Sunday, February 23, 2014

Palachinka

Palachinka

for 5-6 palachinka:
2 eggs
2 cups milk
4 heaping tbsp flour
1/2 cup olive oil

Blend/whisk eggs and milk, then add flour.
Heat oil. Pour 1/2 cup mixture. Flip when it has golden brown spots on top.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers

1 head of garlic, pressed, and soaked in 2 tbsp olive oil
1 bunch parsley, washed, stems removed, chopped fine.
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground veal
1 tbsp vegeta or 1/2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
Oregano leaves (optional)
4 onions, diced
5 slices smoked bacon, 1 inch thick
4-5 tomatoes, chopped into little pieces
1 1/4 cup white italian-style rice
15-16 large peppers

Mix the garlic, parsley, meat, vegeta/salt, pepper, oregano, and 4 tbsp olive oil.
Fry bacon, then add the onions, then after they're golden add the meat mixture. Cook for about 15 minutes until it all looks more loose, then add the chopped tomatoes.
Preheat oven to 450.
Cut the top off each pepper, remove the seeds, and fill with the mixture. Pour about 1oz water into each pepper, and a little extra in the pan. Bake at 450 for about 1.5 hours. Put foil over the peppers to prevent burning.

Pasulj

Pasulj/white bean soup

28oz white kidney beans
4-5 onions
garlic
bacon
flour
salt or Vegeta
1 tbsp paprika

Put beans in water, bring to a boil, then drain.
Dice an onion, mince garlic. Cut bacon into 1 inch strips.
Add beans, onions, garlic, bacon to cold water, bring to a boil again, then lower to simmer. Cook for 1.5 hrs, remove big bacon slices (and save).
Dice 3-4 onions. Fry in olive oil until golden. Add 2 tbsp flour and mix so it doesn't get chunky. Add oil if it's too dry. Add 1 tbsp paprika, mix well, and immediately put it in the big pot of simmering beans.
Add 1.5 tsp salt or Vegeta. Stir and remove from stove.
Take a cup of hot water and deglaze the frying pan, and pour it back into the pot.
Add the bacon pieces, removing fat first if you want, and serve.

Pita (spinach pie)

Pita (spinach pie)
8-10 bunches green onions (5/6 per bunch)
3 bags - 9oz spinach (I think this means 3 * 9oz)
2 stick butter
3 tbsp olive oil
5 tbsp milk + 1 cup
4-5 tbsp flour
16oz cottage cheese
16oz feta cheese
one egg per person
16oz phyllo dough sheets

Grease baking pan (for later). Preheat oven to 400.
Melt a stick of butter and 5 tbsp milk in another pan until it melts. Leave on the side.
Steam spinach until it shrinks, set aside.
Cut roots off onions and cut into 1cm pieces. Melt a stick of butter and the olive oil, and fry the green onions in the pan, stirring frequently. After 10-15 minutes, add the spinach. Stir 2-3 minutes, take off burner, add 1 cup milk, and mix; then add flour and mix very well- you want a paste-like consistency. This paste can be made the day before if necessary, but same-day is better.
Mix cottage and feta cheese and eggs, make into another paste.
Layer greased baking pan with two sheets, then grease with butter/milk mix. I think it's sheets, grease, sheets, then make it like a package around the outside, folding in over the couple of sheets in the middle to cover up the gaps. Do that with half of the the spinach/onions mix, then with the egg/cheese mix, then with the other half of the spinach/onion mix. Then the last ones, you grease and layer until the top. But don't grease the top sheets yet; cut into 8 pieces. Then grease it, making sure the corners are greased and tucked in.
Bake at 400 for 45 minutes.
Serve with yogurt. You can also make it with just the egg mix, or just the spinach mix.