Nothing could be more refreshing than a crisp cucumber salad – perfect for Australia’s sticky and humid summer days.

Served as a pre-meal appetiser with a ‘rakija’ if you so desire, or simply in place of a garden salad with whatever you’re having for lunch or dinner, I could easily eat this salad every night of the week during summer, and the beauty of it is that it only takes a few minutes to whip up.

The secret to a really good salad is super fresh and cold cucumbers, old and rubbery ones that are served at room temperature just don’t seem to have the same impact. The cucumbers I often use are from my mum’s veggie garden, they’re a long white fruit with thin skin that doesn’t require peeling (although I prefer them peeled), I think the variety is called ‘Armenian cucumbers’. You can also use nice fresh Lebanese cucumbers as most supermarkets don’t seem to stock the Armenian variety.

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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
2 large cucumbers, peeled and sliced into thin rounds
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (or to taste)
Sea salt to taste

Method
1) In a bowl add sliced cucumber, oil, vinegar and salt. Toss to dress evenly and serve immediately.

Tips:

- Use fresh cucumbers that are stored in the fridge.

Not for the faint hearted, a big Macedonian breakfast is just that, BIG. Big flavours, big servings and definitely big on calories. Eggs, kolbasi, bread and feta, balanced with the sweetness of fresh tomato. Of course there are no hard and fast rules, depending on the season extras can include grilled or fried  chillies, ajvar, fried tomatoes and ham.

According to my dad, the Macedonian breakfast is a meal fit for a king, in fact, he’d often exclaim to my mum “Vesa, even the Prime Minister doesn’t eat this good!”.

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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
350g kolbasi, cut in 3cm lengths (approximately 2 large homemade kolbasi or try csaba, chorizo, pepperoni sausages)
2-3 large tomatoes, cut into segments
4-8 large free-range or organic eggs
8 slices of thick bread (use homemade bread or Vienna, ciabatta or sourdough), toasted (toasting is optional)
80g feta cheese
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Method
1) Arrange kolbasi in medium non-stick frying pan, cut side down over a low-medium heat. Allow the natural fats to release and fry until browned all over (10-15 mins). Remove and rest on plate with 2 paper towels to drain, keep warm.

2) Wipe frying pan clean and place on medium heat, add 2-3 tablespoons of olive and crack open eggs, sprinkle with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Fry sunnyside up or to your liking.
Note: Wiping the frying pan clean is optional, if you prefer use the left over oil to fry your eggs.

3) Arrange tomato wedges, cheese, kolbasi, bread and egg/s on each plate, serve while hot.

Tips:
- Cut kolbasi while very cold or slightly frozen to help hold their shape when frying.
- During winter replace fresh tomato with fried tomatoes or ajvar.

I was the kind of child that didn’t care what others thought, I proudly took mum’s home cooking to school for lunch. This included anything from maznik, sandwiches with salami, feta and olives, or during winter I’d take a thermos of kompiri mandza (potato stew). To my surprise, I was the envy of my friends who were stuck with devon sandwiches…yuck!!

Similarly, Gjurgia, this weeks guest recipe contributor was called ‘fancy’ buy her school mates when she feasted on her mums Macedonian ‘French Toast’. The irony for her was that her packed lunch was a cheap alternative for her mum to make, especially since they didn’t have much money in the early days.

Although this is a breakfast dish, I’ve been know to enjoy it for a quick lunch or dinner. Unlike ‘French Toast’, this Macedonian alternative is served savory rather than sweet. So instead of drizzling with honey or maple syrup, its a crumbling of feta cheese. Try this for an easy and impressive brunch for friends, they’ll never go back to sweet French Toast again!

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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
6 organic or free range eggs, lightly beaten
3/4 cup (180ml) full cream milk
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
8 slices of thick day old bread
Olive oil
Butter (optional)

50g feta cheese, coarsely crumbled to serve

Method
1) Combine eggs, milk, salt and black pepper to taste in a shallow bowl. Whisk with a fork until well combined.

