Delightful Palachinka

Palachinka 

Bulgarian Crepe, PalachinkaThe Bulgarian palachinka is a great brunch food – at least in my family, it is not a breakfast food as its preparation does take some time and the weekday mornings in our house are busy.  

Having said that, the weekends are fair game – we really enjoy the palachinka meal – both savory: with cheese and ham filling; and sweet: with Nutella (Nutella Hazelnut Spread, 33.5 oz each, 2 Count), fresh fruit, jam fillings flavors.

Here is the recipe we have “perfected” over time.

Ingredients: for one batch — we usually make 2 batches if the palachinka are the main event at the brunch

  • 1 and 1/4th (One and a forth) cup of milk
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup of flour 
  • 1 egg
  • 2 and 1/2 tablespoon oil (we use olive oil usually)
  • 1 tablespoon sugar (we use white sugar)

Mix the ingredients, set up the heat on the burners at 3/4 high level.  Ideally you want to use a crepe pan (Nordic Ware 03460 Traditional French Steel Crepe Pan, 10-Inch) – it helps to maintain the round shape of the palachinka

Bulgarian Crepe, Palachinka Bulgarian Crepe, Palachinka Bulgarian Crepe, PalachinkaThe filling can be both savory and sweet (as mentioned above).  We use ham, cheese (you should try the sheep milk cheese – it is very good in this), Nutella, jam, and cutup fresh fruit.

 
 

I mentioned that we eat this usually as a brunch but in reality – palachinka can be enjoyed also as a dessert as as a main course.  We are yet to find a person in our circle of friends and acquaintances that does not like this recipe, so hopefully so will you.  

Please drop us a line (or few) of feedback – what other types of recipes you would like to see and try.  So…, Enjoy!

Mediterranean Rub Pork Loin with Vegetables

Pork Loin

Pork Loin is a great meat to cook with – it is relatively lean and does very well with all sort of sauces and rubs.  The recipe below is something my family is really crazy for – they love it – both the meat as well as the vegetables.   So if you cook this you get both a great meal that your family would love as well as – YES! a very easy to put together recipe.

So here we go….

Ingredients:

Mediterranean Rub:

    • 2-Tbsp salt – use your favorite kind
    • 2-Tbsp roasted / smoked paprika (you can substitute with good quality paprika as well)
    • 2-Tbsp ground cumin
    • 3-Tbsp summer savory (Bulgarian Chubritsa)

  • 1-Tbsp ground / crushed black pepper

Meat and Vegetables:

  • a 4-pound Natural Pork Loin – whole
  • 5-6 large potatoes – sliced in wedges
  • 1 large onion – sliced in big chunks
  • 2 large red peppers – sliced also in large chunks
  • 6-large carrots – pealed and sliced in large chunks

Preparation:

Rinse the whole pork loin and pat dry with a paper towel.  Rest the pork loin on a cutting board.  Mix the rub ingredients well – to form a uniform dry mixture.  Start sprinkling the rub on the pork and use your fingers to work the dry spices into the meat.  Cover all sides of the pork and let it sit on the cutting board;

In the mean time – set the oven you will use to preheat to 350-degrees F;

Mix the prepared vegetables in the roasting pan.  Pour two tablespoons of olive oil (or your favorite oil) and mix well to coat the vegetables.  Sprinkle salt over the veggies and also sprinkle savory (chubritsa) and mix the veggies one more time.

Roasted Pork Loin Veggies

Next – place the coated with the rub pork loin on a roasting rack and position in the roasting pan above the seasoned veggies

Mediterranean Rub Pork Loin

By now the oven should be heated to its temperature – 350F – so you can place the roasting pan in the oven.  Set a timer for 45-minutes;

Once the timer expires – check the meet in one of the thicker areas with a thermometer probe.  The meat should be at 155-160-degrees F

If not there yet, place in the oven for another 10-minutes and check again.  Once temperature reached your roast should be ready.

