Quick Plum-Chocolate Jam (Džem od šljiva sa čokoladom)

This is a super easy and tasty jam, made for special occasions. I am not a jam person, I would always rather choose Nutella over jam to fill my crepes, but this is something even better - fruit and chocolate together.


On this blog I already have recipes with plum and chocolate: Prune-Chocolate Balls and Plum-Chocolate Tart, so now you know I am a huge fan of that combo.

Since my kids for some reason do not like dark jams, only bright ones (apricot and orange), it didn't make sense to make more than one jar. Plus, this jam is very rich in taste, so you use it in very small quantities. And, I don't like using pectin or anything artificial to keep my jam fresh for months. One jar at a time.


I've never thought about baking jam, as my mom always cooked it in large pans, but it is possible. Dutch oven is a perfect choice for that. This is a revolution method, very easy and fast, and going forward I will make all my jams this way. Look at that jam texture on the pictures, this is really great way of making it.


Plum-chocolate jam is great for crepes, but you can use it for many other things, as you do with regular jam. Recipe for crepes find here.


You can experiment with proportion of ingredients, based on you taste, but these are all good for my palate!

You need for 1 jar (375ml):

1.3lb Italian or any other plum, very ripe and sweet
1/2 - 1 cup (100-200g) sugar (depending how sweet the plum is)
100g dark chocolate (60% Cocoa)
2 tablespoons dark rum or vanilla extract

Dutch oven with lid


Steps:

Wash and dry plums. Remove pits and cut them into small chunks.

Preheat the oven to 450F (230C).

Place plums into Dutch oven. Add sugar over it. Bake it for 20 minutes on 450F, and then decrease the temperature to 355F (180C), and bake for additional 20-30 minutes until you get nice consistency of jam with some chunks of plum. Remove it from the oven. At the and add chocolate and  rum, stir it and cover with lid. After 10-15 minutes put jam into sterilized glass jar, very carefully, little by little to avoid breaking the glass as jam is still hot. Put the lid on. When it is completely cooled down remove to a fridge. Consume within 3 weeks.

Russian Salad Forever

No matter how hard I try to avoid this salad (too much work and calories) I cannot go through New Year without it.  I can’t even imagine New Year’s Eve dinner without this salad, but the morning after, when you are watching New Year’s Viennese concert and eating meze leftovers for breakfast and there is no Russian salad… man, it cannot be, it screws everything.

If you are a Russian salad beginner use my recipe, but when you get hooked you will develop your own recipe with measurements by your taste. Below is how I like it, that’s my version.

You need:

1 lb. chicken white meat (breast), cooked

3 medium red potatoes, boiled and peeled

4 eggs, hard boiled

2 large carrots, boiled

1/2 lb. cooked ham

1 can of green peas

6 small dill pickles (not sweet)

Few parsley springs for garnish

For dressing:

20 oz. mayo

2-3 tbs. Dijon mustard

Juice of half lemon

Black pepper and salt

Steps:

Boil chicken and carrots. In separate pans boil potato with skin and eggs. Do not overcook, ingredients should be firm enough.

When cool, dice everything in small cubes, about 1/5 inch size. Potato should be peeled before dicing.

Dice pickles and ham in cubes too. Drain peas from the can.

Put all ingredients in a big salad bowl and add mayo, mustard, lemon juice, black pepper and salt. Mix everything together.

Garnish with parsley.

And, Happy New Year!

Cabbage salad (Salata od kupusa)

When my hairdresser Melanie found out I was from Serbia, she said, “Oh, I know to make Serbian cabbage salad, my father-in-law taught me to do it”. I thought “Big deal! It is the simplest salad in the world”.

Then, one day I was eating my bean soup with cabbage slaw and I was thinking “Ivana, what would you do without this salad, how would you be able to eat bean or lentil soup without it?” No matter how simple this cabbage salad is, it is just the perfect food.  And, since then I started to appreciate cabbage slaw, and I decided to make a post dedicated to it… because I am not sure that anyone will write about it.

As I said, the recipe is super simple, but you should know a few things… shred the cabbage perfectly, it shoyld be very thin, and serve it right away, the salad can’t wait, otherwise it will become soggy and not presentable. 

Use vegetable oil, white vinegar and salt to taste to make the dressing. If you want a richer taste add fresh black pepper and roasted sesame seeds on the top.  I also like to try white wine vinegar instead of regular one.

You need:

½ medium fresh cabbage

2 Tbs. vegetable oil

1 ½ Tbs. vinegar of  white vinegar

½ tbs. salt

¼ tbs. fresh black pepper

1 tbs. roasted sesame seeds

Steps:

Make the dressing mixing oil, vinegar, salt and fresh pepper.

Shred the cabbage and mix with the dressing.

Add roasted sesame seeds on the top.

Enjoy the flavor and crunchiness!

Kompot, a popular winter drink

While I was posting about Hot Spiced Cider on my other blog I was trying to find a drink in Europe that is similar to an American one. And Kompot crossed my mind. Indeed, that non-alcohol drink is not so much like cider, but they share the same popularity in the cold winter time. You can buy it in the store, but it is not better than homemade kompot. The way of making it is very simple – throw fresh cut and dried fruit in the pot filled with water and cook it. Some spices and sugar will add a lot to the flavor.