2) Preheat oven to 180°C.

3) Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Dip 2 bread slices in egg mixture for 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side or until well soaked. Hold over dish to drain. Add soaked bread to pan. Cook for 1 to 2 minutes on each side or until golden. Transfer to a baking tray and keep warm in oven. Repeat with remaining bread, remembering to heat a little extra oil each time.

4) To serve, place two slices of toast on each plate and crumble with feta.

Tips:
- Depeding on the size of your eggs and the type of bread used you may require more or less eggs and milk.
- Also serve with slices of fresh tomato.

Who would have thought that it’d take me five months to find the time to start cooking again! Up until now I’ve been in survival mode, learning how to be a mum, and I’m sure you’ll forgive me for choosing sleep over cooking.

So the good news is that I’m back. I’m also totally loving being and mummy to my little bear, and the even better news is that like his mama, bebe Bastian has a hearty appetite and loooves to eat. And thank goodness, as it’s nice knowing that I’ll have some help eating all my kitchen experiments in the years to come.

Thought I’d kick off with a lovely recipe for these delicious Walnut Shortbread Biscuits. Anna, a long time family friend was kind enough to bake a batch when Bastian was born and I kept them in the freezer for unexpected drop-ins. And seeing that Christmas is just around the corner, I think they’d make a perfect Christmas treat too!

Bastian getting ready for a life of yummy village cooking

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Recipe

Makes 36

Ingredients
1 cup (250g) unsalted butter, softened
4 tablespoons (50g) caster sugar
2 cups (250g) plain flour, sifted
2 teaspoons (10ml) vanilla extract
2 cups (240g) walnuts, finely chopped (or coarsly ground with a food processor)

Icing sugar, sifted (for dusting)
Vanilla sugar (for dusting)

Method
1) Preheat oven to 180°C and line 2 large trays with baking paper.

2) In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until pale and fluffy (I used an electric hand mixer).

3) Add flour to mix and use your hands or a wooden spoon to combine until smooth (5 minutes). Add vanilla extract, followed by walnuts and mix until well combined.

4) Take small teaspoons of the mixture and hand roll into small balls. Place on prepared baking trays, leaving a small gap between each biscuit. Bake for 30-45 minutes, or until lightly golden but not browned (turning and swapping the trays halfway through baking). Remove from oven and set aside for 5 minutes to cool slightly.

5) Place icing sugar in a bowl and cover the warm biscuits (one at time) with icing sugar, coat generously. Place on a wire rack to cool completely. Once cooled, recoat in icing sugar and lightly cover with a final sprinkling of vanilla sugar.

6) Serve immediately or store in an air tight container in the fridge for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Tip: Can be stored in the freezer for up to 3 months.

This recipe has been passed down to Natalie from her baba, who according to Natalie always makes it with such dedication and ease. What I love most about this recipe is how simple and healthy it is – a welcome change from the sugary cakes I usually indulge in. I also love the intense orange colour of the pumpkin.

I baked my Tikvarnik in a regular round cake tin, however, you can bake yours in a rectancular tin and cut into square or diamond slices.
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Recipe

Makes 12-16 pieces

Ingredients
1 butternut pumpkin, roughly cut into 8-10 pieces
2 eggs, lightly beaten
5 tablespoons (100g) castor sugar
5 tablespoons (70g) plain flour
5 tablespoons (100ml) milk
5 tablespoons (100ml) vegetable oil (e.g. canola or sunflower)

Method
1) In a medium pot place pumpkin and enough cold water to cover, cover with lid and bring to the boil. Reduce to simmer and cook until flesh is soft (30-40 minutes).

2) Remove pumpkin from water and allow to cool (5-10 minutes). Scoop out flesh, discarding skin and place in colander, allowing excess liquid to strain. Allow to cool completely.

