Croatia Recipes

Sarma

Ingredients

Bread Noodles:
4 slices of white bread
Tiny bit oil
Cup of flour (or a bit more, depending on how much water or how big your egg is)
1 egg
Pinch of salt

Sarma:
2 lbs ground beef (5% fat)
1 finely chopped onion
2 finely chopped cloves of garlic
At least a tblsp of paprika
A dash if black pepper and a dash of salt
The whole head of sauerkraut, cored and sliced
The smoked pork we got, cut into bite size strips

Directions

Bread Noodles:
Cut slices of bread into half inch cubes (white bread but really could be anything) and pan toast on just a bit of oil. We're going for crispy and brown. Probably like 3 or 4 slices of bread. Take bread off stove when nicely browned.
In a bowl add an egg to a cup of white flour (flour with a pinch of salt). Add cold water to create a consistency that is like sticky dough. It should be kind of like silly putty. Make sure the dough is well mixed.
Make a large pot of hot water. Take 3 or 4 bread cubes together and add just enough dough to encapsulate them.  Use a big spoon to roll the bread cubes around in the dough, scoop them out, and gently drop the ball into the hot water. Repeat until bread and dough is gone. Drain water and add noodles to plates before sarma.





Sarma:

Put ground beef and onions in a large pot and cook until onions soften a little but before they brown. Add garlic, sauté for a minute or two more and then add a cup of water. Add paprika, black pepper, and smoked pork bits, bring to a boil. Add chopped sauerkraut and mix. Salt to taste, depending on sauerkraut. It will probably still need salt even though the sauerkraut is sour. And simmer for like 20 minutes.

























Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients
1 pound ground beef
One small or half a big onion, chopped
2 tablespoons of flour
Enough oil to sauté onions
2 cups of cold water
Two small cans of tomato paste
Half teaspoon of salt and pepper
At least 1 tablespoon of paprika
Three clothes of garlic, chopped
Two or three bell peppers, any color (not green), cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon of sugar

Directions
Sauté onions, garlic, paprika, salt, pepper, and ground beef on oil until onions are golden. Break apart the ground beef so that there are no large chunks. Add 2 tablespoons of flour which should be just enough for the oil to be absorbed by the flour and roast a little on low heat until the flour begins to yellow. Pour on 2 cups of cold water and add in the two cans of tomato paste. And add the peppers. Cook until peppers are softish- not mushy but not unbending. Add sugar and then add salt to taste.