Ground beef phyllo pie. Ground beef (or veal) layered in phyllo sheets softened with butter, then baked until golden. Much pie. No fuss. (BOSANSKI) Ever since I learned to make pie rounds with store phyllo, that’s usually what I do when I’m making a quick one. Sometimes I line them up like cigars. (Unless I’m…
Cream of Spaghetti Squash and Potato Soup
Cream of spaghetti squash and potato soup. Only a few simple steps until you have a great new take on a beloved fall classic. (BOSANSKI) Most people make the pumpkin soup this time of the year. So we’ll make something similar, but not quite the same: cream of spaghetti squash. If you’re in a habit…
Mushroom Lasagna with Bechamel and Bolognese Sauces
Mushroom lasagna prepared with bechamel and bolognese sauces. This unusual twist of two sauces combined to make the world’s most beloved casserole will invoke memories of your first lasagna: decadent layers of broad, flat pasta softened with overflowing sauces, resulting in a thousand different sparklets of flavor at once. (BOSANSKI) Lasagna of today is straight…
Chocolate Nutella Strudel
Chocolate Nutella strudel: chocolate infused flour caressed into dough, let to rise, smeared with huge chunks of Nutella, toped with egg yolk glaze, then baked. Tastes like heaven! (BOSANSKI) Nutella has become a beloved spread across the world. In the Balkans, Nutella and other chocolate spreads – strudels too – have for several decades been…
Dolmas: Stuffed Vegetables
Dolmas, or stuffed vegetables, is maybe the most recognizable dish from the Balkans. Ground beef is mixed with onions, garlic plus spices, and used as a filling for several veggies (zucchini, onions, tomatoes, peppers and Swiss chard), until it’s all finally baked it in a tomato based sauce. (BOSANSKI) I’ll paraphrase myself when I tell you that…
Bey’s Soup: Traditional Version (Begova Čorba)
As if straight out of a Bosnian royalty cookbook, Bey’s soup is a dish you’ll have a hard time forgetting. Luckily this okra delicacy – simmered in a chicken based broth, finished off with a simple roux, then sprinkled with lemon juice as the last touch – is here for your consumption. (BOSANSKI) We’ve done a contemporary…
Braided Sweet Bread (Slatka Pletenica)
Braided sweet bread: a soft milk based dough (optionally filled with raisins, dried fruit or chocolate), painted with egg yolks and baked until golden. It’s time we bond with bread again. (BOSANSKI) Braided sweet bread is universal. It’d be a tough ordeal to find a culture that doesn’t have a version of it in its repertoire….
Mama’s Apple Crumble Cake
Apple crumble cake: a divine, four layer cake straight out of my mom’s kitchen. (BOSANSKI) A friend recently told me he paid $10 for two pounds of apples. He works for the UN in Africa. When he returns to work from a vacation back home, instead of clothes he brings suitcases full of Granny Smiths. Meanwhile, my fruit…
Baked Sauerkraut (Podvarak)
Today’s baked sauerkraut is for all our foodies who are specific in their tastes and jump in without much fuss, only to find themselves enamored with a new delicacy they just discovered. Does this describe you? (BOSANSKI) Recently, while browsing a food forum, I discovered a woman who was wondering the same thing as me. What…
Buckwheat Mini Breads (Hljepčići od Heljde)
Soft and flavorful buckwheat mini breads further enriched with sunflower seeds. A simple way to inspire you to make your own dough.(BOSANSKI) When I returned to Sarajevo there was a period of loneliness. I needed to make new friends, and new memories with the old ones. And so started our monthly dinners. Two moms. Two pairs…
Satarash (Sataraš) Risotto: Balkan Veggie Stir Fry with Rice
Satarash, or risotto stir fry: a contemporary take on a classic. Round grain rice simmered in a sauce of bell peppers, yellow onions and tomatoes for a light and filling vegetarian favorite. (BOSANSKI) Similarly to the stir fry we did already, this isn’t the traditional satarash format. When we speak of satarash, or Balkan stir…
Quick Sautéed Spinach
Sautéed spinach, a sophisticated way to eat more greens. This velvety side dish requires minimal preparation and is ready in 25 minutes. (BOSANSKI) Here and there I search for recipes that should be matter of fact. Dishes, snacks, and tastes I grew up with and took for granted knowing how to do, only to later…
