Healthy Eu Chef
Booklet
The Youth Exchange "Become a Healthy EuChef" brought 30 young food lovers in Macedonia to prove that healthy and tasty can easily go together even when preparing food.
The recipes are shared in this book.
Bramboraky (Potato Pancakes) are my all-time favorite! They are really easy to make and the cost is about 5 cents per person The only downside of this dish is that they don’t make very good leftovers. Hence prepare them, fry them, and eat them all on the spot! Oh, and also, warning for the meat lovers: no meat in this one! Sorry!
Ingredients:
● 6 large potatoes, pealed ● 1 egg ● 5 cloves of garlic, grated ● 1/4 cup of milk ● 3/4 cup of all-purpose flour ● 1 Tsp of dried marjoram ● pinch of salt and pepper ● about 4 Tbs of oil
Potato pancakes
How:
1 2 3
Grate the potatoes Pour warm milk over those grated potatoes so that they will not go brown Add in the garlic, egg, salt and pepper, marjoram and mix it all together Gradually mix in the flour Pour part of the mixture with a ladle onto a hot and well-oiled frying pan ( the thickness and size of the pancakes depends on one’s preference; I personally like them thin and crispy!) Fry each side of the pancake until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side The whole batch feeds about 4 people.
PS: if you like you can add bits of fried bacon or cut-up salami into the bramborak mixture PPS: also, don’t forget the golden rule: “The more garlic, the merrier” – I usually use twice the amount of garlic.
Ingredients:
● curd (creamy, not salted) 250g ● vanilla pudding powder 1 ● eggs - 4 ● sugar - to make quark slightly sweet ● strawberries = how much you want ● Oil (sunflower)
Mini pancakes with strawberries
How:
1 2 3
The easiest pancakes ever! Mixed everything together (except strawberries and oil) and that’s it! Then you heat the pan very lightly, add a little bit of oil, take a soup spoon and use it for putting batter into pan and make pancakes man, yeah? Cut strawberries into smaller pieces and try to not to eat them before you finished pancakes. I know that it’s hard but be strong! When you finish it, you can put a little bit of curd on pancakes and add strawberries. Then eat them all and don’t share with anybody because this is your masterpiece. The amount feeds about 3-4 people.
Czechs love lentils. We eat it in soup, we eat sour lentils with eggs and pickles. This is much healthier, refreshing alternative! Even though the name of this dish is “spring salad”, you don’t have to be afraid to eat it also during winter, summer or even autumn. The great thing about it is that it’s so easy! Lentils are available all the time. And even if the ingredients are given here, you don’t have to hesitate to be creative, add some green peppers, mint or lemon juice. The best salad is of course made with the vegetables and greens from your grandmother’s garden, made in large amount and eaten with your friends at the garden party.
Ingredients: - green lentils (cca 600g) - tomatoes (1 kg) - cucumbers - red bell pepper, or any other you can get (500g) - fresh spinach leafs (500g) - red onion (200g) - parsley (5 pieces) - pepper - salt - olive oil
Spring green lentil salad
How:
1 2 3
Get some people that will be helping you with this massive amount of salad. Take the lentils, wash it with cold water. It is better to use the cullender, so you don’t lose half of it in the sink. Then throw the lentils in a massive pot, add about three times larger amount of water and boil it for about 25 minutes. Check from time to time, so it doesn't get burned! Clean all the veggies and greens. Chop them with no mercy into small pieces and throw in a big bowl. Large pot can be used as well. Then add lots of pepper and descent amount of salt, according to your taste. Pour the olive oil and then mix it all with your bare hands! Enjoy the feeling! Once the lentils are boiled, pour away rest of the water and let them cool.
At the end throw everything together, mix again, add some more pepper for a spicier afternoon. Enjoy until your stomach is full! The whole batch feeds about 15 people.