3) Meanwhile preheat oven to 200°C and grease a 22-32cm rectangular tin with vegetable oil and line the base with baking paper or dust with flour.

4) Once cooled place pumpkin in a large mixing bowl and use the back of a fork to mush. Pour over eggs, add sugar, flour, milk, oil and mix until combined well.

5) Bake for 30-35 minutes or until lightly browned and firm to touch.

6) Allow to cool, slice and serve as meze or dessert.

Tips:
- Allow to cool completely before slicing and removing from baking tray.
- Best served cold or at room temperature.

The lead up to Easter is a time of fasting, reflection and sacrifice, but come Easter Sunday, the celebration and feast is on!

As part of my families Easter tradition, in the early hours of Sunday morning, following midnight mass, we devour Baba Tala’s incredible kozinjak.

Kozinjak is a heavenly sweet bread that everyone adores, so much so that my cousin has renamed it kozin-’yum’! I like to think of kozinjak as Macedonia’s version of a hot cross buns, but oh so much better!

Baba Cveta, my grandfathers sister taught Baba Tala how to make kozinjak as a young bride. The recipe has been in the family for over 60 years and I’m extremely excited to be able to pass it on for others to enjoy.

Making kozinjak

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Recipe

Serves 16

Ingredients
Sponge (yeast mix)
3/4 cup (185ml) full cream milk
3 tablespoons (40g) dry yeast (or 6 x 7g satchels)
1 teaspoon (12g) caster sugar
1 tablespoon (6g) plain flour

Dough
6 large organic or free-range eggs, room temperature
1 1/3 cup (250g) caster sugar
2/3 cup (150ml) vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing
1 1/4 cup (310ml) full cream milk, room temperature
1 tablespoon (8g) vanillin sugar
Zest of 1 lemon
10 cups (1kg) white bread flour (‘00’), sifted, plus extra for dusting
3 drops yellow food colouring (optional)

250g raisins
1 organic or free-range egg, lightly whisked for brushing
Sesame seeds for sprinkling

Method
1) Gently heat milk to luke warm (blood temperature). In a small bowl combine milk, dry yeast, sugar, flour and mix until smooth (1-2 minutes). Allow to rest until double in size (7-10 minutes).

2) In a large bowl or pot combine eggs, sugar, oil, milk and vanillin sugar. Lightly whisk until well combined (3 minutes). Add lemon zest, plain flour and sponge (yeast mix). Use one hand to scrunch and knead the dough, while the other turns the bowl/pot. Continue kneading until the dough starts to feel smooth and moves as one (7-10 minutes). Dust the top with flour and make a cross using the edge of your hand (a tradition of baba’s to reminder us that bread is from God) and cover with a tea towel or lid. Allow to rest in a warm place until double in size (approx 60 minutes, depending on the weather).
Note: The dough should be quite wet, if it is too too dry add an extra tablespoon or two of milk.

3) Once the dough has risen knead for a further 3-5 minutes in the same bowl or pot, cover and allow to prove in a warm spot again (approx 30 minutes).

4) Oil a large round tin (40cm diameter) and line with baking paper.

5) Once risen, add raisins and knead for a further 5-7 minutes, scrunching and turning the bowl/pot until the raisins are evenly mixed through. Oil a large clean bench or table and turn out dough onto oiled surface. Divide into 3 equal portions, use your hands to roll and shape into long sausages (60cm in length). Gather at the top and gently fold over each sausage into a plait. Stretch out any sections that are thicker, so that the plait is the same thickness. Cut off the two end sections (these will be used for the centre). Shape the plait into a round ring and carefully place in baking tin. Combine the two cut off ends and roll into a sausage, then wrap into a knot and place into centre of the ring. Loosely cover with a clean tea towel and allow to stand in a warm spot for dough to relax (approx. 30 minutes).

6) Preheat oven to 200ºc.