Serve with a nice red wine and ENJOY!

 


Сьомга Picante

Сьомга Picante

Сьомга – Сьомгата е много популярна риба в американската кухня. Ще я намерите в ресторанти и на масата в дома.  Тази много вкусна риба се продава в повечето магазини за хранителни стоки в страната, включително и големите вериги от супермаркети, като Costco, специализирани магазини като Whole Foods и други.

В детството ми, майка ми използва за направата на риба (най-често скумрия) метод, при който се готви в пергаментова хартия с подправки и зеленчуци. Преготвянето е лесен и ястието е страхотно – много ароматно, и рибата много нежна и сочна.

Така че, аз мислех за този вид приготвяне, а и някои от методите използвани при азиатски ястия приготвени в бананови листа или по подобен начин и готово – рецептата описана тук днес се появи.  Тази рецепта е приятен микс (по мое мнение) на силни азиатски подправки и начин на готвене, че докато обикновено, води до по-хубав аромат и консистенция на рибата и зеленчуците, които са използвани.

Е, с това предисловие, нека да продължим към рецептата:

Зеленчуци и подправки:

  • 1 чаша сушени гъби – възстановени в топла вода – обикновено отнема около 10-15 минути, за да получите гъбите в дясно текстура и готови за употреба
  • 2 супени лъжици ситно нарязан джинджифил
  • 1 морков нарязан на много малки кубчета
  • 1 супена лъжица чесън нарязан наситно
  • 2 стръка зелен лук нарязан
  • 1 чаша нарязан на ситно целина
  • 3 супени лъжици паста/сос от черен ферментирал боб – можете да го намерите в магазин за хранителни стоки в азиатски храни остров или може да се наложи да отидете в азиатски магазин за хранителни стоки

Сос за подправка на рибата

  • 3 супени лъжици сусамово масло
  • 3 супена лъжица соев сос
  • 3 супени лъжици суха череша
  • 1 супена лъжица царевично нишесте

Риба:  Сьомга – 2 кг – филета нарязани на 3 равни части; Трябва също така да отрежете пергаментова хартия – 4 броя; всяко парче е около 16 до 24 сантиметра квадрат – ще го използвате, за да направи торбичките с рибата и гарнитурата;

плюс ще ви трябва допълнителна сусамово масло да се разпространи върху пергамента, преди да се опаковат рибата и подправките и зеленчуците;

Как правим рецепта 

Смесете всички съставки на топинг, Между временно мариноваите рибата

Salmon-being-marinatedsalmon-on-parchmentSalmon Picante

 

 

след това се поставя парче филе от сьомга върху намаслена хартия за печене и се покрива с топинг.  Вие ще трябва да покрие всички порции риба с зеленчук и подправка смес и по този начин рибата ще абсорбират вкусовете на максимално …

Salmon-covered-with-spicesРибата е добре покрита с гарнитурата и както виждате количеството е много щедър да се гарантира добър вкус за рибата. Plus топинг ще бъде хубаво да се яде само по себе си с някои ориз на пара, така или иначе

 

 

Salmon-wrappedSalmon-packages-ready-to-bake
В добре увити Рибата се пече в предварително загрята на 400F и се пече в продължение на около 15 минути. Ако не сте изпечен този тип подготовка, преди да може да използва остър нож, за да режа отвори пакета леко и да инспектира рибата – за да сте сигурни, че е приготвена.

Picante-SalmonАми, отляво е снимката на последното – снимката показва готовата сьомга и гарнитурата сервирана върху ориз. Малко охладено бяло вино е хубаво сдвояване за това ястие.

Наслаждавайте се!

 

 


Salmon Picante: Asian-Bulgarian Fusion

Salmon

Salmon is a very popular fish in the American cuisine.  You will find it in restaurants and at the home table as well as being sold in most food stores around the country including the big box stores like Costco and other club stores.