Ingredients:
● 15 Potatoes ● 250 g of bacon ● 2 smaller onions ● 1 half of pack of red paprika ● 1 pack of chives ● 1 half of pack of caraway ● 1 soup spoon of salt
How:
Oily potatoes
1 2 3
This dish is made for cold day and lazy cook. Take your time, bring potatoes, onion and bacon at the table between TV and couch and while watching cut it after it is peeled. You don’t have to cut the potatoes, only if you want to cook it faster. Boil the potatoes with salt and caraway. Fry bacon with some extra oil after, and when half ready let onion meet bacon and give them some butter to accompany. Don’t forget your potatoes on fire. When they are ready let the water out and use last energy to mash them as hard as your laziness let you. When bacon with onion are ready give them some color by adding red paprika. Be careful! Paprika can’t get burnt. Make sure you put it bacon with onion out of fire when adding some paprika. Mix it all together to become one. Put some chives on top and get ready to eat as much as possible. But first do some cleaning. Table, kitchen and all what is needed. The amount feeds 7 friends + you.
Coming from a village, my grandparents used to tell me their life stories about their healthy products into their huge yards and working fields, those same working fields today are given to my parents and probably soon to me and my brother so we can work and have some homemade healthy food for us and our families. Tavce Gravce is part of my life and my whole family generation. The story goes back to more than 50 years, the period where all our communities at that time were dependent on this kind of food and they still are proud of transmitting it to us. It was and still is the main dish, all the history of creating and maintaining a family with healthy food is connected to Tavce Gravce because I was raised with it and I can’t have one week without it. It’s a symbol of family, tradition, stories of memories, old times and of course happiness.
Ingredients: • White beans (500 gr.) • White onion meat (optional): bacon, sausages, smoked ribs etc. • 80 gr. sunflower oil • 2 tablespoons of flour • 1 tablespoon of red paprika (powder) • 1 tablespoon vegeta, a Macedonian spice (optional) salt and pepper
Tavce Gravce How:
1 2 3
First wash well the beans then place them in a pot and add water to cover well the beans (let the water be 5 cm over the beans), then put them to boil. When it comes to a boil, boil them about 1-2 minutes then pour the water and add new water to it. Chop the onion in big pieces and add it to the beans. Also you add the meat chopped in a bite size pieces. Boil the beans until they are ready, but be careful not to over-boil it. The beans must be whole and soft inside, not a mush. Then to a hot pan add the oil and the flour and mix it well until golden. Then add the paprika, mix fast and add this to the pot. Add the minced garlic and the chopped mint. Add salt, pepper and vegeta. Stir well and cook for 2 minutes. Turn off the heat and preheat the oven to 250 C. Add the beans to a terracotta baking pan and put them into oven. Bake them until the beans have little liquid and over the beans have formed a thin crust. Sprinkle with finely chopped parsley.
Before trying, you are warned that this sweet pleasure has a high chance to make you eat it again and again. If you’re on diet think twice, or three times It will be really hard to resist it later. Make baklava, call your friends, you will see that they will be visiting you until the baklava is gone. You want to fully enjoy it? Than try it while drinking Turkish coffee. This recipe is very simplified, very easy to make it, and still it’s same or even tastier than the traditional one. It’s brought to you “From Emir’s mom with Love”
Ingredients: - 2 packs of flour layers (kori in Macedonian) - Grinded biscuit (plazma) 300 grams - 500 grams of butter - 400 grams of grinded walnut - 1 kg sugar - 0.5l of water - Half lemon
Mama's Baklava
How:
1 2 3
First, the butter is on iron bowl and it’s put on stove till it completely melts and becomes liquid. Than take one flour layer and you put drops of liquid butter on it. On the top of the layer, you put the next flour layer where you do the same thing. On the third flour layer after the liquid butter, you put grinded biscuit all over the layer and then you make one line with grinded walnut. From the line you roll it tightly and you put it on the tray. You do this till all the tray is full. Meanwhile the oven is turned to get heated. The baklava is spread on top with the rest of the butter. After this is done, the baklava is ready to be baked. You put the tray with baklava on 100 degrees Celsius for around 1 hour. When the baklava is baked (check it from the both sides), the sherbet needs to be prepared. On a pot you put half liter of water and 1 kilo of sugar on it. When it’s boiled, you put juice squeezed from half lemon and the sherbet is ready. You spread the sherbet all over the top. You put the baklava with the sherbet to stay on cold temperature for 6 hours. After that is ready to be served to your friends and family.
