Škampi na Buzaru (Scampi a la Buzara)

Today I made Škampi na Buzaru or Scampi a la Buzara.  It is a traditional Croatian dish that is made in Dalmatia by the Adriatic Sea coast.  It is made by cooking shrimp in a tomato and garlic sauce and it is a great appetizer and tastes great with fresh bread that you can dip in the sauce.  I served a traditional bread from Bosnia and Croatia called somun/lepinja with this dish that we bought at City Fresh Market.

Ingredients:
- 1 pound of shrimp (I used cooked shrimp)
- about 3 tablespoons of olive (or to taste)
- 2 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped)
- 1/2 cup of tomato sauce
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- about 1 tablespoon of chopped parsley
- 5 teaspoons of bread crumbs
- 1/8 teaspoon of Vegeta (optional)
- 3/4 cup of dry white wine
- salt to taste
- fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:

- Wash shrimp

- Quickly put tomatoes in boiling water and take out, then peel them (this makes it easier to peel the tomatoes) and slice them

- Mince the garlic

- Chop the parsley

- Heat up the olive oil and saute the bread crumbs for a few minutes until toasted, but don't let them burn

- Add garlic, parsley, sliced tomato, tomato sauce and Vegeta and saute until tomato starts to break down

- Add salt, pepper and white wine and mix well

- Add shrimp and mix well

- Cook covered for about 15 minutes or until shrimp are cooked.

- Serve with Polenta or fresh bread

Prijatno!  Enjoy!  : )

Kvrgusa - Bosnian Chicken Pie

Kvrgusa is a traditional Bosnian dish that is made by baking pieces of chicken in a flour, egg and milk batter and when it is done it tastes like a chicken pot pie.  It is a very simple dish and very tasty too.  My family did not make this dish at home that often, but whenever I ate it when we visited our friends or family I loved it.  The last time I had this dish was a few years ago when we visited our close friends and neighbors while visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina and like anything that they make, it was very delicious.  Today, I decided to try making it myself and we had it for dinner.  Here is the recipe that I came up with:

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon of salt
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/4 cups of milk
• 1 1/2 pounds of chicken (or 1/2 of a chicken)
• pinch of Vegeta (or to taste)
• 3/4 cup of sour cream
• 1/2 cup of milk (to add to sour cream at the end)

Directions:

• Heat oven to about 450 F
• Beat the eggs, then mix four, salt, eggs and 1 1/4 cups of milk well until batter is smooth

• Cut up the chicken into pieces
• Pour some oil into the baking pan to coat evenly and put in oven to heat up for a few minutes
• Take out the baking pan and evenly pour mixture into it

• Transfer chicken pieces into the bowl where you had the batter and sprinkle with Vegeta (or salt) and mix well
• Place chicken pieces onto the flour batter in the baking pan

• Put in the oven and bake for about 20 minutes until it starts browning a little
• Lower temperature to about 420 F and keep baking until chicken is fully cooked and browned
• In the meantime mix 3/4 cup of sour cream and 1/2 cup of milk
• Take out Kvrgusa and pour the sour cream and milk mixture over it evenly

• Put back into the oven and bake for another 5-10 minutes
• Take Kvrgusa out and let cool for a few minutes
• Serve with green lettuce salad seasoned with olive oil, vinegar and a few pinches of salt

Prijatno!  : )

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

A couple of days ago Maja and I started to discuss and reminisce how much we enjoyed going to Jamaica years ago. Maja was still a pescatarian, so she didn't get to eat anything with meat back then, but I enjoyed a lot of Jamaican dishes, especially jerk chicken. Since I never tried making it myself, I thought this would be a good opportunity to do so.

Ingredients:

• 2 pieces of skinless chicken breast
• 1 minced onion
• 1/2 minced jalapeno pepper
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup vinegar
• 1/4 cup  olive oil
• 1.5 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons of Jamaican jerk spice

Directions:

Combine and mix very well all ingredients for the marinade. Here I am using a vacuum marinator which helps marinate the meat better and faster, but you can also use just a regular bowl or a ziplock bag. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, and preferably overnight.

Oil the grill or griddler and set it to high heat. Place chicken on the grill and pour some of the marinade over it. Grill chicken for 6-8 minutes. Don't worry if it gets blackened a bit - that's to be expected.

In the meantime, put the leftover marinade into a pot and put it to slow boil.

Serve with Jamaican beans and rice, and a Red Stripe or a caribbean cocktail. Pour some of the cooked marinade over rice and chicken to taste. Enjoy!