7) Once the dough has relaxed, brush with lightly beaten egg (you may not need it all) and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

8) Bake for 10 minutes at 200ºc, or until the top starts to brown. Cover loosely with a sheet of foil and bake for a further 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 150ºc, bake for another 10-15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 100ºc, remove foil and bake for a final 15-20 minutes or until cooked through, test with skewer (approx. 50-60 minutes in total).

9) Remove kozinjak from tin and eat immediately or wrap in a clean tablecloth (or a couple of tea towels) to keep warm.

10) Serve while warm or at room temperature.

Tips:
- Eggs and milk must be at room temperature, if cold gently heat over a very low heat to blood temperature.
- If it’s a cold day, prove the dough in very low oven (100°C), keeping the oven door open.
- Freeze leftover kozinjak for up to 2 months and reheat in the microwave.
- For a smaller kozinjak half this recipe, use a smaller round tin and reduce the baking times slightly.
- If your eggs are not yellow enough in colour add 3-4 drops of food colouring.

There’s only a couple of foods I haven’t been able to stomach during this pregnancy, and one of them is mushrooms. Under non-pregnant circumstances I love, adore, and crave mushrooms, so you can imagine my confusion when my taste buds suddenly said “mushrooms – NO”. Why can’t I eat mushrooms?

After months of avoiding cooking them, I thought I’d attempt to make mushrooms again. Surely I’d enjoy them just the way my mum had always made them. Seeing her recipe is so simple to make and given the fact that David has been begging me make mushrooms for months, I gave it go.

So there I was, standing there with a beautiful looking pan full of deliciously golden mushrooms, determined I’d devour in a matter of moments, sadly it was quite the contrary, I just couldn’t do it! David on the other hand assured me that they were heavenly, I guess they must have been, considering he ate them all in one sitting!

Oh well, here’s hoping that post 13 June, I’ll be scoffing down yummy mushrooms again.

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Recipe

Serves 4 as a side dish

Ingredients
3 tablespoons (60ml) olive oil
450g mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
Sea salt to taste
1 small onion, thinly sliced lengthways
20g butter (optional)
Ground white pepper

Method
1) Heat olive oil in a large frying pan (med-high heat). Add mushrooms, sprinkle with salt and saute, stir frequently until liquid begins to evaporate (5-10 minutes). Add onion and continue to saute until the mushrooms turn golden (3-5 minutes). If you like that buttery taste, mix through a knob of butter and remove from heat to avoid burning. Sprinkle over ground white pepper and serve immediately as a side dish accompanying grilled meat.

Tips:
- Do not wash mushrooms, to clean use a cloth or kitchen paper.
- Fresh and firm mushrooms should not be peeled as the skin gives a more intense falvour.
- Store fresh mushrooms in a paper bag and never in a plastic bag.
- For another variation, try replacing the onion with a clove of crushed garlic.

If there’s one thing I’m going to miss about summer, it’s those juicy red garden tomatoes, especially the intoxicating smell of them gently blipping away on the stove.

So as the warm weather comes to a close, I felt it was essentially to celebrate the humble tomato, especially since I had a heap of tomatoes that were almost past their used by date.

I’m still baffled as to how something so simple can taste so damn amazing! The flavour is intense yet mellow, and perfect with feta and mounds of freshly baked bread.

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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
1kg ripe tomatoes
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

100g feta cheese, roughly crumbled (optional)

Method
1) ) To blanch tomatoes bring a medium saucepan of water to the boil. Wash tomatoes and cut an ‘X’ into the base no bigger than 2cm and no deeper than 3mm. Gently drop half the tomatoes using a slotted spoon into the boiling water. Cover with lid for 1-2 minutes. Carefully remove remove from boiling water and place on a tray to cool. Repeat with remaining tomatoes. When cool enough to handle remove skin, stems and roughly chop.

2) Heat a a medium saucepan over medium heat, add peeled and chopped tomatoes and simmer until liquid has reduced (15-20 minutes). Mix through oil, salt and sugar. Add feta and stir through, then remove from heat.

