Hobotnica a recipe if you have ever wondered what to do with.......Octopus

This is a classic summer recipe although nowdays you can get our eight legged friends at all time of the year. I have very fond memories of eating this as part of a summer feast with grilled sardines (srdele ) calamari ( ligne ) bakalar and my all time favourite whitebait ( girice ) because the octopus is prepared as a salad its a great recipe to bring to a party or BBQ although I have never understood the bring a plate philosophy and I mean literally didn't understand it to the point that in high school I brought a empty plate to a " bring a plate " function as part of end of year festivities.

50g diced capers
2 cloves garlic diced
black pepper
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
50ml vinegar or verjuice
100ml olive oil
10 bay leaves
1/4 cup of white wine
4 or 5 potatoes a good waxy type

now to prepare the octopus you can go two ways
1/ get peasant style and give the beast a good bash on some rocks ( preferably no where near your home ) till you feel that it has softened up
2/ you freeze the octopus.

why freeze well when you put it in the pot covered with water , bay leaves and the white wine added the fact that its frozen will tenderize and speed up the cooking process whilst you bring it to the boil, you want to get the tentacles to the point that they are al dente once you have got it to that stage dice the tentacles put into bowl with capers, garlic season with salt and pepper.

Bring potatoes to boil in salted water let them cook just through let them cool chop and add to octopus with olive oil and verjuice/white wine vinegar toss well and garnish with chopped parsley.

Gods favourite bean stew is Grah ( trust me its true )

I have a confession to make, I actually didn't like Grah when I was younger, go with me on this I'm going to go Freudian psychoanalysis for a moment and explain why. Mealtimes when I was a kid meant exactly that MEAL TIME and mum kept a traditional Croatian kitchen which meant we had to clear our plates no matter how piled up they were, It was also around this time ( 8 years old ) that I started flirting with some revolutionary ideas I had picked up at school such as announcing I didn't want grah and, demanded fish fingers that i had spied at my friend Craig's house ( not that they offered me any ) so 3 hours later I was still sitting at the table finishing off my last mouth full of cold grah whilst my brother was watching Starskey and Hutch or was it Fantasy Island I can never remember, anyway it was a few years before I was embraced in the grah fold again, I digress, for the best results use good quality small goods and don't take shortcuts with the recipe.

400G    Red kidney beans dried
200G     Slanine ( smoked bacon you can find it a balkan or polish delis ) or speck
2            onions
100G      diced celery
2             carrots
1/2          diced capsicum
1            bay leaf
2            hot chillies not birdseye but larger variety ( feferona )
40G       Lardo ( pork fat ) or lard
1tbs       sweet paprika
40G       flour
              salt and pepper

soak beans in cold water overnight, drain and bring to simmer for 10 min in water, drain once more add fresh water and bay leaf and bring to simmer once more.

In another pot heat lardo with finely diced onion, diced carrot, celery, capsicum, paprika  and slanina add flour to form a roux add water and simmer on a low heat, when the beans have softened strain and transfer to pot with vegetables mix well and season to taste cooking time all up 1 hr 40 min you can add Krajnski sausages ( no they were not invented in Yarraville Australia as some think but Kranj in Slovenia ) or a pork hock with the slanina, which to serve you can remove and serve on a side plate washed down with a fine beer.

have you noticed how every race on earth has a recipe for doughnuts well here is the Croatian one F is for Fritule

I reckon pretty soon after the human races started cultivating wheat , some one made the first doughnut and why not, who doesn't love a  doughnut and these are my absolute favourite, these are so good that my brothers fiance who is a diabetic was rushed to hospital one afternoon after having one too many of these beauties ( true story I swear ) this recipe is particular to the Dalmatian region of Croatia were I hail from and just one word of advice you got to eat these hot to get the best result ( I bet you knew that already )

- 6 tsp. (2 packets of dry yeast)

- 125 ml (1/2 cup) warm water

- 250 ml (1 cup) + 1 pinch sugar

- 1.75 liters (7 cups) plain flour

- 500 ml (2 cups) boiling water

- 125 ml (1/2 cup) rakija, plum brandy or other brandy

- 2 tsp. vanilla

- 1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg

- 250 ml (1 cup) raisins

- Zest of 1 lemon

- Oil for frying

- Icing sugar

1. Mix the yeast with the warm water and a pinch of sugar and set aside until risen and foamy. Place the flour in large bowl, forming a well. Add the hot water gradually and blend with a wooden spoon. Keep stirring until the dough begins to form a ball.
2. Continue beating as you gradually add the 1 cup sugar, brandy, vanilla, nutmeg, raisins and lemon rind. Blend in the yeast mixture and then let the batter rest for 15 to 20 minutes. Meanwhile heat the cooking oil in a deep pot or fryer (the oil should be at least 6 cm / 2 1/2" deep).
3. When the oil is hot enough (test by dropping in a small piece of the batter, which should sizzle, but not burn), drop in the batter by well-rounded 1/2 tablespoon measures. You will have to dip the measuring spoon in water between spoonfuls of batter to clean it off. You may also have to coax the batter off the spoon.
4. Do not overcrowd . Ensure the fritule are turned so that all sides are golden. When browned, transfer with a slotted spoon to paper towels, let cool slightly, then roll in powdered sugar. Arrange on a serving platter.

