Albania

Welcome back! I have had so much fun in the kitchen this week. Looking for recipes and planning my menu for a great authentic Albanian meal. My husband gave his complete support last night at dinner, he just loved it. Albania is in the Balkan region so you will notice similarities to Greek food.
The funnest thing I made this week was Albanian style yogurt. There is nothing fancy about it, it is just like the yogurt we have here. I just can't believe how easy it is to make your own yogurt. I will never buy it again!

Albanian Yogurt
1 qt milk
2 tsp yogurt
1 qt jar
1 bath towel
kitchen thermometer
Pour milk into pan and cook to 185 F, do not boil. Turn off stove and let cool to 110 and add 2 tsp yogurt, stir and then pour into 1 qt jar, screw on lid and wrap in towel and leave on your counter for 5-6 hrs, then refridgerate. Done!

Albanian Yogurt Sauce
1/2 qt yogurt
1 cucumber shredded
2 cloves garlic minced
drizzle of olive oil
Mix yogurt, garlic and oil into the shredded cucumber and then refridgerate.

Qofte te ferguara (fried meatballs)
1 lb lean ground beef (lamb or chicken can be used)
1 small chopped onion
pinch of dried mint
1 piece of bread torn up
2 T chopped feta cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup flour
oil for frying
In a bowl mix beef, onion, mint, bread, feta, salt and pepper and form into small meatballs, roll in flour and fry in oil until done.

Byrek (spinach pie)
1/2 pkg of Filo dough (freezer section of grocery store)
1 pkg frozen spinach squeezed dry
1 cup chopped feta cheese
1 small onion chopped
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
Mix spinach, feta, onion, egg and salt and pepper in bowl
Spray 9x9 casserole dish and begin lining 2 sheets of filo at a time. Brush w oil or spray between layers. When you have half of package in casserole add filling then continue layering the top. Fold edges in to seal and brush with oil again. Bake 350 for 60 min. You must let this rest at least 30 min before serving, it must settle. This is a classic dish in Albania. This is sold everywhere like a sandwich with all sorts of fillings.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad
3 tomatoes chopped
1 cucumber chopped
1 small onion sliced finely
1/2 cup kalamata olives
1/2 cup chopped feta
Mix all ingredients and then drizzle with olive oil

This meal was fresh and flavorful and way more food than my husband and I could eat alone so tonight its leftover Albanian. Thats fine by me! All of these recipes were simple. I would definately make them again. The yogurt sauce you might recognize is just like the greeks Tziaziki. We were putting that on our salad and smearing our meatballs in it. Very addicting. You could use it for veggie dip too. Its much lighter than sour cream dips.

I will see you next week as we visit Andorra, a tiny country in the Pyrenese mountains between Spain and France. They cook a style called Catalan.

Bon appetit!

sources:
Qofte te ferguara - gourmed.com
Tomato and Cucumber salad - healthyfood.com
Byrek - cookeatshare.com
Albanian yogurt dip - recipes.sparkpeople.com