Macedonian Food, Cuisine and Recipes

Pogacha (Pogaca, Погача) version 1

2011-01-22T07:03:00.000-08:00

Hi guys, so holidays are gone and hopefully I'll have more time to write on this blog. Many of you e-mailed me about recipe for pogacha (pogaca, погача), which I assume that is the sweet version you're looking for. Well, I have three different recipes for sweet version of pogacha, so you can choose which one you want to make. This is the first version:

Recipe:
1000 gr flour
150 ml milk
250 ml yogurt
50 ml vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cube (or package) yeast
100 gr sugar
125 gr butter
pinch of salt
water (if needed)

If you're using frozen yeast cube, warm the milk a little bit, dissolve the yeast into it and then add and dissolve the sugar in it. If you use package of dry yeast, the milk can be cold, just dissolve the sugar and yeast in it. Sift the flour, mix the pinch of salt in it and then add the milk with the dissolved sugar and yeast, the yogurt and oil. In a bowl crack one egg, and from the second one just add the egg white. Keep the yolk for egg paint. Beat the egg and egg white and add them to the flour and other ingredients. Mix everything until it's soft and smooth dough (add water if it's too hard or flour if it's too soft). Knead the dough until smooth, shape it into ball, and leave it to rest until the size of it has doubled (approximately 1 hour in warm place). When the dough has raised, roll it into rectangle and spread 1/3 of the butter on top of it. Overlap the dough one half on the other (like you're closing a book). Spread the second 1/3 of the butter and overlap again. Then spread again and overlap again. Roll the dough in 2 cm thickness and cut it into equal pieces (cubes). Shape each piece into ball (the size should be like golf ball) and into place it in the center of a greased round baking pan. Shape the other pieces into balls and arrange them to the center piece so you'll have flower shape. Keep arranging the dough balls until you use all dough. Add 1 tablespoon of water into the egg yolk and beat it well. Spread the egg paint onto the pogacha and sprinkle it with little bit of sugar. Leave the pogacha to rest for 10 minutes (until the oven is heated). Heat the oven to 200 degrees C and bake the pogacha for 10 minutes. Lower the heat to 180 degrees C and bake for 20-25 min more (until the sides of the pogacha are brownish). When the pogacha is baked, take it out of the oven and cover it firs with some clean thick plastic bag (the plastic foil might melt), and on top of the bag place a kitchen towel. Leave it to cool like this. Then you just break pieces of it and eat:-)

Potatoes in Bechamel sauce

2010-10-05T07:40:00.000-07:00

This dish is easy to make and it can be great for a side dish or as an easy supper.
Recipe:

500gr peeled potatoes cut into large cubes
For the Bechamel:
1/4 cup butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
2-3 cloves minced garlic
little bit of nutmeg (or you can skip it)
salt and pepper.

Boil or steam the potatoes until they are cooked. In a meantime make the bechamel sauce. Warm the milk in one saucepan, but do not bring it to boil. In another saucepan on low heat, melt the butter until it starts to foam. Add the flour and with constant stir cook it for 3-4 minutes or until the flour is lightly yellow. Than add the warm milk and whisk it with wire whisk so that
the sauce remains smooth and without lumps. Cook it for 10 minutes on low constantly stirring. Then add the potatoes, garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cook it for another 5 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add some water.
Bon appetit :-)

Rice and Tomatoes

2010-07-14T06:52:00.000-07:00

Maybe it sound strange but this is a great recipe for the hot summer days, and also great as a side dish. And even greater if you have a steamer.

Recipe:

200 gr rice (any kind)

100 gr finely chopped tomatoes (save the juice)

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 tablespoon dry oregano

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

salt, pepper

Clean and rinse the rice untill the water start to become clear (around 5 times). This way you rinse the starch and the rice won't stick. Then cook the rice until is cooked. I cooked mine in a steamer for 40 minutes, you can cook in on the stove too. When the rice is done, add the olive oil, tomatoes, oregano, parsley and the tomato juice and mix everything. Add salt and pepper and it is done. You can add more vegetables or some sauce, It is up to you.

Enjoy:-).

Katerina cake

2010-06-04T02:23:00.000-07:00

Well this is a cake which in Macedonia is made mainly for birthdays, and the thing is that we in Macedonia make our cakes big and with many different fillings so that nobody stays hungry:-). I don't have a picture but this is the recipe for Katerina (Katherine) cake.

Recipe:

The cake has many steps but it's not too difficult.

Cake:

10 eggs

10 tablespoons sugar

6 tablespoons flour

10 tablespoons grounded wallnuts (or finely crushed)

1 tablespoon cocoa powder

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

Filling:

200 gr finely chopped wallnuts

100 gr chopped raisins soaked in 80-100ml rum

200 gr chopped jelly candy

300gr crushed biscuits mixed with 200gr warm milk

250 gr unsalted butter or margarine

250 gr powdered sugar

On top:

200gr cooking chocolate (or chocolate chips) - any kind bitter, semi sweet...

or whipped cream, or any kind of frosting.

