One of the ways I cope with my wife being in Turkey for her grueling 15 month tour of duty is to try my hand at Turkish recipes from time-to-time.  It helps the family feel somehow connected to her through food, knowing that she can probably purchase many of these recipes in the shops right off base.

It doesn’t hurt that most of the recipes I’ve tried are fabulous. The flavor combinations sometimes seem odd, but the end result are dishes with flavors that can best be described as both ethereal and haunting.  Turkish food so far has been a wonderful and enlightening journey for my family, and one I’m glad we’ve taken together.

This particular dish is my favorite so far. This is no mean feat considering how much I and my family adored both the Havuçlu Haydari and Nane Limon that I’ve written about previously.  This dish just somehow surpasses them.

Tasting this was like discovering the soul of Turkish cooking.  The flavors are simple, but surpassingly complex on the palate.  This is the kind of perfection that Anthony Bourdain says can only come from peasant food.  In this case, I agree. (Do you hear that, Ruhlman?)

The over the top part of Turkish soups is the use of a very thin custard in their making.  This adds a mouth feel unlike anything I have previously eaten.  It is both creamy and sumptuous, yet light enough for an extremely hot summer day.  In fact, I find that I lack the words to properly describe it.  You’ll have to try it to see why, but I assure you it will be worth it.

Do you have a favorite lamb dish?  A favorite dish from another cuisine?  We’d love to hear about them.  Drop a comment and share.

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Popularity: 3% [?]

Is there any other food as comforting as chicken noodle soup? It seems to me that you would be hard pressed to find one.  It’s a staple of mothers for sick children, adults who are feeling homesick and the perfect choice for a gloomy drizzly day at any time.

Most people my age probably grew up on the version in the little red and white can, but there is absolutely nor reason why you shouldn’t be making this from scratch.  The flavor is better, the vegetables are crisp and the texture is amazing.  All it takes is a little time and a little love an you too can have the ultimate chicken noodle soup ready and waiting for you when you need it the most, even on days when you would rather not be cooking at all.

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Popularity: 5% [?]

From the archives.  One of our family’s all time favorite leftover turkey recipes. Stay tuned for more though!

I Promise that this will be the last of my leftover turkey recipes. By now we’re both most likely getting tired of turkey. Personally, I’ll be buying another while they’re still on sale, but it will be getting cut down into component parts and frozen for when the urge strikes later in the year.

This is a simple method for taking those last little bits of turkey and turning them into something hearty and filling at the same time. Total cook and prep time are less than 40 minutes, perfect for a quick meal after work,or a good hot lunch on the weekends. The addition of a ton of potatoes takes the focus off of the turkey and puts it on the vegetables which, in this case is exactly where it belongs.

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Popularity: 26% [?]

If you’re looking to put a little fun into the Halloween season and eat well while dong it, then I have a fun little idea for you.  This follows the same theory as the Spooky Silhouette Chili I made last year around this time.  It’s just a great bowl of soup with a touch of Halloween flare.

The soup itself is simple, the toppings delectable.  don’t just eat this for Halloween.  It’s great throughout the fall and winter, or for as long as you can get good butternut squash.  Make up a batch and get your spook on!

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Popularity: 4% [?]

There are few things more comforting than the unassuming soup. There are also very few foods that are as versatile. Whether you’ve got meat, poultry, fish or veggies, you’ve got the makings for a good wholesome meal.  Just about anything can be turned into a soup if you set your mind to it and leftovers are the perfect first choice for a soup-based face lift.

Such is the case with this dish.  After making a huge batch of Spanish rice I realized that we would never finish it off and honestly I just wasn’t in the mood for it anymore.  the logical conclusion was to jazz it up a bit and add a few extra flavors in for fun and a quick soup just sounded really good.  this is what I came up with.  A 100% Cooking by the seat of my Pants original.

Hope Y’All enjoy.

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Popularity: 4% [?]

From the archives: With much of the nation buried in snow, what better meal to present than a piping hot bowl of great stew.  Enjoy!

If there is one food associated with Irish cuisine, it’s the ubiquitous Irish stew. Love it or hate it, it’s Ireland in a dish. Every Irish family has their own distinct recipe and every Irish child will probably tell you that his Mam makes the best Irish stew there ever was, though she would probably say that her Ma made a better one.

Irish stew is also known as stobhach gaelach, which is just Gaelic for “Irish Stew”.  The dish was traditionally made with just meat (usually tough meats such as kid), potatoes and onions and if made this way is very bland.  More modern versions use varieties of root vegetables and different tough cuts of meat depending on what is available at the time, but potatoes and onions should always be the primary ingredients.

