Potatoes in Bechamel sauce

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

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:-).

Homemade Chicken Meat Pate

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:-)

Homemade Mushroom Soup

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

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

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!

Zucchinis/Courgettes With Bechamel Sauce

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:-)!

Spaghetti And Ham

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:-)

Creamy Chicken

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:-)

Pileski Paprikas

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:-)

Chorbur

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!

Tavce Gravce

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

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

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:-)!