Ingredients: Passionate Beetroot Strange Carrots Happy Parsnip Crazy Celery root Not so Optional: Leek, potatoes, garlic, sour-cream The good, the bad and the ugly of the soup: Salt, pepper, parsley, borş.
Beetroot Sour Soup
How:
1 2 3
Bloody… the way it’s supposed to be… the beetroot soup is the best hangover medicine invented in the traditional laboratories of every Romanian woman. To make the beetroot soup you need to place prepared vegetables in a large stockpot. Add cold water and a spoon of olive oil. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are tender. Add garlic, beet sour, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. Before serving, stir in sour-cream and chopped parsley. If you feel like your stomach is still dreaming about it just ask for more.
Ingredients:
Ostropel + Mamamaliga
I. Ostropel ingredients:
II. Mamaliga:
25 sturdy chicken drumsticks A couple of happy spoons of flour Salt/Pepper + savory (Romanian Thyme) Tomato paste 10-15 garlic cloves, finely grated 5 cups chicken stock
freshly squized mountain Water Speacially grinded Corn flour (polenta) Happy happy Salt
How:
1 2 3
I. Ostropel If you never dreamed before of chickens swimming in a sauce lake, after you will taste this, you will dream every night and day about it. 1. The chicken drumsticks are boiled than baked. 2. Heat a large skillet (or pot) on med/hot heat...until hot... and then add 2-3 TBS olive oil. 3. In a big skillet/pan/tray put olive oil + flour + tomato paste. 4. Using a whisk, slowly mix in the 5 cups of chicken broth, making sure to get all the flour/tomato paste lumps out. If need be, take the skillet off heat until the sauce is completely free of lumps. Place back on stove. 5. Add the grated garlic cloves and 1 tsp savory. Mix to combine. 6. Add the browned chicken and cover skillet/pot. Simmer sauce for an additional 10-15 minutes or until sauce has thickened up a bit... to a gravy consistency. If you feel the sauce is too thick, add a bit more stock(even water) to loosen it up a bit. If it is too loose (thin) cook the sauce down a bit more... 7. Serve with mamaliga... II. Mamaliga - Mix, boil and repeat.
Said to be one of the most craved desserts, the sweet delicious papanasi are expected to make everyone tasting them dance around the wold like Pharell, singing “papanasi” instead of “Happy”.
Ingredients: just 800 grams of cottage cheese 500 - 600 grams of wheat flour 10 spoons of sexy semolina 1 l freshly pressed sunflower oil 5 joyfull eggs 200 grams of crazy sweet sugar Zest of 1 screaming lemon Arrogant Baking powder 3 vanilla sugar (optional depending on different tastes)…cool as vanilla ice Nervous Cooking oil Cream and jam for serving
Papanasi
How:
1 2 3
Mix together the cottage cheese, semolina, 2 tablespoons of flour, the sugar and eggs (and the vanilla sugar as well, if you like the flavor); Then lay down a thin layer of flour on which you will put the crude “papanasi”; Make small balls out of the mix and cover them in flour on the outside in order to prevent them from being sticky. Heat the oil, and then fry the papanasi dough mix balls you made. The oil should cover the content of the papanasi. You will see that the balls and “donuts” will rise – and when they do it’s sign they are done. Make sure to cook them on both sides. After baking every ball and donut, put them on plates. Pour some cream on top and add jam on each. Voila! Ready to be served! As jam, you can choose wild cherry jam; wooden fruits jam etc. – according to taste. …so stand up and start singing “Papanasi” . We know you feel like doing it.
Ingredients: Ingredients: • 1 3 1/2- to 4-pound chicken • 6 carrots, peeled • 4 celery stalks • 1 large yellow onion, quartered • 2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt • 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
Chicken Soup
How:
1 2 3
Place the chicken in a large pot. Cut 3 of the carrots and 2 of the celery stalks into 1-inch pieces. Quarter the onion. Add the cut vegetables to the pot with the salt, peppercorns, and enough cold water to cover (about 8 cups). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, skimming any foam that rises to the top, until the chicken is cooked through, about 30 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a bowl and let cool. Strain the broth, discarding the vegetables. Return the broth to the pot. Thinly slice the remaining carrots and celery. Add them to the broth and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. When the chicken is cool enough to hand le, shred the meat and add it to the soup. Ladle into individual bowls.
