Macedonian recipes


Adopted from: St. Mary - Macedonian Orthodox Church, Los Angeles, CA, USA.


Zelnik

Ingredients needed:
- 1 kg of flour
- 1 egg
- salt, cooking oil, water
- For filling chose: spinach, leek, potato, cheese, eggs, cabbage…

How to prepare:
Prepare the paste: Divide it into two pieces and then each piece divide into 10 equal pieces. Make a "kora" of each piece. "Kora" is a thin peace of paste made by rolling tin. Spread some oil on each "kora" and put one "kora" on another until you use 10 for one big "kora" and the other ten for another big kora. One "kora" should be bigger than another. Take the smaller one and put it at the bottom of a saucepan. Spread the filling. Put the other "kora" (the bigger one) on the filling and place it nicely. Pour some oil on top.
Put the saucepan in the oven. Bake it on temperature of 250°C for half an hour.
Filling: chop the vegetable and fry it on oil for a while.
 

Tavče gravče

Ingredients needed:
- 500g of white beans
- 1 onion, 1 red paprika
- 100ml of cooking oil
- 2-3 pieces of red dry capsicum
- pepper, salt, plain flour, parsley, mint

How to prepare:
Wash the beans and leave them to stay in water over night. After that cook them till it starts boiling, drain the beans and put them in another pot of hot water. Then add chopped onion (1/2 of it) and capsicum.
Continue to cook it till the beans are soft but integral. If there is too much water left, drain the beans.
Fry the chopped onion (the other 1/2) and paprika with one spoon of plain flour in cooking oil and then add this to the beans. Put everything in a pottery saucepan and then pour some parsley, mint, pepper and salt on it.
Put the saucepan in oven and bake for a while (the beans shouldn’t be too dry).
 

Sarma

Ingredients needed:
- pickled cabbage leaves
- rice in a cup of coffee
- 2-3 onion pieces
- 0,5 kg. mixed ground meat
- oil, red pepper, pepper, salt, spices
- 250 gr. steamed meat

How to prepare:
Cut the onion into small pieces and fry it on oil. Add the ground meat, red pepper, pepper, salt, spices the rice also . Then use the mixture to stuff the pickled cabbage leaves. Line them up in a pot, but first line up pickled cabbage leaves at the bottom of the pot. Put the steamed mead in between the stuffed cabbage leaves. Then, spill over some hot water and boil it on a silent fire, and them put them in the oven to bake.
By the end of the baking, you can add come oil and red pepper (which have been fried before). Cover the pieces with pickled cabbage leaves. The whole has to be dry, not very moist.
 

Selsko meso

Ingredients needed:
- 1kg. pork meat (of thigh)
- 4-5 onion pieces
- 300 gr. ground meat (for small meat balls)
- tomatoes or ketchup
- 700 gr. mushrooms
- 300 gr. dry smoked meat into small pieces
- salt, pepper, spices , bukovec
- some wine, cheese cream

How to prepare:
First do the meatballs where you include a piece of ground onion salt, pepper and spices. Then cut the pork into small pieces and fry it on oil, add the ground onion and fry it together. After they redden you add the tomatoes (or the ketchup), the mushrooms, the smoked meat and the small meat balls, add spices, salt, red pepper, bukovec and pepper into the mixture.

On the other hand, dissolve a spoon full of flour into a glass of water (the one in which the mushrooms have been) and also add a glass of wine. The whole mixture is baked (roasted) in the oven in a baking dish made of clay.
By the end of the baking you can add cheese and cream according to your own taste.
 

Turlitava

Ingredients needed:
- 1 kg of mixed meat – pork, veal, mutton
- "zarzavat" – potato, tomato, capsicum, onion, parsley, egg plant, French beans, ladies fingers …
- salt, pepper, paprika, cooking oil

How to prepare:
Chop meat and fresh vegetable and put it in pottery saucepan. Add spices, stir and then add cooking oil and water. Don’t put too much water, just enough so that turlitava is soft after cooking.

Put the saucepan in oven and cook it at 200°C for an hour and a half. During that time, stir two-three times. When the meal is ready, it has golden-red crust.
 

Pastrmajlija

Ingredients needed:
- 1 kg of flour
- 600 g pork meat
- 200 g lard
- 4 eggs
- 1 yeast

How to prepare:
Soak the yeast and after a while put it into flour and prepare the paste. Divide the paste into 4 equal pieces. Use rolling tin to make each of these pieces thin and flat.

Chop the meat. Add salt. Put the meat on top of each piece of pasta and spread it. Put lard on the meat and if you prefer add pepper also. Put the pastrmajlii (prepared like this) in the oven. Bake it on temperatures of 250°C. Before they are ready, add 1 egg and finish the baking. Serve it hot.
 