3) Serve while warm with fresh bread and grilled kjofte, chevapi or kolbasi.

Tips:
- A great way to use up tomatoes that are too sloppy for salad.
- Freeze or store in airtight jars for use in winter.
- Leave out the cheese for a vegan option.

I have some explaining to do…there’s a reason why my posts have been a little sparse over the past few months. I’ve been feeling ridiculously tired, my taste buds have drastically changed, and to my surprise, some days cooking is the last thing I feel like doing! If you’ve guessed that I’ve got a bun in the oven, you’re absolutely right…I’m pregnant!!!

So beloved feasters, I hope you can forgive me for my infrequent recipe posts, and I hope you’re still happy to follow me on my journey as an eager village cook and first time mum to be. The recipe posts will continue, but they may be tad less frequent, and they may become a little simpler over the coming months.

In keeping with the theme of simplified cooking, I’d love for you to try my Mum’s lemon and paprika chicken, it’s an old favourite and perfect during summer on the BBQ served with a simple garden salad or taratur.

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Recipe

Serves 4-6

Ingredients
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons paprika
1 garlic clove, finely grated
Juice and zest of half a lemon (zest is optional)
Sea salt to taste (or dried vegetable stock e.g. Vegeta/Massel)

4-6 chicken thigh or breast fillets, skin removed

Method
1) Combine olive oil, paprika, garlic, lemon and salt in a medium sized glass or plastic bowl. Add chicken and toss to completely cover with marinade. Cover and marinade in refrigerator for 2 hours.

2) Preheat BBQ plate/chargrill or large frying pan (medium to hot). Cook chicken for 5 to 7 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

3) Serve chicken with salad.

Tip: Leftover chicken is delicious the next day on sandwiches with green oak lettuce, tomato, bacon and aoili (see recipe).

I had intended to post this recipe on New Year’s Eve, as it takes me back to the 80s when my parents would throw the biggest New Year’s Eve parties ever imaginable! As a child it was the most fun you could hope for, we had a lamb on the spit, kolbasi on the BBQ and close to fifty people picnicking in the backyard. Just before midnight all the kids would dress up as ‘babari’, a tradition from my parents village Capari.

Everyone brought a dish or two to share, be it salads, pastries, or sweets, but one thing Mum always made was her baked rice with garden tomatoes and chillies. It’s vegan, and great with fish and chicken. Just think of it as a healthy and summery baked risotto.

P.S. This weekend is ‘Suro’, the Macedonian New Year. Traditionally maznik is made and baked with a gold coin, for the recipe check out last years Maznik recipe.

Evenly arrange tomato and chilli

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Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic gloves, finely grated or chopped
2 cups (440g) medium grain rice, washed and drained
4-5 cups (1-1.25L) boiled water
Sea salt
1 teaspoon dried vegetable stock e.g. Vegeta/Massel
Freshly ground black pepper
1 large tomato, sliced thinly into 5mm rounds
2 medium green banana chillies, seeded and roughly chopped (banana chillies are also known as Hungarian or bullhorn chillies, if unavailable replace with a green capsicum)

Method
1) Preheat oven to 250°C.

2) Heat olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until fragrant but not browned. Add washed rice and lightly toast (2-3 minutes). Transfer rice and garlic mix to a large baking tray/dish. Pour over hot water, add a sprinkle of salt, vegeta, pepper to taste and stir. Arrange tomato slices and chillies over rice. Place in hot oven and bake for 20–30 minutes or until rice is cooked. Remove from oven and allow to stand for 10 minutes.

3) Serve while warm as a light lunch or part of a banquet with grilled chicken or fish and salad.

Tips:
- For a non-vegetarian version add poached chicken pieces see Baked Chicken with Red Rice recipe (follow steps 1 and 2 and use cooking liquid rather than plain boiled water).
- Another alternative is to add fish fillets to the tomatoes and chillies.
- During winter leave out the tomato and use pickled banana chillies.