BULGARIAN "GUVECH"

Today I have decided to blog and share another one of my Bulgarian recipes that I love to make! In Bulgaria it's known as "guvech" which is a pot that they cook the actual dish in. Since you probably don't have one I will be showing you how to cook it in a large sauce pan (that is how I cooked mine.) It's not exactly a soup but it's a potato, vegetable, and meat dish that I promise you will enjoy! It's a bowl of true comfort food on your dinner table that will be ready in an hour or two. And even though it's a piping hot dish, you can make it all year round. I definitely prefer it during this time of year especially in front of the fire place!

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 60 minutes

Total time: 75 minutes (1 hour & 15 min)

Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients:

Chicken breast (however much you desire)

 1 Large carrot

 1 Celery stick 
 3 Tomatoes
 1 Red, green, and yellow pepper (One of each color)
 1 Zucchini
 1 Large dry onion
 4-5 Peeled potatoes
 Paprika
 Oil
 One tablespoon of flour
 Black pepper
 Mint
 Salt or vegeta (A European spice)
 Water

Directions:
1. Chop the dry onion and place in a large sauce pan then add the chicken breast and let simmer until you hear a sizzle from the oil.
2. Chop the rest of the vegetables and add them in; Add the flour while the vegetable are lightly frying up and stir. After that add all the spices.
3.  Add the water (add water until all the vegetables are covered and then stir.)
4. Let the dish stay in the sauce pan on medium-low heat until the meat is ready to eat and the vegetables are nice and tender.
5. You can eat this with any bread and it is still delicious!
6. All of the vegetables can be replaced with any other vegetable you desire like, peas, green beans, eggplant instead of zucchini, okra, etc!

          Enjoy!!

TOMATO & HERB BAKED TILAPIA

Happy Monday! Well it's a brand new week. Can't say I'm too excited. Do you ever have a really busy weekend and then finally sit down to relax on Sunday night just to realize your upcoming week is so packed with things that you can't even begin to think about it? But it's okay, because I have some great recipes you can make for your loaded weekend that you just prepare and pop it in the oven and it's ready! It's "Tomato and herb tilapia". You just have to take it out of the freezer, and get it ready for the oven.

Prep time: 10 minutes 

Cook time: 1 hr/30 min

Total time: 1hr/40 min

Serves: 6 people 

Ingredients:

 Tilapia 

 Olive oil 

 Black pepper 

 Vegetta (European spice) or salt 

 Bay leaves 

 Oregano 

 2 large dry onions 

 4 cans of tomatoes 

Directions:

1. Cut the dry onions into strips, add all the spices; salt, black pepper, oregano, and bay leaves on the onions; mix them around.

2. Add the fish into the pan, add the same spices on each sides of the fish.

3. Add all the cans of tomato on top of the fish and make sure the tomatos are evenly layored on the fish.

4. Add some olive oil on top of the tomatoes. 

5. Bake at 450* until tomatos are nice and crisp and the fish is tender.

Unfortunately I was so excited to try the fish and I'm guessing I forgot to take a picture of the fish when it's done but it's better because you can try it out and see how it turned out!! I'm telling it looked and tasted amazing! And again I apologize for not taking a picture when it was done.

     Enjoy!

NEW YEARS TEA BISCUIT CAKE

Can you believe the new year is here, well a great way to start the new year and end the old one, is to get together with your loved ones and enjoy a scrumptious moist cake that all will enjoy! It all comes together when you make some pudding, custard, or any type of pudding; pour it over tea biscuits, wait a day or two and enjoy the cake! You get a hint of tea biscuits and the slightly sweetened pudding. Its one you'll love and you'll want to make it over and over all the time! It's also a no bake recipe, you only have to bake the pudding on the stove so it is spreadable. This cake had so many pros, but one con is that you have to wait a day or two to eat it so the pudding can get in the biscuits and it's moist and soft.

