SUGGESTION FOR A FESTIVE SERBIAN LUNCH

How to spend quality time that most of us spend at home in recent weeks and months?

Nowadays, when the whole family is together, that time "between the four walls" can be interwoven and filled with different, first of all - joint activities that are both fun and relaxing, and at the same time quiet useful. One of such activities is cooking together as well as preparing delicacies.

Celebrations, slava celebrations, ceremonies, get-togethers, gatherings, farewells, receptions, engagements, births, weddings, anniversaries, religious and national holidays, graduation, employment, first salary, retirement - there are countless reasons and occasions to celebrate, and a celebration without a rich meal is simply unimaginable.

On this occasion, we will not be dealing with major events, but with a nice and festive Serbian lunch, prepared by joint forces “during Covid”. Here are some suggestions based on already tried and tested recipes from our regions.

Of course, everything is preceded by an appetizer.

First suggestion – Cheese stuffed peppers (cold appetizer)

Ingredients:

8 – 10 red, long, thick peppers

500 gr. young cow's cheese

250 gr. kaymak, can be mature as well

bunch of parsley

salt to taste

Wash the peppers, dry them, and remove the stalks and seeds. Mix cheese with kaymak, add salt and chopped parsley. Fill the peppers well with this filling so that there is no empty space in them, and then leave them in the refrigerator for 1-2 hours. Cut the well-chilled peppers into rings with a sharp knife, arrange them on a serving plate, garnish with parsley and serve.

These peppers can be served with proja or bread. If desired, you can also add some cold cuts.

Second suggestion – Zeljanica (cheese and spinach pie)

Ingredients:

200 - 300 gr. spinach or other greens (patience dock, chard, leek)

250 gr. fat soft white cheese

2-3 eggs

2-3 spoons of sour cream or kaymak

½ cup of milk

3-4 tablespoons of fat or oil

250 - 300 gr. thinner filo pastry

Wash the greens (which you will use), clean them, cut them into smaller pieces and fry them briefly on oil.

Mash the cheese well; add egg yolk, sour cream or kaymak, greens and milk. Mix everything well. Beat the egg whites until foamy, and carefully mix it with the filling.

Grease a suitable baking dish well with fat or oil. Place 2-3 filo sheets on the bottom, spray them with fat and add a few spoonfuls of filling. Repeat the process until all the stuffing is used up. The last row should be a nice filo sheet that should be pressed and coated with fat.

The pie is baked at 200°C for about 40 minutes, until it rises and turns golden brown. It is good to let it rest for another 10 minutes after you turn off the oven so that it doesn’t collapse.

In our region, a celebration cannot be imagined without a good soup or stew. However, soups are not only a tasty dish, they belong to medicinal food. They are also recommended by physicians in the fight against viruses and colds, i.e. to strengthen the body after debilitating illnesses.

Vojvodina chicken vegetable soup

Needed:

1 large chicken (about 1500 gr.)

1 bunch of greens for soup (2-3 carrots, 2 parsley roots, 1 parsnip and half of celery)

1-2 leaves of fresh cabbage

1 onion

1-2 cloves of garlic

A few potatoes

Salt and peppercorns

Wash the chicken and cut it into larger pieces, cover with 2-3 liters of cold water. Heat and cook over moderate heat. When the meat is soft, add all the ingredients, except the potatoes. They are added at the very end, because it doesn’t take a lot of time to cook them. When the soup cools down a little, it is strained and noodles or dumplings are boiled in it (for which you got the recipe in one of the previous issues of SAN magazine). Soups with several types of meat are equally good. You will eat the boiled meat and vegetables from the soup with horseradish sauce, which has a beneficial effect on the body. Horseradish has been used in traditional medicine since ancient times. The medicinal value of horseradish comes to its full expression when it is necessary to raise immunity, lower blood pressure or prevent diseases of the respiratory tract and bones.

We will leave the main dish to your choice, but with a note that big celebrations in our region cannot be imagined without roast and fried meat and various salads, depending on the season.

For dessert, we suggest VASA'S CAKE.

For the cake layer:

5 eggs

75 gr. sugar

10 gr. flour

75 gr. ground almonds

Oil or butter for greasing and flour for sprinkling the tray

First filling:

125 ml of milk

1 spoon of sugar

200 gr. ground walnuts

4 egg yolks

60 gr. sugar

Juice and peel of one orange

3 rows of chocolate (60 gr.)

150 gr. of butter

Second filling:

250 gr. sugar

2 dl of water

4 egg whites

If desired, fruit from jam or compote for decoration.

Preparation of the cake layer: Beat egg yolks and sugar until foamy. Beat the egg whites into foam. Alternately add ground almonds, flour and egg white foam to the beaten egg yolks. Mix lightly.

Grease the cake mold well and sprinkle it with flour. Pour in the dough and bake for about 20-25 minutes at 175°C. Leave the baked cake layer to cool.

For the first filling: Boil the milk, add a spoonful of sugar and ground walnuts and, with constant stirring, boil briefly. Then cool it down. Beat egg yolks with 60 gr. sugar and cook them on steam, then mix in walnuts, add juice and grated orange peel, melted or grated chocolate. Beat the butter separately, then add it to this filling and start filling the cake.

For the second filling: Pour water over the sugar and cook over moderate heat until the syrup is as thick as honey. Beat the egg whites until foamy and add the sugar syrup while stirring gently, and mix until the mass cools down completely. Apply the cold foam over the first filling and level it with a wet knife. Decorate it as desired and keep it in the refrigerator until serving.