How to make the cake layers:

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. In a mixing bowl break the eggs, add the sugar and mix this with mixer until the eggs are double the size and lighter and the sugar is disolved.

Add the flour, cocoa, baking powder and the wallnuts. Mix well and pour in greased baking sheet. Usually we make cakes with thin cake layer (about 1 cm),

so if you bake this in cake mold, you'll have to cut it in 3 pieces. Bake 30 min, or until toothpick come clear. When it's done cool the cake well.

If you have baked it in baking sheet, cut the cake in 3 equal pieces in lenght so you'll have 3 rectangles, if you baked it in cake mold (round) cut it in widht so you'll have 3 circles.

The cake layers should be around 1-1,5 cm thick.

How to make the filling:

Drain the raisins from the rum, but keep the excess rum. Drain the biscuits and keep the exces milk. Mix the raisins, bicuits, jelly bons and the chopped wallnuts.

Mix with mixer the butter or margarine and the powdered sugar untill foamy and well mixed. Mix this with the raisins, bisuits, jelly and the wallnuts until well combined.

Separate the filling in two equal parts.

Ensamble the cake:

Mix the excess rum and the excess milk.

Place the first cake layer on a cake plate and drizzle a little bit of the rum and milk mixture (If you want the cake non alcoholic skip the rum and soak the raisins in warm water).

Spread the first half of the filling. Place the second layer, drizzle with rum and milk and spread the second half of the filling. Place the third layer and frost the cake, or coat it with the melted chocolate.

I hope that you'll make it and you'll understand why we make our cakes big:-)

Tips: Measures (EU to US)

2010-05-03T08:24:00.000-07:00

So this post will be non recipe, but I'll explain something that is tied to cooking.

I'll try to post some cooking tips like this in the future.

I recieved many e-mails in which people are asking me to do conversion from EU measures to US (grams to cups), and I think that measures are very important, ecpecially when tou make desserts.

So roughly this is the list:

There's different measures for different ingredients, it's because of their volume.

Granulated sugar: 200 grams = 1 cup

Brown sugar: 220 grams = 1 cup, packed

Sifted white flour: 125 grams = 1 cup

White rice, uncooked: 185 grams = 1 cup

White rice, cooked: 175 grams = 1 cup

Butter: 227 grams = 1 cup

Almonds, slivered: 108 grams = 1 cup

Oil: 224 grams = 1 cup

Maple syrup: 322 grams = 1 cup

Milk, non-fat: 245 grams = 1 cup

Milk, sweetened condensed: 306 grams = 1 cup

Broccoli, flowerets: 71 grams = 1 cup

Raisins: 165 grams = 1 cup

Milk, dry: 68 grams = 1 cup

Yogurt: 245 grams = 1 cup

Water: 236 grams = 1 cup

Confectioners sugar: 110 g = 1 cup

Cocoa: 125 g = 1 cup

And about ounce well this is roughly calculated: 1 Ounce = 28.5 Grams.

Actually I've tried some recipes which are in cups, and I calculated the ingredients in grams by this table and it worked fine.

Also there are many web sites which have converters so you can get more accurate measures.

Hope this helps:-)

Homemade Chicken Meat Pate

2010-04-24T10:46:00.000-07:00

This is great if you like pate and you want to make it yourself to make sure what's in it, or make it low fat, or just use leftover chicken meat.

Recipe:

300 gr chicken cooked meat (boiled, steamed, baked... doesn't matter just it has to be only meat without skin)

1 tablespoon of butter (if it's chicken breast meat you can add 1 tbs more)

1-2 tablespoon tomato puree (or ketchup will do)

2 cloves garlic

if you like you can add 1 tablespoon of brandy for aroma

salt, pepper

First melt the butter. In a blender or food processor add the meat, butter, garlic, tomato puree and blend until smooth. If it's too thick add more tomato puree or just little water or chicken stock or olive oil.

Blend it until very smooth. Season with salt and pepper by your liking. Add some herbs by your taste like dried thyme, parsley etc. You can put it in airtight container and it will last couple of days in the fridge.

And there you have it, easy homemade pate:-)

Creamy Green Pea Soup

2010-04-13T05:33:00.000-07:00

An excellent comfort food for those rainy spring days.

Recipe:

300 gr green peas

500 gr water + 2 cubes boullion (or chicken, or vegetable stock)

1 large onion finely chopped

1 clove of garlic, minced

parsley finely chopped

1 tablespoon butter

100 gr heavy cream

salt, pepper

In a medium pot melt the butter and saute the onions until translucent.

Add the garlic and the green peas and cook for 5 minutes.(If the peas are frozen, cook them for 3 minutes longer). After everything is softened a little bit, add the water and when the water is hot dissolve the bouillon cubes (or just add the stock).

Cook everything for 10-15 minutes until the peas are soft, but not mushy. Now this part is optional: you can roughly smash the peas with a mush potatoes tool for more textured soup, blend the half with blender for soup with whole peas, or like me blend everything until very smooth. After blending for your liking, add the heavy cream and the parsley (you can use other spices also like thyme, mint...). Garnish with croutons, parsley or whatever you like.

