SLOVENIA: THE FOOD

It’s certainly been an odd start to October. I think every day this month, it has felt like it was July. I believe the news reported that we haven’t had this many 80-degree days in a row in October in 140 years. I did buy some apple cider, hoping it would push autumn along. And it worked: the weather will start acting appropriately later this week. I mean, this is my birthday month – I want to wear my scarves and jackets already!

So soft. So beautiful.

But in the meantime, I’m making food from Slovenia. This is one of those meals where I split it between two days. Mostly because I got a late start, we were hungry, and I’m not stressing about it. So, the first thing I made was Krompirjev Kruh, or potato bread. I started out with peeling and dicing a potato and boiling it with 1 ½ c water. When it was tender, I mashed it well in the water. Then I added in a cup of buttermilk, a little sugar and salt, a little butter, and a ¼ c of water, and mixed it until the butter melted. In a large bowl, I measured out 2 c of flour and one yeast packet, creating a well in the center. I poured the potato-buttermilk mixture in the center and mixed everything until it was smooth. Then, a cup at a time, I mixed in 3 more cups of flour. (You might even need another cup, but 3 seemed to work for me.) Once it was smooth, I rubbed a little oil on the outside, covered it, and let it rest for about 45 minutes. Luckily, mine puffed up, so I punched it down and divided it into two parts. After kneading each half for a minute or so, I let it rest for 10 minutes before putting them each into loaf pans. Using my hands, I formed it to the pan a little, letting it rest for another half hour. After this, I sprinkled a little flour on top and put them in a 375ºF oven for about 35 minutes, just as it was turning a nice brown color on top. These turned out really well. They were very soft on the inside, and the crumb was nice and large. I really loved everything about this bread.

Good only on the first day.

The main dish I made tonight was Djuveč. This ratatouille-like dish turned out better than I thought it was going to be, but not so much with my finicky son. I started with browning some cubed pork cutlets (I used just cubed pork instead of a mixture of pork and lamb). Then I added in some onions, green bell peppers, and orange bell peppers to sauté along with the pork, before adding in the diced eggplant. I let it cook down a little with the lid on. Then in a rectangle glass casserole dish, I put a layer of the pork-veggie mix on the bottom, a layer of sliced potatoes, a little salt and pepper, an 1/8 c of uncooked rice, a little parsley and repeated the layers again. On top, I put a few tomato slices (with a touch of salt), drizzled it with olive oil, and topped with some breadcrumbs. Just before I put it in the 350ºF oven, I added a little water to it and filled it halfway or so. I was so afraid of it boiling out and burning it, that I checked it every 15 minutes. However, the rice on top seemed like it didn’t get down into the water, so it was still hard when I was going to take it out after about an hour. I smashed everything down into the liquid, topped it with some parmesan cheese, and put it in for another 10-15 minutes. It turned out really good, the flavors really melded together, and I thought it went really well with the bread. However, the next day, the eggplants were really mushy in the casserole and gave it faint smell of seafood. Hm.

Surprise of the day!

Now comes Part 2: that time I made Štruklji. I made the dough first by mixing a little hot water in a bowl and added in the butter to melt it. Then I used a fork to mix in the egg and salt and set it off to the side. I put my flour in a larger bowl, making a well in the center and poured in the liquids. I stirred everything until it came together as a dough, covering it and letting it rest for a half hour. While that was resting, I made the filling by melting butter in a saucepan and then sautéing some breadcrumbs until they were browned. I took it off the heat and stirred in some eggs until they were scrambled. Then I mixed in some sour cream, cottage cheese, tarragon, and salt. By this time, the dough should be ready (or almost). I took my dough and rolled it out into a rectangle about 12”x18” (or as close as I could get it). I spread the filling out over the dough, leaving a slight gap at the edges. Then I started rolling it up from the long side as tight as I could. I folded a cheesecloth (or you can use a towel) around the roll and used string to tie the ends together (and I added some in the middle). Then I took the whole roll and coiled it so it would fit in my pot of boiling water, letting it boil for nearly 40 minutes. When it was done, I carefully fished it out of a pot, like I was fishing in a hot spring. I unwrapped it carefully and cut it into 2” section and topped with more buttered crumbs. This was actually pretty tasty, even though I thought I had browned the breadcrumbs that topped it a little too much. But the flavor was good, but you could hardly taste the tarragon.

Overall, it wasn't too bad. It was very hearty, just in time for fall. If it ever gets here.

I had all the best intentions of making kremsnita, which is a vanilla and custard crème cake. I bought all of the ingredients and everything (even down to the puff pastry!). But, I just ran out of time. I might try to make it later this week. (If I do, I’ll post a PS to this post.) I guess sometimes that’s how it goes. My stomach is bigger than my schedule.

Up next: Solomon Islands