Salata De Boeuf (Potato/Meat Salad)
Salata De Boeuf
Salata de boeuf, literally "beef salad" is a traditional Romanian potato salad that sounds French but is actually of Russian origin, where is it known as Salad Olivier. It was invented in the 1860s by Belgian chef Lucien Olivier who worked at the Hermitage museum in Russia. Originally made with beef, it is now made with whatever one has on hand -- chicken, turkey, ham, even hot dogs and the recipe varies from family to family and region to region. What remains constant is the use of potatoes and root vegetables, and everything is diced finely. It is often decorate elaborately with bits of vegetable and hard-cooked eggs. Decorated or not, it's a great-tasting salad that can be served as part of an appetizer spread or as a main course with crusty bread.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 servings
Salata de BoeufIngredients:
Salad:
Dressing:
Preparation:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour
Yield: 4 servings
Salata de BoeufIngredients:
Salad:
- 2 large russet potatoes
- 2 chicken breasts, cooked and diced small (or use beef, turkey, ham, hot dogs, etc.)
- 1 cup peeled carrots, boiled and diced small
- 1 cup peeled parsnips, boiled and diced small
- 5 large hard-cooked eggs, diced
- 1 small onion, diced small
- 2 celery stalks, diced small
- 1 1/2 cups diced pickles
- 1 1/2 cups frozen peas
Dressing:
- 1 to 2 cups mayonnaise, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Garnish:
- Parsley
- Olives
- Reserved hard-cooked eggs
- Reserved cooked vegetables
Preparation:
- Boil potatoes in their skins in salted water until fork tender. Remove from water and peel off the skin when they are cool enough to handle. Dice small and reserve.
- In a large bowl, add potatoes, chicken or other meat, carrots, parsnips, eggs, onion and celery. Squeeze the diced pickles lightly in a paper towel to remove some of their juice (otherwise the salad will be too watery) and add to the rest of the diced ingredients.
- Place frozen peas in a colander and run cold water over them to defrost. Drain completely, patting dry if necessary, and add to the other diced ingredients in the large bowl.
- Make the dressing: In a medium bowl, combine mayonnaise, mustard and salt and pepper. Add to diced ingredients in large bowl and toss to completely cover.
- Transfer to a pretty serving bowl. Cover the entire top with a thin layer of mayonnaise but enough so no salad shows through. Decorate the top with reserved vegetables and hard-cooked eggs. Cover with plastic wrap and place in refrigerator to serve chilled or serve immediately at room temperature.
Salata De Ardei Or Salata De Piper (Sweet Pepper Salad)
Salata De Ardei
Romanian sweet pepper salad or salata de ardei or salata de piper starts with Romanian peppers that begin ivory-colored, turn orange, then mature to red. The peppers are often harvested when ivory and fried. Red bell peppers can be used here and, unlike other Romanian pepper salads, they are not roasted or peeled in this recipe, and garlic or onion are not used. Peppers are a traditional mezeluri (appetizer) dish.
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Marinating time: 24 hours
Total Time: 24 hours, 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings Romanian Pepper
SaladIngredients:
Preparation:
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 minutes
Marinating time: 24 hours
Total Time: 24 hours, 15 minutes
Yield: 4 servings Romanian Pepper
SaladIngredients:
- 4 Romanian red peppers or red bell peppers, washed, stemmed, seeded and cut lengthwise into quarters
- 3 tablespoons white-wine or red-wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
- 1 teaspoon sugar or to taste
- 1 teaspoon sweet or hot Hungarian paprika (optional)
- 12 or more pitted brined black olives
- 4 ounces cubed Bulgarian feta or kashkaval cheese
Preparation:
- Blanch pepper quarters for 5 minutes. Drain, cool and blot with paper towels.
- Meanwhile, make the marinade in a large zip-top plastic bag by mixing vinegar, oil, salt, pepper, sugar and paprika, if using. Taste and adjust seasonings, if necessary. Add pepper quarters, seal the bag and turn over several times so peppers are completely coated. Refrigerate flat for 24 hours, flipping over after 12 hours.
- When ready to serve, place peppers on individual plates or a platter. Place olives over peppers followed by cheese cubes. Drizzle some of the marinade over all and serve immediately.