Enjoy:-)

HAPPY EASTER!!!

2010-04-03T11:49:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!!!

04.04.2010

Honey Cookies

2010-03-20T05:02:00.000-07:00

Honey cookies are popular sweet in the Balkan, they are sold in many varietes, but I'll show you how to make homemade honey cookies, which are very tasty.

Recipe:

1 egg

50 gr grounded wallnuts

300 gr flour

100 gr oil

100 gr sugar

3 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon baking powder (or baking soda)

1 teaspoon vanila exctract (or vanila sugar)

1 and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat the oven on 200 degrees Celsius.

With a mixer beat the egg and the sugar until the sugar is disolved and the mixture is light yellow and double the size.

Add the oil and the honey and mix until combined. And the wallnuts, vanila, cinnamon and mix with a spoon until combined.

Mix the baking powder with the flour and add it to the egg mixture and mix. Take out the dough and knead it. You should have soft dough.

If the dough is too sticky add little more flour, if it's too hard, little bit water. Flour the working surface and roll out the dough in 1/2 to 1 cm thickness.

With a cookie shape or a cup take out circles (or other shapes). Place them on a greased baking sheet (or lined with baking paper) but leave some space between them because they tend to rise.

Bake them 15-20 minutes until they're brownish and the edges are also brown.

Cool the cookies and then you can eat them as they are, sprinkle them with powder sugar or dip them in melted chocolate.

Great with coffee or tea. Yum :-)

Poppy Seed Cake

2010-03-08T01:43:00.000-08:00

This is a very simple recipe of poppy seed cake. It's moist and sweet.

Recipe:

250gr flour

125ml milk

150gr sugar

125gr oil

100gr poppy seeds

1 teaspoon of vanila extract, or 1 tablespoon vanila sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. In a mixing bowl mix the milk with the sugar, untill the sugar is disolved. Add the oil and the vanila. Mix the flour with the baking powder and add it into the wet ingredients. Mix well and add the poppy seeds. Mix until combined.

Pour the mixture in greased baking pan and bake for 30-40 minutes (until it's brownish at the sides and a toothpick comes clear from the center). Don't over bake it, or the cake will dry out.

You can glaze it with molten chocolate, jam or sift some powder sugar on top.

If you don't like milk, or if you're fasting (Great Lent - Orthodox) for Easter you can substitute it with water, just again don't over bake it, cause it tends to dry out little more when it's with water.

Winter Gjuvech

2010-02-27T00:14:00.000-08:00

Gjuvech (or Guvech, Guvec, macedonian: Ѓувеч) actually is popular Balkan recipe, and the name refers on cooked meal and also pickled vegetables (eggplant, red and green pepper...). Also there's winter and summer gjuvech. The difference is that in the recipes are used seasonal vegetables. Now I'll show the cooked version, which also can contain meat.

Recipe:

500 gr meat (pork, chicken, beef...) cut in small cubes. (I didn't use meat this time)

500gr potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes

300gr carrots cut in cubes

200gr green peas

200gr green beans

1 large onion chopped in cubes

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 tablespoon paprika

water

parsley

oil

salt and pepper

First in a preheated large pan drizzle some oil and fry the meat (if you use some) and fry it until it's cooked (brownish). If you skip the meat, start with sauteing the onion. After 2 minutes add the potatoes and the carrots. Cook for 5 minutes. Then add the green peas, the green beans and the garlic and pour some water until it reaches the half of the vegetables. Season with salt and pepper. Cover with a lid and cook on medium low for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes take another small pan and add some oil (around 50-80 grams), and fry the flour until it's golden (light roux). Add the paprika into the flour mixture and stir, then add it into the pot with the vegetables and stir. Pour the vegetables into baking dish and bake them for 20 minutes in 250 degrees Celsius (until most of the liquid evaporates). Garnish with parsley.

This dish is extremely versatile. You can use any kind of vegetables (mushrooms, okra...), or for summer gjuvech we use potatoes, bell pepper, eggplant, tomatoes...

Enjoy this rich and healthy vegetable dish:-)

Homemade Mushroom Soup

2010-02-12T11:38:00.001-08:00

This is anothe tasty soup for the cold winter days:

Recipe:

500gr mushrooms (cleaned and sliced)

1 large onion chopped

700ml vegetable or chicken broth (or water + 1-2 cubes bullion)

1 clove garlic minced

2 tablespons of flour

100gr double cream (sour cream or yougurt)

oil or butter

salt, pepper

In a medium pan add oil (or melt the butter) and fry the onion until golden (translucent), add the mushrooms and cook them until they become soft, brownish and let the liquid out of them. Mushrooms tend to soak the oil so add more oil if needed. Add the garlic and the flour and cook for 1-2 minutes. Add the broth or water with bullion and simmer for 10-15 minutes. After that blend the soup with blender (or hand blender or food processor, whatever you have). Add the soup in the same pot, season with salt and pepper and add the cream.

