The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Eastern Europe

 The 12 Weeks of Christmas: Eastern Europe

Eastern Europe shows up as a very small part of my DNA test results, and doesn't break it down into individual countries, so I just picked two Eastern European nations at random and found recipes that worked for this project. I am happy to say that both of them turned out really great!

This weekend's recipes were: Hungarian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and Albanian Baklava. 

I made the baklava yesterday, since it needed a long time to sit, and did the cabbage rolls tonight. Both of them were a bit labor intensive, but so worth it in the end!

First up, the cabbage rolls.

I did a half recipe since I'm just one person and don't need to eat all that the recipe makes. It's very easy to cut in half though, so that was nice. Blanching cabbage is not very hard, just make sure to turn it over a couple times so the water gets into all the creases.

Here are several of the elements lined up to go. I had canned diced tomatoes that I added a can of tomato sauce to and some water. Then I used a hand-held blender to try to puree it and it exploded all over, including on my pink pants, so that was fun to clean up. At least I managed to get it out of my clothes without staining them!

The sauteed onions with paprika mixed in. Paprika is a must for Eastern European cooking.

Here is the filling all mixed together. I didn't feel like getting my spice grinder so I just used whole caraway seeds instead of ground. It's harder to taste when it's whole, so if you can grind it, I recommend it.

I used about half the cabbage for the rolls and shredded the rest like it tells you to. I followed the instructions exactly as it told me to.

The cabbage leaves were a little small so I wasn't able to fold them quite like little burritos, but they still worked just fine. And yes, that's my foot at the bottom of the picture!

All the rolls ready to cook!

Topped with the rest of the shredded cabbage.

Topped with the tomato sauce and some water to cover the cabbage. Bring it to a boil, stick the lid on, and turn it down to simmer for about an hour. Just enough time to get a baked potato cooked for the side. Since I made less, it didn't take nearly the two hours the recipe calls for.

Here is the finished product.

You can see the texture of the interior. It's really soft and tasted like other cabbage rolls I've had before, so I must have done it right! I was really happy with this meal! And I had to have a good dessert to go with it. I love baklava, but have never actually made it before. Here is my experience with it!

I was worried that with honey and sugar in the syrup, it would make for an overly sweet baklava. Luckily this turned out not to be the case at all. This cooks for a while until it turns into a clear syrup.

I ordered honey from the honey shop at the Pike Place Market, and was really impressed with it. If you are a honey fan and want to support a small local business, check out their website here and order some of their products for delivery!

The ground walnuts with the cinnamon mixed in. The walnuts are slightly bitter, but the syrup blends well with it so they both mellow each other out.

On the left is the syrup, on the right is the butter. Don't believe what the recipe says for butter, you will need two whole sticks of melted butter to do this right!

This is a labor-intensive process. Each sheet of phyllo has to be cut down to fit into the 9"x13" pan and you're left with a bunch of scraps you have no idea what to do with. I'm probably going to get creative if they're still good in a couple days.

Each layer of phyllo gets buttered. Then you layer the walnuts throughout it. This took at least 45 minutes to assemble.

Here is the final layer. It's worth cutting the sheets down because it wouldn't have fit into the pan otherwise.

You cut the diamonds before it's baked, or it will never cut afterwards.

Freshly baked baklava right out of the oven! Pre-syrup.

And post-syrup. You need to let it sit at least four hours, or overnight for it to truly soak in properly. It really does blend well. The phyllo is buttery and crispy all the way through. It's amazing! My sister, who doesn't like baklava gave it a try and is now a baklava fan! 

I have to say, this is the best baklava I've ever had. Most stuff I get from restaurants is overly sweet or too chewy. This is light and crisp and hard to stop eating. 

This meal was festive and amazing! It's not a traditional Christmas meal for me, but I can see why it's popular in Eastern Europe. It's hearty and filling. Just really good comfort food. I highly recommend both these recipes if you like these types of dishes!

Merry Christmas!