Sarmale (Romanian Stuffed Cabbage)
Sarmale
This recipe for Romanian stuffed cabbage or sarmale is adapted from Nicolae Klepper's "Taste of Romania" (Hippocrene Books, 2005). Sarmale are enjoyed year-round in Romania, but especially for holidays like Christmas and Easter. Here are more stuffed cabbage recipes.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Yield: Makes about 20 Romanian Stuffed Cabbages or Sarmale
Ingredients:
Preparation:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 2 hours
Total Time: 2 hours, 30 minutes
Yield: Makes about 20 Romanian Stuffed Cabbages or Sarmale
Ingredients:
- 1 whole head cabbage, about 4 pounds
- 6 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 finely chopped medium onion
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 2 1/2 tablespoons raw rice
- 1/4 cup hot water
- 1 1/2 pounds ground pork
- 1 slice crustless white bread
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
- 1 teaspoon thyme
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon crushed hot red pepper (optional)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 cup sauerkraut juice reserved from drained sauerkraut (see below)
- 1 tablespoon Vegeta
- 10 black peppercorns
- 4 bay leaves
- 3 cups sauerkraut, drained (reserve 1 cup juice, see above), rinsed and squeezed dry
- 6 strips bacon
- 6 fresh dill sprigs
- 2 pounds sliced tomatoes (fresh or canned)
Preparation:
- Remove core from cabbage. Place whole head in a large pot filled with boiling, salted water. Cover and cook 3 minutes, or until softened enough to pull off individual leaves. You will need about 18 leaves.
- When leaves are cool enough to handle, use a paring knife to cut away the thick center stem from each leaf, without cutting all the way through. Chop any remaining cabbage and set aside.
- In a large skillet, saute chopped onion, garlic and rice in 1 tablespoon olive oil, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent. Add hot water, bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 5 minutes or until rice has absorbed all the water. Let cool.
- Place pork in a large bowl. Quickly dip bread in water, squeeze to remove excess water and add to meat along with onion-garlic-rice mixture, combining thoroughly. Add dill, thyme, salt, pepper, hot pepper, if using, and 2 tablespoons water. Mix completely but lightly so as not to toughen the meat.
- In a medium bowl, mix 3 cups water with sauerkraut juice, Vegeta, peppercorns and bay leaves, and set aside.
- Place about 1/2 cup of meat mixture on each cabbage leaf. Roll away from you to encase the meat. Flip the right side of the leaf to the middle, then flip the left side. You will have something that looks like an envelope. Once again, roll away from you to create a neat little roll.
- Using 2 tablespoons of the remaining olive oil, coat a large, lidded Dutch oven or casserole dish. Mix reserved chopped cabbage with sauerkraut and place some in the bottom of the prepared Dutch oven.
- Place 3 strips bacon across sauerkraut and cover with a layer of stuffed cabbages. Add another layer of sauerkraut, bacon strips and stuffed cabbage. Then top with remaining sauerkraut. Spread dill sprigs on top and sprinkle with remaining olive oil. Pour sauerkraut juice-water mixture over all.
- Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place Dutch oven over high heat and bring to a boil, lower heat to medium-low, cover and simmer about 20 minutes. Transfer to oven and cook 1 1/2 hours. Then add sliced tomatoes, cover and cook another 45 minutes. Remove lid and continue cooking another 15 minutes.
- When ready to serve, remove bay leaves, and accompany sarmale with boiled potatoes, pasta or mamaliga (polenta).
Cordon Blue Snitel (Pork Cordon Bleu)
Romanian Pork Cordon Bleu
Schnitzel or şniţel is a popular main course in restaurants, fast food places, and homes across Romania. It is typical of the Austrian / German schnitzel but it can be made with any type of meat or poultry. This recipe for a type of schnitzel known as pork cordon bleu, or cordon bleu şniţel in Romanian, features pounded pork tenderloin filled with prosciutto or ham and cheese. Other popular Romanian filled schnitzel are the şniţel mozaic-rulat stuffed with two different thin meat layers, cheese, red peppers and mushroom filling. And then there is the sniţel de ciuperci, a mushroom fritter.This recipe is a good candidate for very thinly sliced leftover ham.
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings Romanian Cordon
BleuIngredients:
Preparation:
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Yield: 4 servings Romanian Cordon
BleuIngredients:
- 1 1/2 pounds / 680 g boneless pork tenderloin, fat and silver skin removed
- Salt and pepper
- 8 slices proscuitto or wafer-thin ham
- 8 thin slices Romanian cascaval or Bulgarian kashkaval cheese or Swiss cheese
- All-purpose flour
- 1-2 large eggs, beaten with 1-2 teaspoons water
- Fine dry bread crumbs
- 3 tablespoons butter
- Oil
Preparation:
- Cut pork tenderloin into eight equal slices. Pound each slice thinly between two pieces of plastic wrap. Lightly season both sides of each pounded cutlet with salt and pepper. Place a slice of prosciutto or ham and then a slice of cheese on each cutlet. Roll as you would for stuffed cabbage to completely enclose the filling.