The most popular fruits used for kompot are apples, pears, prunes, dried apricots, but the kompot queen is quince. Although not so tasty as a fresh one, it gets outstanding flavor in kompot, preserves and other winter goodies. Unfortunately, it is very hard to find quince here.

Anyway, I made my kompot without it, and it turned out very good. Plus, I was able to make some baby food from it for my little daughter.

On my picture below you can see the ingredients. 

You need:

• 2 apples

• 2 pears  

• ¾ cup of prunes (dried plums)

• ½ cup of dried cranberry

• 2 cinnamon sticks

• 4 tablespoons brown sugar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

• Juice of ½ orange

Steps:

Find large pot and fill it with water (about 2 quarts). Cut all fresh fruit and put them in the pot. When you bring it to boil, decrease the heat and add dried fruit, cinnamon sticks, vanilla extract, sugar, and at the end of cooking add orange juice. It should be done in 15-20 minutes when the fruit is soft enough. Serve it hot. 

Plum Dumplings (Knedle sa šljivama)

Plums are quintessential for Serbian cuisine for three reasons. First, the most important one, Serbs make famous plum brandy (rakija, šljivovica). The second is about making popular plum jam (pekmez). And the last reason for the popularity of this fruit among Serbs is   Plum Dumplings. Some people eat it as dessert, some like an entree. It doesn't matter as long as you enjoy this truly amazing food.

To make good dumplings is a tricky task. I tried a couple of times and failed, and then I found a really good and easy recipe and I wanted to share it.

I like to stick to original recipes when it is about traditional dishes, but this time it was opposite. I tried easier way, instead of regular potato I used instant mashed potato. The most important thing is that substitution doesn’t compromise the taste, in my opinion it makes the taste even better.

These are measurements for 34 dumplings, you can halve them, but I don’t recommend it since they will be eaten in a very short time.

You need for plum stuffing:

• ½ cup sugar

For potato dough:

• 34 small Italian prune plums or 17 big plums that are going to be halved
• 250g instant mashed potato
• 300g all purpose flour
• 100g Cream of wheat
• 400 ml cold water
• 2 eggs
• 4 tablespoon vegetable oil

For topping:

• 1/2 cup fine bread crumbs
• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar

Steps:

1. Wash and dry the plums. If they are too big you can halve them. Pit the plums carefully (keep the plums whole) and stuff it with 1/2 teaspoon of sugar. Set aside.
2. Make potato dough by putting in a big bowl ingredients in this order: instant mashed potato, water, 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil, 2 beaten eggs, Cream of wheat and flour. Mix everything with hands. When the dough is pliable and smooth, divide it in two pieces and make baguette-shaped loaves from each. Then, cut each loaf vertically into 17 small pieces.
3. Stuff each piece with plum and shape it into a ball. You may need to wash your hands every time you make the ball. The whole job is rather sticky.
4. In a large deep pan bring salted water to a boil. When you are done with shaping all 34 dumplings put them in boiled water. Not all at once.
5. Dumplings should be done when they float up, but I would even wait for 3-5 additional minutes, just to be sure that they are well cooked. Dumplings could stick to the bottom of the pan, in that case remove them gently using a wooden spoon.
6. While you are cooking dumplings make the topping. Heat the vegetable oil in a small pan, add bread crumbs and cook until they become brown, add sugar and cinnamon. Remove it from the stove.
7. Coat dumplings with the topping and if there is some left put it on the top when they are served. 

Sauerkraut with Kielbasa

To be honest sauerkraut is not the most sophisticated food in the world, but in the winter time everybody craves it. Add some meat such as pork, sausage and bacon and you’ll get perfect harmony of ingredients. Sauerkraut is very popular in Middle and Eastern Europe, it is almost like a staple.

This time I chose Kielbasa, a sausage that has origin from Eastern Europe, to marry sauerkraut. And, I added pasta too. It goes very well with sauerkraut, especially if it is made of whole wheat. 

My favorite combo is sauerkraut with smoked pork intestines. It sound wild, but that’s really good food. I used to eat it when I was a child visiting my grand-parents on country side. Grandpa had a smokehouse where he made interesting stuff. (See picture on the bottom).

Recipe is super easy.

You need:

• 1 medium jar (1 lb) sauerkraut
• 1 big (14 oz) Kielbasa (I like pork, beef and turkey mix), sliced into ½ inch tick pieces
• 2 oz diced smoked bacon
• ½ package (about ½ lb) of whole wheat penne pasta
• 1 medium onion
• 2 tbs. vegetable oil
• 2 bay leaves
• Salt (maybe you wont need it) and black pepper

Steps:

1. Drain sauerkraut.
2. Heat the oil in the large pan. Add bacon, and after 5 min add sliced Kielbasa and chopped onion. Cook it together for additional 7 min on medium heat.
3. Then, add drained sauerkraut, bay leaves and black pepper. Cook it covered on low medium heat for 45 min. More you cook it’s better. Stir it occasionally.
4. Make pasta. Follow directions from the package. Keep in mind whole wheat pasta needs more time to be done.
5. In meantime preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Remove everything to casserole pan, add pasta, mix it, try to see if you need salt. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and put in the oven. Bake it for 45 min. I like crispy top so I uncover it 15 min before the end.

This dish goes best with beer.



My grandpa's smokehouse