It's been almost 10 years since my golden days of bumming around Central and Southeastern Europe, but some of my favorite memories are of eating these grilled skinless sausages on the streets of Sarajevo, Belgrade, and Zagreb for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Since then, I've made a few attempts at replicating them myself at home, but nothing really approached the real deal...
Until now? Perhaps.
Set on getting it right this time, I went down to the market looking for a good combination of beef and pork with a decent amount of fat. I came home with roughly equal amounts of beef short ribs and pork shoulder steaks. After grinding them together, I already felt better about this attempt than previous ones. Next I seasoned the meat with a liberal dose of garlic, parsley, cayenne, salt, pepper, and a bit of baking soda for added "bounce." Then I rolled them out into what I hope don't too closely resemble turds
I wonder if this job could be made easier with the sausage stuffer, sans casings... next time.
Meanwhile, I roasted 4 red bells and an eggplant until nicely black and blistered. Peeled and seeded, they went in the food processor with a bit of lemon and garlic, and, Voila! The ketchup of the Balkans: Ajvar (EYE-var).
Then it was on to the homemade bread, lepinja (le-PEEN-ya). It's a sort of flatbread, but softer and puffier in the center, and ideal for stuffing cevapcici into. This was my first attempt at lepinja, but after 3 rises and 20 minutes in the oven, it turned out fairly decent. Nowhere near as good as I remembered, but something to build on nonetheless.
Finally, the cevapcici made it to the grill, where they shuffled around over medium heat until 165 or so. I'm not sure if I could have pulled them earlier since I ground the meat myself, but they still came out juicy and delicious.
Now, you'd think I'd have more pictures of the process, but what can I say? I was busy. For now, you'll have to settle for a single plated pic. Next time I'll get it all.
https://picasaweb.google.com/l...2woo?feat=directlink
Thanks for reading, and I hope I've left you with more than a HUH?!?!
Until now? Perhaps.
Set on getting it right this time, I went down to the market looking for a good combination of beef and pork with a decent amount of fat. I came home with roughly equal amounts of beef short ribs and pork shoulder steaks. After grinding them together, I already felt better about this attempt than previous ones. Next I seasoned the meat with a liberal dose of garlic, parsley, cayenne, salt, pepper, and a bit of baking soda for added "bounce." Then I rolled them out into what I hope don't too closely resemble turds
I wonder if this job could be made easier with the sausage stuffer, sans casings... next time.
Meanwhile, I roasted 4 red bells and an eggplant until nicely black and blistered. Peeled and seeded, they went in the food processor with a bit of lemon and garlic, and, Voila! The ketchup of the Balkans: Ajvar (EYE-var).
Then it was on to the homemade bread, lepinja (le-PEEN-ya). It's a sort of flatbread, but softer and puffier in the center, and ideal for stuffing cevapcici into. This was my first attempt at lepinja, but after 3 rises and 20 minutes in the oven, it turned out fairly decent. Nowhere near as good as I remembered, but something to build on nonetheless.
Finally, the cevapcici made it to the grill, where they shuffled around over medium heat until 165 or so. I'm not sure if I could have pulled them earlier since I ground the meat myself, but they still came out juicy and delicious.
Now, you'd think I'd have more pictures of the process, but what can I say? I was busy. For now, you'll have to settle for a single plated pic. Next time I'll get it all.
https://picasaweb.google.com/l...2woo?feat=directlink
Thanks for reading, and I hope I've left you with more than a HUH?!?!
