Thursday, June 28, 2012

Celebrating All the Colors of America


Every year around July4th, a slew of red, white and blue recipes appear on numerous websites.  You can find recipes for red, white and blue jello, cakes, and just about every other dessert. 

When I think of America, yes, I think of red, white and blue.  I also think of all the other colors of this country.  We are a nation of immigrants, coming to this country in search of our own American dream.  Some came by choice, while others came by force.  But be that as it may, we are all Americans.  So this July 4th, let's embrace all that we are.

In honor of July 4th, I am posting a blog by one of my students, Adrijana Pusnik, a new immigrant from Croatia.  So here is the blog, in Adrijana's own words.


Being from the Balkans and now residing in the Midwest, I have to share my Balkan cuisine with my American friends.  None is more popular back home than ćevapi (or chevapi).  These are mini finger like sausages that are grilled and served on pita bread with onions and other condiments.

The origin of ćevapi has many different variations, but the story that I am familiar with goes that this recipe was founded on the Ottoman Empire expansion into the Balkans where the Slavs, who lived there, had to obey the Ottomans or they would be killed.  One of these ways to obey was to adapt to their cuisine, such as the kebab or a larger version of ćevapi consisting of a larger grilled sausage served on pita bread.

There are a few things I like about the recipe, such as it is a reasonable portion size and perfect for social gatherings.  As well as, it doesn't take long to make and there is flexibility with ingredients being added to create one's own version of ćevapi.  The total cooking time is about 30 minutes, usually about 10 minutes to prepare the mixture and about 20 minutes to grill. 

Ćevapi (or Chevapi)


Serves 4.

Ingredients:


1 pound ground beef, pork and/or lamb
1 egg white
1 to 4 garlic cloves or ¼ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda, to tenderize the meat
1 to 2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon paprika


Directions:

1.  Preheat a grill for medium-low heat.

2.  In a large bowl, combine the meat and egg white.  Add garlic or onion, salt, baking soda, black pepper, cayenne pepper and paprika.  Mix well.  Form into finger length sausages, about ¾ inch thick. 

3.  Lightly oil the grilling surface.  Grill sausages until cooked through, turning as needed, about 10 minutes for each sausage.

4.  Ćevapi are usually served on pita bread with condiments of one's choice, such as grilled onions and ajvar.


Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Eating Sicily

Sorry about not posting recently, but I was eating my way around Sicily.  We arrived in Catania, Sicily on May 20th and departed on June 2nd.  We had a wonderful trip.  To all the Sicilians who shared their culture with us, thanks.  I hope when you to travel to the US, we will show you the same hospitality. 

Over the summer, I will be sharing some of my favorite Sicilian recipes on this blog.  I had some very good and memorable foods. 




I must say Sicily had the most beautiful and biggest garlic bulbs I have ever seen.  If only I could have brought a few back to the states.




Eggplants, well, I think Sicilians have mastered using eggplants.  We saw variety after variety of eggplants.  We had eggplant lasagna, eggplant roll-ups, ricotta cheese sandwiched between eggplant slices.




Veal Involtini - essentially this is meat rolled around breadcrumbs and either fried, baked or grilled.  These were very thin slices of veal.  This dish makes good use of breadcrumbs and a small amount of meat.


 

And, finally dessert.  Most desserts tended to be lighter and refreshing. 

If you've got a favorite Mediterranean recipe, let us know.  But check back over the summer and see what is happening as a result of my trip.