Chicken with walnuts

Ingredients:

• 4 large chicken breasts
• 1 cup roasted walnuts
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/4 cup butter
• 2 tbsp. flour
• 2 tbsp. vinegar
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• salt and pepper

Chicken with walnuts (original name: Pule me arra) is a traditional Albanian dish that seems to have close relatives in Eastern Europe. Here are the instructions how to prepare this recipe:

Roast chicken breasts in 350-degree oven until done.
Melt butter in a saucepan. Add flour and cook, stiring constantly, until lightly browned. Add stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add vinegar, garlic, walnuts and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook until warm. Serve over chicken.
Source: Marga.org

Adapted from the book: The Best of Albanian Cooking

Chicken with walnuts

Macedonian bread

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar

When we write about Macedonian food, the bread is infallibe part of daily meals. Today we'll present you a one of many recipes of traditional Macedonian bread:
In a mixing bowl, combine yeast with 1 1/2 cups of flour. Combine water, oil, salt and sugar and add to yeast mixture. Beat fro 1/2 minute with an electric mixer at low speed and then beat for 3 minutes at high speed.
Work in remaining flour by hand to form smooth and elastic dough. Put in a greased bowl in a warm spot, cover and let rise for 45 minutes. Punch dough down, divide into 12 pieces and roll each into a ball. Let rest for 10 minutes.

Flatten each ball into a 5-inch circle. Place on greased baking sheet, cover and let rest for 20-30 minutes. Preheat oven to 200°C. Bake for 9-10 minutes until puffed and lightly browned on bottom. Immediately wrap in a foil and cool.

Macedonian bread

Yaniya with okras

Ingredients:

• 750g. lamb from leg
• 1,5dl. oil
• 2 onions
• 3 cloves of garlic
• ground red paprika or some crushed small hot pepper
• 250g. fresh tomatoes or 2tbsp. tomato puree
• 500g. fresh okras
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
• salt
• 1 lemon
• 20g. flour
• 1-2dl. warm water
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 3/4l. thick yoghurt

Wash meat, wipe and cut into bigger cubs. Heat oil, and meat, fry it on all sides until nicely brown, then add chopped onion. Cook slowly until slightly soft, add chopped or crushed garlic, fry shortly, add ground or crushed paprika, washed tomatoes peeled and cut into smaller pieces. Simmer all for a while. Trim okras (make a gash in the upper part of pod) wash and cook to which some salt and vinegar have been added, than drain. Add okras prepared this way to meat, which is already half cooked. Add more warm water as needed. While simmering only shake the pan well. Brown flour without fat, pour in cold water, then some warm water, boil shortly and add to "yaniya". Shake pan and add more water as needed. Simmer about 10-15 minutes. With yaniya serve thick yoghurt.

Yaniya with okras

Prebranac

Ingredients:

• 700g. of large white beans
• 700g. onion
• 1 large carrot
• 3 bay leaves
• paprika powder
• salt and pepper
• oil

Put beans in a cold water and let it boil for about 10 minutes. Discard water and replace it with new, hot water. Add salt and sliced carrot. Cook until beans get cooked but each bean must remain solid. Take beans from water and dry it but keep the water.

Chop onion in large ribs and put in hot oil until it becomes golden brown. Add 1 tablespoon of paprika powder, mix it well for 30 sec and remove from the heat. Take onion from oil and mix with beans and bay leaves. Put it in a large and deep bowl pour with some water that left after cooking. Put beans in owen and bake it until the top becomes dark brown.

Prebranac can be served both hot or cold and depending on amount of water you put, it can be almost completely dry or it can be like very thick sauce. Try it. It is really great.

Source: Hangrybrowser.com

Related recipes:

• Macedonian gravche-tavche

Prebranac

Bulgarian potato salad

Ingredients:

• 4-5 large potatos
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2-3 spring onions
• juice of 1/2 a lemon
• olive oil
• fresh parsley or dill

Peel and boil the potatos for about 20-25 minutes, drain and leave to cool.
In a salad bowl - add the finely chopped spring onions, salt, pepper to taste, the lemon juice and olive oil, and mix gently. Cut the potatos into cubes and add the the salad bowl. Gently mix, sprinkle with parsley or dill if you serve the salad with fish.

