Bean Soup

Traditional Bulgarian soup made from white beans and vegetables. You can add dry cured or smoked ham for a better taste.

Ingredients:

2 cup white dry beans

1 carrot, peeled and diced

1/2 a celery (optional)

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tomato

3 peppers, chopped

Parsley

Sunflower oil

Salt and pepper

Preparation:

1.Saturate the bean in cold water for at least four hours, then drain and pour fresh water.

2. Boil the bean in a pot with sunflower oil and fine cut carrot, celery and onion.

3. Peppers are added later.  When the bean has turned tender, add the grated tomato, then salt and boil for another 20 minutes.

4. Serve sprinkled with parsley and pepper. 

Preparation and cooked time: 3 hours and 40 minutes

Portions: 4

Snow-White Salad

Do you remember the cold cucumber soup called Tarator? The Snow-white salad is known as dry Tarator. It's an easy to make salad with refreshing impact.

Ingredients: 

2 cucumbers, peeled and chopped

2 cups whole-milk yoghurt,

1/2 cup walnuts,

2 cloves garlic,

Dill, finely chopped

Olive or sunflower oil,

Salt

Preparation: 
1. Wash, peel and finely dice the cucumbers.

2. Add finely chopped garlic and dill, crushed walnuts, the full fat yoghurt and the oil. Salt, to taste.

3. Stir well the mixture, pour into plates and garnish with olives.

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Portion: 4

Sarmas - Stuffed Vine Leaves

Traditionally, Sarmas (pl.) are indispensable part of every Bulgarian table for Christmas.

Photos by Lois Slokoski

Ingredients:  

800g minced meat, beef and pork

1 onion, finely chopped

1 cup rice,

2 tablespoons parsley

1 teaspoon paprika,

1 pepper, chopped

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

30-40 vine leaves,

100g butter or ½ cup sunflower oil,

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation:

1. Fry the finely chopped carrot and onion in butter (or oil) and add paprika, then add the meat, pepper, rice and parsley.

Salt and pour over two cups of warm water. Simmer until the rice is cooked.

2. Scald the vine leaves with worm water. Put a tablespoon of the filling on each leaf. Roll every leaf with the stuffed filling and arrange in a saucepan.

3. Pour over one and a half cups of hot water and one tablespoon fat, then lid the saucepan and simmer on a low heat for over 3 hours.

4. Serve cold with 2-3 tablespoons of yoghurt. 

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 3-4 hours

Portions: 6

Christmas Walnut Rolls

One of our favourite Bulgarian Christmas pastry. You can make it part of your Christmas Eve dining table.      

Dough:

1 cup flour

½ cup low fat butter

1/4 cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

Filling:

1 vanilla powder

½ cup walnuts, pounded up

½ cup raisin

4 tablespoon rum

4 tablespoon honey

2 eggs

Milk

Preparation:

1. Knead dough from flour, butter, sugar and salt. Roll it out and divide into rectangles.

2. Blend the pounded walnuts with raisins, and mix with vanilla, rum and honey.

3. Whip one egg with 3 or 4 tablespoons of milk and spread the egg’s mixture above the rectangles. Add equal part of walnut filling on each rectangle and roll it.

4. Dispose walnut rolls into oiled baking dish and spread them with the other egg. Bake in moderate oven 360°F (180°C).
5. Dust cold rolls with powdered sugar.

Preparation time: 1 hour

Portion: 10

Bulgarian Style Cake

This sweet and downy cake is good idea for Christmas’ dessert. You can spread it with powdered sugar. It would be like a snow-covered. 

Ingredients:

4 eggs, beaten up

1 cup sugar

1 cup yoghurt

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 baking powder

2 vanilla powders

1 tablespoon cocoa

2 and half cups flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

Preparation:

1. Beat eggs with the sugar and add the vegetable oil.

2. Pour a teaspoon of baking soda in the cupful yoghurt and add it to the mixture of eggs and sugar.

3. The flour and the baking powder are stir together and add to the main mixture. Add vanilla and stir well.

4. Warm the cake pan in an oven and put a cup in the middle, if the cake pan is round shaped. One-third of the mixture is pouring in the hot cake pan, while the other mixture and a tablespoon of cocoa are blending together and then pouring to the cake pan.

