The winter is the best time to indulge in mussels on the Adriatic coast of Slovenia and Croatia. This is a very simple recipe for steamed mussels and ensures the taste of the fabulous, succulent mussels shines through and is not dominated by any other ingredient.
Here’s my foolproof recipe…
Ingredients
1kg mussels, with the beards and any barnacles removed, any open mussels should be disguarded
250ml white wine (Malvasia would be ideal)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 tbsp parsley, chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
Put oil, wine, parsley and garlic into a stock pot and heat until it reaches a simmer
Place the mussels into the pot
Put a lid on the pot and allow the mussels to steam for 4 to 5 minutes
Serve when the mussels are open, with bread to mop up the sauce
This recipe is traditionally eaten during the hottest days of the year in Southern Bulgaria. However, I like to use plenty of paprika so it makes a great hearty, warming side dish for those cold winter days. Serve with a sprinkling of parsley as garnish and a dollop of sour cream.
Ingredients
40ml olive oil
Handful of fresh flat leaf parsley
1kg of firm ripe tomatoes
1 tsp caster sugar
45g white breadcrumbs
1 tbsp paprika
Seasoning
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 180°C
Grease a baking dish with 1 tbsp of oil
Sprinkle the dish with a generous helping of chopped parsley
Slice the tomatoes and arrange in the dish so they overlap
Sprinkle the tomatoes with seasoning and sugar
Mix breadcrumbs together with remaining oil and paprika
Sprinkle breadcrumb mix over top of tomatoes
Cover dish with foil
Bake in the oven for 45 minutes, remove the foil for the last 10 minutes of cooking
Garnish with a sprinkling of parsley and serve with a dollop of sour cream
Tea, for the English and Russians alike is the highlight of the day. I love tea too. I’m quite partial to Whittard’s Caravan Russian Black Tea, served with a slice of lemon. And while all manner of biscuits or cakes may be great to eat while enjoying your favourite warm beverage, there is nothing better than a simple Russian cheesecake. A true afternoon delight…
Ingredients
15g butter
2 slices of white bread, blitzed to breadcrumbs
4 eggs
500g ricotta cheese
(unless you are lucky and live near a Russian supermarket which sells proper cottage cheese)
90g caster sugar
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 tbsp semolina
75g currents
1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
Soak currents and lemon rind in lemon juice and vanilla extract
Separate the eggs
Beat egg yolks with caster sugar, ricotta and semolina
Add currents and lemon rind to egg yolks
Beat egg whites until stiff peaks are formed
Gently fold in egg whites using a metal spoon
Grease loose-bottomed cake tin with butter
Generously apply breadcrumbs to the tin
Pour mixture in to tin
Heat in oven on 175 degrees Celsius for 35 minutes or until golden brown on outside and set inside
Serve dusted with icing sugar and garnished with assorted berries such as blueberries, bilberries, strawberries or raspberries (or a mixture of any of those mentioned)
Kotletki are Russian fast food but unlike that of the Western world, they are delicious and healthy. They can be bought from the supermarket or when out and about and in need of a quick, hot snack. But most people would make these at home. So I gave it a go and I was impressed. Lovely chunky burgers, with great texture and taste.
Ingredients
1 grated potato
1 grated white onion
300g minced pork
300g minced beef
100g white breadcrumbs
40g butter
30ml rapeseed oil
100ml smetana (sour cream)
To serve with buckwheat:
350g buckwheat
Cook as instructed and add gently-fried slithers of white onion
Instructions
Add mince, potato and onion in a bowl and mix thoroughly
Make into small balls and pat flat into burgers
Place in breadcrumbs and thoroughly coat
Heat oil and butter in frying pan
Fry burgers in pan on each side for 2 to 3 minutes
Then put lid on pan and continue cooking on a low heat for 10 minutes
This makes an ideal starter because you can easily prepare the mushrooms and just finish off under the grill to serve to your guests. Alternatively, they make a great lunchtime or supper snack for the peckish among you. Also, this dish makes a great vegetarian dish if you omit the bacon and perhaps include some chopped chestnuts or meat substitute if you so desire.
I am a real advocate of the breadcrumb. If it wasn’t for the breadcrumb, I’d have never consumed cauliflower. The first time I tasted cauliflower was in Kranjska Gora. Mira, the Grandmother, would gently heat florets of cauliflower in some simmering water, then remove them from the water, let them cool, coat them in egg and breadcrumbs and fry. Perfect!
Kranjska Gora was also the first place I ever tried veal. Being thirteen the first time I visited (in 1999) I was actually a bit confused as to what veal was. I am not ashamed to say this. However, once I tasted it, I knew I would always be a veal lover. It is not as unkind as most people think due to media campaigns from previous decades. British veal in particular is very humane and, I’ll have you meat eaters know (cannot argue with the vegetarians and vegans among you, you have morals, I do not) that when you tuck into some lamb, it is actually killed at a younger age than veal.
A popular dish in Slovenia and Croatia, and no doubt other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, is veal escalope in a breadcrumb crust. This is such an easy dish to make!
Ingredients
Veal escalopes
Plain flour (with seasoning: salt and black pepper)
Beaten eggs
White breadcrumbs
Butter
Olive oil
Instructions
Put plain flour on a plate
Beat eggs and put in bowl
Put breadcrumbs on plate
Make sure veal is sufficiently flat, if not, beat with a meat hammer
Coat veal in plain flour
Dip veal into beaten egg
Dip veal into breadcrumbs
(For best results: double dip! No nothing to do with British MPs’ expenses!)
Re-dip into beaten egg
Re-dip into breadcrumbs
Heat olive oil and butter in frying pan
Put veal into pan
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes on one side
Turn
Cook for 2 to 3 minutes maximum
Serve on a bed of watercress, spinach and rocket, drizzled in olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and black pepper
