cevapcici--recipe anyone?

Dang! Just reading through G Wiv's tantalizing discussion mit pix

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/posting.php? ... ply&t=3777


is driving me crazy for cevapcici! I'm back in KC now and my nearest cevapcici-eria--Serbian Gourmet House in MKE--is a looonnnggg way away.

Anyone got a beloved recipe for these tasty little buggers that they'd share??

Sure hope so!

Geo

I have had cevapcici in Serbia and at Serbian Church pinics here at home. Here is a recipe from The Frugal Gourmet "On our Immigrant ancestors" cook book. I have made them many times and tast very authentic.

1 # ground lamb 3 tbs hot Hungarian paprika or sweet if
1 # ground veal you don't want it hot
1 # ground pork
1 large yellow onion peeled and 2 tbs freshly gound black pepper
grated (use a food processor) Salt to taste
3 cloves fesh garlic, peeled and pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
crushed

Olive oil for basting

Mix all the ingredients, except the oil, thoroughly and roll the mixture into little "cigars" about 1 by 3 inched. Rub lightly with olive oil and grill or broil until done. Serve with yogurt sauce.

1 pint plain yogurt juice of one lemon
1/2 cucumber, peeled, grated and drained one hour
2 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and crushed
Salt and white pepper to tast.

Mix all ingredient together and enjoy!!!!

judyd

Tnx judyd--looks just right. I'll have to give it a try soonest. Mmmm, can't wait.

Geo

Hi,

You will also want to buy, if possible, Ajvar sauce to go with your cevapcici. I have made the Frugal Gourmet's recipes and found it close enough for my tastes.

Regards,

Ajvar? Absolutely! I keep a jar on stock in the pantry at all times. I make a kind of a grilled lamb 'spaghetti' sauce from it when The Longing takes me over.

It's funny, tho': I buy it in the big local Indo-Pak grocery, of all places. Go figger.

Tnx for the heads-up.

Geo

Judy's recipe is almost exactly how I make mine.

I, however, use 1/3 lamb, 1/3 beef, 1/3 pork. Cevapcici can be pretty much with any combination of these four meats: lamb, pork, beef, veal. I've had cevapi all across the former Yugoslavia, and the best (to me anyway) were invariably Bosnian cevapcici, which pretty much always contained lamb or a combination of lamb and beef or veal. In Zagreb or Belgrade, most of the cevapi I've come across did not contain lamb.

Instead of using salt, Vegeta (a powdered vegetable stock type product made by a company called Podravka in Croatia. You can find it in most Eastern European grocers in Chicago, and many Jewels and Dominicks) adds a very nice tang. I picked up this tip from a Croat. Normally, I absolutely detest the sharp taste of Vegeta, but it works very well with cevapi.

Everything else I'd leave the same. You can also shape them into patties and basically have what's known as "pljeskavica," or, sometimes, "Serbian hamburgers."

Serve with coarsely chopped raw onions, ajvar, and pita.

edit: One more thing. Be sure to use nice, fatty meat. You don't really want to use something like sirloin--80% lean or less ground chuck is better.

Tnx Binko--it looks very good, can't wait to try it.

As an interesting co-incidence, I was just walking down the aisle at the Saturday Salamanca Market (a big open farmer's/crafts mkt here in Hobart Tasmania), when I spied a stand selling Gypsy Rolls and cevapcici! So naturally I had to try one. Basically ground lamb with a light flavoring of paprika and garlic, but a nice grilled outside, served with shredded lettuce and a few odd bits of sliced tomato, in a rollup. The ones from the Old World Serbian restaurant in Milwaukee are much better.

We'll be flying back to KC tomorrow--I'll try your recipe at my first chance.

Geo

Geo wrote:Tnx Binko--it looks very good, can't wait to try it.

As an interesting co-incidence, I was just walking down the aisle at the Saturday Salamanca Market (a big open farmer's/crafts mkt here in Hobart Tasmania

Holy cow! I've actually been to the Salamanca Market in Tasmania. I have family who live in the nearby town of Tinderbox. I hope you're enjoying your time in Tassie.

I am looking to make cevapcici, after eating some at the Taste Of Serbia last weekend.

The recipes above have veal/pork/lamb or beef/pork/lamb, but I remember that the sign next to them at Taste Of Serbia said beef/pork.

What do you guys think? I am wondering if I should just use beef/pork this time or if I should follow the recipes and use three meats?

http://lpoli.50webs.com/index_files/Sal ... apcici.pdf

eggplant wrote:I am looking to make cevapcici, after eating some at the Taste Of Serbia last weekend.

The recipes above have veal/pork/lamb or beef/pork/lamb, but I remember that the sign next to them at Taste Of Serbia said beef/pork.

What do you guys think? I am wondering if I should just use beef/pork this time or if I should follow the recipes and use three meats?

Beef-pork in a 50-50 ratio is a very common way of making cevapcici, and much of the cevapcici I had in Zagreb and Beograd did not have lamb in them. I have a very strong preference to including lamb. In fact, I try to go 50% lamb these days, mixed with 25% pork and 25% beef/veal. It's just personal preference. You can make them just as well without the lamb, but the distinct flavor of lamb wins me over every time.

I'm with Binko on this. Something about the grilled lamb flavor marrying with the garlic is just irresistable.

In Montreal I get Romanian mici--same hand-patted little sausage--at the Balkani store in Marché Jean-Talon. It's got a high dose of lamb, too. On Saturday mornings when they grill mici outside the store, under the market roof, the whole place is wonderfully perfumed!

Geo