Tomatos filled with meat

Ingredients needed:
- 600g of veal
- tomatos
- 100g of onion
- 4 eggs
- spices
- rise
- parsley
- cooking oil

How to prepare:
Wash the tomato and carefully with the knife take off the top of each tomato. Take off the core, also. Leave the tomato to dry. Mince the veal in the meantime. Fry chopped onion and add minced meat, salt and pepper. When the meat is fried, add chopped parsley, beaten eggs and some cooked rise. Fill the tomato with this mixture and put it in a saucepan. Bake for about 25 minutes.

Serve on top of cooked rise in a plate with tomato juice or ketchup.
 

Stuffed peppers

Ingredients needed:
- 3 red bell peppers
- 2 green or yellow bell peppers
- 1 cup ground veal
- 3 green onions, chopped
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 170g. cream cheese
- 1 egg
- 3 Tbsp. half-and-half (cream)
- 1 tsp. cumin
- Dash salt and Pepper
- Water

How to prepare:
1. Slice the tops off the peppers. Pull out the seeds and the cores. Dice 1 red pepper. Set aside. Save the tops.
2. Combine the diced red pepper and ground veal or chicken in a mixing bowl. Add the green onions and garlic. Stir in soft cream cheese and blend with a wooden spoon.
3. Stir in the egg and half-and-half, then add the grated cheese. Season with cumin and salt and pepper.
4. Preheat oven to 180°C.
5. Place the pepper shells in a baking dish that will hold them snugly together. Spoon the filling into the peppers. Replace the tops. Pour 3 tablespoons of water around the peppers.
6. Bake at 180°C until the filling is puffed and the peppers are soft, about 40 minutes. Serve immediately.
 

Meatballs

Ingredients needed:
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1/2 cup grated onion
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/8 teaspoon dried mint
- 1 or 2 slices white bread
- 1/2 cup white wine or water
- 1 egg
- flour for rolling
- vegetable oil for frying

How to prepare:
Mix meat, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, oregano, and mint. Remove crusts from bread slices and moisten in wine or water. Add bread and egg to meat. Knead mixture.
Shape into 1-inch balls, dust with flour, and saute in hot vegetable oil. When meatballs are cooked and browned on all sides, place immediately in covered casserole and keep warm until ready to serve.
 

Bread

Ingredients needed:
- 1 package (1 tablespoon) active dry yeast
- 3 1/2 cups flour
- 1 1/4 cups warm water
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar

How to prepare:
In a mixing bowl, combine yeast with 1 1/2 cups of flour. Combine water, oil, salt, and sugar and add to yeast mixture. Beat for 1/2 minute with an electric mixer at low speed; then beat for 3 minutes at high speed. Work in remaining flour by hand to form a smooth and elastic dough. Put in a greased bowl in a warm spot, cover, and let rise for 45 minutes. Punch dough down, divide into 12 pieces, and roll each into a ball. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Flatten each ball into a 5-inch circle. Place on a greased baking sheet; cover and let rest for 20 to 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200°C.
Bake for 9 to 10 minutes, until puffed and lightly browned on bottom. Immediately wrap in foil and cool.
 

Roasted lamb with potatoes

Ingredients needed:
- one 3 kilo leg of young spring lamb
- 2 to 3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons dried oregano
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 20 small potatoes, peeled
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste, diluted in 1/4 cup water
- 2 cups hot water

How to prepare:
Preheat oven to 230 degrees.

Wash leg of lamb. Slit with a sharp knife in various places on both sides of lamb. Insert garlic slices in slits. Season with salt, pepper, add 1/2 tablespoon oregano, and brush with olive oil. Pour lemon juice over lamb and place in roasting pan, fat side up. Roast for about 1/2 hour.

While lamb is browning, combine salt, tomato paste, and water and pour over potatoes. Add to roasting pan; sprinkle with remaining oregano. Lower oven temperature to 180°C. Roast for 1 1/2 hours, turning and basting the potatoes occasionally. Remove to a hot serving platter; slice and serve meat surrounded by potatoes.
 

Filled egg plants

Ingredients needed:
- 2 big or 4 small egg-plants
- lemon juice
- 4 spoons of olive oil
- 2 dl white wine
- 400 g mixed ground meat
- 2 onions
- 3 pieces of garlic
- spices, pepper, salt, parsley
- 2 eggs
- 100 g of cheese

How to prepare:
Wash the egg-plants. Cut the each egg-plant along its length and take off the core. Salt the egg-plants and leave them to stay for a while. Dry them with napkins and add some lemon juice. Place the egg-plants on heated oil, add some wine and fry for about ten minutes.

Take the egg-plants away from the heat and place them in a fire-proved saucepan.