In my childhood, my mother used to make fish (mostly mackerel) which was cooked in parchment paper with spices and vegetables. The preparation was easy and the dish was great – very flavorful and the fish very tender and juicy.

So, I thought about that experience and some of the asian dishes cooked in banana leaves or similar fashion and voila – this recipe came about.   It is a nice mix (in my opinion) of strong asian spices and a cooking method that while simple, results in a nice flavor and texture of the fish and the veggies used.

Well, with that preamble, let’s dig into the recipe:

Ingredients:

Vegetables and Spices topping:

  • 1 cup dried mushrooms – reconstituted in warm water – usually it takes about 10-15 minutes to get the mushrooms to the right texture and ready to use
  • 2 tablespoons minced ginger
  • 1 carrot chopped in very small cubes
  • 1 tablespoon minced garlic
  • 2 springs of green onions chopped
  • 3 tablespoons black bean paste – you can find it in the grocery store in the asian food isle or you may have to go to an asian food store;    I use the Lee Kum Kee Black Bean Paste with Garlic (1st of the two shown below) but there are other options as you can see

   ;

Sauce for seasoning the fish

  • 3 tablespoons sesame oil
  • 3 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 3 tablespoons dry cherry
  • 1 tablespoon corn starch

Fish

  • Salmon – 2 pounds – fillets
  • sliced in 3 equal pieces

You need also parchment paper – 4 pieces; each piece is about 8-to-12 inches square – you will use it to make the pouches with the fish and toppings; plus you will need some additional sesame oil to spread on the parchment as you pack with the fish

Salmon-being-marinatedpreparing-parchmentsalmon-on-parchmentSalmon PicanteMix all the topping ingredients, then place a piece of salmon fillet on the oiled parchment paper and cover with the topping

You will need to cover all the fish with the vegetable and spice mixture and this way the fish will absorb the flavors to the max…Salmon-covered-with-spices

The fish is nicely covered with the toppings and as you see the amount is very generous to ensure good flavor for the fish.  Plus the topping will be nice to eat by itself with some steamed rice anyway

Salmon-wrapped

Salmon-packages-ready-to-bakePicante-Salmon

 

 

The nicely wrapped fish is baked in a pre-heated at 400F  and bake for about 15-minutes.  If you have not baked this type of preparation before you could use a sharp knife to slice open the package slightly and inspect the fish – to make sure it is cooked.

Well, the last thing left after that is to enjoy the nice meal — The last picture above shows the ready salmon and toppings served over rice.  Some chilled white wine is a nice pairing for this dish.  Enjoy!

 

 


Pork Chops: Picante

On a VERY rainy Saturday, I created a new fast (and according to my family) tasty recipe for pork chops.  The whole meal took about 45 minutes to make including prep work and cooking.  Here is the recipe – Enjoy!

  1. Ingredients:

    • 4-6 pork chops bone-in;   (The number of chops depends on the size of your cast iron frying pan)
    • 2 large sweet onions
    • 1 large red bell pepper (you can substitute a green pepper or poblano pepper)
    • 8 oz fresh mushrooms
    • 1 cup of red wine
    • 2 table spoons of olive oil (or avocado oil) for the pork chops
    • 2 table spoons of olive oil for the mushrooms
    • 1 tsp cumin
    • 1 tbsp salt
    • black pepper to taste
  2. Preparation Pork Chops with onions mushrooms Pork Chops Waiting

    • pat dry the pork chops
    • heat the olive (or avocado) oil in a cast iron pan 
    • place the pork chops in the pan and sear 1 minute per side to seal them up
    • continue searing on high heat for another 3 minutes per side
    • take out on a plate
    • in the same pan add the sliced onion and red peppers and fry until the onion is translucent
    • Add the red wine, salt, cumin
    • Separately heat the rest of the oil in a frying pan and stir fry the mushrooms which has been washed and sliced
  3. Once the onion, pepper and wine mixture has simmered down – add back the pork chops to heat them through
  4. Now you are ready to serve.
  5. You may sprinke some chopped parsley on the combination 

fried mushrooms  Onions and Peppers  Served pork chops picante 

 

