food Harvest Cooking with Stickman

[roper2008]

Croatia or the whole Balkan region is not well known for specific hot dishes, but we use hot peppers to spice up our food. Sweet peppers are more popular here.

When it comes to fiery food hot ajvar is something you should try. In fact, every chilehead should try hot ajvar.
Ajvar is originally made in Macedonia with sweet peppers, but you can make a hot version by adding a few hot peppers.
Here are some recipes:
http://www.mymacedon...hen.com/?p=1194
http://www.groupreci...per-spread.html
http://www.acanadian...om-the-balkans/


If you get a chance you should try it. In fact, every chile head should try hot ajvar

I made 15 jars of hot ajvar last week
I follow the third recipe, but I add one medium sized eggplant on two kilos of peppers.

That looks delicious. A rezha pepper would be perfect to spice that up.

 

[MisterNo]

I passed on your links to Ajvar making to a few people here who I thought would like it. We'll see what happens there, but I'm planning on making some to put away for the winter. I just have to get on it this weekend. The weather forecast for this week is fairly decent, but the overnight temps are supposed to drop into the low 40s after that... with temps in the 30s soon to follow.

Ajvar is great condiment, no 1 for me. I use it more then mayo, ketchup, mustard etc.
My favorite use is to put it on pizza instead of tomato sauce (or combine them), but you can just smear it on the slice of bread and eat right up...
It's a lot of work to do, but it's worth making it

That looks delicious. A rezha pepper would be perfect to spice that up.

Yes
This peppers have different names in Macedonia or Kosovo, almoust every county or village has it's own name or variation, but they are practically the same peppers, in Central and Western Europe known as Elephant peppers.

But you can use any hot pepper you like. I.E. I use jalapenos or fatalli peppers.

Ajvar is usually made with horn shaped sweet peppers like this(not sure about the name, they are widely available here in Croatia at the end of season).

 

[stickman]

Ajvar is great condiment, no 1 for me. I use it more then mayo, ketchup, mustard etc.
My favorite use is to put it on pizza instead of tomato sauce (or combine them), but you can just smear it on the slice of bread and eat right up...
It's a lot of work to do, but it's worth making it



Yes
This peppers have different names in Macedonia or Kosovo, almoust every county or village has it's own name or variation, but they are practically the same peppers, in Central and Western Europe known as Elephant peppers.

But you can use any hot pepper you like. I.E. I use jalapenos or fatalli peppers.

Ajvar is usually made with horn shaped sweet peppers like this(not sure about the name, they are widely available here in Croatia at the end of season).

Are the "Elephant Peppers" the same thing as Vezena Piperka? that I've seen pics of? They look really long with lots of horizontal corking... They're supposed to be very sweet, but also very hot up near the stem, and excellent roasted. I'd definitely be interested in growing some of those!

That looks delicious. A rezha pepper would be perfect to spice that up.

Hi Linda, thanks for stopping by.

 

[MisterNo]

Yes, it's Vezena paprika (paprika means pepper in Croatian). I'll be sending some Vezena seeds your way in a day or two

 

[stickman]

Yes, it's Vezena paprika (paprika means pepper in Croatian). I'll be sending some Vezena seeds your way in a day or two

Thank you so much Robert! I'll definitely be looking forward to that next year!

 

[roper2008]

I''ve grown the rezha before. It is a very sweet, and hot pepper.
Taste really good, but you have to char the rough skin off.

 

[stickman]

I''ve grown the rezha before. It is a very sweet, and hot pepper.
Taste really good, but you have to char the rough skin off.

Thanks for the tip Linda! I have a charcoal grill, so that won't be a problem.

 

[Ela]

Pazi da te makedonci ili, nedaj Boze is Podravke,ne zaganjaju sto im otimas marketinski posao.

Well, what can I say about Ajvar,my favorite condiment that I grew up having on daily basis, as Robert does. It is THE BEST condiment that exist out there for me.Every house in our neck of the woods has it's own recipe for it. The only pepper that I found in USA that comes close to the pepper we use for making Ajvar is Antohi peepper http://www.johnnysee...i-romanian.aspx

Croatia or the whole Balkan region is not well known for specific hot dishes, but we use hot peppers to spice up our food. Sweet peppers are more popular here.