Source: Grouprecipes.com

Bulgarian potato salad

Carp with olives

Ingredients:

• 1 carp of about 1.5kg.
• juice of 1 lemon
• salt and pepper
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 bunch of parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• a few rosemary leaves
• 2 carrots
• 2 tomatoes
• 2dl. olive oil
• 100g. olives

Fish is infallibre part of Romanian food and therefore we are present you many fish recipes here. Today on the menu is the following recipe:

Clean carp, wash, wipe, drip with lemon juice, then salt and cut gashes in several pieces. Chop finely garlic and parsley, crush thyme and rosemary, add pepper and salt, mix, add 2-3 tablespoon of oil. Put part of this mixture into gashes and the rest inside the fish. Put the prepared carp into a fireproof dish or caserole greased with oil.

Clean carrots, grate finely, wash tomatoes, peel and cut, remove stones frome olives and halve them. Heat about 1/2 dl. oil, add carrot, cook a little, add tomatoes and olive, add some salt, cook slowly intil all slightly tender. Place cooked vegetables and olives over the fish and bake in the ovenpreset at 175°C until quitetender. While baking baste with juice and add water if needed. With carp serve boiled potatoes poured over with some oil and sprinkled with chopped parsley.

Carp with olives

Baked lamb and yogurt

Ingredients:

• 1-1/2 lbs. lamb
• 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
• 2 tablespoons rice
• salt and pepper

For yogurt sauce:

• 1 tablespoon flour
• 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
• 2 lbs. yogurt
• 5 eggs
• salt and pepper

Cut meat in 4 serving pieces, sprinkle each piece with salt and pepper, and bake in a moderately-heated oven with half the butter, sprinkling the meat with its gravy now and then. When meat is half-baked, add rice; remove the baking pan from the oven and leave it aside while you prepare the yogurt sauce:
Sauté flour in butter until mixed thoroughly. Mix yogurt with salt, pepper and eggs until a uniform mixture is obtained, and finally stir in the flour. Put the sauce mixture in the baking pan; sauté it with the meat pieces and bake at 375 degrees F for about 45 minutes. Serve hot.

Source: Albanian.com

Baked lamb and yogurt

Sour cherry pie from Vojvodina

Ingredients:

• 500g. ready-made layers of dough for the pie
• 100g. ground walnuts or breadcrumbs
• 1dl. oil or melted butter for sprinkling
• 1kg. sour cherries
• 300g. sugar
• 2 sachets vanilla sugar
• 3 egg yolks
• 1dl. double cream
• powdered sugar for dusting
• oil or butter for greasing

Wash sour cherries, drain and remove stones. If frozen, thraw out. Leave them in a sieve or strainer so as not to be too juicy. Take 3 dough layers at time, sprinkle each with oil or butter. Sprinkle the third with some ground walnuts or breadcrumbs. Mix sour cherries and sugar, put some over the dough layers, sprinkle with vanilla sugar, roll up and place in a greased cake tin. Repeat until all the dough layers and cherries have been used. Bake for 30-40 minutes i the oven preheated to 170°C until slightly brown. If wanted, the pies can be brushed with well beaten egg yolks and cream, when the pies are half-baked. In that case turn the heat up towards the end, to brown nicely.

Sour cherry pie from Vojvodina

Pasticada

Ingredients:

• 1kg. baby beef neck or shoulder joint
• 150g. onions
• 100g. well smoked bacon
• 150g. carrots
• 1 celery root
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1dcl.red wine
• 2 bay leaves
• parsley, beef soup, 1 fresh tomato, tomato purée, salt, pepper and flour

Fry in oil meat stuffed with bacon and carrots. Add onion, the remaining bacon and carrots, celery, garlic, bay leaves, beef soup and braise till the meat becomes tender. When the meat is almost cooked, add wine, tomato, tomato purée and braise for 15 more minutes. When the meat is tender, take it out, cut in pieces, put in a pan, pour the sauce over it and braise for a couple of minutes. It is served with makaruli.

Source: Montenegro.travel

Pasticada

Gravche Tavche

Ingredients:

• 500g. white beans
• 1 onion
• 1 red paprika
• 100ml. cooking oil
• 2-3 pieces of red dry capsicum
• pepper, salt, plain flour, parsley and mint

Gravche-Tavche (Gravce Tavce) is a traditional Macedonian food that is prepared almost every week in every family. Here is preparation method:

Wash the beans and leave them to stay in water over night. After that, cook them until it starts boiling, drain the beans and put them in another pot of hot water. Then add 1/2 chopped onion and capsicum. Continue to cook it until the beans are soft but integral. If there is too much water left, drain the beans.

Fry the chopped onion (the other 1/2) and paprika with one spoon of plain flour in cooking oil and then add this to the beans. Put everything in a pottery saucepan and then pour some parsley, mint, pepper and salt on it. Put the saucepan in the oven and bake for a while. The beans should not be too dry. Serve warm.