Green Beans with Bacon and Tomatoes

This is a new recipe which I created recently.  It is a quick one for the evening when you come home and there is nothing to eat.   So here it is:

Ingredients:

  • One pound of Green Beans
  • Half a pound of Bacon
  • One small onion
  • Three cloves of garlic
  • One red bell pepper
  • Two Stalks of Celery
  • One can (14.5 oz) stewed tomatoes
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Bring the beans to a boil in salted water and boil for 1 minute.  Drain and set aside;  At the same time slice the bacon in small pieces, chop the garlic and onions;   slice the red pepper and celery;   Start with frying the bacon, then add the garlic and onions;   Fry for another 2-3 minutes;   Add the red peppers and then add the green beans – stir well with the bacon, garlic and onion mixture.  Then add the stewed tomatoes, and celery, and cover with the lid and stew on the stove for another 3-5minutes per your liking.

Add salt and pepper to taste.  Serve over steamed rice;

Green Beans with Bacon

Enjoy!

Spinach Salad with Toasted Pecans and Sheep Milk Feta

This weekend we had to come up with a salad for a party in our neighbourhood.  The theme for the party was seafood, so of course, we had to put together a salad which was to go nicely with the seafood aspect of the main course.   After long deliberations we settled on a recipe which we actually developed over the last couple of years, blending 

  • Bulgarian ingredients like – Bulgarian Sheep Milk Feta Cheese 
  • Texas flare – roasted with salt and sugar Texas pecans

Feta Cheese    Pecans

The ingredients for the salad are relatively simple:

  • Organic pre-washed spinach
  • Red bell pepper sliced in pieces to your liking
  • Tomatoes – we used 3 mid-size tomatoes – preferably organic
  • Cucumber – sliced in circles
  • Red onion – sliced thinly
  • 200-grams of feta (sheep milk preferable) cheese

The roasted pecans are my wife's recipe – she mixes salt and sugar and olive oil and small amount of water

  • mix in a baking dish
  • 1/4 cup of sugar
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • 1 lb of pecans
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 2 tablespoon water

Roast at 375F convection oven or 400F regular oven; Check after 8-minutes and then 5-minutes later and then every 2-minutes — with each time stirring the mixture; Then take them out of the oven and take them out of the baking dish on parchment paper — otherwise they will stick really strongly to the glass of the baking dish

Cool the pecans 

In the mean time crumble the feta cheese in a small bowl; slice the roasted pecans in smaller slivers in another bowl;

When you are ready to serve the salad – mix in a small bowl a tablespoon of salt; 3 tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar; Pour over the salad and toss well;   then add the crumbled feta and the sliced pecans and mix again well

You are ready to serve!  Enjoy!

Quick Kebab

A cold winter weekend night demands a hearty meal and good wine to warm you up.  So, I decided to share with you a very quick and simple recipe for a good meal.  Here we go:

Ingredients to serve 4:

  • Lean pork loin – approximately 1.2 ~ 1.4 lbs
  • 3 large sweet onions
  • 1 Anaheim pepper (you can substitute any sweet pepper)
  • 1 cup of red wine
  • 2 cups of warm water
  • 2 tablespoon of olive or avocado oil
  • 3 tablespoons paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground cummin
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • ground pepper to taste
  • 1/2 cup of chopped parsley

Preparation:

