Grand bazaar, Su Boregi, Sahlep and Istanbul...

Went to grand bazaar which is  an  oldest and largest market at istanbul. Too many small outlet but the price is to expensive....most of them can speak malay language..hehehe...

 Sahlep...a creamy and delicious Turkish drink...top with cinnamon powder..yumyum...

Hubby favorite really love this!..su boregi (water pasrty..)...eemmmm i will try  this later hehhe...insya allah! Pastry layer with cheese..just like lasagna!

Dinner and Breakfast at Istanbul

 Continue to story....

Tomato soup with cheese...

Happy Birthday

Baking one of hubby favorite cheese cake for his birthday..." May Allah give u a good health and happy always.." Happy Birthday...

Cheese cake

60g unsalted butter

250g cream cheese, leave at room temperature

120 ml whip cream - (I used double cream)

5 egg yolks

2 tsp grated lemon peel

(C)

5 egg whites

1/8 tsp salt

125g caster sugar

1 tsp lemon juice

Method

* Prepare a round baking pan 20 cm, Cover baking paper, spread butter. Preheat oven to 150C.

* Mix the butter, cream cheese and whip cream in the container. Simmer, stirring until soft, remove from fire. (double boiler)

* Add sifted A (flour mixture) and stir well. Add egg yolks and continue to mix well.

* Add lemon skin, mix well, set aside.

* Beat the egg whites until frothy, add sugar and lemon juice a little at a time and continue to whisk till soft peak.

* Pour 1 / 3 egg white mixture into cream cheese mixture and stir well. Pour this mixture into remaining egg white mixture and stir well.

* Pour batter into pan, bake au bain marie, about 75 minutes until the surface is ripe, golden yellow. Remove from oven.

* Once completely cool, remove cake from pan.

(Adapted from Bisous a Toi)

Braised Lamb Shank with Herb Crushed Potatoes

Our family really love this recipe! quite easy ..... I just follow the exactly recipe except for vinegar and red wine....i change to apple vinegar and plain water. Next time i will try  some cranberry juice for red wine..

Ingredients

4 large lamb shanks
plain flour
butter
olive oil
2 red onions , thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves , crushed
100ml balsamic vinegar
500ml red wine , full bodied 
2 tbsp tomato purée
a sprig of rosemary
1kg new potatoes , peeled and cut into small chunks
2 large sprigs of thyme , leaves only
4 large sprigs mint , leaves only, chopped

1. Heat the oven to 150C/fan 130C/gas 2. Dust the lamb shanks with flour and season. Heat a casserole and add a little butter and olive oil. Add the onions and cook until soft, then scoop out. Put in the lamb shanks and brown all over. Put the onions back in the casserole with the garlic, balsamic, wine, tomato purée, rosemary and season.
2. Cover, put in the oven and cook for 21/2 hours until the meat is almost falling off the bone. Remove the lamb from the casserole and keep warm. Boil down the juices to thicken them if they seem too thin.
3. Meanwhile, boil the potatoes until soft. Drain, add a knob of butter, thyme, mint, then season and crush lightly. Serve with the lamb shanks and gravy and with egg plan .... 

 (Adapted from Goodfood)
 

Lemon Butter Cake

 " A most ever moist  lemon butter cake i have it try!" P/s..i add in some lemon skin in the batter..hehehe nice!"

 Ingredient

195g all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 170g butter, softened
- 225g sugar
- 1 large egg, plus one large egg yolk
- 1 tbsp lemon zest(I used the zest from 2 large lemons)
- 17 tbsp whole milk (The original recipe uses only 12 tbsp,but I found the batter too thick and added 5 more)

Method:
Preheat oven to 180 degree c.Grease a 9" round cake pan.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.
Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy for about about 2 minutes.
Beat in lemon zest, then egg and egg yolk. If the mixture curdles, just add 1 tbsp of flour and continue mixing.
On low speed, add flour mixture in 3 parts, alternating with milk.
Beat for 10 to 15 seconds on medium speed, just until batter appears uniform. The batter should look thick and creamy.
Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth top with spatula or knife.
Bake for about 40-45 minutes, or until it forms a golden crust and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
Let to rest in pan for 10 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Allow cake to completely cool before slicing. 

(Adapted from my little Factory Cake  blogspot)

Rosemary Braised Lamb Shank....

 

6 lamb shanks

salt and pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions, chopped

3 large carrots, cut into 1/4 inch rounds

10 cloves garlic, minced

1 (750 milliliter) bottle red wine ( i just ignore....)