I chose lamb for this stew simply because I adore it, but you can certainly make the dish with beef or pork if that’s what you have available.  It will certainly be a lot less expensive than this version, which racks in at well over $16.00 per pot full in my area.  Not that I’m complaining, mind you.  It was well worth the added expense.

And just so you know, for those following the Weight Watcher’s system; This dish is only 4 points per bowl, so have at it!

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Popularity: 4% [?]

Winter weather means soup.  For my family, soup usually means something extremely hearty that sticks to your ribs and will keep you warm through a cold night on the Great Plains. (which, if you’ve never experienced it, can be very cold indeed!) For me the king of all rich and hearty soups is potato soup and this is my take on it.

This soup is hearty and filling.  It’s incredibly thick, sumptuous, rich and warming. It’s slightly thicker than most potato soups and the bacon adds a certain richness to the earthy flavor of the potatoes that I don’t think ham quite accomplishes, though it’s the more traditional addition to this dish.

A warning, though.  If you’re looking for something light, this ain’t it.  There’s enough cream and butter I this recipe to make staunch dieters cower in fear, and your cholesterol levels may never be the same again.  Having said this, I only recommend this dish as an occasional treat.  One to be savored when the weather is chill and the nights are long.  It’s not every day fare, it’s comfort food at the highest level, with the calorie count to match.

This recipe makes enough to serve about eight people, but don’t worry about scaling back if you’re only serving one or two.  It freezes exremely well and can be kept sealed in the chill chest for three to six months in airtight containers. That way it’s just waiting for you the next time the weather gets seriously chilly and you’re in need of a wintertime booster shot of soothing warmth.

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Popularity: 100% [?]

There’s something about the onset of Autumn that brings out a deep need for me to make soup. Winter has its slow cooked meals and stews, summer is for smoking and grilling and spring is for whatever fresh greens might be coming up, but Autumn and Fall are for soups, the heartier the better. The closer to winter it gets, the heartier the soups get, but right at this point, when temperatures in the early mornings are in the fifties and afternoons are in the eighties, it’s time for lighter fare, usually vegetable or fish. It’s a time of year I wait for, and now it’s here.

I got the idea for this dish from my herb garden.  My basil has grown into a jungle and the oregano is doing fairly well.  With ten pounds of herbs outside, I figured I’d best find a way to start putting a dent in it.  Since basil and tomatoes go so well together, it seemed obvious that I needed to toss a tomato-basil soup together and I wanted a thin soup to dip the crusty rolls in.  My wife is a huge fan of zucchini, so that addition was a no-brainer. The rest was just seat of my pants cooking at its best, the kind that produces something that is far more than you expected, but with very little effort. In a way it’s the perfection of keeping the soul of your ingredients pure, and purely enjoyable as well.

I hope you try and enjoy!

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Popularity: 2% [?]

After a weekend of wanton excess, both at the Grapevine Texas Grapefest and visiting one of the best burger joints in the country, last night was all about light, healthy fare. Since my wife has been using Weight Watchers, I figured I’d try for something she could eat to her heart’s content without guilt. This soup is the result.

While this may have Zero Weight Watchers Points, it gets a full ten from us when it comes to flavor and its ability to leave you feeling more than full. The flavors are full and robust and there’s just enough heat in the background to leave you wondering if a glass of tea was enough, or if you should have had milk instead. Even without added meats or proteins, the mushrooms give the soup a deep meaty flavor that lingers on the back of the tongue in a very pleasant way.

This is modified slightly from the original Weight Watchers Recipe, but still contains no points as far as my calculations can determine. (OK, it has one point, but so does the original recipe when I run the numbers. The number refers to the fact that as far as Weight Watchers is concerned, these are all zero point foods, hence zero point soup.) I’ve added bit more liquid so that one batch will last a good long time.  Great for guiltless snacks and lunches.

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Popularity: 8% [?]

There’s simply nothing better on a cold windy day than a good bowl of piping hot soup. Add a bit of drifting snow to the equation and it’s almost mandatory that a good hearty soup come into play. Thursday was that day. Though the snow never did stick, the temperature shifted from the mid 70′s to a crisp 28 degrees. Add wind-chill and you’ve got 20 degrees and a pot of soup on the stove was the perfect way to take the chill out of the house, and us.

This variation on the classic chicken noodle soup gains a lot of flavor from the addition of chorizo, both to the broth and as an addition to the finished soup. The addition is simple, but the flavors the spicy little sausages adds to the broth is amazingly rich, deep and filling in ways that no “normal” chicken noodle soup could ever be. The broth is also made with a bit of cilantro for a further depth and the addition of a slightly earthy flavor that is just a bit unexpected in a bowl of chicken soup, but is immensely satisfying.

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Popularity: 3% [?]