5. The cake is bake in a preheat oven to 300°F (150°C) for about 35 minutes. The first 10-15 minutes it is baked uncovered, after that the cake pan is cover with

Note: If you add more cocoa into the whole mixture, before you bake it. The cake will become extra brown.  

Preparation time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 35 minutes
Pieces of cake: 24

A Walnut Cake

Sweet and crunchy walnut cake with chocolate and lemon flavour.

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

350 g walnuts, grounded

9 eggs

1 lemon

Vanilla powder

For the cream:

2 glairs

½ cup powdered sugar

50 g chocolate

100 g walnuts, grounded

70 ml brandy or rum

For the glaze:

4 tablespoon cocoa

6 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons milk

1 tablespoon butter, molten

Preparation: 

1. Mix the sugar with grounded walnuts and add eggs (one by one), grated lemon peel and vanilla powder.

2. The mixture is spill into a cake pan and baked it in a moderate oven. When the cake is getting cold, it is sliced in two level pieces.

3. Make the cream from beaten up glairs with powdered sugar, grounded walnuts, grated chocolate and the brandy. Spread the cream between the two leveled cake pieces.  

4. Warm the milk with the cocoa, sugar and the butter.

5. The Cake is poured with the worm glaze. 

Preparation and cook time: 50 minutes

Portion: 12

Schnitzel from mince and potatoes.

A deep fried schnitzels from grated potatoes, minced meat and finely chopped onion. The recipe is from my grandmother's notebook. 
Ingredients

250 g minced meat (40% Pork, 60% Beef)

4 potatoes, peeled and grated

2 onions, finely chopped

4 eggs

4 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon yoghurt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cumin

Preparation

1. The mince, a grate potatoes and the onion are spiced and mixed in a big bowl. Next squash the eggs and the flour and stir both mixtures.

2. Dissolve sodium into the yoghurt. Add it to the mixture. Leave it in the fridge for about 2 hours.

3.   Make small schnitzels and fry them in a deep pan.

Preparation and cook time: 40 minutes

Portion: 4

Potato Cream Soup with Croutons

Fresh and simple made soup from potatoes. Croutons and lemon pieces add a zest to the soup, but when you subjoin a yoghurt you will make it perfectly tasty.

Photo by Vania Filipova

Ingredients

6 potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 onion, finely chopped

1 carrot, pilled and chopped

7 tablespoons vegetable oil

Croutons

Salt and pepper, to taste

Lemon

3 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped

Preparation

1. Chop the onion and the carrot and stew them with vegetable oil. Add water and boil the vegetables.

2. Peel and chop on cubes potatoes, boil them for about half an hour.  Add salt and boil for 10 more minutes.

3. Strain all cooked ingredients and serve with chopped lemon pieces, finely chopped parsley and croutons. You can also add tablespoon of yoghurt or sour cream. 

Preparation and cook time: 50 minutes

Portion: 4

Pork Chops with Green Olives and Blue Cheese

A sliced pork fillet with sauce of sour cream, blue cheese and green olives is a great dish for your romantic dinner with your soul mate. It goes perfectly well with a bottle of red wine.

Ingredients

1000 g pork fillet

400 green olives, stoned

250 g blue cheese

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons butter

2/3 cup white wine

2 onions, peeled and finely chopped

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

4 tablespoons vegetable/olive oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 teaspooon cumin

Preparation 

1. Chop the onion and fry it with the glove. Spice with salt, pepper and cumin and add the sliced pork fillet. Cover it with water and cook it gently for about 30 minutes in the covered frying pan.