Ingredients: 4 cup sized mushrooms 4 skinless, boneless chicken halves 2 eggs, beaten 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs 2 tablespoons of butter 6 ounces of sliced mozzarella cheese 他 chicken broth
Chicken w/ mushrooms
How:
1 2 3
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Place half of the mushrooms in a 9x13 inch pan. Dip chicken into beaten eggs, then roll in bread crumbs. In skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Brown both sides of chicken in skillet. Place chicken on top of mushrooms, arrange remaining mushrooms on chicken, and top with mozzarella cheese. Add chicken broth to pan. Bake in preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.
Ingredients: 3 cucumbers, peeled, quartered lengthwise & sliced 4 tomatoes, halved and quartered 2 garlic cloves, chopped 6 -8 green onions, tops only, chopped 4 ounces balkan cheese, cut into small cubes 1 cup olive oil 1 cup red wine vinegar 1 tablespoon dried oregano Salt & pepper
Serbian Salad How:
1 2 3
Combine all ingredients and toss. Mix oil& vinegar, add seasoning and whisk thoroughly. Pour over salad.
Ezogelin is the name of a girl who created this soup. The soup is most known and traditional Anatolia soup. It is usual to be eaten during winter.
Ingredients: 100 gr red lentils 2 tomatoes, (chopped) 1 whole onion, (finely chopped ) 100 gr wheat, (crushed) 50 gr butter 1,5 lt water 5 tea spoon mint, (dried) salt and black pepper to taste 1 tea spoon paprika 1 lemon
Ezo Gelin Soup
How:
1 2 3
• Place lentils, water, onion, rice or bulgur, butter, and salt into a sauce pan. • Cook stirring occasionally on very low heat until lentils are tender and soup is creamy (about one hour). • Add chopped tomatoes and cook for further 15 minutes. • Add paprika and mint, and let soup simmer for 5 minutes before serving with wedges of lemon or lime.
Dried mint, not fresh is used for the topping. Bulgur is the name for crushed wheat Original recipe makes 5 servings!
Ingredients: 1 package of phyllo dough, thawed 250g feta cheese 1/2 cup parsley 1 egg sunflower oil for frying half stick melted butter
How:
Cigarette Borek
1 2 3
• In a mixing bowl, mix feta, egg, and parsley together. This is best done with a fork, mashing the feta. • While the oil is heating, remove phyllo from refrigerator. Be sure to have a damp towel on hand to cover the phyllo you are not working with. • Phyllo dough dries out quickly if left uncovered. • Take one sheet of phyllo and cut into fourths. Each piece should be about 4x8. Brush each piece with melted butter. • Place about 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture at the base and roll up. Seal by adding a little melted butter. • Repeat with remaining phyllo and cheese mixture. • Borek in Turkish language refers to any dish made with phllyo. • Borek is also very popular in the cui sines of the former Ottoman Empire, especially in the Balkans. • The crispy beauty you can see above contained a simple but very tasty filling of fresh melting cheese and made a great dinner.
