Stuffed Dried Red Peppers and Trip to Serbia

From my last trip to Serbia I brought back dried peppers bought at a farmers market. I was never crazy about them before, but when I made them yesterday they were very good... actually, I can't recall anything so delicious I ate recently.


My first thought was how expensive it would be here, in the U.S... two bunches of them, 18 in total would cost quite a lot... The stuffing is similar to risotto with mushrooms, but a sweet, mild flavor and crispy texture of peppers gives the dish something very special. And, after all, they look so gorgeous assembled in the bake ware.


This is very important - eat them with crumbled Feta cheese.

You need:


18 dried red peppers
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 lb crimini mushrooms, cut in small pieces
2 cups of vegetable broth
150g rice
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped


Steps:

Cover the dried peppers with very hot water in a large bowl. Leave them to soften for 2 hours.

In a large skillet heat the olive oil, saute chopped onions for 3 minutes, add garlic, and chopped carrot and celery. After 4-5 minutes, add mushrooms. Before mushrooms start to produce liquid add rice and stir until rice gets coated with oil, about 1-2 minutes. Pour in vegetable broth, reduce the heat and stir stuffing constantly for 15 minutes. Remove it from the stove and allow to cool down. Stir in chopped walnuts.

Preheat the oven to 395F (200C).

Drain the peppers and stuff them with rice stuffing. Arrange them in a baking dish, cover with an aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. When the dish is almost done remove the aluminum foil and bake for a few minutes to get a nice crust.

This recipe is featured on New York Times' website 

Have a look at photos from Serbia: bakeries, typical farmers market, Sunday family lunch and downtown of Belgrade.

Bread with Sesame and Caraway Seeds

Serbian Popular Desserts: Šampita and Krempita

Burek

Savory Pastry 

Farmers Market in Spring

Wild Dried Pears

Pasta

Honey

Serbian Farmers Market

Sunday Lunch

Sauteed Sauerkraut with Smoked Fish

Jelly Rolls

Sour Cherry Phyllo Pie

Sava River, Belgrade

Belgrade, Downtown

Belgrade, Downtown

People Enjoying the Beginning of Spring

Belgrade, Downtown

Mushroom Phyllo Pie (Pita sa pečurkama)

I like anything made with phyllo dough. Sweet or savory. Maybe because of its crunchiness, or something else... Never tried to make that dough from the scratch, but one day, I promised myself, I will.

This is not like regular mushroom pie, but since it goes with phyllo you have to believe me it must be very good. I found out that some people call this pastry Mushroom Strudel, but in my opinion strudel is something else.

You do not need much stuff, but you should be careful with your choice of phyllo dough since thicker is better, but even thin one will work if you are easy on the filling. Remember to defrost the phyllo in the fridge the night before you work with it.

Check this link out if you want to learn more about how to work with phyllo dough. 

You need:

• 1 package of phyllo dough
• 23 oz (650g) button mushrooms, finally sliced
• 1 large onion, finally chopped
• 4 eggs
• 1 cup sour cream
• ½ cup canola oil
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Salt & black pepper

Steps:

1. Prepare baking pan. I use one with dimensions 10x15 inches (25x38cm), so no need to cut the phyllo. Place baking sheet and spray oil.
2. Preheat the oven to 475F. (240C)
3. Be careful with handling phyllo dough, especially if it is too thin. Cover it with a damp cloth while you work because it keeps the dough from drying out. Since I make four big rolls, lengthwise, I divide whole numbers of phyllo sheets by 4. There are usually 20 phyllo sheets per package, so 5 layers for each roll.
4. Make two fillings.
5. First filling is with mushrooms and onion. Heat the pan, pour a tablespoon of canola oil, saute chopped onion, and add sliced mushrooms. Season the filling with salt and fresh pepper. You shouldn’t cook it more than 7 minutes over high heat. Put it aside to cool down.
6. Second filling goes with beaten eggs, sour cream, canola oil and baking powder. Mix everything together and add salt.
7. When the fillings are done start to fill the phyllo dough. Place phyllo sheets on the counter. If the phyllo dough is thick you can spread the second filling on each sheet, mushroom filling put on the top one. If you work with thin phyllo dough, spread the second filling on every other sheet, and the mushroom filling on the top. Try to reduce the amount of filling. You have to be fast, do not allow the dough to become moist, otherwise you won’t be able to transfer the roll to the baking pan. When you finish with filling, roll up the phyllo lengthwise. If you use silicon pad or parchment paper for rolling, it will make things much easer for you.
8. After you make enough rolls to fill in the baking pan (I make 4 rolls), cut the pie in even squares.  Spread the rest of the second filling over the pie.
9. Bake it for 15 minutes on 475F (240C). And, decrease temperature to 395F (200C) and bake it for additional 15 minutes.
10. When the top is golden brown remove it from the oven and cool it down.

You can have mushroom phyllo pie as a breakfast, or serve it as an appetizer. But, remember, the best way is eating it with ajvar and kefir. Don’t have any doubt about it!

Below is the picture of my dear friend Darlene who made Mushroom Phyllo Pie using my recipe. Looks really nice.

Gorgeous Risotto with Wild Mushrooms

Last fall I became addicted to risotto...  to any kind. Finally, I found a good recipe how to make a great basic risotto. And, I started to make different combos... with saffron, different veggies, cheeses and spices, etc....and, I ended up with Ina Garten's wild mushrooms' risotto. I have to admit I didn't follow all details from her recipe, I did many things on my own, because I knew it could be even more better than hers. That was such a feast for all my senses! I don't have words to describe it... earthy, creamy... an incredible flavor. I have never tried anything so good as this risotto.

You need:

• 1 pound fresh crimini mushrooms
• 1 oz of each: dried porcini and crimini mushrooms (all can be found in Whole Foods)
• 1 1/2 cup Arborio rice (why Arborio, it's simply the best for risotto)
• 1 big finely chopped onion
• 5 chopped scallions ( I always add scallions whenever recipe asks for onion, because they have such a great flavor)
• 1 chopped shallot
• 1 oz diced pancetta
• 3 tbs. butter
• 3 tbs. olive oil
• 5 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and black pepper

Steps:

1. Soak dried mushrooms in 2 cups of hot water for 30 min. Drain them and cut, and add the rest of water,  where mushrooms have been soaked, to chicken broth.
2. Slice fresh mushrooms, chop onions and dice bacon.
3. Bring chicken broth and mushroom liquid to a simmer.
4. In a large pan heat olive oil and butter. Add onion and bacon, and after 5 min all mushrooms. Saute them altogether for 5 min over medium heat.
5. Add rice and stir to coat the grains with butter. Cook for 2 min on medium-low heat.
6. Pour white wine and two full ladles of chicken broth and cook for 7 min. Add a cup of broth every time when rice absorbs liquid with constant stirring.
7. Rice will be done in about 25-30 min total. Time sometimes varies as the amount of liquid. It should be al dente done.
8. Add grated Parmesan cheese, salt and fresh black pepper and last ladle of chicken brought. Stir it until you get dense and creamy texture.
9. Serve it immediately.

Notes: I served this risotto with broccoli rabe sauteed with garlic and flavors came up perfectly together.
If you want to eat risotto later, just reheat it and add some chicken broth.