You can serve the soup with more cream, croutons or whatever you like.

Enjoy this simple and delicious soup:-)

Vegetable Cream Soup With Noodles

2010-01-27T14:59:00.000-08:00

Nice hot soup, great for the winter.

Recipe:

1 large onion sliced

200gr carrots cut in chunks

200gr potatoes cut in chunks

2 cubes bullion (vegetable or chicken)

400gr water (you can use vegetable or chicken broth, and then you won't need the bullions)

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon flour

1 handful of noodles (50-100 gr)

1 tablespoon vegeta

salt, pepper

In a pot, add the water and when it's hot, dissolve the bullions in it. Add the vegetables (if there's not enough liquid, add more water until submerged). Cook the onion, carrots and potatoes until tender. Transfer the vegetables in blender, and divide the soup in half. With one half blend the vegetables. Rinse and dry the pot. In the pot add the butter and when it's melted add the flour. Cook until golden. Then add the other half of the soup until everything is dissolved. Add the blended vegetables, and stir. Add the garlic. Season with the vegeta, salt and pepper. Crush and add the noodles, and cook until the noodles are done. Garnish with your choice. Enjoy:-)

French Toast

2010-01-19T08:03:00.000-08:00

This is the Macedonian version of the popular French toast. The main different thing is that we make the toast salty and we eat it with white cheese and cup of yogurt. It's great for breakfast.

Recipe:

10-12 pieces of white bread (we make it with 1 day old bread because it soaks the eggs better, and because we like to eat the fresh bread with some other dishes:-))

4 eggs

200gr milk

1 teaspoon salt

oil

In a bowl beat the eggs with the salt and the milk. Heat a pan or skillet or griddle with a little oil on a medium heat. Soak the pieces of bread in the egg mixture one side at a time, then fry them until golden brown.

After that we just eat them warm with a piece of white cheese for breakfast.Yum!

Tarator

2009-12-17T06:03:00.000-08:00

Tarator is a cold salad (it looks like cold creamy soup), and it's eaten mainly in summertime because it's light and refreshing. But you can eat it anytime through the year. It's very simple to make, and many Balkan kitchens have their own version of this salad. This is the Macedonian recipe:

1 large cucumber
500gr sour milk
1 clove of garlic (or spring garlic)minced or finely chopped
salt, pepper
dill or parsley
optional 1 tablespoon oil

Wash and peel the cucumber, then chop it into very small cubes. Add the sour milk and stir it well until there's no lumps of the sour milk. Add the minced garlic (or chopped spring garlic), finely chopped dill or parsley, salt, pepper and the oil. Mix everything until well combined.
That's it! And eat:-))

Zucchinis/Courgettes With Bechamel Sauce

2009-12-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

Zucchinis/Courgettes with bechamel sauce

A great meal for every season. Also you can constitute the zucchinis with mushrooms for a delicious mushroom creme.

Recipe:

2-3 zucchinis/courgettes

water

For the Bechamel:

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups milk

2-3 cloves minced garlic

little bit of nutmeg (or you can skip it)

salt and pepper.

Cut the zucchinis/courgettes in 1 cm circles than in half. Cook the in water until they're almost cooked. Strain them from the water and put them aside. You can keep some of the water so that you'll adjust the sauce.

Warm the milk in one saucepan, but do not bring it to boil. In another saucepan on low heat, melt the butter until it starts to foam. Add the flour and with constant stircook it for 3-4 minutes or until the flour is lightly yellow. Than add the warm milk and whisk it with wire whisk so that

the sauce remain smooth and not with lumps. Cook it stirring for 10 minutes on low than add the zucchinis, garlic, salt, pepper, nutmeg and cook it for another 5 minutes. If the sauce is too thick, add some of the water in which the zucchinis have cooked.

Delicious:-)!

Homemade Tomato Soup

2009-11-24T05:49:00.000-08:00

Homemade Tomato Soup

This is Macedonian version of simple tomato soup, great for the summer and also for every season.

Recipe:

1 kg tomatoes

2-3 tablespoons olive oil (or any kind of oil)

parsley finely chopped

2-3 cloves minced garlic

2-3 eggs (you can skip the eggs, if you don't like eggs)

salt and pepper

optional:

few basil leafs

oregano

or some other spice that you like

Cut the tomatoes into four vedges. Grind the tomatoes into the pot. If you find this hard, you can peel them and blend them into blender. Than add them to the pot. Put the pot onto medium heat and bring the tomatoes to boil. Cook the tomatoes with open lid until 1/3 of the consistency is boiled down. Add the oil, garlic, parsley salt and pepper (and any spice that you like) and cook this for another 5 minutes. If the soup is too acidic for your taste add a spoon of sugar (although in Macedonia we don't add sugar). Beat the eggs in a bowl. Turn off the heat and add the eggs. Stir them

so they can cook. You can garnish this with parsley, garlic bread croutons or whatever you like.

