Grape juice/syrup (Sok od Grožđa)

Grape juice/syrup (Sok od Grožđa)

Grape juice/syrup, can be found at any Montenegrin restaurant, snack bar, supermarket and it is commonly prepared in every local house as it is tasty, healthy and widely consumed. Preparation is very easy, as the berries are removed from stems, mixed with a blender and strained; the resulted juice is sweetened with sugar, enriched in flavor with lemon juice and is boiled before being stored in sterilized bottles. It is drank as it is, or combined with other alcoholic beverages, or mixed with water, ice, lemon slices and fresh mint leaves, if wanted.

Ingredients:

-                 grapes,

-                 sugar and

-                 lemon.

Instructions:

Grapes wash and mash well. The resulting juice add sugar, lemon juice and let it cook. When the liquid boils cook another 10 minutes. and pour into clean sterilized hot bottle. Bottles close hermetic closure, wrapped in tea towels and put in hot water to cook (sterilized for 15 min). Remove the bottle, wrap it in a thick cloth and leave to rest. The following day, leave them in a dark place (cellar) in order to use stand.

Note: 

1 kg of grapes put 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon of lemon juice. If desired, the amount of sugar can be reduced and added between. In this case the scale 1: 1.

If the juice is very concentrated, it is diluted with water and ice.

Quick Kajmak Recipe - Montenegrin Unripened Cheese Spread

Quick Kajmak Recipe - Montenegrin Unripened Cheese Spread

Traditional kajmak is made by boiling unpasteurized, unhomogenized (raw) cow's or sheep's milk and then pouring it into wide, shallow bowls known as karlice. As the milk cools, the cream rises and forms a thin layer on the surface, which is skimmed off and placed in salted layers in a small wooden tub called a cabrica. The boiling and skimming procedure is repeated many times until the tub is full.

This quick version of kajmak is an acceptable substitute. It's served with pogacha or corn bread (proja).

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 0 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Yield: 2 cups Quick Kajmak

Ingredients:

-                 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened

-                 4 ounces (1 stick) butter, softened

-                 Salt to taste

Instructions:

Cream together softened cream cheese and butter, beating until light and fluffy. Add salt to taste.

Refrigerate in airtight container until ready to use. Best if served at room temperature.

Montenegrin Custard Slice Recipe - Krem Pita

Montenegrin Custard Slice Recipe - Krem Pita

This recipe for Montenegrin custard slices or krem pita traditionally is made with scratch puff pastry, but using the store-bought kind is perfectly acceptable. The trick is in preventing the pastry from puffing up too much and still be flaky (see below). If you're a stickler for tradition, take comfort in the cooked custard filling.

In the native Montenegrin language word pita means "pastry dough" and has nothing to do with Middle Eastern flat breads. Krem means "cream." This dessert can be made with two or three layers of pastry.

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Yield: 9 Krem Pita

Ingredients:

-                 2 sheets (1.1-pound package) frozen puff pastry, thawed

-                 6 large egg yolks

-                 6 tablespoons sugar

-                 2 tablespoons instant flour

-                 1 1/2 cups milk

-                 2 packages unflavored gelatin

-                 1 quart heavy cream whipped with 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar

-                 Confectioners' sugar

Instructions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Roll out each piece of puff pastry slightly to blend the seam lines. Without cutting all the way through, lightly score each pastry sheet into 9 sections. Sandwich each puff pastry sheet between two pieces of parchment paper and two cooling racks. This will keep the pastry flat but still flaky. Bake 15 minutes, remove top rack and top sheet of parchment paper. Replace rack and continue to bake until golden and crispy throughout, about 15 more minutes. Cool completely.

Whip the egg yolks and sugar until thick and lemon colored. Add the instant flour and milk, mixing well. Transfer to the top of a double boiler. Cook, stirring constantly until custard thickens slightly. Remove from heat. Dissolve gelatin completely in 1/2 cup cold water. Stir into hot custard until completely dissolved.

Cool the custard in an ice bath, stirring occasionally. If, for some reason, the custard has lumps (from being cooked at too high a temperature or undissolved gelatin), strain it through a sieve.

When the custard is cool and very thick but not yet set, fold in the sweetened whipped cream. Layer over 1 sheet of baked puff pastry and top with second sheet. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before service. For easier slicing, use a damp serrated knife. Cut into rectangles. Dust with confectioners' sugar.

Tenerina Cake - Montenegrin Queen Cake

Tenerina Cake

Also known as Montenegrin Cake, Montenegrin Queen Cake (in honour of Elena Petrovich from Montenegro, Vittorio Emanuele III's sweet bride with tender heart, Vittorio Emanuele was the italian king at that time), in Ferrara they call it Torta Tacolenta, a slang expression related to it's lite glueing internal that gets melted in mouth, giving delicious sensations to palate.

Ingredients for cake:

-                 250 gr (8 3/4 oz) dark chocolate (50% cocoa) [*]

-                 100 gr (3 1/2 oz) sugar [*]

-                 100 gr (3 1/2 oz) butter

-                 3 eggs

-                 3 full-up flour spoons

Using a larger pan:

-                 330 gr (11 1/2 oz) dark chocolate [*]

-                 135 gr (4 3/4 oz) sugar [*]

-                 135 gr (4 3/4 oz) butter

-                 4 eggs

-                 4 full-up flour spoons

[*]: see extra-dark and milk chocolate note below

Cake preparation:

Melt butter and chocolate at Marie Bain (see note). Apart work with shaker sugar, eggs (yolk and white), then gradually add flour, work again, then add melted butter and chocolate and melt well with a spoon. Sleeve the pan with buttered aluminium sheet or use cooking paper, stretch dough on it to get 2 cm (3/4 ") thickness. If you don'have an adequate pan to get the correct thickness change the ingredients amount proportionally. Cook in an already warmed-up oven at 170°C (340 °F) for 30 minutes.

When still warm overthrow it, cut small tiles then snow icing sugar; once cold it's difficult to be cut (crumbles).

Note:

Normally to get a softer cake yolk and egg white are shaked separately. In this case egg has to be shaked without separation because we want to get an unleavened creamy dough. This is the first secret of this cake.

Note:

Should not be fully cooked: the best is when you get a lite crisp external that reveals a soft chocolate heart.

This is the second (and most important) secret of this cake. When just cooked has to look like still uncooked !. Please respect the indicated width, cooking temperature and time.

Note:

Do not eat it warm it is important to wait until the external crust and the soft inside is formed.

Note:

Extra-dark lovers can use extra-dark chocolate.

Milk chocolate lovers can double the sugar amount.

Note:

Bain Marie (also known as Double boiler or Mary's bath) is a cooking technique where one container with food to be cooked is placed in another, larger pan containing water that is at the simmering point. This method surrounds the food with very gentle heat and is used for cooking or just melting food like butter, chocolate ...

Boiling water guarantees a constant 100 °C (212 °F) temperature; to be pedantic this is true at 'normal' pressure levels (at sea level). Altitude variations slightly changes the temperature: less than 1 °C (1/2 °F).