2. Next put the pork chops aside and on the same pan put olives and the blue cheese, then add the cream, the butter and the wine. Stir well and cook it for 10 minutes.

3. Serve pork chops with the sauce and garnish with caramelized carrots. 

Preparation and cooking time: 1 hour

Portion: 4

Stuffed Turkey with Mince and Quinces

You can stuff turkey with whatever it occurs to your mind. And this recipe could give you the idea of your next holiday dinner. Stuff the turkey with quinces, raisins, almonds and minced meat and you will discover the pleasure of flavors.

Ingredients

1 turkey

500 g minced meat

2 onions, chopped

125 g butter

2 quinces, peeled and chopped

5 tablespoons raisins

3 tablespoons almonds

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 dried pepper

½ cup wine

2 tablespoons flour          

Salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation

1. Clean, wash and dry the turkey. Salt and pepper it inside and outside. 

2. Chop the onion and brown it with a bit of butter. Wash the quinces, peel and chop them on cubes. Stew them for 5 minutes, just to getting soft. Raisins are saturated on water and strained off. Crush almonds into small peaces. Mix the onion with the mince, quinces, raisins, almonds, the finely chopped dried pepper and gloves. Salt the mixture and stuff the turkey with it. Spread butter on the turkey and place it in a deep baking dish. Pour some water in the dish. 
3. Bake it in a moderate oven for 4 hours. Wet the turkey with the gravy from time to time. 
4. When the turkey is cooked, take the gravy and pour into a deep pan with the wine. Thicken the sauce with pouring dissolved flour in cold water in it. 
5. The turkey portions are served with the sauce.  

Preparation and cook time: 4 hours 30 minutes
Portions: 5-6

Steak with Whisky Sauce

Whisky and Pork chop - two of our favorite things, combined in one dish.

Ingredients

2 pork chops

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon salt

Pepper, to taste

1 medium onion, chopped

2 tablespoons flour

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2/3 cup bouillon

2 tablespoons Whisky

Preparation

1. Fry the pork chops in butter or grill it. Salt and pepper the steaks and leave them in warm condition. 
2. Chop the onion and fry it. Add the flour and pour with the worm bouillon gradually. Add the brown sugar, then boil the mixture and leave in a low temperature for 5 minutes. If the sauce is too thick then pour more bouillon or water. Pour the whisky in the end and stir well. Season with salt and pepper and leave it from the cook. 
3. Arrange the chops in plate and pour it on with the sauce. You can garnish it with French fried.

Preparation and cook time: 40 minutes
Portion: 2

Chicken with Peppers and Parsley

Photo from Vkusnoikrasivo.com

The different way to cook chicken!

1 chicken

1 onion

3 bunches of parsley

1 carrot, peeled and chopped

8 red pepppers

100 g butter

1 lemon

1 egg

1 cup yoghurt

Salt and pepper, to taste

Cut the chicken into peaces and fried it in butter. After taking the chicken out, put the finely chopped onion, carrot and  peppers with salt and pepper. Add chicken again and put water to the mixture. Boil for about 20 minutes and then add parsley. Beat the egg with yoghurt and the juice of a lemon. Add it to the chicken’s mixture.

Caviar from Curd (Rodopian Breakfast)

Simple!  Quick!  Tasty! Healthy!  

Photo from Ekskurzii.com

500 g curds

200 g mayonnaise

1 tbs savory, dry

½ tbs cumin

1 onion, finely chopped

1 tbs red pepper

Salt and black pepper, to taste

Chop the onion into small pieces.  Add mayonnaise, curb and all other spices. Stir well until the spices are dividing equally. Leave it for about 1 hour in cold storage. You can spread it to a toast or use it as a dip.

Crème Caramel

Crème Caramel is classic and quick elegant dessert, but it is also the sweetest temptation.

