Sarmi - Kapama

Sarmi

Main ingredients:

One package of bratwursts (or sausage of your choice), two pounds of lean pork meat, 1½ pound of lean ground beef,  one cup of rice, one onion, two carrots, one package of sauerkraut, one jar of sour (fermented) cabbage leaves (about 15-20 leaves); one small green squash (optional),  1 cup tomato sauce.

Dice the onion and sauté it in three tablespoons of olive oil.  Shred the carrots and the squash and add to the onion. Cook for 3 min. Add the rice and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Add ½ tablespoon of salt and black pepper to taste. Add ½ tablespoon of paprika and one tablespoon of savory, a cup of tomato souse. Stir, add one cup of water, stir well, cover and cook for 10 min. After that let it stay for about 15 min to cool down. All this will go in the filling of the sarmi.

In the meantime brown the pork and the bratwursts in a large pot. Remove the meat from the pot. Drain the juices from the sauerkraut and rinse one half of it (to remove some vinegar and salt), put in the same pot and cook for 2-3 min. Add ½ tablespoon of paprika, crushed hot pepper to taste and a handful of parsley. Put ½ of the meat and bratwurst over the sauerkraut.

Add the ground beef to the rice mixture and mix very well. Separate the cabbage leaves, put two tablespoons of the rice mixture on each leaf and fold it to form a roll closed from all sides. If the leaves are very big, cut them in two. When you finish rolling all pieces, arrange ½ of them in a layer over the meat and bratwursts  in the pot. Layer on top the other half of the meat and bratwursts and the rest of the cabbage rolls. Add two cups of water. Put a plate over the sarmi to hold them down.  Cover the pot and cook on  low heat for about 3 hours.
Then let it cool down a bit, serve with red wine and enjoy!

Sauce(optional) - Beat one egg with a tablespoon of flour, a half a cup of plain yogurt,  and a half a cup of the liquid remaining after the cooking of the sarmi.  Cook on low heat for a few minutes, until it thickens.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over the sarmi.

Note: You can cook just the sarmi, without sauerkraut sausage and meat.

Banitsa

This is a Bulgarian cheese pastry with hand-made pastry sheets.
Start with 1¼  cup of water and 1 teaspoon of salt. Add 2 ½  cup of white unbleached flour. Knead for about 5-6 minutes to make soft elastic dough. Add more flour or water, if needed. Divide in 5 balls and spread a little sunflower oil on each one. Cover with a plastic sheet and let it rest for 1-2 hours.
Put a large (table) cloth on the table and sprinkle flour on it. Rub some flour on your hands and arms too. Take a ball and stretch it carefully with fingers and back of your hands and arms as it increases in size (see pictures).

Rest the sheet on the table from time to time and sprinkle more flour. Continue to stretch until it become very thin. You can cut out some thick parts from the sides if you wish.
Lay the sheet on the table and pour evenly 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil on it. Put crumbled feta cheese (sirene, Bulgarian sirene) evenly on top. Carefully lift one side of the cloth to roll the pastry sheet over itself. Move to a greased baking dish (cookie sheet). The banitsa can be arranged as in spiral (in a round dish), or cut in straight pieces, the size of your baking dish (if rectangular).
Repeat the same with the remaining balls. When the entire banitsa is arranged in the dish, pour evenly on top a mixture of two tablespoons of melted butter and one tablespoon of sunflower oil.
Bake in a preheated (to 400F) oven for about 35 min until the top becomes golden brown.
Take out of the oven and sprinkle a tablespoon of water on top. Then cover with cloth for about 10 min. Remove the cloth and after 10 more minutes it is ready to serve.

Baked Spinach Dish

Looks great and tastes deliciously! Want to try?

Put three tablespoons of olive oil in a pot. Add one small onion finely chopped and three minced garlic cloves. Sauté for 2-3 minutes. Add ½  pound fresh chopped spinach and sauté for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally.

Separately, in a small pot cook ¼ cup of rice in one cup of water with some salt (by taste); cook for about 10 minutes until the rice is ready.

In a separate pan heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil and add 3 tablespoons of flour and cook until it becomes golden brown. During the cooking gradually add water or vegetable stock until it becomes thick gravy. Add a small can of tomato souse, a teaspoon of paprika, stir and pour into the spinach. Add also the rice and stir well.  Season with salt and pepper to taste and crushed chili pepper if you like.  Add also a handful of chopped parsley. Stir again.

Grease a casserole dish, pour the spinach mixture in it, and sprinkle a handful of mozzarella cheese on top. Make small indentations on the surface and put there several raw eggs. Put on the eggs some salt and some drops of olive oil.

Bake at 400F for 15 min.  Take it out and let it cool a little bit for about 15-20 min.  Serve with plain yogurt

Sesame and poppy seed cheese bread sticks

Today I decided to prepare for supper cheese bread sticks.

For the dough:

One cup milk, one teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons olive oil, 2 and ½ cups all purpose flour, one teaspoon dried yeast. Add 3 tablespoons of sour dough starter. Knead for 10 minutes to form a smooth ball. Add some drops of water for softness. Let it rise for an hour (or hour and a half) until it doubles in size.

Prepare a cookie sheet, lightly butter it and dust it with flour. Cut a handful of dough and stretch it to an about 1/3 inch thick oval the size of a palm. Brush the edges with a beaten egg white. In the center put generously crumbs of feta cheese. Pinch the ends together to seal it from all sides and to form a cylindrical shape. Lay with the seal down on the floured surface. The dough will make about 12 such sticks. Mix the yolk of the egg with 1 teaspoon olive oil and stir well. Bruch the tops of the breads with this emulsion generously. Sprinkle poppy seed or sesame seeds on top. Then let it rise for another ½ hour.

In the meantime preheat the oven to 400F. Bake for 15 min then increase the temperature to 450F and bake for more 5-7 min until golden brown color. Take out and let them cool for 20 min. Serve with salad.

Here are the breads

Baked tilapia

For dinner today I cooked tilapia. Usually I fry it, but this time I did it differently. Here is my recipe:

Preheat the oven to 420F. Line a baking dish with foil and put it in the oven to preheat it too.

After that put one tablespoon of olive oil on the foil and spread it uniformly. Dry the fish with paper towel and put it on the foil. Sprinkle with salt, black pepper and fresh rosemary. Cover with thinly sliced onion and lemon rings. Sprinkle some olive oil on top. Put it in the oven for 15 minutes. Next, broil for 3 minutes. Garnish with fresh parsley and sprinkle a little paprika. Serve.

Eat and enjoy. Good with crusty bread and cabbage salad.