Food & Cuisine

Meals

Stuffed Peppers (Polneti Peperki In Macedonian)

• 8 medium green peppers
• 2 T butter
• 4 small onions, finely chopped
• 2 small green peppers, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 c chopped ham
• 1 can tomato puree
• salt and pepper
• 4 c fine bread crumbs
• 2 eggs

Cut a thin slice from steam end of each pepper. Remove seeds and wash. Drop peppers into boiling, salted water and parboil 5 min. Drain thoroughly. Melt butter in skillet. Add onions, garlic and chopped pepper and saute until limp. Add tomato puree, ham, salt, and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, stir in bread crumbs and eggs. Stuff mixture into pepper shells. Sprinkle tops with cracker crumbs. Bake in oven of 350 for about 25 min. or until stuffing is firm and delicately browned on top.

 

Villagers Meat Dish (Selsko Meso in Macedonian)

• 1kg. pork meat
• 4-5 onion pieces
• 300 gr. ground beef (for small meat balls)
• tomatoes or ketchup
• 700 gr. mushrooms
• 300 gr. dry smoked meat into small pieces
• salt, pepper, spices, bukovec
• some wine, cheese cream

First do the meatballs and include a piece of ground onion salt, pepper and spices. Then cut the pork into small pieces and fry it on oil, add the ground onion and fry it together. After they become red, add the tomatoes (or the ketchup), the mushrooms, the smoked meat and the small meat balls. Add spices, salt, red pepper, bukovec and pepper into the mixture.

Separately dissolve a spoon full of flour into a glass of water (the one in which the mushrooms were contained) and also add a glass of wine. The whole mixture is baked (roasted) in the oven in a baking dish made of clay.

By the end of the baking you can add cheese and cream according to your own taste.

 

Macedonian Meatballs (Kjoftinja in Macedonian)

• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 cup grated onion
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon dried mint
• 1 or 2 slices white bread
• 1/2 cup white wine or water
• 1 egg
• flour for rolling
• vegetable oil for frying

Mix meat, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and mint. Remove crusts from bread slices and moisten in wine or water. Add bread and egg to meat. Knead mixture. Shape into 1-inch balls, dust with flour, and saute in hot vegetable oil. When meatballs are cooked and browned on all sides, place immediately in covered casserole and keep warm until ready to serve.

 

Macedonian Bean Stew (Tavche Gravche in Macedonian)

• 500g of bean
• 1 onion
• 100ml of cooking oil
• 2-3 pieces of red dry capsicum
• pepper, salt, flour, parsley, mint

Wash the bean and leave it to stay in water over night. After that cook it till it boils; drain it and put it in another hot water. Then add chopped onion and capsicum.

Continue to cook it till the beans are soft but integral. If there is too much water left, drain the beans.

In another bowl fry the chopped onion and paprika on 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 it for a while (the beans shouldn't be too dry)

 

Sarma (Cabbage and rice specialty)

 

1 cabbage
400 gr. rice
4 pieces of leek
red and black pepper
dry mint
250 gr. oil

Separate the cabbage leaf by leaf on small pieces. Finely chop the onion and fry it well in oil. Then add the red pepper and the rice. Fry them for another 2 minutes. Take them of the cooking and add the black pepper and the dry mint. Put all the ingredients into the cabbage leafs and roll them to a size at a walnut. Then put the rolled sarmi into a saucepan and boil them on low temperature. When the sarmi are nearly ready add another 1/5 cup of oil.

 

Moussaka

Although "moussaka" is an Arabic word and a popular dish in many Middle Eastern countries, the immortal eggplant and lamb casserole is generally credited to the Greeks, who claim it as a national treasure.