Prep time: 35 minutes
Cook time: 0 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes (Arranging the biscuits and cooking the pudding)
Serves: 4-6 people

Ingredients:
Pudding, custard, or any pudding
Any tea biscuits
Walnuts

Directions:
1. Make the pudding; I used a Bulgarian pudding.
2. Arrange tea biscuits on a rectangular pan, pour a good amount of the pudding on top of the biscuits and smooth all around with a spatula until all the biscuits are covered in pudding.
3. Do this process until you have three layers; the first layer should start with biscuits and the last layer should be the pudding. Also don't be afraid to put a lot of pudding because you want the cake to be moist.
4. Shred walnuts and add then on top of the cake. If you do not have a walnut shredder, put the right amount of walnuts in a plastic bag and with a rolling pin, smash the walnuts and add them to the cake.

         Enjoy!

EGG AND TOMATO PEPPERS

Lets go back to the "Nothing for dinner on Wednesday" blog post because I'm sure you have missed those because I for sure have! I have so much peppers, tomatoes, and tons of eggs because I never run out of that! But with extras in the refrigerator, what better thing to do than marry them together. I took feta cheese and eggs, stuffed the peppers with the mixture, added a tomato, and baked them in the oven. The result? Beautiful eggs and feta cheese in a pepper bed. Delicious and delightful, not to mention fun. Get creative and most importantly; ENJOY!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 70 minutes
Total time: 80 minutes
Serves: 4 people

Ingredients:
Green peppers
12 Eggs
5 Tomatoes (Cut into circular pieces)
5 Cherry tomatoes
Feta cheese
Oil

Directions:
1. Prepare the peppers and place in a large pan; Taking out the inside seeds, rinsing the peppers. etc.
2. In a large bowl whisk 12 eggs.
3. Crumble feta cheese in the eggs and mix.
4. Grab a spoon and add the egg mixture in the peppers; about 2/3 of the pepper should be filled with eggs then add a tomato or two on top of the eggs. Place on the pan and continue process for the rest of the peppers.
5 .Drizzle oil evenly around the pan.
6. If you have extra eggs and feta cheese, add the halved cherry tomatoes and pour the mix on top of the peppers.
7. Bake at 400*

 
         Enjoy!

HOMEMADE LEMON LOAF CAKE

Have you ever bought lemon cake from your grocery store; it's moist, dense, and full of lemon flavor! There's something about this soft lemon loaf cake that keeps us from going back for more. This scrumptious lemon loaf cake is great for any party to go to, any cozy night, and also great to bake when you are bored. That's what I did; I was really board, so me and sister decided to make this lemon loaf cake that we will be bringing to a little girls birthday party (In case you were wondering why I didn't cut it open to show you guys, well we can't bring it cut into pieces! lol!!) I have been trying other lemon loaf cake recipes but it just didn't work out so we tried this recipe and we hope it tastes as amazing as it looks! If you are bored like I was last night, keep scowling down and try this lemon loaf recipe; trust me it's better than the Starbucks one!!

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 50 minutes
Total time: 90 minutes (For cooling and cooking)
Serves: 8 people

Ingredients:
Loaf:
 3 large eggs
 1 cup granulated sugar
 1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream or Greek yogurt
 1/2 cup canola oil or vegetable oil
 2 tablespoons lemon Zest
 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon extract
 1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
 2 teaspoons backing powder
 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

Lemon Glaze:
1. 1 cup confectioners sugar
2. 3 tablespoons lemon juice, or as necessary for consistency

 Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Spray a 9x5-inch loaf pan with floured cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan; set aside.
2. Loaf- To a bowl, add the eggs, sugar, sour cream or yogurt, and whisk vigorously until smooth and combined
3. Drizzle the oil while whisking to combine.
4. Add the lemon zest, lemon extract, and whisk until well combined. I added 2 tablespoons of lemon extract because no actual lemon juice is used in the loaf. Don't use lemon oil and lemon extract interchangeably because they're not; oil is much more potent and and intense. Also don't use lemon juice in place of lemon extract because it's not strong enough and the acidity can alter the overall results.
5. Add the flour, backing powder, salt, and stir until just combined; don't over mix because you will make the loaf tough. Some lumps will be present and that's okay; don't try to stir them smooth.
6. Pour the batter in a pan that is 9x5 and smooth the top with a spatula.
7. Bake for about 50-55 minutes until the top is nice and golden brown and a tooth pick has come out clean. In the last 10 minutes of backing tent the pan with foil (loosely drape a piece of foil over pan to prevent excessive browning on top and side of loaf before center cooks through.
8. Allow the loaf to cool for at least 30 minutes. Then take out the loaf and let it cool for about an hour on a wire rack. Let it cool completely before glazing.
9. Lemon Glaze- To a small bowl, add the confectioners sugar and slowly drizzle in the lemon juice while whisking until well combined and smooth. You might need to play around with the sugar and lemon juice amount a bit as necessary for desired consistency and flavor.
10. Evenly drizzle lemon glaze over bread like you'd spread butter on toast and it soaks right in making the loaf even moister and more lemony. Bread will keep airtight at room temperature for up to 5 days or in freezer for up to six months; I don't recommend storing it in the fridge because it'll dry out. 