Use the same oil to fry chopped onion, mixed ground meat, garlic, ground core of the egg-plants and the spices. At the end, add parsley and eggs. Use this filling to fill the egg-plants and then pour some cheese and bake for about 20 minutes on temperature of 200°C.
 

Pindzhur

Ingredients needed:
- 1 kg of pepper
- 0.5 kg of tomato
- egg plant
- salt, garlic, cooking oil

How to prepare:
Toast the pepper, peel it and chop it. Toast the tomato, then peel it and knead it. Add the kneaded tomato to the pepper and mix them. Add toasted egg plant also after you have peeled it and chopped it. Add ground garlic and salt. Pour the pindzur with the heated oil, stir and put the pindzur in a bowl where you usually put salad.
 

Baklava

Ingredients needed:
- 1 kg of thin koras
- 400 g of nuts
- 600 g of cooking oil
- 1250 g of sugar

How to prepare:
(Kora is a form of paste used for preparing pies, sweets etc. You can by it in the stores.)
Grease the baking pan. Put 1 kora in the baking pan, pour some oil on it, then put another kora on top of it, pour some oil and continue the same way until you use 10 koras. All over the 10-th kora spread half of sliced nuts and then pour some oil over them. Then put another 10 koras over the nuts, the same way that you have put the first ten koras. Pour oil on top of everything and cut the baklava in cube and diamond pieces. Put the baklava in warm oven. When the baklava is half-baked, decrease temperature at 100 degrees and continue baking for another 15-20 minutes.
Take the baklava out from the oven and wait until it cools.
Sherbet: Add sugar in 2 l of water and boil it. Take it of the temperature and wait for a while until the sherbet is thickened.
Pour the sherbet over the baklava. Cover the baklava with another baking pan.
 

Sutlijach - Rice pudding

Ingredients needed:
- 4 cups (1 l) milk
- 2/3 cup (155 g) sugar
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 lemon zest strip
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 6 cups (1.5 l) water
- pinch of salt
- 1/2 cup (105 g) white rice
- 3 egg yolks
- ground cinnamon for garnish
- almonds for garnish, optional

How to prepare:
In a saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the milk, sugar, butter, lemon zest and cinnamon stick. Heats until small bubbles appear along the edge of the pan and then remove from the heat. Let stand for 30 minutes to develop the flavors.
Meanwhile, in another saucepan, bring the water to a boil. Add the salt and rice, reduce the heat to low and cook slowly until the rice kernels have swelled and are tender, 15-20 minutes. Drain.
Place the saucepan holding the milk mixture over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Add the rice and simmer uncovered, stirring often, until thickened, 15-20 minutes. Remove the lemon zest and cinnamon stick and discard.
In a bowl, using a fork or whisk, beat the egg yolks until lightly frothy. Gradually add about 1 cup (8 fl oz/ 250 ml) of the hot pudding to the yolks, beating constantly. Gradually pour the warmed yolks into the remaining pudding, stirring constantly. Cook over very, very low heat, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes.
Spoon the pudding into individual dessert bowls or one large serving bowl. Sprinkle with cinnamon and top with toasted almonds, if using. Serve at room temperature.
 

Ravanija

Ingredients needed:
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups flour
- 1 cup desiccated coconut
- 1 cup milk
- 1 sachet or 2 tsp. baking powder
- a few drops of vanilla essence
For the syrup:
- 2 1/2 cups of water
- 2 1/2 cups of sugar
- cinnamon

How to prepare:
With the mixer we beat up the eggs with the sugar for about 5-6 mins until they become a thick substance. Then we add one by one the rest of the ingredients and we continue to beat up until we have a smooth - not very thick dough.

We spread some butter in a baking tray, we put the dough in the baking tray and we put it in the oven for 45 mins approx. (150-175°C, Gas mark 6) until it becomes brown on the top.

Then, we let it cool down while we prepare the syrup. We put the water, the sugar and the cinnamon in a pan and we let them come to the boil. We let them boil for about 5 mins or until the syrup starts thickening. We take the pan of the hob and we soak the "Ravanija" with the syrup, making sure that it covers the whole sponge. we sprinkle some more desiccated coconut on the top and we let it cool down before we serve it.

Useful Tips:
1) NEVER EVER open the oven during the baking period.
2) when the baking period is over and you want to check if your "Ravanija" is properly baked, penetrate it with a toothstick or a knife and if it is clear when you take it out, then it is OK. If you see raw dough on it, then it means that it needs more baking.
3) In order to put the syrup on there must be different temperatures. This means that the sponge must be cold and the syrup hot or vice versa. NEVER put hot syrup on a hot sponge or cold syrup on a cold sponge.