Ingredients: - water - potato - beetroot - carrots - onion - tomatoes or tomato paste - cabbage - garlic - bay leaf - sweet pepper - vinegar - salt - pepper - sunflower oil - beans
Ukrainian Borshch
How:
1 2 3
Water + potatoes (cut as square) Onion + carrots (julienne) = fry in a pan with sunflower oil => in soup Chopped cabbage => in soup tomato paste => in soup Cooked beets grated tremo + vinegar = fry in a pan with sunflower oil At the end of cooking, pour it into the soup and bring to a boil + spices
Ingredients: - home made cheese - sugar - flour - butter - black chocolate - eggs - lemon - starch - milk - sour cream - cacao - weeder - vanilla sugar
Syrnyk
How:
1 2 3
butter + sour cream + flour + cacao + weeder = mix eggs (yolks) + sugar = knock down stir all together grind lemoneggs (whites) know down + cheese + butter + sugar + grinded lemon + vanilla sugar + raisins + starch = mix the dough put out onto a form + mass of curd put in the oven - bake 90 minutes decorate with black chocolate
Ingredients: - flour - water - eggs - home made cheese - potato - salt - butter - sour cream
Varenyky
How:
1 2 3
flour+ water+ salt + eggs and mixed it. Dought should be elastic. boiled potato shoud be blanded. After, please put cheese into the potato and mix everything together. Also, please add spices and salt of course. Dought should be roled down. After, make small circled 'varenychky'. After, all you need is to put filling (cheese with potato/ inside the small pieces of dough
Ingredients: For 8 person 500 g of carrots 250 g of potatoes 250 g of green peas 250 g of turnips Herbs: thyme, laurel, parsley
How:
1
Macedonian Salad
2 3
To say it in few words, this is the best Balkan salad ever. You don’t need much to prepare it, don’t need much to of hunger to eat it, you don’t need to do much. Just find as many friends as possible and show them our recipe. You gonna need to do some shopping. First of all think about some nice market to speak with the people while finding vegetable for salad. Find the most smiling seller and ask for green peas, then find some old seller who looks to have found his place in the world and ask for turnip. All ingredients are all equal in our salad so don’t forget to pay respect to all your sellers. Third ingredient we gonna buy from the best “mama person” to find. Say hi mama and ask her for potatoes. She will add a hug for sure. What do you think, who is gonna get married next from your seller? Will it be young and beautiful florist girl or from young boy a bit slow selling eggs from their family farm? Find the best “getting married” seller and ask for carrot.
The way this salad was created comes from the travel experience of Baptiste who traveled long time ago in this beautiful part of world that we call Macedonia. Baptiste was very open minded person. He likes to speak with all people around and he liked them all as brother as they did among themselves. Thanks to his will to know people he got to their houses and their gardens. Old and clever people of Macedonia showed him their passion for different types of vegetable. After he came home and he missed all this people and their life with nature so much that he used his memories, all his experiences and all his love to this people to do something that can express his feeling but better than some words. He made this salad of four different vegetables which fit together so well as well people of different nationalities in Macedonia do.
Continues...
To change this nothing saying parts of our salad we need to make it fit together. Find the place, something that remain you the most your mother’s kitchen. Peel all vegetable and cut them. Cut them gently and let all parts to leave in peace. Make them as regular and small as possible but remember you gonna eat it so don’t make bullshit. If your hands are not comfortable with knife don’t wait to call your friends to help you. While cutting put some big pot of water on fire. If there are some herbs to achieve, give it to the water it will give it the right taste. When everything is cut put it in boiling water. Don’t think that the all ingredient are not same, every one of them are special. First will go to bath carrot, carrot like long bath. After 5 minutes give her some company. Bring a turnip to the game. Wait another 5 minutes and there comes potatoes with green peas finally. Wait 10 minutes and share this great time of freedom and enjoy it with your hard working friends. Try not to smoke. When every single part of boiling aspect is al dente, let out the water. Now give it some rest. Let them to chill out a bit, but not whole day if you are hungry, half an hour will be great. Shake it a bit while chilling, everybody like massage.
I am sure that you are very smart looking person when cooking, but if you have any doubt about yourself please ask you mama how to make a mayonnaise, not even I can make so great mayo as your own mother. When you got a wonderful mayo from your wonderful mother don’t hesitate to mix it all nicely together. All ingredients will find its place in your salad as Baptiste have seen in Macedonia. Remember that this dish comes from sharing moment so respect it and invite the difference in your table, home and life.
The recipes in this booklet are shared as part of the youth exchange "Become a Healthy EuChef". The project was implemented with support of Youth in Action Programme in spring 2014 by "Volunteer Centre Bitola" organization.
The youth exchange "Become a Healthy EuChef" connected 30 young people and group leaders coming from Be International (Czech Republic), Youth Art Research and Training Association (Turkey), Institute of Ukrainian Studies (Ukraine), Mladi i Talentovani (Serbia), Art Perspective (Romania) and the hosting organization of the project Volunteer Centre Bitola (Macedonia)
This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.