Elvis was my uncle and the biggest Balkanac that ever lived.

A few people have asked me about the photo of Elvis and Richard Nixon that I have on the blog, I'll get to Elvis first and Tricky Dick will have to wait for another time, my parents are big Elvis fans and there was absolute silence whenever there was an old elvis movie on tv, my mum had a framed photo of Elvis on the mantle piece where ever we lived in Australia next to the photos of all our relatives back home, now I thought nothing of this as I was convinced that Elvis was " Striko Elvis " or Uncle Elvis and why not there he was up with the rest of the family, dark and swarthy like the rest of us, overseas like the rest of the relatives, and also beacuse Elvis was the biggest BALKANAC !!! ( ie someone from the balkans ) that ever lived and here's the proof
1/ Elvis was a known connoisseur of all things pork especially bacon and as anyone knows nobody loves pork more than a balkanac (the Chinese a distant second )

2/ Elvis was a mommas boy, and no self respecting balkanac can live without constant smothering from his Majka and her food.

3/ Elvis's penchant for firearms, I once spent a good part of new years eve a while back in Croatia lying on the floor of my cousins apartment as gunfire rang out all around, only to join in later to let of a few rounds whilst drunk on slivovitz, and bambus ( red wine and coke, don't knock it till you have tried it )

Recipe coming soon ( maybe one elvis would be proud of )

What sort of alphabet has three versions of the letter D well here is the last one

Đuvec is a great stew that can be the saviour at your next dinner party when one of the guests is horror of horrors a VEGETARIAN Arrrggghhhh !!!!!! as anyone who has hung around us balkan types or been to the region can testify is that we love our meat, and that's all types Pork ( all hail the magic meat ) lamb ( spit roasted ), goat , duck, goose, and just recently they have revived in Croatia an ancient breed of Istrian Oxen called Boscarin which is going to give wagyu a good run for its money, which is not very hard as how much average grade wagyu is out there, I passed a Subway recently and it was advertising a new Wagyu 6 inch sub ....so  finding vegetarian options can be a bit tough, my wife who makes her own muesli mixes, lasted about a week on our honeymoon in Croatia with the local breakfast of cold cuts of smoked meats, cheese and pastries washed down with espresso and slivovitz, so I did what any good husband would do I found her some muesli in get this a Chemist!!! when I asked the pharmacist who bought the stuff she replied " Oh you know invalids, people with digestive problems, anybody who can't eat a proper breakfast " I on the other hand relished an opportunity to have cake for breakfast and not be stared at.

2 cups      brown rice
600g         potatoes peeled and diced
1               onion
2              garlic cloves
2tbsp        olive oil
4              red capsicums
4               tomatoes
140ml       vegetable stock
                 black pepper
4tbsp        chopped parsley

Cook rice whatever way works for you absorption etc....
Bring the potatoes to the boil and simmer for 5 min
Fry garlic and diced onion in the olive oil till translucent
dice capsicum and tomatoes and add to pan also adding potatoes and saute for a few minutes
pour in stock bring to the boil and then simmer for 5 min stirring occasionally

Stir in cooked rice season to taste and serve with crusty bread and sprinkle with parsley.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a recipe that begins with DZ

Persistence pays off my fellow readers, here I was thinking I would have to skip a letter and hope no one notices, when I found this gem of a recipe that combines the elements of eastern and western European cuisine in one sweet little biscuit, with the cheese a eastern influence and the Powidl a more central European angle all combined by my ever resourceful ancestors, who took every opportunity to extract something out of whoever was the occupier at the time Turk, Venetian , Austrian the list goes on, anyway just one more blog after this one and we find out what the hell is the photo of Elvis and Nixon all about!!!!

DŽEPIĆI OD TIJESTA SA SIROM ( Cheese and Pastry pockets )
500G plain flour
40g    butter
500g  plain cottage cheese
1        egg yolk for brushing
1        tablespoon baking powder
powidl plum conserve find it most good delis( been dying to say that )
salt


Add the baking powder to the flour and mix well, knead in butter with fingers, add cheese by " crumbing" into the mix and work quickly to combine, once combined roll out on a floured bench till its the thickness of say a chefs knife cut into squares however large you like, smear some of the plum mix in   the centre of each square fold corners into the centre and wash with egg yolk, place in hot oven until golden brown and enjoy with a fine herbal tea maybe a sipak ( rose hip )