Welcome to Serbia! According to Google, Serbia has a population of 6.94 million people, and the capital is Belgrade. I have to admit, I thought Serbia was somewhere way, way up north in Asia - like around Russia. Wrong! I learn something every day! Their national food is...
Pleskavica!
What is this, you ask? It is a giant hamburger patty! Seriously. I saw a picture and laughed. It's a hamburger patty that is 6-8 inches in diameter. I found a potato salad and some additional sauces to make too because a hamburger sounded too easy. However, I didn't think about trying to flip this big of a patty...That was challenging! Here's what I did:
PLESKAVICA
1 lb Ground Beef
1 lb Ground Pork
6 Garlic Cloves, chopped
1 Onion, chopped
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tbsp Paprika
- In a large bowl, mix together beef, pork, garlic, onions, salt, paprika and mix.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour, to let flavors mix.
- Heat pan and form into patties 6 inches in diameter.
- Cook pleskavica on hot pan for about 6-8 minutes per side.
- Serve with green onions, sliced onions, tomatoes, Ajvar, and Kajmak.
KAJMAK
1 8oz package Cream Cheese
1 Stick Butter
1/2 C Sour Cream
1/4 tsp Salt
- Leave cream cheese out to soften.
- Combine cream cheese and butter in a mixer until smooth.
- Mix in sour cream.
- Mix in salt, to taste.
AJVAR
2 Red Bell Peppers
1 small Eggplant
1/4 C Avocado Oil
8 Garlic Cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
- Roast whole eggplants and peppers until soft and skin is black.
- Put roasted eggplant and peppers in a plastic bag and let them steam to loosen the skin.
- Peel the eggplant and peppers. Stem and de-seed the peppers.
- Place the eggplant and peppers in a food processor and make a puree.
- Pour the eggplant-pepper in a sauce pan. Add olive oil and bring to a boil while stirring consistently.
- Add salt, pepper, sugar, and red wine vinegar. Cook for about five minutes.
- Add crushed garlic to sauce and turn off heat.
SERBIAN-STYLE POTATO SALAD
4 Yukon Potatoes
1 Onion
1/4 C Avocado Oil
1/8 C White Vinegar
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
- Slice potatoes very finely.
- Boil potatoes until cooked and drain.
- Slice onion very finely.
- Mix vinegar, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Pour vinegar mixture over potatoes and onions, and refrigerate for several hours.
- To serve, bring to room temperature.
The verdict? This was a very good meal! We didn't care for the potato salad - there wasn't anything special about it. But the burger and the sauces were really good. I don't like eggplant, and I couldn't tell that it was in the sauce at all. I would make them again for burgers any day! It sounds like an odd combination, but trust me: it is worth the effort! I would suggest making the burgers smaller - the 6-inch hamburger was way too much at one time! Overall though, this is a favorite!
So the rating. We are all going to rate the dishes on a scale of 1-10.
ME
Taste of the Pleskavica (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8
Spicy (hot) (1 is not spicy at all, 10 is uneatable): 1
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 8
HANDSOME HUSBAND
Taste of the Pleskavica (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 8
Spicy (hot) (1 is not spicy at all, 10 is uneatable): 1
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 9
ME
Taste of the Serbian-Style Potato Salad (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5
Spicy (hot) (1 is not spicy at all, 10 is uneatable): 0
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 2
HANDSOME HUSBAND
Taste of the Pleskavica (1 is terrible, 10 is amazing): 5
Spicy (hot) (1 is not spicy at all, 10 is uneatable): 0
Flavor (1 is no flavor, 10 is packed with flavor): 2
And there you go! Another down! Our next stop is Colombia! I'm excited, and a little intimidated for this one. Stay tuned!
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