• Peksimeti
• Fried Aubergine
• Tufahi
• Pispilita (Cheese Corn Bread)
• Pita di Spinaku
• KADAIFI
• PREBRANAC

• Recipes from Vietnam
• Recipes from Mozambique
• Recipes from Croatia
• Recipes from Cambodia
• Recipes from Afghanistan

Ingredients:
1kg flour
500ml (Greek) yoghurt
2 eggs
12g dried yeast
500ml water, salt, oil

Stir salt and yeast into flour; add eggs and greek yoghurt. Stir while gradually adding water. The dough should be solid but wet and sticky to touch. Spread some flour onto a chopping board and put dough on it. Cover the dough in flour so that it does not stick to your fingers while you cut it into finger shaped pieces (size: 4x4x15cm roughly).
Fry the dough fingers in oil until golden brown and serve immediately with a selection of mild cheeses and dips.

FRIED AUBERGINE

Ingredients:
1 large aubergine (eggplant)
1 clove of garlic
flour, oil, parsley, salt, black pepper

Peal the aubergine (eggplant) and slice it into 5mm thick discs. Leave them in salty water for 15 mins, squeeze the liquid out and dip them in flour. Fry them in oil until golden brown and soft. Garnish with chopped parsley leaves and finely chopped garlic.

TUFAHI

Ingredients:
6 cooking apples
200g walnuts, finely chopped
100g sultanas
500g sugar
200g whipping cream

Peel and core the apples. Mix the walnuts and sultanas. Arrange apples on a baking dish, and fill with the walnut mixture. Dissolve the sugar in 1l water and pour over the apples. Bake until the apples are soft but not soggy! Serve cold with whipped cream.

Pita di Spinaku

Ingredients:
2 - 10 oz. pks. frozen spinach
4 eggs
1 pound cottage cheese, farmer cheese, or Greek feta cheese, crumbled
dash of salt
4 1/2 - 5 cups unbleached flour
2 tsp. salt
2-2 1/2 cups water
2 sticks butter melted

Filling:
Prepare spinach according to package. Strain and let cool.
Combine cheese, eggs, 1 tbs. of the melted butter and dash of salt. Set aside.

Crust:
In a large bowl, sift 4 1/2 cups flour.
Add 2 tsp. salt and mix with a fork.
Slowly add the water and work dough with fingertips to form a soft, smooth, elastic ball.
Knead for 10 minutes, adding more sifted flour or water if needed. Do not let the dough get tough. Cover and let stand for 15 minutes.
Split dough in half to form 2 pieces.
Roll one piece of dough until thin and the size of the shallow rectangular pan you will use for the pie (approx. 14"L x 12"W x 1"D).
Spread the dough with some of the melted butter.
With a knife, draw a small circle in the center and cut from the outside of the circle to form a "sun" pattern with 8 cut sections.

Turn one piece over onto the circle and butter the top of that section. Repeat the same procedure with each section, layering them on top of each other, but leave the 8th section unbuttered. Refrigerate.
Repeat the same procedure with the second piece of dough and refrigerate as well.

Remove 1st chilled piece of dough. Sprinkle with flour and roll out until dough is one inch bigger than the pan. Place rolled out dough in buttered pan. Add spinach filling and spread.

Roll out 2nd chilled piece of dough so that it overlaps at least one inch on all sides of the pan. Place over spinach filling and tuck edges into side of pan to form a thick crust. Brush top with remaining melted butter.

Bake at 450 for 15 minutes, lower heat to 400 and bake for 15 minutes longer, or until golden and crispy. Remove from oven, cut into squares. Yields about 18 pieces.

KADAIFI

Layer ingredients:
1 lb. commercial kadaifi dough, shredded
1 lb. butter, melted
1 lb. walnuts, finely chopped
Syrup ingredients:
2 1/4 cups sugar
3 1/2 cups water
lemon juice (optional)
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tbsp. maple syrup

Boil syrup ingredients until thickened and stringy. Cool.
In round, ungreased pan layer kadaifi, sprinkling with nuts and then butter. Lowest layer should be a bit thicker. Repeat until all kadaifi is used, allowing for another thicker layer on top. Do not top with nuts. Bake one hour at 375 degrees until browned.
Pour cooled syrup over hot kadaifi. Cool, then cut into diamond or square shapes.

PREBRANAC (Serbian-style baked beans)

Ingredients:
700 grams of large white beans
700 grams onion
1 large carrot
3 bay leaves
paprika powder
salt, 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.

back to top