1 (28 ounce) can whole peeled tomatoes with juice

1 (10.5 ounce) can condensed chicken broth

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef broth

5 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

 

Directions

1. Sprinkle shanks with salt and pepper. Heat oil in heavy large pot over medium-high heat. Working in batches, cook shanks until brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer shanks to plate.
2. Add onions, carrots and garlic to pot and saute until golden brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in wine, tomatoes, chicken broth and beef broth. Season with rosemary and thyme. Return shanks to pot, pressing down to submerge. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low. Cover, and simmer until meat is tender, about 2 hours.
3. Remove cover from pot. Simmer about 20 minutes longer. Transfer shanks to platter, place in a warm oven. Boil juices in pot until thickened, about 15 minutes. Spoon over shanks.

(adapted from..all recipes.com)

Day 1 @ Istanbul, Turkeye...

 Don't believe turkish cat! haahahhah... we arrived at oldtown sultanahmet via metro...  i was "attracted" to fluffy, charming..cute cats..near the tram station waiting for visitor to say " Marhaba",.....hehhehehe....and there's a man standing around waiting for visitors too...and they will give us information as a tourist guide...but then they will try to make some money from us...their face looked like good people....

It's totally difference  between antalya and istanbul people...here in istanbul...the conmen talked money... and they will try to get the money in many ways...

This is not free..hehheee..one old lady with smiling face give me a cup a bird food to share a moment in istanbul....asked 5 lira we gave only 2 hehehe....

inside the famous Blue Masjid aka Masjid Biru....lovely....hundreds of years of masjid....

Blue Masjid entrance...

Merhaba Istanbul....

From Antalya we took flight back to Istanbul and it's only 1hour...fly with Turkish airlines was unforgettable..memories..hahahha..the food was ummmph! fantastic..no wonder they won the Europe's best airline 2011 and 2012...pic above...the turkish tea...or cay...

We choose Old town Sultanahmet  for our first destination... the most historical place to visit! home to Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque....Grand Bazaar...and the...Public transport to old town from the  airport  was easy to get here...and not expensive ..coz we took metro and change  tram  @ Zeytinburnu  station. It's flat rate..only 3 lira per pax per trip... 

 old mosque 522 years old..pheewww....they are everywhere....

Clean and best food..and not too expensive ...

Lunch @ Antalya city...

 See this??? hahhaha...at first we thought turkish people doesn't eat spicy food...at our place, this pickle normally use green big chili,  but here..they use small chili and it's sooooo hot! beware..hehehehee...

baked onion taste sweet...what a nice........! i wonder how they cook it?

carrot, purple cabbage, lemon zest and added some black pepper...delicious at first try and guess what.. only cost 12 lira including cay (tea) and it's enough one set for sharing 2 person if you come from asia...hehehhee

in front of the bus station to havalimani hehehe airport...

Rixos Downtown, Antalya, Turkeye

Antalya, Turkeye...part 2

Konyalta, Antalya ..Turkeye

Assalamualaikum...

alhamdullilah, our trip to celebrate 13th anniversary cum hubby's birthday was really great! Antalya, turkey is the best place to visit...people (thumbs up to antalya folks),  our gratitude to two brothers who helped us during the night to find the hotel in Konyaalta, may allah bless the two of you....to sister nur aisya...who showed us the bus to the airport from antalya city... bus no 600, thank you...

...food, environment, money$$$...all great. the weather was 6 to 16C  and tips..only yen, euro, dollar, riyal were accepted at money changer here...ringgit malaysia only limited outlets in istanbul, airport no way...brunei dollar, just leave it at home, uae dirham...spend it dubai or abu dhabi hehehehe its good to bring euro...coz it's acceptable everywhere...

Lemon trees....everywhere....

mandarin tree....just outside the hotel entrance...

We had our breakfast @ 6.30am...( to early hahhaaa. we can't sleep coz hometown time already 1230noon!)...specially prepared by brother verdat...who woke up just to serve us breakfast...excellent breakfast and services...cay...masyaallah very good when the weather outside is chilled...    

bread, tomato, zucchini, sausage, feta and cheddar cheese, omelet, olive black and green, butter and honey, blueberry jam....wowww....

Not really expensive otel... only 26euros...62 liras...but the place was just like a 5 star otel...we really like it and really recommended !The service was really fantastic....

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