Photo from Luxmedia.bg

400 g sugar

1 liter milk

8 eggs, beaten up

2 packets vanilla

Melt 1/4 of the sugar in a non-stick pan. When the sugar is turned into caramel pour it in the 8-10 small pots (cup size) and cover only the bottom. Boil the milk and add the rest of the sugar, the eggs and the vanilla. Stir well the mixture and pour it into the small pots above the caramel. Place the small pots in a baked pan. Pour 3-4 cups of water in the pan (sinking pots to the middle). Bake in an oven at 300°F (150°C) for about 30 minutes. Turn the crème over in a dessert plate. Bon Appétit!

Bulgarian Donuts - Mekitsas

Bulgarian dish made of kneaded dough, as dough of pizza, but it’s a deep fried instead of garnished and baked.

Photo from Vkusnoikrasivo.com

2 cups yoghurt

1 egg

1 tbs baking soda

3 tbs sugar

1 tbs salt

20 g yeast

4 cups flour

The yeast is dissolved in water. Add the yoghurt with the baking soda, then add the beaten up egg with salt and sugar. Dump the flour and knead dough from ingredients. Do this at evening and put the dough in an oiled bag and leave it in a fridge for 12 hours. At the morning make a finely sheets of dough and fried them in a deep pen. Serve with honey or cheese.

Chicken Lungs with Eggplant and Mushrooms

Fried chicken lungs with stewed mushrooms, onion and eggplant.

Photo from Gotvetesmen.com

500 g chicken lungs

300 g mushrooms

1 eggplant (aubergine)

2 onions

Vegetable oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Paprika

Savory

Parsley

Washed and chopped mushrooms are fried in a deep pan with sliced onions and salt to taste. Add chicken lungs after 10 minutes, also add 2/3 cup of water and stew it for 20 more minutes. Fry the eggplant in a different pan and out it to the lung. Add also the paprika, pepper, savory and finely chopped parsley.

Flatten Pepper Fried Balls

Flatten pepper fried balls are meatballs without any meat at all. There are a few recipes in Bulgarian meal with that kind of meatballs, but it is the most delicious way to cook it.

10 red peppers

2 eggs

1 onion

1 cup feta cheese, grated

Parsley

Savory

Salt and pepper, to taste

Bread-crumbs

Vegetable oil

Roast the peppers, peel them and strain it. Add beaten up eggs, grated onion, cheese, finely chopped parsley, savory and salt and pepper to taste. Stir well and add as much bread-crumbs as needed to get a thick mixture. Shape flattened balls and fried in a deep pan.

Oven Roasted Mackerel with Vegetables

Fish dishes are invariably part of Bulgarian meal. Mackerel is the most famous fish in Bulgaria. Here is one of my father's ways to cook it. I’m lovin’ it.. 

Oven Roasted Mackerel

2 mackerels

1 onion, sliced

1 carrot, peeled and sliced

1 tomato, sliced

1 lemon, sliced

Parsley, finely chopped

Salt and pepper, to taste

Slit the mackerels in the middle. In an oiled oven dish put an onion slices in the bottom. Then arrange mackerels and finely sliced carrots and lemon. Put the tomato slices in the end and sprinkle with parsley and salt and pepper to taste. Moisten with vegetable oil and baked it in a preheat oven.

Spaghetti in an Oven with Yellow Cheese

Photo from Gotvarski.net

500 g spaghetti

500 g mince or sausages

1 onion, chopped

1 cup tomato paste

300 g feta cheese

1 can corn

2 green peppers

300 g yellow cheese

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tbs savory

Boil the spaghetti. In a bowl shred feta cheese, add chopped peppers and the corn, and also salt and pepper to taste. Stir all together. Fried the onion and the minced (or sausages) in a deep pan and put the tomato paste above. Put 1/3 of the spaghetti in an oiled baking dish, and then add the mixture of cheese, peppers and corn. Then add the next 1/3 of the spaghetti and then the mixture of onion, minced and tomato paste. Add the last 1/3 of the spaghetti above and then grate the yellow cheese and dust with savory. Bake in an oven until the yellow cheese is getting gold.