When it comes to fiery food hot ajvar is something you should try. In fact, every chilehead should try hot ajvar.
Ajvar is originally made in Macedonia with sweet peppers, but you can make a hot version by adding a few hot peppers.
Here are some recipes:
http://www.mymacedon...hen.com/?p=1194
http://www.groupreci...per-spread.html
http://www.acanadian...om-the-balkans/


If you get a chance you should try it. In fact, every chile head should try hot ajvar

I made 15 jars of hot ajvar last week
I follow the third recipe, but I add one medium sized eggplant on two kilos of peppers.

There is an easier way to take the rough skin off of rezha peppers. Bake them in the oven with out any oil.After you take them out of oven pack them close together while hot and leave them to sit at room temperature until cool enough to handle. The skin should come off of them pretty easy.The charred one tend to give Ajvar burned taste and smell which,for me at least, would kill any desire to eat it.

I''ve grown the rezha before. It is a very sweet, and hot pepper.
Taste really good, but you have to char the rough skin off.

Forgot to add,shame on me:Nice tread Stickman

 

[stickman]

Hi Ela! Thanks for stopping by and chipping in! I'm always up for learning about new ways to prepare the foods I grow in my garden, and about new foods to grow.

 

[MisterNo]

Pazi da te makedonci ili, nedaj Boze is Podravke,ne zaganjaju sto im otimas marketinski posao.

Neka pate

Well, what can I say about Ajvar,my favorite condiment that I grew up having on daily basis, as Robert does. It is THE BEST condiment that exist out there for me.Every house in our neck of the woods has it's own recipe for it. The only pepper that I found in USA that comes close to the pepper we use for making Ajvar is Antohi peepper http://www.johnnysee...i-romanian.aspx

I was a kid when I tried homemade Ajvar for the first time, with Kulen and a slice of bread.
I fell in love with both

This peppers are also good for making ajvar
http://www.reimersee...et-peppers.aspx
http://www.reimersee...ot-peppers.aspx

But, any ripe big sweet peppers will do, as long as they are spiced up with a bit of chilli peppers and garlic

There is an easier way to take the rough skin off of rezha peppers. Bake them in the oven with out any oil.After you take them out of oven pack them close together while hot and leave them to sit at room temperature until cool enough to handle. The skin should come off of them pretty easy.The charred one tend to give Ajvar burned taste and smell which,for me at least, would kill any desire to eat it.

I usually put them in a covered pot or plastic bag to ''sweat'' for a 1/2 hour after roasting. Then the skin goes off very easily.

There is another trick that a friend told me (didn't tried it yet) - if peppers are freezed prior to roasting, the skin loses it's roughness and bitterness, you even don't have to take it off

 

[stickman]

I was a kid when I tried homemade Ajvar for the first time, with Kulen and a slice of bread.
I fell in love with both

Kulen looks a lot like Italian Pepperoni, but the Italians use the chile they call Pepperoncino and they don't smoke it. Do you know if they smoke Kulen before or after they dry it?

This peppers are also good for making ajvar
http://www.reimersee...et-peppers.aspx
http://www.reimersee...ot-peppers.aspx

But, any ripe big sweet peppers will do, as long as they are spiced up with a bit of chilli peppers and garlic



I usually put them in a covered pot or plastic bag to ''sweat'' for a 1/2 hour after roasting. Then the skin goes off very easily.

They do the same thing with Poblanos and green Anaheim chiles in the American southwest. When allowed to fully ripen, the Poblanos get either garnet red (Anchos) or chocolate brown (Mulatos) and get much sweeter, and then they're usually dried. If you ever go to the pepper growing regions of New Mexico in September you'll find people selling sacks of green chiles which they will put in drums and roast for you before bagging them up. When you get home, you would peel the chiles that sweated in the bag, remove the seeds, chop and freeze them for later. My sister lived near Albuquerque, NM for a couple of years, and she said that so many people would be doing this that the smell would follow you wherever you went.

