Jello Pie

Ingredients:

2/3 cup water, boiling

1 (3 ounce) package jello, any flavor

1/2 cup coldwater

ice cubes

8 ounces fat free Cool Whip (or whipped cream-like topping)

1 nine-inch graham cracker crust (but I used shortbread, whatever :)

Directions:

1. Stir boiling water into gelatin for at least 2 minutes, until powder is completely dissolved

2. Mix cold water and ice to measure one cup.

3. Add to gelatin, stirring until all ice melts

4. Stir in Cool Whip with wire whisk until smooth

5. Refrigerate until mixture is thick and can mound well (this was 10-15 minutes for me)

6. Spoon into crust

7. Refrigerate four hours or overnight

Carrot Cake

(1 cup is around 200 cc/ml)
3 cups of grated carrots
3 eggs
1.5 cups of sugar
1 cup of plain yogurt (I use full fat)
0.5 cup of cooking oil (I use corn oil; whatever your taste buds are used to)
3 cups of white flour
about 1 coffee spoon full of cinnamon
1 coffee spoon of baking powder

Set the oven  to 150-175 degrees Centigrate (300-350 degrees Fahrenheit) and leave it to heat.

Oil the cake mold with cooking oil.

Put the dryish ingredients into the mixing bowl (carrot, flour, cinnamon and baking powder).

Use a deep cup or jar  and a hand blender/blender to mix three eggs. Add the sugar, oil and yoğurt and mix again.

Add the mixture into the mixing bowl and mix with a spoon. Some brands of flour don't give enough texture to the batter, so if it is too runny, add half a cup of flour and mix again. The mixture should be denser than pancake batter, but still runny enough to pour into the cake mold.

Pour the mixture into the cake mold and put into the pre-heated oven.

The cake will rise and start to give delicious smells. Check it from time to time. You'll know it is cooked when you stick a knife into it and the knife comes out batter-free.

You can use less carrot for a drier cake.

Enjoy!

Chocolate Chip Cake

(1 cup is around 200 cc/ml)
1 pack of bitter chocolate. 60% is good.
3 eggs
1.5 cups of sugar
1 cup of plain yogurt (I use full fat)
0.5 cup of cooking oil (I use corn oil; whatever your taste buds are used to)
3 cups of white flour
bir pack of vanilla (about 1 coffee spoon full)
1 coffee spoon of baking powder
lemon zest from one lemon.

Set the oven  to 150-175 degrees Centigrate (300-350 degrees Fahrenheit) and leave it to heat.

Oil the cake mold with cooking oil.

Put the dry ingredients into the mixing bowl (flour, lemon zest, largely crumbled chocolate, vanilla and baking powder).

Use a deep cup or jar  and a hand blender/blender to mix three eggs. Add the sugar, oil and yoğurt and mix again.

Add the mixture into the mixing bowl and mix with a spoon. Some brands of flour don't give enough texture to the batter, so if it is too runny, add half a cup of flour and mix again. The mixture should be denser than pancake batter, but still runny enough to pour into the cake mold.

Pour the mixture into the cake mold and put into the pre-heated oven.

The cake will rise and start to give delicious smells. Check it from time to time. You'll know it is cooked when you stick a knife into it and the knife comes out batter-free.

Enjoy!

Cauliflower Stew

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower (1 kg)
1 mid size onion
1 large carrot (1 cup)
250 g minced meat
oil, quarter of a cup or less
tomato paste, 1 large spoon, watered down a little.

1. Wash and cut cauliflower into its branches. I make them around 5 cm wide.

2. Dice the onion and carrot. Put them in a pot with the minced meat and oil. Stir fry until minced meat releases its juices and then juices evaporate.

3. Add watered down tomato paste and stir a few times.

4. Add cauliflower to the pot, stir the sauce into the cauliflowers and fill with water until it covers the ingredients.

5. Bring the pot to a boil and then let it simmer. Cook until the cauliflower gets soft enough to insert a fork.

Afiyet olsun!

Zucchini Oven Chips

Stolen from Linda Oldenburg, Cooking Light August 2005

 Ingredients

• 100 ml dry breadcrumbs
• 100 ml grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 2 small zucchinis, sliced about 4-5 mm thick

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 230°.
2. Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl. Place milk in a shallow bowl. Dip zucchini slices in milk, and dredge in breadcrumb mixture. Place coated slices on a large cooking sheet. Bake at 230° for 30 minutes or until browned and crisp. Serve immediately.

Eggplant in a Pot

A pretty standard dish in my mother's kitchen, but it gets creative when I start cooking it. Easy to cook and if inspired by the Muse, very tasty, too.

Ingredients:

0.5 kg of eggplants, chopped big
0.25 kg of lean red meat, chopped
2 spoons full of oil
1 mid size onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1 American size green pepper or a handful of Turkish size green peppers, diced. Red pepper works well, too. I add one for taste.
1 spoon full of tomato paste, mixed with enough water to make it runny
1 clove of garlic, diced

1. Put onion, carrot, greenpepper, oil and meat and stir fry until the meat releases its juices and then all juice is gone.
2. Add tomato paste. Stir for a minute.
3. Add eggplants, salt, garlic, water enough to almost cover the ingredients.
4. Leave to simmer until carrots are edible.

I'll let you know how it tastes. :)

Note from relative future: It's delicious!