Dinner55 minJune 12, 2025
Slow-Roasted Tomato & Garlic Pasta
Oven-blistered tomatoes melt into a silky, deeply savory sauce that clings to every strand of pasta beautifully.
Personal Culinary Blog
Welcome to
My Kitchen
I'm Ilhan Kaya, and here I share the Turkish home recipes that have filled my kitchen with warmth and my table with family for decades.
Every dish comes with an honest story — no shortcuts, no pretense, just real food made with love.
140+Recipes
12Years cooking
100{745b75fcf8abeb7876648ec9db6900d79cfa1a5054552669c664f26c62301f5f}Home-tested
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Featured Recipe of the Week
Main Course
Slow-Braised Lamb Shoulder with Pomegranate & Sumac
Tender lamb shoulder, braised low and slow until it falls apart at a touch, bathed in a rich reduction of pomegranate molasses, sumac, and toasted cumin. Finished with fresh herbs and jewel-bright pomegranate seeds, this is the kind of dish that turns an ordinary Sunday into something worth remembering.
Prep
20 min
Cook
3 hr 30 min
Difficulty
Intermediate
Hand-picked by ilhan-kaya — cooked, tasted, and loved.
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From slow-simmered stews to pillowy breakfast buns — every recipe is tested, honest, and made with love in a real home kitchen.
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Dinner55 min
Baking1 hr 10 minJune 7, 2025
Cardamom Honey Yogurt Cake
A tender, fragrant loaf sweetened with wildflower honey and warm cardamom, finished with a bright citrus glaze.
Soups40 minJune 2, 2025
Spiced Red Lentil Soup with Crispy Shallots
Warming, earthy red lentils simmered with cumin and turmeric, topped with shatteringly crispy golden shallot rings.
Baking35 minMay 28, 2025
Brown Butter Hazelnut Shortbread
Nutty, crumbly, melt-in-your-mouth shortbread made richer with golden brown butter and toasted hazelnuts.
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Since2018
Behind the Recipes
Hello, I'm Ilhan Kaya
I grew up in a house that always smelled of something good. My grandmother kept a pot of lentil soup simmering on the stove from October through April, and my mother's börek on Sunday mornings was the kind of ritual that made time slow down. Food wasn't just nourishment in our family — it was how we said "I love you" without having to say a word.
These are the recipes I grew up with — honest, unfussy, and rooted in the flavours of the Aegean and Anatolian table. I've learned them from memory, from phone calls with my aunt, and from many happy mistakes along the way. On ilhan-kaya, I share them exactly as they live in my kitchen, with real measurements, real talk, and zero pretension.
Ilhan
Home Cook & Recipe Writer
Seasonal Wisdom
From the Kitchen
Small, honest observations from my kitchen to yours — ingredients worth seeking out and techniques worth trying this season.
Autumn Ingredient Spotlight
Embrace Butternut Squash
As temperatures drop, butternut squash reaches peak sweetness — roast it at high heat to caramelise the natural sugars and deepen the flavour. Pair it with a pinch of smoked paprika and a drizzle of honey for a side dish that feels genuinely special.
Seasonal Technique
Low & Slow Braising
Cooler months call for braises — tough, affordable cuts like lamb shoulder or beef cheek transform into meltingly tender meals when cooked gently in stock and aromatics for two to three hours. The long cook allows flavours to marry in a way that quick methods simply cannot match.
Pantry Tip
Stock Up on Dried Pulses
Lentils, chickpeas, and white beans are the unsung heroes of the autumn pantry — inexpensive, nourishing, and endlessly versatile. Soak dried pulses overnight rather than using canned ones for a creamier texture and a far better depth of flavour in soups and stews.
Tips updated each season — check back for what's fresh at ilhan-kaya.
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ILHAN KAYA
[email protected]+90 212 800 12 34Duygu Sokak 20K34540 Çatalca / İstanbul
Türkiye
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Made with ♥ in Istanbul — real food, real stories.