There is another trick that a friend told me (didn't tried it yet) - if peppers are frozen prior to roasting, the skin loses it's roughness and bitterness, you even don't have to take it off

I've heard that some folks freeze them first, and then roast them later.
Thanks for sharing!

 

[MisterNo]

Kulen looks a lot like Italian Pepperoni, but the Italians use the chile they call Pepperoncino and they don't smoke it. Do you know if they smoke Kulen before or after they dry it?

Kulen is more like Chorizo, only better
It is cold smoked before drying, on a beech, ash or hornbeam wood.
There are three main keys for making good Kulen (or Kulenova seka - wich is same as kulen, only made in a smaller intestine, so it takes less time to mature):
- give the mash a gooood stir so all the ingiridients (minced pork from loin, leg and fresh bacon, sweet and hot pepper powder, salt, garlic juice) can permeate well, garlic should not be put in the mash, you have to squeeze the juice from it
- give it a proper smoke - 8-10 cold smokes (18-22 C) every second day for a week.
- giving it a proper amount of time to mature (ripen) (6 months for a Kulen, and a 2 months for Kulenova seka) in a dark and humid place with temp between 12 and 16 C.

When it is ripe, you can cook it like a sausage, or just slice and eat like a salami.
I make it every winter, one of my favorites

 

[Ela]

Stickman,when it comes to food I LOVE to chip in. As a teen and college student I was fortunate to visit every European country,western Asia and northern Africa.I never had interest visiting bars or city sites I went to a Market places to explore the local food and check on herbs and spices. Priceless.Now I have access to endless supplies of seeds,spices and herbs from all over the World,and I have Robert to harass for seeds from Croatia.It can't be better than this.

Hi Ela! Thanks for stopping by and chipping in! I'm always up for learning about new ways to prepare the foods I grow in my garden, and about new foods to grow.

Ma nek je kod mene u dvoristu trava najzelenija a nek komsiji crkne krava. Crkoh od smijeha

Kulen with Ajvar and homemade bread...ha, talk about being spoiled.
Put me on the spoiled brats list,please.

I kind of like to use only necessarily utensil and supplies,so I just close pack together all the peppers and eggplant on baking sheet that I used for baked them.I cover them with aluminum foil to let them rest a bit.The steam would help the skin to loosen up and rest of is just a fun process, a bit of veggies goes to meat grinder and some stays on plates for snacking.

I've try many US grown peppers in my Ajvar but non of them were like ones I grew this year. Thank you for the seeds. This year my Ajvar taste the same a one I had over there.

Neka pate


I was a kid when I tried homemade Ajvar for the first time, with Kulen and a slice of bread.
I fell in love with both

This peppers are also good for making ajvar
http://www.reimersee...et-peppers.aspx
http://www.reimersee...ot-peppers.aspx

But, any ripe big sweet peppers will do, as long as they are spiced up with a bit of chilli peppers and garlic



I usually put them in a covered pot or plastic bag to ''sweat'' for a 1/2 hour after roasting. Then the skin goes off very easily.

There is another trick that a friend told me (didn't tried it yet) - if peppers are freezed prior to roasting, the skin loses it's roughness and bitterness, you even don't have to take it off

Kulen is like Chorizo, only better??????????????? You're lucky that you are now in Croatia. There is NOTHING that could be compared to Kulen.

Kulen is more like Chorizo, only better

 

[MisterNo]

Kulen is like Chorizo, only better??????????????? You're lucky that you are now in Croatia. There is NOTHING that could be compared to Kulen.

Agreed, I was just being decent towards our Mexican/Spanish Chorizo loving colleagues

I will post some fresh kulen pics when I get to work next month, too bad I can't send some acrosss Atlantic

 

[Ela]

Always remember,Kulen is our National Treasure that we have to protect.
Can't wait to make my own. Who knows I may get tempted to send some south to Stickman to try.

Agreed, I was just being decent towards our Mexican/Spanish Chorizo loving colleagues

I will post some fresh kulen pics when I get to work next month, too bad I can't send some acrosss Atlantic

 

[stickman]

Here's my attempt at Ajvar...

