Da-da-da-daaa! Here is a recipe that I made up. I was actually going to bake some vegetables, and decided to make the dish more fun by adding some cream in it. And then I told myself “Why don’t you add a little bit of mustard?”.  And guess what! It was super-delicious and it was really easy to prepare, so I think I’ll put this recipe to “Ulya’s favorites”.

Baked Zucchini & Eggplants with Mustard Cream

Ingredients:

• 3 eggplants
• 3 zucchinis
• 1 onion
• 1 cup cream
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 2 cloves of garlic
• extra-virgin olive oil
• pepper
• salt
• some cheese to sprinkle on top (like mozzarella)

Directions:

Slice the eggplants and zucchinis to thin stripes. Put them in a mid-sized tray, and sprinkle with sliced onions, and some mashed garlic. Add some salt and pepper.

In another bowl, mix cream and mustard. Pour this on the vegetables.

Bake the vegetables for about 20 minutes in the oven preheated to 200 degrees C (390 degrees F). After 20 minutes, sprinkle the tops with some grated cheese, and bake for another 10 minutes.

With the leftover vegetables, I made some pasta. I simply baked one diced eggplant and one diced zucchini along with some diced potatoes. Then I sautéed them with little oil and added to my pasta. Yum!

Oh, no! Chocolate and orange cake again????? I know, but I think they’re the best couple ever.. Whenever I make something with chocolate and ask myself “What else can I add?”, the mantra repeats in my mind like “orange, orange, orange, orange”. Well, I know it’s not creative at all, but there is a plenty of orange on the kitchen table at this time of the year, and I just can’t resist them!

This time, I tried a recipe from “The Essence of Chocolate” by John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. It was supposed to be a “one-pot sour cream cake”, but I changed the recipe slightly, and the result was not a “moist” cake as described in the book, but a normal cake. I think if cooked it less, then I could get a moister cake. Anyways, here’s the recipe. Enjoy!

Chocolate Orange Cream Cake with Orange Sauce

adapted from The Essence of Chocolate

makes 1 big cake, 9 cupcakes

Ingredients:

• 1 egg
• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 100 g (7 oz.) butter
• 50 g (3.5 oz.) dark chocolate
• ½ cup orange juice (or juice of 1 orange)
• ¼ cup sour cream
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt

For the sauce:

• ¾ cup heavy cream
• ½ cup powdered sugar
• zest of one lemon

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 175 degrees C (350 degrees F).

Melt the butter, chocolate and orange juice in a pan, and stir well.

Remove the pan from heat, add the sugar and whisk.

Add the dry ingredients and continue whisking.

Add the egg and sour cream, and mix well.

Pour the mixture into muffin cups or into a little pan.

Bake for 15 minutes for cupcakes, 20 minutes for the pan.

For the sauce, sinply mix all the ingredients in a food processor. This way, the orange zest will infuse better to the mixture.

Serve the cake with its sauce.

It was only a year ago when we had our first onion soup in Paris with my mother. It was a traditional French onion soup with beef stock and large onion slices and was very delicious.

Back in Turkey, I ate some other onion soups, and tried to cook it using beef stock. I also added some vinegar according to an anonymous recipe I found on the internet. The result was horrible..

But, here I am, with my own onion soup recipe with heavy cream and milk, which is inspired by the soup I had in a pizzeria (I think they were using coconut milk, but I’m not sure- trade secrets!!). The idea of making creamy onion soup was nice, and I had to come up with my own recipe! This soup is not something traditional, but I like it more than the traditional one. It is also very easy to do, but don’t forget that this soup is delicious only with bread and cheese over the top!

Onion Soup with Cream and Milk

4-6 servings

Ingredients:

• 350 gr (12.3 oz.) onions*, sliced
• 4 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup low-fat milk
• 2 cups water
• 2 tablespoons flour (I used whole-wheat flour)
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• a pinch of ground nutmeg
• pepper
• salt

• 1-2 slices of bread
• cheese for the top (you can use mozzarella, or any other cheese that melts. I used a Turkish string cheese called “dil”)

*Why 350 gr? Well, I don’t know. I had only 350 gr onions left in the kitchen.

Directions:

Put the butter into a heated pan, and add the onions. Cook them with in medium-heat until the onions have a pinky color.

Add the sugar, and cook for a minute or two, until the onions are caramelized (Don’t overcook!).

Add the cream, milk and water. Also add the spices, and mix well. Cook the soup in low-heat for 10 minutes.

Using a blender, process the soup until no onions can be seen. Cook for another 10 minutes.

Slice the bread into 3 cm (~1.5-inch) squares. Put cheese slices over the tops, and cook in the oven just until the cheese is melted.

Serve the soup with cheesy breads over the top. Bon appétit!