Beaten Up Eggs with Spring Onion

Photo from Gotvarski Recepti

6 eggs

2 bunches of spring onion, chopped

1 cup feta cheese

1 cup vegetable oil

1 bunch of parsley

Salt, to taste

Clean and wash the spring onion, chop it and put it to a fried pan. Stew it for about 15 minutes. Add eggs and stir it. After 5 more minutes, when the eggs are getting ready, shred the feta cheese and dredge the mixture with it. Stir again and leave it from the cooker. Add finely chopped parsley at the end and salt to taste.  

Spinach Soup

Spinach Soup is healthy, fresh and light. Serve it cold with feta cheese and cream.

Photo from Recepti.ezine.bg

1 kilo spinach

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

5 spring onions

½ cup rice

2 eggs

2 cups yoghurt

3 tbs flour

A bunch of parsley

Peel and clean the spinach. Scald it on steamed water and boil it for about 10 minutes. Then strain it and chop it finely. Put 3 liters (litres) water in a pot and when it’s getting boil, add chopped on slices spring onion and carrot on cubes. After 10 minutes add the finely chopped spinach, and after 10 more minutes, add the cleaned and washed rice. When the rice is cooked, the pot is taken away from the cooker. 

The yolks of eggs are beat up with the yoghurt and the flour. Get a part of the soup with a ladle and stir it with the eggs and yoghurt’s mixture. Pour out the mixture to the soup and stir it all of the time. Sprinkle with parsley.

You can serve the soup with tablespoon of cream or yoghurt on top. You can also pound a feta cheese up. 

Baked Chicken with Potatoes

Baked chicken with potatoes is one of my favorite recipes. It is not so difficult, but incomparable tasty.

Photo from Dupnitsa.net

Chicken

8-9 Potatoes, peeled

4 tbs soya sauce

Parsley, finely chopped

2 tbs dry savory

1 lemon

Butter and vegetable oil

Salt and pepper, to taste

Marinade the chicken with the soya sauce, the lemon juice, the parsley, the savory and black pepper and spread it with butter. Leave it for 10 minutes. Peel and cut on slices the potatoes. In the middle of an oiled baking dish put the chicken and by the side arrange potatoes’ slices and add chopped parsley, and also salt and pepper to taste. Add one cup water to the potatoes and vegetable oil. Bake it for about 90 minutes in a preheat oven.

Mish-Mash

Mish-Mash is a type of Bulgarian omelet. It is a fried beaten up eggs with peppers, tomatoes and feta cheese.

Photo fromCalipso.bg

3 red peppers

1 green pepper

3 tomatoes,

1 onion,

1 cup feta cheese, shredded

3 eggs

3 tbs parsley, chopped

5 tbs vegetable oil

Salt, to taste

Cut the ingredients into small pieces. Heat the oil in a frying pan, add the onions, then the peppers and the tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Add the cheese and eggs and cook for another 3 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley and serve.

Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers are another traditional meal for Bulgaria. They are really tasty with plain yoghurt.

Photo from Tandem.bg

8 green and red peppers, cored and seeded

300 g mince (60 % pork and 40% beef)

200 g rice

2 onions, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

Virgin soil

½ tbs paprika

½ cup tomato sauce

4 tbs parsley, finely chopped

4 tbs olive or vegetable oil

1 tbs savory

Salt and pepper, to taste

Heat the oil in a pan and start frying the onion, the virgin soil and the carrot for about 10 minutes. Add the rice and the mince and stir well. After 5 more minutes season with salt and pepper, savory and paprika. Add the tomato sauce and half cup of water and cook until the water is absorbed. Stuff each pepper with the mixture, using a spoon. Arrange the peppers in a deep oven dish, and top up with hot water to half fill the dish. Cook for about 40 minutes in a preheated oven 360ºF (180ºC)