  • Heat the oil in a large skillet preferably one with a cover (please see below)
  • Slice the peeled onions in thin large slices
  • chop the pork loin in 1-inch cubes
  • slice the Anaheim pepper in thin pieces
  • Place the sliced pork in the skillet and brown on high heat for 2-3 minutes
  • Pork Loin Kebab  Pork loin kebab Pork loin kebab
  • Add the Anaheim pepper and stirr for another 30 seconds or so
  • Then add the sliced onion and stirr well to ensure they are coated with the oil
  • Reduce heat and stirr often and once onion is somewhat wilted and browned add wine
  • Let the mixture simmer and once reduced, add the warm water and cover with a lid to simmer on low heat
  • Once water is reduced to a half add the salt and spices and stirr well
  • Finally, garnish with the chopped parsley – you have the meal ready to serve — you can serve over rice or with bread
  • Adding onions in the kebab Pork Loin Kebab Pork loin kebab with parsley

Here are links to the skillet used as well as a very good Texas wine that was paired with the dish.

Enjoy!

;  ;

 

Guvetche – Bulgarian Special

Well folks – time to enter another recipe in the blog – this one is always a big hit in the States.  That is the case for multiple reasons – namely:

  • Uses very interesting utensils — the earthenware guvetche; 
  • Uses feta cheese – which many americans do not know what to do with;
  • finally, the recipe is very forgiving – it can use almost any kind of vegetables and sausages or ham

Here is my recipe – which has done well at many dinner parties:

Ingredients – per guvetche:

  • two medium potatoes peeled
  • one roma tomatoe diced
  • two tablespoons diced onion
  • two tablespoons diced pepper (green or red – both are OK)
  • two tablespoons diced carrots
  • one sausage link sliced in rounds or cubes
  • slices of feta cheese – see at the photos below
  • one egg
  • 1 teaspoon of cummin
  • 1 teaspoon of paprika
  • 1 teaspoon of salt
  • a teaspoon of olive oil 

Layer all the ingredients in the giuvetche except for the 1 egg;   The feta cheese goes on top of the mixture.  There is no need to add liquid – it will come from the vegetables.  Make sure the guvetche is closed with a lid and bake in a 375F convection oven or 400F regular oven for about 1 hour.   At that point in time – take it out and check the vegetables for donnes.   Once done move things around gently and form a small well in the center of the guvetche. Crack and pour the egg in the middle / in the well, making sure the eff yolk does not break.  Cover the guvetche and bake for another 15-minutes.

Serve on a plate in the guvetche – it adds interesting touch to the actual food and it will be a conversation piece….Enjoy

bulgarian guvetche  feta cheese in a guvetche

 

Kiopoolu – Roasted Eggplant Spread

Kiopoolu

Kiopoolu is a very nice salad or vegetable spread made with roasted eggplant, garlic, walnuts and in some variants roasted red peppers;

My recipe for making Kiopoolu is relatively simple.  Take 3 mid-size or 2 large eggplant and roast them.  The actual preparation has two possible approaches – one FAST and a second, which is more tasty, but SLOWER. 

For the FAST one:  wash and prick the eggplant with knife to allow steam to escape during the cooking process.  Put on a plate (as the cooking will create quite a bit of juice) and place in the microwave.  Cook for about 8 minutes on a regular setting.  Check for donness — how do you check that?  Well, just feel with your fingers — when the eggplant is done it will feel like it is easy to peel the skin;   Based on your microwave you may have to cook it some more;

For the SLOW method:  wrap the pricked eggplant in aluminum foil and place on a gril on (may be while you are grlling other stuff); keep baking till the eggplant is done — you may have it open from the tin foil in the last 3-5 minutes to give it some nice smokey flavor;

While the eggplant is cooking, put 1-2 garlic segments, a tablespoon of salt, and a cup of walnuts in a food processor with a blade;   Buzz the ingredients till they are pulverized;   Once the eggplant is done – start scooping out the flesh from the eggplant and place in the food processor.  Mix well with the rest of the ingredients — you will know it is done when it is in a nice consistent mix.

Garnish with some parsley after you have added a couple of tablespoons of balsamic vinegar and a tablespoon of olive oil;  You are done!