č is for čevapčici

čevapčici who hasn't enjoyed these spicy skinless sausages at a BBQ at least once in their lives and before i go any further they are NOT rissoles, good got that clear now lets move on, čevapčici  are popular all over the balkans as a fast food snack especially as a 3am got to have one now kind of snack,can be teamed up with their cousin raznjiči ( diced pork ) to form a POLA-POLA (half and half). You get one bread roll fill with čevapčici and raznjici add ajvar top off with kiseli kupus ( coleslaw but not the dodgy mayo kind ) and enjoy with ice cold beer. Some of the best čevapčici I have had were at the Zagreb railway station that my cousin Dario took me to basically the menu consisted of čevapčici and that's it, they served them on a paper plate with a side of RAW sliced onion and a little pile of salt and a sourdough type roll, to fit in with the locals the technique was to dip raw onion slice in salt ,eat and then take a bite of čevap and wash down with beer.. lovely. Now you can buy pre packaged but why bother when I am going to give you the recipe.


750 grams of  beef ( try rump ) 
750 grams of  pork neck ( if anybody tells you that you don't need pork for this recipe they don't know what they are talking about )
2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
tsp salt 
tsp pepper
4 tbsp sparkling mineral water or soda water
olive oil 
2 brown onions finely chopped


Add  water,garlic , salt, and pepper and meat put through mincer ( if mincing at home mince meat on finest setting you have ) if you have bought mince and its not fine enough you can put it in a plastic bag and gently beat with a meat tenderizer and then mix ingredients, and also make sure that the garlic is really finely chopped as it wont be going through the mincer if you have bought mince.
Once you have combined the ingredients either by putting through mincer or mixing by hand add mineral water and mix by hand for 10 min.
Put covered bowl in fridge and leave for 1hr.
After 1 hr mix meat for another 5min
Get a soup spoon and scoop out some of meat mixture say size of a ping pong ball and place in the palm of your hand and  roll into a cigar shape.
Arrange on a flat plate I like to drizzle a little olive oil on the plate beforehand to stop them sticking.
Rest for 30min

Cook on medium to high BBQ or grill pan for about 10 min turning over at 5 min mark.


Serve with ajvar, onion, bread and if you must..... tomato sauce.

C is for Crni Rizot

Now this is a dish that you will find up and down the adriatic coast particularly in Croatia to various degrees of sucess, i have had some that were a bit heavy on the salt but others so smooth and silky the black ink giving you that mouth feel like nothing else, this dish originates from Venice a legacy of the 400 or so years of Venetian rule and h.as been in my opinion refined and improved over those years. The photo attached is from our wedding banquet in the old walled city of Zadar showing the black rizot and a tomato paprika spiced version on the left, also note my cousin Sabina's Marlborough lights, trust me nobody asks permission to light up they just go right ahead ( I swear i almost took up smoking ). This recipe will feed a fair few so i would suggest have a few people over.

1KG Cuttlefish ( I have found that the vietnamese fishmongers of Abbotsford and Springvale  have it quite often.

200g School prawns ( or the smallest prawns you can buy )
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
3 tbsp finely chopped parsley ( Not the curly kind, ...do people still use that ? )
3 tbsp passata ( pasta sauce )
3 cups of arborio rice
2/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup of sherry ( here in oz I would suggest getting your hands on a half bottle of Manzanilla )
2 or 3 sprigs of thyme
1.5 ltr of fish stock

salt and pepper


Rinse the cuttle fish in cold water, removing the innards and bone being careful to not rupture the ink sack which you will put aside.
Separate legs and cut up main part into 1.5cm by 1.5 cm approx pieces.
Gently heat olive oil in heavy based pot.
Add tentacles and pieces fry for approx 10min on a medium flame add chopped garlic,parsley, passata,pepper to taste. for another 2 min
Add white wine, sherry and 2 cups of the fish stock cooking it until the cuttle fish has a bit of bite to it but not too much ( sort of al dente )
Add rice and  more stock,salt to taste, thyme and a sack of the black ink ( the darker you want it the more ink you add but TASTE after you add the sac so you know when enough is enough ) keep adding stock till you are happy with the rice add the cleaned prawns about 5min in, this all should take 12 to 15 min stirring constantly.
Remove from heat
Cover and let rest for 10min before serving with a crusty sourdough and a glass of John Kosovich Chardonnay from Swan Valley W.A

So you wanna make burek well here's the recipe

1 packet of bought filo pastry ( if you want to make your own go right ahead )
1kg         ricotta cheese
200g       sour cream
1/2tsp      salt
3             egg yolks
3             egg whites stiffly beaten till they peak of your whisk ( teach them whose boss )
160ml     light flavoured olive oil

FILLING
Beat the cheese, salt egg yolks and sour cream in a bowl making sure they are well combined and then fold in the stiffened egg whites

Preheat oven to 180c

Cut the pastry to fit a 30cm or so baking tin that has been lightly greased with oil or butter
Brush two sheets and place in bottom of tin, next spread a thin layer of the cheese mix on the pastry, and basically you alternate between layers of cheese and pastry until you have used up whichever first, making sure you have two or three layers of filo left over to cover the top, brush the top with oil poke a few holes with a fork and sprinkle on some salt flakes or good quality ground salt bake for 30min.

Serve with a dollop of yoghurt on the side and an ice cold beer (Karlovacko) to be authentic, you can experiment with the filling some suggestions would be,

Grated walnuts and sweet ricotta, spinach and mushroom although if you are going to do a sweet version substitute sugar for the salt in above recipe

Dobar Tek ( enjoy, eat well etc etc ....)