Bon Appetit:-)

Turli Tava

2009-11-22T07:09:00.000-08:00

This is a popular Macedonian dish, peope's most favorite in the summer, and extremely delicious. Not very easy to make

but sure it's worth it.

Recipe:

600 gr (or more) pork or beef meat (boneless) or chicken breasts or thighs (boneless). Cut it into medium sized pieces. (bigger than bitesize)

500 gr potatoes peeled and cutted into small cubes

500 gr tomatoes cutted into cubes

500 gr eggplant peeled and cutted into small cubes

500 gr bell pepper cutted into small pieces

4-5 okras cutted into circles

200 gr rice

1 large onion finely diced

water

oil

salt and 8-10 peppercorns

parsley

If you want this in vegetarian variation, leave out the meat and start with onions and potatoes.

Preheat the oven to 250 C degrees.

In a medium deep baking pan add the oil and the diced onion and stir. Lay the pieces of meat on top and bake this 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes stir everything and bake 5 minutes. After 5 minutes add the cubed potatoes and bake for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, stir everything and bake 5 more minutes. Then add the peppers and bake for 10 minutes. After that stir everything in the pan and bake 5 more minutes. Add the eggplant and the okras and bake 10 minutes. Than stir everything in the pan

and bake 5 minutes. Now add the tomatoes, rice, salt and peppercorns, parsley and stir everything. Add the water until the content of the pan is almost covered. Bake for 20-30 minutes more or until the rice is cooked.

The preparation is little boring but when you try this, you'll see that it's worth it.

Enjoy:-)

Spaghetti And Ham

2009-07-02T13:05:00.000-07:00

I made this meal because I had one package of spaghetti and I wanted some fast meal.
This is extremely fast.
Recipe:
1 package spaghetti
200gr ham (or any smoked meat will do) - if you want, you can replace the meat with some vegetables.
250gr double cream
1 tablespoon lemon juice and zest from 1/2 lemon
200 gr yellow cheese (any cheese that melt will do) grated
salt, pepper, vegeta

Cook the spaghetti, and while they cook make the sauce. Slice the ham in very thin pieces and fry it on little oil.
After 5 minutes add the double cream, lemon juice and zest, salt, pepper, vegeta and the cheese. Add the cooked spaghetti and stir.
Garnish with a little more grated cheese on top. Enjoy this fast and easy meal:-)

Pudding Cake

2009-06-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

If you want some easy and fast, but delicious dessert, than this pudding cake is great for you.
I know that in the picture it looks kind of ugly, but I didn't had patience and I've cut it when it was still warm:-)
When it's firm it looks pretty.
Recipe:
1 liter milk
2 packages pudding powder (any taste, you can actually make 2 different puddings so that your cake will be colorful)
14 tablespoons of sugar (if you want you can use less)
2 small packages of ordinary biscuits (if you want you can use some other biscuits
If you like you can use some fruits (if you use pudding with fruit taste), or you can add coconut shreds, or chocolate...anything you like. This cake is versatile.
In a deep pan or cake shape, place one layer of the biscuits. Crush some biscuits to fill the gaps.
Cook the pudding according to the package instructions. After it's done you can add into it fruit or whatever you like.
Pour 1/3 of the pudding. Than place another layer of biscuits, and again pudding. It should be 3 layers biscuits, 3 layers pudding, starting with the biscuits and finishing with the pudding.
There's no need to soak the biscuits into liquid, they'll soak the excess liquid from the pudding.
Let it cool then place it into the fridge and let it cool until the cake is hardened. You can garnish it with beaten double cream, fruit or whatever you like.

Creamy Chicken

2009-06-22T08:49:00.000-07:00

This meal is another variation from meals with double cream. The double cream is great stuff. It can blend with anything and it gives richness to the meal.
For this recipe you'll need:
500gr chicken meat chopped in small pieces
1 medium onion or couple of spring onions
250gr double cream
zest of 1 lemon or I'll think 1/2 orange will do too
salt, pepper, vegeta
50-80gr oil
You can add some other vegetable as well.
Fry the meat and the onions on heated oil. Than add lid on and let it simmer 10-15 minutes.
Add salt, pepper, vegeta and the zest, than add the double cream. If it's too thick, add some water.
Close the lid on again and simmer it for 10 minutes.
Eat this wonderful meal with pasta, potato mush or whatever you like. Enjoy:-)

Zucchinis/Courgettes With Light Sauce

2009-06-17T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is extremely easy and light meal, and it's great in summertime.
Recipe:
2-3 zucchinis/courgettes
200-250 gr sour milk
100gr corn and 100 gr ordinary flour mixed together
2-3 cloves of garlic minced
dill finely chopped
salt, pepper
oil for frying
Cut the zucchinis/courgettes in 1/2 cm circles (you can peel them if you like, but it isn't necessary just wash them well and dry them).
Coat every circle in the flours and fry them in very hot oil. When they're fried, place them onto kitchen paper towel, to soak the excess oil.
Mix the sour milk with the garlic, dill and salt and pepper.
Pour the sauce over the zucchinis/courgettes. Enjoy this light summer meal.

