Yugoslavian Recipes

Yugoslavia is now six different countries, but my grandmother lived there back in the day so she has a bunch of Yugoslavian recipes. I decided to move away from the typical French cuisine and tried cooking her recipes. Some of her instructions were really ambiguous, so I had to do some research which I found somewhat difficult since Yugoslavia doesn’t exist anymore.Yugoslavia was a diverse country with Austrian-Hungary and German  influences in the Northern area, and Italian and Turkish influences in areas by the Adriatic Sea. In areas by the Adriatic Sea, fish dishes and Turkish coffee were very popular. The people there, I’ve been told, are very friendly and easy-going. They eat at one long table together-strangers and family alike-and converse, sing, and dance with one another. My grandmother told me that one time they even go my grandfather, “Monsieur Ambassador”, to dance. 

My recipes turned out really nicely my favorite is the stuffed peppers. I’m going to post pictures once I figure out how to use this.

Stuffed Peppers 

Ingredients

 6 large green bell peppers1 onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
3 cloves of garlic
½ cup chopped ham
3 cups of panko (break crumbs) and additional  ½ a cup for garnish
2 eggs
1 can of tomato pure

Steps

1) Slice the top off the pepper and keep the top for later use.
2) Rinse out the pepper to clean it and take out the seeds.
3) Parboil the peppers in salty, boiling water for 5 minutes..
4) Pre-heat the oven to  350degrees F.

To make the tomato sauce

5) In deep skillet, heat the skillet with butter and sauté the garlic and onions.
6) Once the garlic is golden brown, add the tomato puree and heat the sauce.
7) Season with salt and pepper then add the diced green peppers and the ham.
8) Transfer the sauce over to a bowl and mix in the eggs and bread crumbs. Keep some of the bread crumbs to top off the peppers.
9) Stuff the peppers with the sauce and top it off with the remaining bread crumbs and bake in oven for 25 minutes.

Yugoslavian Apple Pie

This is similiar to an apple pie, but the crust is flakier so it’s more of a pastry than a pie. You can also roll it up like a burrito to make it more like sturdel, or add more layers of phyllo dough before adding the apples. This makes for a fluffier pastry. Do this by rolling out  multiple thin layers of phyllo dough and brushing on melted butter in between layers, and then add the apple filling and the top layer of dough. Here is a video 

Part I
Ingredients for the phyllo dough
2 ¾ Cups flour
 1 cup or 2 sticks of butter at room temperature cut in tablespoon chunks
3 tablespoons sugar
3 egg yolks
3 tablespoons of sour cream

 Part II

Ingredients for the Filling
6 apples-it’s better if they are sour, peeled and thinly sliced
¾ cups of sugar (half brown sugar and half white sugar)
1-teaspoon cinnamon
1-teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoon
A squeeze of Lemon juice
Pinch of salt
½ cup of walnuts (optional)
2 egg yolks for the glaze

Part III

Ingredients for the glaze
½ cup confection sugar
the remaining apple syrup, apple cider, or light cream 

Steps:

1) Preheat the oven to 350degrees F.
2) Combine the apples walnuts in a bowl, and marinate it with sugar, lemon, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and salt. While the apples are in the sugary mixture, make the crust.
3) Combine the butter and sugar in a bowl and mix with your hands.
4) Add the egg yolks, sugar, and sour cream and mix into a stiff ball of dough.
5) Divide the dough in 2 and on a floured surface thinly roll out the first ball of dough so it’s large enough to fit the baking sheet you are using.
6) Fill the dough with the apple mixture. Keep the juice.
7) Thinly roll out the second ball and cover the apples and seal the edges.
8) Make an egg wash glaze: beat the two egg yolks and paint the top of the pastry.
9) Bake for 45 minutes.
10) With the reaming juice from the marinade, add the confectioner’s sugar to make a glaze.

Cevapcici

C

Cevapcici is a classic Yugoslavian dish. It’s basically a skin-less sausages made up of a combination of meats. It can be served many ways either with rice, French friends, or with pita bread filled with Ajvar, sliced red onions, and sour cream. My Grandmother told me that her favorite way was with the pita bread.  

Ingredients:
1lb ground lamb
1 lb. ground beef
1 onion, minced
3 large garlic cloves, minced
4 springs of parsley, minced
1-teaspoon baking soda
1 egg white
1-teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon salt

Steps

1) Combine the garlic, onions, and parsley and mix.
2) Mix the two meats together and incorporate the mixture from above.
3) Add in the remaining spices and the salt and pepper, followed by the egg white and the baking soda.
4) Mix well.
5) Shape the meat. At this point the sausages will taste and look better if you refrigerate if for at least an hour.
6) Grill the sausages until browned on the outside and the meat is cooked. You can also pan fry it.
7) Serve it with Ajvar (see below), sour cream, sliced red onions, and pita bread. 

Ajvar

Ajvar is a very tradition relish that is often served with bread at restaurants. It is very common and it can be served as a dip, with bread, or as an appetizer. Finally, a piece of advice about the peppers; to make peeling easier, make sure the peppers are very blistered-the skin can even be black. I took mine out of the oven too early and even after letting them steam in the paper bag for a long time, I had a hard time. 

Ingredients
8 red bell peppers
3 eggplants
¾ cups of olive oil
1 large onion, minced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons of lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
2 teaspoon of Garlic and onion powder
1-teaspoon paprika

 

 

Steps

1) Bake the eggplants and peppers in an oven at 475 degrees F until the skin is blistered and black. 
2) Place the roasted vegetables in a paper bag, and let the vegetables steam in the bag for about 10 minutes.
3) Peel the vegetables and remove all the seeds.
4) In a food processor, (if you don’t have one you can mush the vegetables with a fork) mush the vegetables together.
5) In a large pan, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil, add 2 cloves garlic and onions.
6) Once the onions are clear and the garlic is golden brown, transfer the homogenous vegetable mixture into the skillet.
7) Add the seasonings, mix well, and put the mixture in a bowl.
8) In the same skillet, heat the ¾ cup of olive oil and add the remaining 2 cloves of garlic and cook until its golden brown.
9) Mix in the oil into the vegetable mixture in a bowl.
10) Serve as a side dish or with toasted bread.