Roasted Peppers

Roasted Eggplant

Peeled and ground the peppers, peeled and pureed the roasted eggplant and 4 cloves of garlic in the blender...

Put it all together in the enameled Dutch oven with olive oil, salt, pepper, white vinegar and a tablespoon of my Gochu pepper powder. Simmer untill reduced. Then I'll jar it up in canning jars, let cool and cover with more oil to keep the air out. Cheers

 

[Ela]

It is official,Stickman has been converted.
Just kidding. It is nice to see people from other part of the World trying food that is so familiar to me.
So,Stickman, what you think about Ajvar? I love Ajvar, but I'm so picky when it comes to preparation process. So,here is friendly suggestion to make it a bit easier on you next time around. As I stated earlier Ajvar is not just about taste it is about color as well. When peppers are charred a lot of burned speckles gets into the Ajvar and gives it,not just burned taste,it gives it dark color to the finished product.Roasting veggies on BBQ in a large and deep aluminum dish would give Ajvar nice smoky flavor and great bright red color. That taste, texture and look is priceless.

 

[stickman]

Thanks Ela, I'll bear it in mind next time... which will probably mean next year here. It was 36 degrees here when I got up at 5:30 this morning, and the trees are starting to really drop their leaves. They're probably stressed from lack of water this summer, and cold temps now. I bake all of my own bread when the weather turns cold... usually a whole wheat recipe that makes two loaves. Sometimes, instead of baking 2 loaves, I'll use half the dough to make a pizza. I like Robert's suggestion to use Ajvar as pizza sauce instead of one that's tomato-based, and by extension, I think it'd be great on a grilled cheese sandwich. Peppers have 3 times the vitamin C of oranges, so I think they're the perfect food for cold and flu season.

 

[Ela]

Well,Stickman, I'm about 4 h driving north of you,right smacked in the middle of Green Mountain State,so I know very well how cold can get in New England.We are past foliage peak and I would not be surprised if we get an early snow. My kids can't wait to go skiing and I cant wait for another summer.
What can I say about your love for homemade bread? Ha, I'm obsessed with bread making. Right now I have a nice butter based rolls raising in my kitchen and I bet that they'll be gone before I put them onto kitchen counter. I agree everything you had to say about peppers. I grew up eating homemade food and store bought processed food is not allowed into my home. Can't stand it.

 

[stickman]

A friend of mine asked me to go fishing with him at the Rhode Island coast this past weekend, but I had to sweep my Mom's chimney flue, clean out her rain gutters and bring in her outdoor furniture in preparation for winter. He brought me almost 4 kilos of Bluefish filets though... Nice guy! I split the filets up and put enough for a meal into individual ziplok bags and put them into the chest freezer downstairs. Some I'll smoke, and some I'll probably grill Sunda Kelapa style with lime juice, water, salt, shallots, melted butter and soy sauce that's been sweetened with blackstrap molasses (Ketchap Manis).
Tonight, I went over to my friends house and fileted and skinned the fish, and cooked up one of the filets with Cajun blackening rub. We smeared some Ajvar on a flour tortilla, spooned spicy black beans and rice on it with a piece of the Bluefish and we had fish tacos.

Well,Stickman, I'm about 4 h driving north of you,right smacked in the middle of Green Mountain State,so I know very well how cold can get in New England.We are past foliage peak and I would not be surprised if we get an early snow. My kids can't wait to go skiing and I cant wait for another summer.
What can I say about your love for homemade bread? Ha, I'm obsessed with bread making. Right now I have a nice butter based rolls raising in my kitchen and I bet that they'll be gone before I put them onto kitchen counter. I agree everything you had to say about peppers. I grew up eating homemade food and store bought processed food is not allowed into my home. Can't stand it.

Hi Ela
Out of curiosity... do you have a slow cooker? Another of my passions during the New England winter is making braises and curries in mine. I have a pork shoulder thawing in the 'fridge right now, and I'm planning on making Pörkölt with it later this week.