Pileski Paprikas

2009-06-14T03:44:00.000-07:00

Pileski paprikas (Chicken and paprika) is a meal which isn't very old-style. It's actually modern meal.
It's one of my favorite meals, and that's why I'm going to share this recipe with you.
Recipe:
500gr chicken breast (but I think any part of chicken will do, but boneless and skinless) chopped in small pieces
maybe 500gr water (but again it depends how thick you want the sauce). Another good idea is to use water in which the pasta has cooked.
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons of flour
1/2 tablespoon of paprika
zest from 1 lemon, and the juice
200-250gr sour cream or double cream
50-80gr oil
salt, pepper, vegeta
parsley
1 package of any kind of pasta, or you can eat it with rice, mash potatoes...or whatever you like
In saucepan heat the oil, than add the onion and the meat fry them for about 5 minutes and then place a lid on and simmer it
10-15 minutes until the meat is cooked and tender. Add the flour, cook it 1 min and then add the paprika and quickly add the water.
Add the zest and the juice from the lemon, salt, pepper and vegeta. Cook it with the lid off for about 10 minutes, or until the sauce is thick enough for you.
Stir occasionally because the flour tend to stay on the bottom the first couple of minutes. When it's done, add the sour cream or double cream and add the parsley.
Pour the sauce over pasta, rice or whatever you like. Enjoy:-)

Macedonia timeless

2009-06-12T14:16:00.001-07:00

Ruska Salata (Russian Salad)

2009-05-13T12:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I know that this is not a Macedonian dish, but it's very popular in Macedonia. We make it mostly when we have feasts and in some important occasion along with some other mayonnaise based salads. But we eat it and when there's no occasion:-). I know that this salad comes in many varieties but this is how we prepare it in Macedonia:
Recipe:
2 medium potatoes
1 big carrot
70 gr green peas
2-3 pickles (squeeze the liquid from them)
80 gr smoked ham
around 70 gr mayonnaise (if you need more add, but not too much. The salad must be thick enough so you can shape it)
optional:
1 tablespoon sour cream
1-2 boiled eggs chopped
kaskaval, which is yellow cheese not white. I guess you can add any cheese like: cheddar, gouda, emmental or some other if you like, chopped into small cubes.

Boil the potatoes, carrot, and the peas. After that chop the potatoes, carrot, pickles and the ham into very small cubes. Here in Macedonia is often said if the cubes are smaller the salad is tastier, but it shouldn't look like the ingredients are grated:-). Then combine all the ingredients and the salad is ready. You can garnish it whatever you like, and in any shape you like. Enjoy:-)

Vegeta

2009-04-22T13:03:00.000-07:00

Vegeta is a mix of spices and vegetables. It's originated in 1958 in Croaita by Podravka food factory. It's one of the most used spice in Macedonia. It's made of salt, dehydrated vegetables (carrot, onion, celery etc.), sugar and some spices. I really don't know in how many countries it's sold, but I think that maybe you can buy it online.

Happy Easter!!!

2009-04-18T12:21:00.001-07:00

Happy Easter!!!

19.04.2009 Orthodox Easter

Zelka Mandza

2009-04-16T08:40:00.000-07:00

Zelka Mandza is another winter dish, made from brined cabbage. The name comes from Zelka - cabbage and mandza - stew. It's very delicious but it takes a little more time for preparation.
Recipe:
1 medium brined cabbage (chopped)
water, liquid from the brined cabbage or vegetable soup
200 gr (more or less) smoked meat: ribs,bacon,sausages
2 medium onions (chopped)
sunflower oil
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of paprika
bay leaf
salt and pepper

In a hot pot add oil and then fry the onions until soft. Then add the cabbage and simmer it for about 5-10 minutes. Add the smoked meat, bay leaf and add the water or liquid until the cabbage is cover. Cover the pot and let it simmer on low for about hour and a half. Check the pot from time to time and if the liquid has evaporated add more (the cabbage should be covered). After hour and a half the cabbage should be tender. Then in a pan add about 80 gr. oil, then add the flour. Fry it until golden and add the paprika. Pour this into the pot and stir. Add salt and pepper. Cook the cabbage with open lid for about 5 minutes. Enjoy this delicious meal.

