[beerocd]

So you guys use the fermented kraut too for stuffing, like the Romanians? I know a Russian guy who stuffs the whole head and then slow roasts it over open coals. falls apart when you cut into it but OMG. is it good.

Do Serbian cooks use polenta? Must be some Italian influence there, right?

I would love to see and hear more about Serbian cooking. Christmas feast sounds great what with a whole roast pig and all. Next Christmas we are doing the seven fishes but maybe we will do the Serbian Christmas feast the year after that.

I still havent done the Georgian thing but it is on deck.

Only corn meal I had is "kacamak" ka cha mahk  and it is generally a breakfast food. Yellow and white corn meal boiled until it is very thick. Beat it, like mashed potatoes to get an even consistency, you end up with a corn cake that you flip out onto a plate. You take a hunk and chop it up into bite sized pieces, pour hot milk over it and a bit of sugar.

Stuffed cabbage for Serbs is usually fermented. If you can't get it, you peel the leaves and boil em a little in water and vinegar to soften them. Then for a bit of that flavor you can use regular kraut placed between the cabbage rolls to infuse that flavor through the rolls. Schedule got messed up - they're  on the menu this week, just not sure which day.

I figure you can get to work welding together a spit ahead of time. Maybe test it a time or two in good weather. Maybe you can dual purpose the motor for spinning the spit to be used on your grain crusher.

[capozzoli]

Sounds like Polenta to me. They call it Mamaliga in Romania.  They may call it they same thing in Bulgaria too.

Spit sounds like a good idea. Maybe I can get it broken in on Easter by roasting a whole goat. Head on of coarse.

[beerocd]

I usually think of "polenta" as a side (maybe firm and fried), or bed for some other food when looking at it in an Italian context.
Gotta leave the head on - gotta shove the skewer thru something. We just have two angle iron triangles to support the skewers on each end and a pan across the bottom for the fire. Nothing serious. It's not on wheels and it's not enclosed.

[beerocd]

Made the filling for the cabbage rolls last night. Chopped up leek and onions sweated with some margarine. Partially cooked rice - it will finish while the cabbage rolls are baking, and lots of ground walnuts( meat substitute). Ratio is about 2 rice to 1 everything else in equal ratios. I know it's not much of a recipe - but that's how we cook. Salt, Pepper, Paprika and Vegeta to taste.

Fresh cabbage for this one, so cook the leaves in some water with vinegar (1 cup to the pot)  to soften them so you can make the rolls easier. The rolls will be baked, in a roaster, with a small bit of water on the bottom of the pan, maybe a quarter up the height of the rolls. For the sour taste we emptied a jar of kraut on top to cover the rolls and then some of the unusable leaves to cover that keeping the moisture in the rolls.

I'll take pictures at dinnertime.

[capozzoli]

Balti style Indian food.



From left to right- chili pepper dal, coconut curry cod fish, masala onion rice, plantains in a sweet and sour tamarind sauce, layered paratha bread.

If anyone wants the recipes Ill write them out. They are long though, especially in the spice department.

नया साल मुबारक हो

[beerocd]

I think it's been 3 years since my last indian dish. Some goofy spice or something I had at a buffet made me feel like the Underdog float at the parade, you know, wish you were dead kinda feeling. I still use curry, cumin, tumeric. It's especially good with fresh cabbage - saute onions & cabbage in olive oil, add the indian spices and some salt. Dunno why I started doing it, it's easy, it's good. But I don't do indian anymore.

[bluesman]

Balti style Indian food.



From left to right- chili pepper dal, coconut curry cod fish, masala onion rice, plantains in a sweet and sour tamarind sauce, layered paratha bread.

If anyone wants the recipes Ill write them out. They are long though, especially in the spice department.

नया साल मुबारक हो

That's genious!

[beerocd]

How about the bread recipe?

[capozzoli]

Kind a hard to spell out some of the tricks to making paratha so here is video from a great cooking web site.

http://72.3.253.187/vahrehvah/popvideo.php?recipe_id=4245

Man this guy is funny.

Oh that is why they call it gunpowder.

Here is a roti recipe too.

http://72.3.253.187/vahrehvah/popvideo.php?recipe_id=427

[nicneufeld]

I had some wonderful indian food at a somewhat humble and not expensive local restaurant last week.  The food was so good, I requested an armistice with indian food...I will no longer aspire to master it, I will just enjoy it.  Cap, looks like you've invested enough to come near to mastery, but I think I'll resign from the south asian front and concentrate on other cuisines to master, for now.

Anything curing lately?  I have a Tender-Quick cured pork loin on the smoker right now to be canadian or "back" bacon.  With that cold smoker I am going to cure and cold smoke lox or gravlax.  Someday I will perhaps even get into the uncooked, dry cured fermented sausages like salume and its ilk, but I'm not nearly so bold now.  Let me cure and eat raw salmon and I'll be making progress from my "everything cooked til its dry" upbringing!

[bluesman]

Roomali Roti is the thinnest bread in the world. It's quite challenging to make as well.

That guy VahReyVah is funny. He is a motivational cook too. I like him.

I want to try making some gunpowder and experiment with it. VahRey uses it like there's no tomorrow. 

[beerocd]

Just got back from church - the kuvana rakija was flowin'! 

[beerocd]

Burek time!
For reference, the island is about 3.5 X 5.5 ft.


Feta Cheese on top, seasoned beef/onion/garlic on bottom left, and a mix of the two fillings bottom right.

I was too close on this last shot, a little blurry. I gotta work on my camera skills. This is the wife's work BTW.

[narvin]

Kind a hard to spell out some of the tricks to making paratha so here is video from a great cooking web site.

http://72.3.253.187/vahrehvah/popvideo.php?recipe_id=4245

Man this guy is funny.

Oh that is why they call it gunpowder.

Here is a roti recipe too.

http://72.3.253.187/vahrehvah/popvideo.php?recipe_id=427

I love that guy.  His tikka masala recipe was damn good, too.

[beerocd]

I love that guy.  His tikka masala recipe was damn good, too.

What am I missing? My tikka sauce comes in a jar.