Peppers with Cheese (Lorlu Biber)

A great Thracian specialty! Just like menemen, peppers with cheese can also be served as a side dish, main dish, or a breakfast treat. Many people enjoy lorlu biber for breakfast or lunch, but in my family we usually have it for dinner with fresh bread. it's really easy to make, and almost impossible to go wrong.

For this recipe you can use as many peppers and as much cheese as you want; as you can see in the first picture I love mine quite cheesy. Traditionally lorlu biber is made with long green peppers called çarliston, i.e.  Charleston yet no idea why this name. However, there ares so many different kinds of delicious peppers out there shishitoes, sweet Italian, Hungarian, poblanos, banana peppers, just follow your taste buds. 

1 lb green/red/orange/yellow peppers, chopped in rounds (seeds taken out)
1/2 cup ricotta, cottage, or farmers cheese (this can easily go up to 1 full cup)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
salt if needed

-Heat oil in a frying pan.
-When it's really hot, add chopped peppers and saute until they get slightly brown
-Take the peppers out with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to soak excessive oil.

-Add cheese.

-Stir until cheese starts melting.
-Serve hot. 

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Green Peppers in Vinegar and Garlic Sauce (Sirkeli Biber)

I'm in Turkey and enjoying all the food I cannot find in the US and frequenting my hometown's twice-a-week farmers' market for fresh produce. It seems like July is a wonderful month for peppers of all kinds. Inspired by the exuberance of fresh peppers I am giving a simple recipe for a very popular and delicious salad/appetizer/meze, you name it. 

The ingredients for the sauce are garlic, olive oil, and vinegar, and how much you will add of each depends completely on your preference. If you cannot handle garlic or vinegar well, you can go light on them. I like this salad medium garlicy, yet very vinegary, whereas my cousin's version is quite garlicy and not so much vinegary. The point is you have to decide on the amount of garlic and vinegar.

This salad is usually made during barbecue parties. First the peppers are roasted, and then while the meat is cooking the salad is prepared.

green or red peppers, as much as you want/have (In US I use poblanos or anaheim peppers, but anything would work)

garlic

vinegar (white or red grape, or apple), something strong

olive oil

You can make this salad two different ways; by either boiling or roasting the peppers. Roasted peppers taste, for sure, better, but if you don't have enough time boiled ones are not bad either.

-(1) Roast the green peppers in the oven or on the grill. Once cooled, peel the skin by hand. With some peppers this process is very easy, but with some it is challenging. Do your best, and don't worry if you cannot take all the skin off. After skinning cut the top off and seed the pepper if you like--I personally don't mind the seeds.

-(2) Pierce the peppers with a fork or a sharp knife once or twice and cook in boiling water for a couple of minutes, until soft but not falling apart. Cut the tops and seed them.

-Whichever method you follow (1) or (2), place peppers in a dish where peppers would not be overcrowded. Add salt, olive oil, vinegar, and crushed garlic. use olive oil as if you're dressing a salad.

For garlic you can use from 1/2 clove to 2 cloves for one pepper

For vinegar you can use from 3 tbsp to something between 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup-Serve with meat or on its own with fresh baked bread.

The salad keeps well in the fridge for 3-4 days, and gets even better in time.

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Stuffed Peppers with Groundmeat (Etli Biber Dolması)

This is an almost Turkish recipe because of the purple peppers. Purple peppers are rare in Turkey, and it's impossible to find Turkish green peppers here. So, we have purple Indiana peppers stuffed a la Turkish style. Once cooked, the purple peppers turned green just like purple beans. Do not try to stuff regular huge bell peppers that you can find at every store; they are really hard to cook (their skin is too thick), are too big (you can almost spend half of the stuffing on one pepper), and are unfortunately not flavorsome. Try farmer's markets. The purple pepper in the picture is from farmer's market and the red one is from Luke's garden.

10 peppers
1/2 pound ground meat (beef)
1 cup rice
3 onions, chopped finely
1/2 bunch parsley, chopped
1/2 bunch dill, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dry or fresh mint
1 tsp oregano leaves
1 tsp crushed pepper
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp tomato paste
1 tomato

-With the help of a knife or your thumb, take out the tops of the peppers. Wash and take out the seeds. Make tiny holes at the bottom of peppers with a knife or a fork so that they can cook thoroughly
-Mix ground meat, onions, rice, herbs, black pepper, salt, crushed pepper, and olive oil in a bowl. Stuff the peppers with this mix. Leave 1/4 inch space at the top; we will put a slice of tomato there. Cover the tops with a slice of tomato
-Place the peppers in a broad pot facing up.
-Mix tomato paste with water and pour into the pot. Fill the pot half way up with water. Put butter in small pieces on top.
-Cook covered on medium heat for 30-40 minutes. Let it boil, but not vigorously; that might be harsh on your cute peppers and also unstuff them. To make sure taste the rice. If the rice is soft, that means the peppers are cooked.
Must be served with yogurt!

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