Radovish Somun

2009-03-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

The Radovish somun is winter meal which is eaten for lunch. The name comes from Radovish-town in Macedonia, and somun, in old Macedonian-bread. Also I want to add that a version of this meal, only with filling of eggs and cheese is called Pastrmajlija. Somun is pizza liked meal, only in elyptical shape and the filling is meat (usually pork). It's very delicious, but it has many callories:-). Eather way you can make it lighter or smaller.
Recipe:
For 4 somuns:
For the dough:
1 kg of flour
4 eggs
1 package yeast
water
salt
Filling:
800 gr pork meat (chopped in little cubes and seasoned with salt and pepper)
200 g (or less) lard (pork fat)
If you make pastrmajlija the filling would be 2-3 eggs for each somun and cheese.
You can substitute the lard with sunflower oil, or butter.
Also the filling can be: meat from chicken breasts, fish with eggs, Sazdrma (it's lamb meat cooked in it's own fat, with added spices) e.t.c, and you can add some vegetables too.
First disolve the yeast in some warm water. Then mix the ingredients and make dough. Divide the dough in 4 equal pieces. Spread the dough in elyptical shape and add the filling. Put lard on top of the meat (or oil or butter). Bake the somuns on 250 C until done. If you like you can crack an egg on top and bake it until the egg is cooked. When the somuns are done, add some fat on the crust of the dough. If you're not going to eat the somuns imidiatly, wrap the somuns in baking paper and add them in plastic bags, so the dough won't dry.
Enjoy:-)

Chorbur

2009-02-23T10:33:00.000-08:00

Chorbur is a dish, which is much lighter than the normal Macedonian dishes. As I know, it was made when people were poor, and it was (like is today), eaten for lunch. It looks like a light sauce, but it's actually eaten like a soup. It's extremely easy and fast recipe.
Recipe:
sunflower oil
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of paprika
1 tablespoon of vegeta (optional)
cold water (maybe 750 ml, but it really depends of how thick you want the soup)
3-4 eggs (less or more)
white cheese (or some other cheese that won't melt into the soup, but will stay in pieces)
If you like you can add parsley at the end of cooking.
salt and pepper

Take a pan that will be wide, not deep and not too shallow,(at my home we use a little deeper baking pan). In the heated pan add the oil. When the oil is hot, fry the flour until golden. Add the paprika and pour the cold water. NOTE: Also in the other dishes which contains this step, always use cold water, otherwise the flour will become lumps. Now crack the eggs into the soup, don't beat them, just let them whole, and add the cheese. Add salt, pepper, vegeta to taste. When the eggs are boiled by your liking, and the soup is thick enough, the meal is ready. You can add parsley on top. Also you can add some vegetable in it if you like, or other spices, but we eat it like this.
Enjoy this simple and easy meal!

Sarma

2009-01-28T11:27:00.000-08:00

Sarma actually is an international dish but it's very popular in Macedonia. Of course it's made in a lot of variations: with brine cabbage, fresh cabbage, vine leaves, sorrel (Rumex acetosa) etc. It's small wraps of these leaves filled mainly with rice and grounded meat, or vegetarian (only rice). But a lot of people are using finely chopped smoked meat, ham etc. or they add a little smoked meat into the grounded meat for better taste. The recipe is simple but the cooking is taking a lot of time. But believe me it's worth the effort and time.

1 large head of brined cabbage
1 kg. grounded meat (pork, lamb, beef or any other meat)
300 g. rice
2 medium onions chopped
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of paprika
sunflower oil
water, liquid from the brined cabbage or vegetable soup
1 tablespoon vegeta
salt and pepper

First saute the onions on a sunflower oil about 2 minutes. Add the meat and saute until the meat is cooked. Add the rice and cook about 5-10 minutes. Add salt, pepper and vegeta. The rice should be half cooked. Take out the leaves from the cabbage and cut the thick parts from the leaf. Add the filling onto the leaf and wrap it while you tuck in the ends of the leaf. Cut the thick parts from the leaves and all the leaves that have left. First add the cutted cabbage leaves then the sarmas, than again cabbage then sarmas until all is gone (you should finish with cutted leaves) into a deep pot. When you're putting the sarmas try to put it as much closer to one another so that they won't unwrap. Add the water, liquid from the brined cabbage or vegetable soup until the sarmas are covered. Add little salt and pepper. Now, if you're baking it, close the pot with lid than bake it for 2 hours at 350 C. If you're cooking it onto stove, close the pot with plate and onto the plate place something heavy (at my home we're having a river rock which is used only for that purpose). If you don't do this there's a chance that the sarmas will unwrap when it comes to a boil. Cook it for about 2 hours. After 2 hours take out the pot and remove the lid or the plate. In a pan add about 80 gr. oil then fry the flour until golden. Than add the paprika. Add this into the sarmas, than cook it (open pot this time) for about 5 minutes. Try it and you'll see that it's worth the effort.

Tavce Gravce

2008-11-30T14:01:00.000-08:00

Tavce Gravce is a traditional Macedonian recipe which origins are from Macedonia and most of the Balkan countries have taken and changed the recipe by their needs. Many households in Macedonia make this dish by their own taste but this is the basic recipe, and to this you can add more vegetables or spices if you like. This is what you'll need:

500 gr. white beans
250 gr. white onion
meat (optional): bacon, sausages, smoked ribs etc.
1 clove of garlic
80 gr. sunflower oil
2 tablespoons of flour
1 tablespoon of red paprika (powder)
fresh mint, and parsley.
1 tablespoon vegeta (optional)
salt and pepper

First wash well the beans then place them in a pot and add water to cover well the beans (let the water be 5 cm over the beans), then put them to boil. When it comes to a boil, boil them about 1-2 minutes then pour the water and add new water to it. Chop the onion in big pieces and add it to the beans. Also you add the meat choped in a bitesize pieces. Boil the beans until they are ready, but be careful not to overboiled it. The beans must be whole and soft inside, not a mush. Then to a hot pan add the oil and the flour and mix it well until golden. Then add the paprika, mix fast and add this to the pot. Add the minced garlic and the choped mint. Add salt, pepper and vegeta. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes. turn off the heat and preheat the oven to 250 C. Add the beans to a terracota baking pan and put them into oven. Bake them until the beans have little liquid and over the beans have formed a thin crust. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.

