Wishful thinking

OK...Now that the exams stress is (almost) over,I was thinking of getting busy in the kitchen.However,the weather has it against me and besides the humidity which is killing us,the heat is unbearable.
As much as I love my baked goodies,I guess we'll be sticking to salads and nothing more.It is really silly that in winter,when I can bake till my heart's content,I'm stuck with zillion assignments and preparations for the winter session (yep...exams) and then when the summer session is over,it is too hot to stay in the kitchen and do some baking.
Fortunately,I am about to graduate in February 2011 and I will still have time to bake something before the heat starts somewhere in May.
If the wind and rain gods decide to make appearance,I shall go in my kitchen and make something nice.
My husband is in love with Macedonian food which in no way is fast food.It is prepared slowly and lovingly and maybe that is the reason it tastes so good.
Even with ingredients of inferior quality!
Whenever we go to visit over there,we do bring some spices and beans (Tetovsko gravce) home and we ration them so they last until the next visit.

Cheater's Burek

Well,I found the photos of my famous burek that my husband loves dearly.Thing is,we have reeeaalllyyyy hot and sticky summers here and my beloved husband loves to eat burek in summer.Needless to say,every time I'm making burek in summer he has to compensate it with some 'bribe' in the form of a handbag,shoes or jewelry.
This burek is really easy to make (if you have filo pastry in the freezer) and all it takes it's about an hour or so to prepare from scratch to the plate.
All you need is (love,of course!):
400-500 grams filo pastry
1/2 kilo fresh (or 250 grams frozen) spinach
150 grams feta cheese (or any white crumbly cheese)
250 ml. icy cold water
130 ml. vegetable oil (do not use olive oil for this one)
some butter for greasing the baking dish

You can use whatever filling you like: minced meat;leeks & eggs;sauerkraut;cheese,ham,mushrooms & ketchup,etc...Let your taste buds run wild :)

Method:
Prepare the filling first by sweating the spinach with few drops of oil.When cool,crumble the cheese and set aside.
Put the cooking oil in the cold water and stir vigorously so it will look like foggy emulsion.
Grease the baking dish with some butter and spread 2 sheets of filo pastry overlapping each other and sprinkle with the water/oil mixture.
Put another 2 wrinkled sheets of filo and again sprinkle little of the water/oil on each.
On the fourth sheet put some of the filling and cover it with another 2 wrinkled sheets of filo (yes...on EVERY filo sheet goes water/oil).
Repeat the procedure until you have 2 filo sheets left.The last 2 are to cover the burek and then you fold nicely the overlapping ones from the beginning.Sprinkle generously with the water/oil which have to be at its end now and bake in preheated oven 180 C for 30-40 minutes.
Note: After the first 20 minutes in the oven, you have to turn the burek on a dish or a pan and put it t bake the other side for the remaining time.
Result: Yummy and finger lickin' good!

Food for thought

I was thinking yesterday of a favourite dish of mine,mushroom biryani.And everything would have been just fine if today was not public holiday!Being public holiday means that I cannot put my hands on the main ingredient (fresh mushrooms) and it is bothering me a lot.The cherry on the cake is that I'm studying for an exam which I have to take on Friday and everything seems to take wrong turns when I'm studying.Did I mention that there are 2 piles of laundry to be taken care of?
It is funny how all things are popping to mind when I'm at my worst.
I wanted to upload some photos of dishes I had made (and took photos of) some time ago,but I think I'll do them later.
Oh...and I forgot to mention...Although it's easier for me to write in English,I do speak Serbian,Croatian and Macedonian,so questions and comments are welcome in those languages.
Well...until next time.

And now...we begin

OK...I've been playing with the idea of writing a blog for long time.Truth to be told, I had one account, but unfortunately I had forgotten the email address and password, so I couldn't be bothered to search for it. Instead, I will try to arrange this one as soon as the circumstances permit. It is going to be mainly food related and flavored with personal opinions. Until then, peace to all! Didi x x x