          Enjoy!

RUSSIAN SALAD

It's Christmas Eve!! I am so happy that the holidays have finally come; Sometimes it's stressful to cook up a good meal for you and your family in just one day for that night. So I decided to share this recipe with you guys that can be made ahead of time; you can make it the day before Christmas and it will taste just as well (even better)! Also it's done in a matter of time! This recipe is not really Russian, In Bulgaria we just call it that. This salad can be made any time throughout the year but when you make it on Christmas, it's extra special!

Prep time: 20 minutes 

Cook time: 30 minutes (for potatoes & eggs) 

Total time: 50 minutes 

Serves: 6 people 

Ingredients:

 7 Boiled Potatoes

 8 Boiled eggs 

 10 Carrots 

 10 Hotdogs 

 One can Sweet peas 

 15 Mini pickles 

 3 Olives 

 1 Tomatoe 

 Lettuce 

 Mayo to taste 

Directions:

1. Broil the potatoes for 20 min and the eggs for 10 min

2. Peel the eggs and potatoes and let them cool 

3.Cut all the vegetables in small pieces (except the Tomatoe, olives, and lettuce)

4. Add the mayo to the vegetables until moist enough.  

I was getting my salad and putting it in a bowl when I realized it was the holidays, and chose to make a snow man out of the scrumptious salad!

All I did was take a little bit of salad and formed it into a snowman, then I took some more and added it as the hands. (Just before I continue, if you were wondering why I had put olives, tomatoes, and lettuce in the ingredients when I didn't even use it in the salad, well here's why.) Cut the olives in half and add them to make eyes and buttons. Peel a little of the carrot and add it as a mouth, then put the rest as a nose. Peel a Tomatoe and put it as the scarf and the extra can be put on as the hat. Add lettuce on the bottom. Last but not least, cut an egg in stripes and put around the plate to act as the snowflakes, then put it on top of the tomato hat. You can decorate the salad however you want to! You can make a Christmas tree, a Christmas wonderland, anything!

          Enjoy!

MISH MASH

Lets get Mish-Mashing while we cook some Bulgarian style mish-mash! As you may not know I am Bulgarian so I am proud to share this recipe with you guys! We know dishes similar to mish-mash exist in almost all Middle East & Mediterranean countries. Still, we include it in our traditional Bulgarian collection, just because every Bulgarian knows what mish-mash is and because of its popularity in Bulgaria. The word mish-mash refers to a collections containing a variety of miscellaneous things, and this is exactly what is it; a simple and quick dish, containing many seasonal ingredients (such as tomatoes, peppers, parsley, etc), mixed and cooked in a matter of minutes. There is many different versions of ways to make this dish, but i'm going to show you the winter version of the dish, using roasted and peeled peppers, which probably every Bulgarian has in their freezer. The original recipe calls for fresh ones, so you can make this recipe with fresh peppers if you don't have roasted ones and it will work just as well. (I may share that recipe with you guys sometime on my blog!)

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Total time: 35 minutes

Serves: 5 people

Ingredients: 
 2 canned tomatoes

 3 Red bell peppers

 Olive oil (or oil of choice)

 1 Cup milk
 3 eggs 

 Feta cheese 

Directions:

1. In a large sauce pan add oil to cover the bottom, then add the chopped peppers. Let it simmer for a little 

2. Add the canned tomatoes with the sauce in the cans and let it simmer.

3. In a separate bowl whisk 3 eggs and add the milk in the eggs. 

4. Put the egg mixture in the peppers and tomatoes 

5. Crumble some feta cheese in the mish-mash, stir and let it slimmer on medium heat.

       Enjoy!