Kjebapchinja, Macedonian style

Ingredients:

• 800g. ground young beef
• 200g. ground mutton
• 100g. onion
• 20g. oil
• 5 cloves of garlic
• salt and pepper
• oil for brushing

Mix meat, kneed thoroughly and leave in a cool place to sit for several hours. Chop onion finely, heat oil, add onion and cook slowly until it is soft and beginning to color. Peel garlic and chop finely. Add onion and garlic to meat, season with salt and pepper. Work all into a meat mixture, leave for a short while in a cool place, then shape into smaller kjebapcinja.

Grill at first on very hot grill. Brush with oil while grilling.Serve with spring onions, tomatoes and small hot peppers.




Related recipes:

• Bosnian Cevapcici
• Osmanli Kebabs

Kjebapchinja, Macedonian style

Gypsy chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 chicken breasts
• salt and pepper
• 1 egg lightly beaten
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp oil
• 2 tbsp butter
• 2 ½ medium onions chopped
• 1 green pepper (thinly sliced)
• 1 sweet red bell pepper (thinly sliced)
• 1 yellow bell pepper (thinly sliced)
• a handful of mushrooms sliced
• 2 tbsp flour
• 1 can chicken broth
• 1/4 cup whipping cream
• 2 tbsp lemon juice, fresh or bottled

Gypsy chicken is a traditional Serbian recipe for a classic dish of pan-fried breaded chicken breasts served with a mushrooms and sauce. Here is the full recipe:

Pound meat until very thin. Salt and pepper. Dip chicken breasts into egg, then in bread crumbs. Heat oil and butter together over medium heat. Sauté until golden (about 15 minutes). Remove to another pan and keep warm.

Add onions to the skillet. Sauté until limp but not brown. Add peppers and cook till limp. Add mushrooms cook just till warmed.

Add flour and stir it around. Add the broth and stir till the sauce thickens and is smooth. Add the cream and lemon juice. Pour the sauce over the chicken breasts that have been placed on the individual plates.

Source: Gourmed.gr

Gypsy chicken

Bosnian red pilaf

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs. lamb or beef, cut into 1/2" cubes
• 8 cups water
• 1 cup carrots, cut into chunks
• 1 cup parsnips, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup celery root, cut into chunks
• 1 tbsp. salt
• 1 tbsp. peppercorns
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
• 4 cups tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 5 cups rice
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper

In a large pot, cover the meat with 8 cups of water and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises to the top, then add the carrots, parsnips, celery root, salt and peppercorns. Return to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 1-1/2-2 hours, until the meat is tender. Strain the stock, set aside the meat and discard the vegetables.

Clean out the pot and melt the butter. Saute� the tomatoes for 10-15 minutes, until they begin to disintegrate. Pour in the rice and continue to saut� for another ten minutes, until the rice becomes translucent. Add 2 tablespoons salt and 1 tablespoon pepper and stir well; then add the meat and stock. Bring to a boil, cover the pot, reduce the heat to low and cook for 20-30 minutes, until the rice is tender and ready to serve.

Source: Superluminal.com

Bosnian red pilaf

Romanian carp with white wine

Ingredients:

• 1-1.5kg. carp
• 500-600g. onion
• 2dl. oil
• 2 bayleaves
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 3-4dl. white wine
• 1 lemon
• parsley
• salt and pepper

To prepare this recipe, Romanian carp with white wine, follow our directions:
Remove scales form fish, draw, wash well, wipe, salt and cut gashes on both sides. Heat oil add peeled onion cut into tin slices, add pepper, bayleaf, cook slowly until soft and light brown. Roll carp in flour, fry on both sides in heated oil. Put it into an enamelled djuvetch, cover with cooked onion, pour wine over and bake in the oven preset at 175°C about 30-40 minutes.

When done, take it out carefully, place on a long plate and put in a a warm place. Pass sauce through a sieve, add some water as needed, cook shortly and pour over the fish. Garnish with lemon rounds and parsley leaves. Serve with cooked rice sprinkled with chopped parsley. Bon appetit.

Related recipes:

• Carp with red wine
• Carp with olives
• Carp-Bulgarian way
• Carp on onion from Vranje

Romanian carp with white wine

Bean Jahni soup

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of dry white beans
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons tomato sauce
• 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
• 1 tablespoon chopped mint
• salt, chili powder

Boil beans in hot water in an uncovered pot for 5 minutes. Rinse and boil for another 15 minutes in a covered stock pot in 3 cups hot water. Saute onion in olive oil until it turns yellow. Add 2 tablespoons bean stock from the pot along with tomato sauce, parsley, salt and chili powder for taste.

Cook for 10 minutes or until a thick sauce is formed, then pour everything into the pot. Add chopped mint, cover tightly and cool for 2 hours over low heat, or for 30 minutes in a pressure cooker. This should produce a thick juice. Serve the soup hot.

Source: Frosina.org

Bean Jahni soup

Thick soup with young nettles

Ingredients:

• 500g. young nettles (top parts)
• 40g. oil
• 30g. flour
• 1-2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2l. milk
• 1/2l. warm water
• 1 egg
• 1dl. sour cream
• salt and pepper

Clean young nettles, wash and cook in slightly salted water. Drain, rise, drain again and then chop or pass through a sieve. Heat oil, add flour, fry it a little until slightly brown, add snipped garlic, pour in cold and then warm water, add nettles, milk, salt and pepper, then simmer for another 10 minutes. Beat egg yolk with sour cream, add to the soup stirring it all the time just before serving.

Thick soups with spinach, Swiss chard or sorrel can be prepared in the same way.

Related recipes:

• Bulgarian thick soup with herbs
• Serbian thick chicken soup with kaymak
• Montenegrin nettle soup
  

Thick soup with young nettles

Macedonian pogacha (Rich bread)

Ingredients:

• 750g.-1kg. flour
• salt
• 2 tablespoons lukewarm milk or water
• 20 g. fresh yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/2 dl. oil
• lukewarm water as needed
• 2-3 eggs
• salt
• lard or oil for greasing
• flour for dusting

Pogacha (Rich bread) is something like white bread and there are as many recipes for it as there are shapes. The next recipe is from Macedonia:

Sift flour. Crumble yeast, add some sugar, some flour and lukewarm water or milk. Mix well until smooth and leave to stand in a warm place to rise.

Make a well in the center of flour, add oil, egg yolks and one whole egg, salt and creamed yeast. Pour in some lukewarm water and mix all. Knead into smooth dough until bubbles appear in it. Dust the dough with some flour and leave it to stand in a warm place for about 45 minutes.

Grease a baking pan (tepsiya) with oil or lard. Toss the risen dough onto a board dredged with flour, knead it shortly, put into the tepsiya, cover and leave to stand like that for about 10-15 minutes. Before baking, prick with a fork in several places. Bake in the oven preheated to 200 Celsius degrees for about 30-35 minutes. When the crust is brown, it can be covered with tin paper or thin foil. When done, sprinkle the pogatcha with some water and wrap it up with clean cloth.

Serve warm, preferably with kaymak, some cheese spread or the like, as an appetizer.

The recipe is adapted from "The Balkan Cookbook" by Radojko Mrljesh

Macedonian pogacha (Rich bread)