1 lg. eggplant (about 2 lb.)
2 tbsp. butter
1 1/2 lb. ground lamb or beef
1 med. onion, chopped
1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
3/4 c. red wine or beef broth
1 tbsp. snipped parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
White sauce (below)
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
2/3 c. dry bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
Tomato Sauce (below)

Cut unpared eggplant crosswise into 1/2-inch slices. Cook slices in small amount boiling water until tender, 5 to 8 minutes; drain. Heat butter in 12-inch skillet until melted. Cook and stir lamb and onion until lamb is light brown; drain. Stir in tomato sauce, wine, parsley, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Cook uncovered over medium heat until half the liquid is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Prepare White Sauce.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Stir 2/3 cup of the cheese, 1/3 cup of the bread crumbs and the egg into meat mixture; remove from heat. Sprinkle remaining bread crumbs evenly in greased rectangular baking dish, 13 x 9 x 2-inches. Arrange half the eggplant slices in baking dish; cover with meat mixture. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the remaining cheese over meat mixture; top with remaining eggplant slices. Pour White Sauce over mixture; sprinkle with remaining cheese.

Bake uncovered 45 minutes. Prepare Tomato Sauce. Let moussaka stand 20 minutes before serving. Cut into squares; serve with Tomato Sauce. Makes 8 servings.

WHITE SAUCE:

1/4 c. butter
1/4 c. all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg
2 c. milk
2 eggs, slightly beaten

Heat butter over low heat until melted. Blend in flour, salt and nutmeg. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly; remove from heat. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly. Boil and stir 1 minute. Gradually stir at least 1/4 of the hot mixture into eggs. Blend into hot mixture in pan.

TOMATO SAUCE:

1 med. onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 tbsp. olive or vegetable oil
2 c. chopped ripe tomatoes
1/2 c. water
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 bay leaf
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste

Cook and stir onion and garlic in oil in 3-quart saucepan over medium heat until onion is tender. Add remaining ingredients except tomato paste. Heat to boiling, stirring constantly; reduce heat. Simmer uncovered until thickened, about 30 minutes. Stir in tomato paste. (Add 2 to 3 tablespoons water if necessary for desired consistency.) Remove bay leaf.

 

Shkembe Chorba (animal intestines)

Ingredients

* 1/2 kg tripe (calf belly)
* 120 ml sunflower oil
* 250 ml fresh milk
* 1 teaspoon paprika
* black pepper (freshly ground)
* salt
* garlic (peeled and roughly sliced)
* red wine vinegar
* dried hot chili peppers, plus
* roughly ground dried hot chili peppers (with seeds)

Directions

Boil the tripe for for a couple of minutes then clean both sides of the tripe with a knife until it is completely clean of marks and film.

Rinse and place it in a pot of cold water and bring to the boil.

Leave to simmer for around 5 hours topping up the water every once in a while so the tripe is submersed at all times.

The cooked tripe should be removed (keep the stock to one side) and cut up into small chunks, some prefer it minced.

Add some salt to the stock along with the paprika, milk and oil and boil for a further 15 minutes. Finally add the tripe to the soup mixture and it's ready to serve.

Serve in soup bowls or deep dishes along with salt, vinegar, chopped garlic and more roughly ground hot chili in separate serving utensils alongside. A basket of fresh bread is also customary.

Cevapaci

Ingredients for Ćevapi:

* 350g Premium Grade Minced Beef
* 150g minced lamb
* 2 garlic cloves, minced
* 50g onion, minced
* 40ml natural mineral water
* 20ml oil
* hot chili to taste (optional)
* pepper to taste
* vegata or salt to taste

Method:

1. Combine well all ingredients for Ćevapi. Refrigerate mixture over night.
2. Wet hands with water and shape the mixture into uniform rolls.
3. Cook the Ćevapi on a hot lightly oiled barbecue grill or frypan for 6-10 minutes, turning frequently.
4. Ćevapi can be served on its own or between slices of lepinja.

 

Turli Tava

Ingredients needed

• 1 kg of mixed meat - pork, veal, mutton
• "zarzavat" - potato, tomato, capsicum, onion, parsley, egg plant, French beans, ladies fingers ...
• salt, pepper, paprika, cooking oil

How to prepare

Chop meat and fresh vegetable and put it in a pottery saucepan. Add spices, stir and then add cooking oil and water. Don't put too much water, just enough so that the turli tava is soft after cooking.

Put the saucepan in the oven and cook it at 200 degrees for an hour and a half. During that time, stir two-three times. When the meal is ready, it has a golden-red crust.