- Dredge each rolled cutlet in flour. Then dip into egg-water mixture and then into bread crumbs, coating all sides. Heat a large skillet and add oil and butter. When sizzling but not browning, add cutlets and cook 10 to 12 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Serve two cutlets per person.
Savarina (Romania Savarine)
Savarina
This recipe for Romanian savarin, savarina in Romanian, is virtually identical to French baba au rhum and Polish rum-soaked babka without raisins. Named after Jean-Anthelme Brillat-Savarin, the renowned 18th-century French gastronome and food essayist, lawyer, and politician, this cake is made with a sweet yeast dough which is soaked in a rum syrup overnight after baking and then either filled with pastry cream or topped with whipped heavy cream and garnished with fresh fruit or, at the very least, a maraschino cherry. This traditional dessert is often served at celebratory occasions like weddings, christenings and other happy events.
Remember, in order for this cake to soak up all the rum syrup, it needs to sit in the refrigerator overnight, so adjust your baking schedule accordingly. It can be made in a mini Bundt cake pan like this one, which will yield 6 large individual cakes, or in a regular cupcake tin for 12 smaller cakes. I recommend weighing all the ingredients on a digital scale that converts to metric measurements because that's what I use and it makes a wonderful cake. Trying to conver to American measurements can sometimes produce wonky results.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Rising time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 12 Romanian
SavarinaIngredients:
Cake:
Garnish:
Preparation:
Remember, in order for this cake to soak up all the rum syrup, it needs to sit in the refrigerator overnight, so adjust your baking schedule accordingly. It can be made in a mini Bundt cake pan like this one, which will yield 6 large individual cakes, or in a regular cupcake tin for 12 smaller cakes. I recommend weighing all the ingredients on a digital scale that converts to metric measurements because that's what I use and it makes a wonderful cake. Trying to conver to American measurements can sometimes produce wonky results.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Rising time: 1 hour
Total Time: 2 hours
Yield: 12 Romanian
SavarinaIngredients:
Cake:
- 7 g active dry yeast
- 50 ml warm milk
- 350 g all-purpose flour
- 4 large room-temperature eggs
- 15 g sugar
- Pinch salt
- 175 g room-temperature unsalted butter
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Zest of 1/2 lemon (optional)
- Rum Syrup:
- 300 g sugar
- 600 ml water
- 50 ml rum
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
Garnish:
- 450 ml heavy whipped cream
- 4 tablespoons sugar
- Apricot preserves (optional)
- Maraschino cherries or other fruits
Preparation:
- Make the rum syrup first. In a heavy-bottomed medium saucepan, melt 100 g of sugar to a very light caramel, without stirring but swirling occasionally. Turn off the heat but leave the saucepan on the hot burner. Add the water and remaining 200 g sugar, mix and let sit until everything is melted. Let cool completely before adding rum and lemon juice. Mix thoroughly and set aside.
- To make the dough: Dissolve yeast in warm milk. In a large bowl or stand mixer using the paddle attachment, combine flour, yeast-milk mixture, eggs, sugar and salt. The dough will be soft and sticky, and that is perfect. Add the softened butter, vanilla and lemon zest, if using, and mix again. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled in volume.
- Heat oven to 150 C / 300 F. Butter a mini Bundt pan or cupcake pan. If the pan isn't nonstick, sprinkle the buttered pan with bread or cake crumbs. Divide the dough equally into the wells of the pan. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or until the dough reaches the top of the pan. Bake for 30 minutes or until toothpick tests clean.
- Remove cakes from pan and pour some of the syrup into the bottom of each well. Dip the bottoms of the cakes in the syrup in the saucepan and replace the cakes into the baking tin. Pour remaining syrup over the cakes until it is completely gone. Cover with plastic wrap and place in the refrigerator overnight.
- When ready to serve: Whip the cream and sugar until it holds a peak. Either slice buns in half horizontally and spread the bottom half with apricot preserves and then whipped cream, replacing the top. Or leave the cakes whole, dollop with whipped cream and garnish with maraschino cherries or other fruits.