With summer in full swing and chillies on regular supply (thanks family!) I’m afraid you’ll be seeing a few more of my quick rustic family favourites.

Typically eaten for breakfast or lunch, the charm of this dish is serving it the old fashioned way, in the middle of the table with a pile of fresh bread, yoghurt and a juicy tomato salad. Everyone helps themselves from the communal pan/bowl and the best part is wiping it clean with bite sized pieces of bread.

Any leftovers taste great the following day for a quick breakfast or lunch on buttered toast.

Continue reading Rustic Fried Chillies with Eggs & Cheese (Przeni Piperki so Jaca i Sirenje)

Hello and welcome to 2010!

By now many of you have pulled down the Christmas tree, reluctantly returned to work and successfully convinced yourself that no carbs and going to the gym every day for the next two weeks isn’t such a bad idea. For my family and I, the Christmas festivities continue as this week is “Bozik”, the traditional Orthodox Christmas celebrated on 7 January (it’s based on the old Julian calendar).

I have so many lovely memories of making bread with Mum for “Koleda” (Christmas Eve). We always made two types of bread, dolls for the girls and bicycles for the boys. The breads are given as gifts to all the children with lollies and other treats rather toys. I’m not sure how long the tradition has been around for, but there’s one thing for sure, I’m committed to keep it going.

Even if you don’t celebrate Koleda, making these with the kids over the holidays is a wonderful way to get them involved in the kitchen. Alternatively, you can bake as a loaf and eat while warm with a generous spread of butter and a sprinkling of crumbled feta cheese.

Continue reading Festive Bread (Koleda Leb)

Every family has Christmas traditions, so every Christmas Eve Mum would bring out the Christmas ham. In preparation for the following day we’d enjoy a light dinner of ham off the bone, a beautiful tomato salad and fresh crusty bread (vienna loaf is best).

In reality, I love this tomato salad throughout summer, when juicy ripe tomatoes are in abundance. Depending on your taste buds, you may prefer this salad dressed with just olive oil and salt, as the tomato juices form part of the dressing. If however, your a vinegar lover like me, a splash of red wine vinegar makes this salad just perfect.

The best part is mopping up the juices with bite-sized chunks of soft bread, yum, yum, yum!

Continue reading Christmas Eve Tomato Salad (Salata od Domati)

You know it’s Christmas when desserts start taking the shape of merry snow balls.

These yummy European apple and walnut treats are not strictly a Christmas tradition, but are a lovely alternative to the regular rum ball. The apple stays quite moist and combined with the walnuts, it’s a match made in heaven and very hard to stop at just one!

There are only 5 ingredients and no baking, making this recipe so easy that even the kids can help.

Continue reading Apple & Walnut Yum Balls (Bombici so Jabolka)

Inevitably, living in an apartment limits what I can grow in pots on my sunny balcony. I have a couple of essential herbs growing like parsley, rosemary, basil and sage, but for the good stuff (chillies, tomatoes and cucumbers) I have to rely on my garden obsessed family. Luckily for me, the supply of heavenly summer garden vegetables has begun with my first bag of fresh chillies!

Continue reading Grilled Chillies (Pecheni Piperki)

When Alex visits her grandma she always requests her favourite home-cooked dish, ‘Poulet au Citron’ and after cooking it for dinner last night I can totally understand why. The combination of sweet raisins, tangy lemon and velvety rum is oh so comforting and of-course delicious too!

Continue reading French Lemon Chicken with Rum & Raisins (Poulet au Citron)

There is nothing better than fresh homemade yoghurt, served alongside stuffed capsicums and musaka, or drizzled with honey for quick summery breakfast.

Continue reading Homemade Yoghurt

You can imagine my excitement when I received an ‘authentic’ pudding recipe from a friend – a recipe which has been in the family for several generations. Word is that Grandma Bess (born in 1915) was given the recipe from her grandmother, who picked it up at the Royal Easter show all those years ago.

Continue reading Grandma’s Christmas Pudding

Admittedly, spinach is one of my favourite greens and one of my favourite ways of eating it is in a traditional village-style stew called mandza (pronounced muhn-juh).

Continue reading Village-style Spinach Stew (Mandza so Spanjak)

If you’re one of those people that will forgo savory so that you can justify eating something sweet – this Balkan classic is for you. It’s intensely delicious and very hard to stop at just one!

The famous Croatian packaged wafer biscuit (Kras) will be found in most households in Europe (for those unexpected drop ins), but this no-bake recipe for homemade napolitanki is so much tastier.

As to be expected, there are endless variations, but from all those that I have tasted (and there have been many), this recipe is by far the most mouth watering. It’s based on the recipe you’ll find on the outside of the wafer packet but with a few yummy additions that my mum has always thrown in.

Napolitanki are great for large parties, when you need lots to go around. You can make them a week earlier and freeze. They’re best served at room temperature as the filling goes all soft and oozy.

Continue reading Delicious Wafer Biscuits (Napolitanki)