Gravche Tavche

Monastery gyuvetch

Ingredients:

• 1kg. braising beef
• 4 medium tomatoes
• 120g. mushrooms
• 1 cup rice
• 1 onion
• 150g. olives
• a bunch of parsley
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 25g. butter
• 1tbsp. sugar
• 2 1/2 cups beef stock
• black pepper, paprika and salt

Cut the beef into cubes or small pieces and fry in a pan with a little oil for about 5 minutes.
Add the chopped onions, beef stock and paprika, 5 minutes later add the mushrooms and rice and simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the chopped tomatoes, add salt to taste, the butter, 1 tablespoon sugar and whole olives, and cook for further 5 minutes. Preheat oven to 190°C. Transfer the content of the pan into a baking dish and cook for about 30 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and pepper before serving.
This Bulgarian recipe is used to be prepared at the Rila Monastery kitchen. Rila Monastery is one of the famous Bulgarian visitors attractions.

Source: Buy-sell-bulgaria.com

Monastery gyuvetch

Fish Pilaki

Ingredients:

• 1kg. fish of desired variety
• 2 potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 2 onion
• 1 leek
• 1/2 c olive oil
• 1 bunch parsley
• 1 s tomato paste
• bay leave
• 2 lemon
• salt and pepper

Clean fish and slice. Rub with salt and pepper and arrange in an oiled pan. Cut the onions in half lengthwise and then into half moon shaped slices. Cube potatoes, carrots and celeriac and sauté in oil with bayleaf for several minutes, add minced garlic and chopped parsley. Add tomato paste, salt and pepper. Pour this mixture over the fish, add the juice of 1-2 lemons and bake at low heat until fish is tender. Alternatively, the lemons may be sliced and arranged over the top; in another variation, sour green grapes may be added to the sauce.

Source: Turkish-cuisine.org

Fish Pilaki

Bosnian easy cake

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1 cup oil
• 1 cup water
• 3 tablespoons cocoa
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

This is a traditional and simple Bosnian cake using basic kitchen ingredients:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. and then combine all dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients, stir until well combined. Pour into 2 greased cake pans. Bake in oven until set, when wooden rod or toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Source: Recipezaar.com

Bosnian easy cake

Romanian cabbage soup with bacon

Ingredients:

• 8 sliced bacon
• 2 onions, sliced
• 2 green peppers, hulled and chopped
• 1 cabbage, cut into slices
• salt and pepper
• several sprigs of dill and savory, chopped
• 1-1/2l. water
• 2 egg yolks
• 1/2 heavy cream (sweet or sour)
• 1tbsp. vinegar

You will need a large soup pot for this Romanian recipe. Chop up one slice of bacon, and fry it in a heavy stewpan until the fat runs. Fry the onions in the fat until they are golden. Add the peppers and fry them, too. Remove the stewpan from the heat. Layer the cabbage and the rest of the bacon into the soup pot. Season between the layers with salt, pepper, and the herbs.

Pour the water over it all and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down and simmer the soup for 40 to 50 minutes, until the vegetables are tender. Remove the soup from the heat.

Beat the egg yolks with the cream and the vinegar in a little bowl. Stir in a ladleful of the hot soup. Whisk well and pour the mixture back into the soup to thicken and enrich it.

Serve in deep bowls accompanied with fresh bread. This soup is a meal in itself, and wants only a piece of cheese and fresh fruit to make it complete.

This recipe is published in cookbook: The old world kitchen: The rich tradition of European peasant cooking

Romanian cabbage soup with bacon

Tirana furghes with veal

Ingredients:

• veal cutlets, one pound
• salted cottage cheese, half-pound
• 1 tablespoon flour
• butter, one quarter-pound stick
• 3 tablespoons virgin olive oil
• 1 onion
• salt, black pepper and chili pepper to taste

First, cut the veal cutlets into small pieces and then dice the onion. In a saucepan, preheat the olive oil and Sauté the meat and onion for 15 minutes. In another saucepan, melt the butter and then add flour, cottage or Feta cheese, and black pepper, salt and chili pepper to taste. Mix all the ingredients together (adding the Sauted meat and onions) in the saucepan and place in a preheated 350 oven for 15 minutes. Take out and serve immediately.
Note: Instead of veal cutlets, beef liver can be used in the same quantity of meat and preparation/cooking instructions as above.

Source: Albaniantranslators.com

Tirana furghes with veal