If you want you can add tomato, or dried peppers, or some other vegetables.

Zelnik

2008-11-23T13:28:00.000-08:00

Zelnik is a Macedonian traditional food, it's made anytime in the year, especially in the winter, for Christmas Eve. Zelnik is a pastry very similar to banitsa, but the difference is the filo (it's thicker) and the filling. Also the zelnik has a bunch of filling in the center, and the banitsa don't . The filling often is spinach (and white cheese), eggs and cheese, leeks (and rice), grounded potatoes with black pepper, and in the winter, brined cabbage. In the past, when the people were poor (in war time), the filing was every "green" leaves that could be eaten (nettle leaves, dandelion leaves, beetroot leaves, etc). In the early age the Macedonian girls are thought how to roll the filo.
Recipe:
1kg. flour
1 package yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
warm water
For the filling you can use everything you like from things that I have mentioned above and how much you like (I can't tell exact quantity)
First in small cup dissolve the yeast with the warm water. Mix the flour with the salt and sugar, then make a hole in the center of the flour and pour the dissolved yeast. Add the water little by little and with your hands start to make a dough. The dough must be not very hard and elastic. Then leave the dough to rise. Knead the dough and take small balls (little bigger than a golf ball) and start to rolling them. The rolling is going on in several stages and in every stage the dough is sprinkled with flour until the filo is thin enough. After the filo is thin enough, it's sprinkled with the filling and sunflower oil, and then it's rolled up in thin roll. Also there are several techniques of rolling the rolls, and this is often made for better presentation. The rolls are put into a baking pan, until 15 cm diameter of the center is empty. Then it's made a smaller filo, it's placed in the center and filled with the remaining filing, then closed up with another filo. In the end the zelnik is sprinkled with sunflower oil and left to rest 30 min to 1 hour. After that, the zelnik is baked. At the time of baking, the zelnik is checked several times, and every time is sprinkled with little hot water mixed with sunflower oil. Of course, every family had it's own method of making the dough, the rolling, the filling and baking. But these are the basics of making zelnik. For breakfast it's eaten with Jogurt, and I love it:-)!

Ajvar

2008-11-20T08:52:00.000-08:00

I must start with the ajvar (Macedonian: ајвар) because it's the most common food in Macedonia and the origins of this relish are probably from Macedonia. Ajvar populary is made in autumn, and all the family is involved in the process. Sometimes if the amount of ajvar is big, the preparation takes a whole day. It's made originally from red bell peppers, first grilled on a metal plate on open fire. Then they're placed in plastic bags and let to cool so they can be peeled easily. After they are peeled and cleaned from the seeds, the peppers are ground in grounding mill. After that, the mush is stewed in a large pot (commonly made from copper) on a very low fire with constant steering to avoid the ajvar from burning. At the time of cooking, a sunflower oil is added, and salt also. Then it's packed in glass jars and eaten in the winter. Many families in Macedonia add a garlic, chilli peppers (for piqant or hot variant), eggplant (baked, peeled and ground), and someone prefer to add tomatoes, carrots and some spices like bay leaf e.t.c. But the original recipe is made only from red bell peppers. It's eaten with white cheese, spread on a piece of bread. It's also used in preparation of some salads, served by the dishes, or included in preparation in some dish. Nowdays ajvar is industricaly maded, but the best ajvar is the homemaded ajvar because it has the right texture, taste of smokey grilled peppers, and it contains no seeds of little pieces black skin from the peppers. If the ajvar is not clean, the women who made it is consider not to be a real housewive:-)!

Inroducing...

2008-11-20T04:38:00.000-08:00

This blog is for everybody who wants to try something new and experiment with flavors and aromas. Let me introduce you to Macedonian food. As a Balkan cuisine, Macedonian cuisine has very similar things when it comes to the dishes, but the main difference are the ingredients and the spices. Also it may have the same names for the foods, but often it appears to be a completely different dish. The Macedonian cuisine has been influenced at the time of the Turks so it has many similar dishes, but a lot of them were changed by the time. So now are different dishes with the same names. And I must add that this cuisine is not one of healthiest, but it has a lots of possibilites for experimentating so you can make the dishes in a "light" version. In the Macedonian cuisine you'll find a lot of delicious dishes, salads and desserts. I recomend to try them, you won't regret it! Нека Ви е слатко!!!