Starogrojski Paprenjok - biscuits from Croatia

 These biscuits are typical from Croatia, specifically from the island of Hvar ,their origin is in the city of Stari Grad. In the past they were also widely consumed throughout the Dalmatian coast.

They are eaten at all family parties and are highly appreciated for being very durable. In fact in the past, it was a gift that the guests used to give to the bride and groom on their wedding day, the bride and groom had to keep them and consume them when they had their first child.

The sailors' wives and mothers used to make these cookies for sailors to take with them on long voyages, they knew that they were going to have a good sweet for the whole trip.

They are made with sweet wine, honey and a set of spices called 'prapen' with nutmeg, cloves and cinnamon.

Ingredients:

For the dough

- 500 grams flour.

- 250 grams honey.

- 62 ml olive oil.

- 75 ml sweet wine.

- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

- 1 teaspoon baking soda.

- 1 teaspoon nutmeg.

- 1 teaspoon cloves.

- 0,5 grams saffron strands.

For the decoration

- 250 grams cast sugar.

- 1 lemon juice.

- 1 egg white.

Method:

1- Put the wine in a saucepan together with the cloves , turn on the fire until it boils.

2- Turn off the heat and add the saffron threads, let the wine get cool.

3- In a bowl, mix the honey with nutmeg, cinnamon and baking soda.

4- When the wine is cold, strain it and add it to the honey bowl, mix everything well.

5- Add the flour and oil, mix and knead until everything is well integrated, make a ball with the dough and cover it with cling film.

Let it rest for 5 or 6 hours.

6- Take portions of the dough and with the help of a rolling pin flatten the dough on a flat surface.

Use cookie molds to cut the dough, also use some stamps to make some drawing on the surface of the cookie.

7- Line a tray with baking paper and place the cookies on it, preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes, and then bake at the same temperature for 20 minutes, heat up and down.

8- You can decorate the cookies on the same or another day, the advantage is that these cookies can last for many months, so you won't lose them.

To decorate the cookies we are going to prepare the icing.

Put an egg white in a bowl and beat until it is white and you can make peaks with it and the peaks do not fall off.

Add the icing sugar little by little while stirring.

9- Add lemon juice and continue stirring.

10- Once the mixture is added, cover it with cling film, you can keep it in the fridge until you decide to decorate the cookies.

Croatian women traditionally use a pin to decorate, they dip it in the icing and then make some drawings on the biscuits.

You already have some cookies that you can use at Christmas even if you make them in summer!

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have my  favourite cooking tools: https://viaja-en-mi-cocina-english.blogspot.com/2023/05/shop.html

Croatia

Drap:
De Nightstallion, Elephantus, Neoneo13, Denelson83, Rainman, R-41, Minestrone, Lupo, Zscout370,MaGa (based on Decision of the Parliament) - http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?sec=4317, Dominio público, Enlace

Cevapi - Kebab from Croatia

Ćevapi is one of the most famous dishes in Croatia, it is Croatia's kebab. Kebab is an Arabic word that means roasted meat.

It looks a bit different from the Turkish-origin kebab; it is a kind of sausage made with minced meat that can be beef, pork, lamb, or a mix.

It is eaten in a pita-type bread called Somun or Lepinja and accompanied by a sauce made from sour cream.

This dish is also widely consumed in other Balkan countries.

Ingredients for the Somun/lepinja (4 pita breads):

- 250 g wheat flour.

- 5 g Salt.

- 3 g dry baker's yeast.

- 155 g cold water.

Ingredients for Cevapi

- 800 g ground meat (mixturebeef and pork).

- 5 g Salt.

- 8 cloves of garlic.

- 5 g paprika.

- 1 egg.

- parsley.

- pepper.

- 1 onion.

Ingredients for the sauce

- Sour cream.

- Salt.

- Pepper.

- Chives.

Method:

11- Let's start with the bread. Put the flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl and mix well.

22- Add water and mix well, Sure, once the dough is compact, knead for 5 minutes.

33- Cover the bowl with cling film and let stand for one and a half hour.

44- This is how the dough looks after the first fermentation. It should double its size; the time it takes to ferment depends on the room temperature. Ideally, it should be at 24-25 degrees, otherwise, it might need more time to ferment.

55- Divide the dough into 4 equal parts, shape them into balls, and cover them again to let them ferment for another hour.

6- Preheat the oven to 250 degrees Celsius with the fan on.

7- Flatten each ball with your hands, and make marks on the surface with a knife to create a pattern.

8- Cook in the oven for 3 minutes until you see the bread puff up. The time depends on the oven; for me, it took 10 minutes. Keep the bread covered with a cloth while we prepare the rest.

9- Since sour cream is hard to find, I’m leaving a link to my blog where I explain how to make it: Sour Cream.

Put the sour cream in a jar and add the pepper, salt, and finely chopped chives. Stir well and keep it in the fridge.

10- Combine in a bowl the egg, pepper,paprika, salt, grated         garlic and parsley.

11- Add the meat and mix well.

12- Put some oil in your palms, take some ground meat to make sausages the size a finger. Put the sausages on a dish into the fridge until it is time to cook them.

13- Take a frying pan and fry the sausages, take the bread and cut in the middle as you see in the picture.

14- Add a few spoonfuls of the sauce, place the sausages in, and add the onion. If, like me, you find raw onion too strong, you can boil it in water for 15 minutes to reduce the acidity."

Receta en Español

You can also watch the recipe at my Youtube Channel:

Here you have a link to my favourite cooking tools where you can find my spices grinder:  

Favourite cooking tools

Croacia

Bandera:
De Nightstallion, Elephantus, Neoneo13, Denelson83, Rainman, R-41, Minestrone, Lupo, Zscout370,MaGa (based on Decision of the Parliament) - http://www.sabor.hr/Default.aspx?sec=4317, Dominio público, Enlace