Turkey

No, not the animal...the Country! It's that time of year again and we've started our "Eating Around the World" for the summer--where my kids pick a country each week and we attempt to enjoy their authentic cuisine. The first country picked was Turkey, which is supposedly a very diverse and influential world cuisine. I learn somethin' new everyday.

Before we get into the food, let me make a disclaimer on our summer eating adventure. I am a mom, not a chef. I live in backwoods Georgia. I have never been anywhere to speak of, so my specialty is internet surfing. I attempt to find authentic dishes and recipes, but this is just for fun. (In other words I know nothing, don't quote me on anything!)

So on to dinner!

I really wanted to try Dolma, but I needed more time to locate some pickled grape leaves. And I really didn't want to eat mutton, although we maybe should have, so it wasn't on the menu either. What we did eat for our appetizer was Borek--these tasty little stuffed puff pastries! --stuffed with an olive, and roasted pepper filling.

They were so yummy!

For dinner, we had, chicken shish kebabs, marinated in a yogurt hot pepper sauce. Man that was some spicy chicken even after cutting the amount of red pepper in half! To go with it, we had this awesome roasted zucchini (first pick of the season from our own backyard), and traditional Turkish flat bread called Pide--which of course the boys loved cause you can't go wrong with fresh bread.

And to finish it off....no, I didn't make Turkish Delight--Andrew already raked me over the coals for not making it, but I want it to turn out good, so we'll have to wait until it's a little cooler. Instead, we had Baklava!  (MMmmmmmm....drool) And yes, I know what you're thinking- Baklava is Greek, but in my "extensive" research, I came to learn that Baklava is really Turkish. ( those Greeks just don't have anything special so they complain a lot--they should try being American!)

Next week we'll be having......I'll let you know when the kids decide!