.  The taste is incredible and very refreshing, it is one my absolute favorite drinks especially during Ramadan.  Since Ramadan started in August this year, this is one drink that will cool down and re-freshen your hungry and thirsty family members and guests.

At the store, we sell the concentrate of plum syrup, rose syrup, Jallab and many others.  Instructions for the concentrate are very simple, just add water to the syrup, stir and refrigerate and serve cold.  It really is refreshing and cooling during the summer, but nothing beats the taste of freshly made and I can a sure you that.

Ingredients:

• 8 cups of cold water
• 7  red plums (ripe or hard)
• 3 cloves

Simple Syrup:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup of water
  (if you like your drink a little on the sweet side add 1/2 cup of more sugar)

Preparation:

1. In a deep cooking pot, add in the 8 cups of cold water.
2. Wash your plums thoroughly and cut diagonally and vertically like a plus sign (+) on the bottom of the plum. 
3. Add all the plums into the water, add in the cloves and bring to a boil over medium heat.
4. The water will begin to boil let it continue to cook for about 40-45 minutes.  You will see the water change color, it will become a nice pinkish to redish color. 
5. Once the plums are cooked, you will notice the plums are no longer whole and the skin and flesh have begun to peel.  Using a large serving spoon fish out the plums. If the plums have over cooked don’t worry, pieces will float in the water (this has happened to me as well).  Just remove the plums out.  Let the drink cool for about 10 minutes.
6. In the mean time, in a sauce pan, add in the sugar and water, stir and bring to a broil.  Make sure the sugar has completely dissolved.
7. Once your drink has cooled, take another deep cooking pot and put a thin strainer/sieve over the top, pour your mixture over the strainer/sieve.  The strainer will catch the pieces of plums and cloves that have been floating in your juice.  
8. By this time your simple syrup should have cooked,  pour the simple syrup over the plum juice (it should still be warm) and give it a nice stir with a whisk.
9. Refrigerate until cold, over night is best.
10. Serve Cold & Enjoy!

Salep ~ Aphrodisiac…

On bone chilling cold days like these, I love a hot cup of salep with some cinnamon on top.  It warms me up in side making feel all so good.  Salep is more of a Turkish – Middle Eastern very popular hot beverage, especially during the winter.  What is interesting about this hot beverage, as you read in wikipedia, is that saleps powder is related to a species of orchids and is considered an aphrodisiac.  It definitely is an aphrodisiac I can guarantee you that! This should be persuasive enough for you to try right?

I once ordered a something like chai latte from Starbucks, the smell and taste reminded me of Salep and Asure “Noah’s Pudding”. How ever, it did not have the flavor of our authentic Salep.  I’m not a big fan of Starbucks and really didn’t care to go back for seconds.  However, in Turkey I love going to a coffee shop and ordering a cup of hot & delicious Salep!

Ingredients

• 1 cup of milk (skim or whole makes no difference)
• 2 full teaspoons of salep
• pinch of cinnamon for dusting
• sugar – as per your taste buds if you like it really sweet 
            I find the prepared is sweet enough

Preparation

1. Bring the milk to a broil in a small sauce pan or Turkish coffee pot.
2. Into a nice size mug or tea cup, place the teaspoons of salep.
3. Pour on the milk and stir, stir until the salep is completely dissolved.
   The mixture will become nice and thick.
4. Sprinkle cinnamon on top and serve!

Enjoy!
Note: This makes for 1 person. For each additional person, add an additional cup of milk and 2 teaspoons of salep per each cup.

A tulip with cup of Salep!