Fluffy Pogaca Peasant Buns Recipes

TURKISH POGACA RECIPE

Steps:

• Mix sugar and yeast with milk. Combine all the dough ingredients including this milk mixture and mix them well. You can add a little more flour or mineral water if either of them is not enough. You should have a pliable and non-sticky dough. Cover it with a moist cloth or plastic wrap and let it rest for 45 min-1 hour.
• Chop the parsley and mix it with cheese.
• Take a small piece from the dough and flatten it with your hands. You can do this on the counter. Put a tsp of cheese mixture on it and close it up folding the edges upwards like a bundle. Do the same for the rest of the dough. Place a parchment paper in a baking tray and place the pogacas on it. The folded side of pogacas should be at the bottom to have a ball shape.
• Preheat the oven at 180C.
• Beat the egg yolk well and coat all the pogacas with it using a brush. And sprinkle poppy seeds on each pogaca. Bake them about 20-30 minutes or golden.

SOFT AND CHEWY BALKAN BREAD

Steps:

• Mix milk and water in a pot over low heat. Heat, stirring constantly, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the pot reads 110 degrees F (43 degrees C). Remove from heat. Add sugar and stir to dissolve. Pour mixture into a cup or other cylindrical glass; sprinkle yeast on top. Let mixture rest until yeast is frothy and fragrant, about 10 minutes.
• Stir flour and salt together in a large mixing bowl. Pour in yeast mixture and mix until a sticky dough forms.
• Turn dough out on a floured work surface and knead quickly for 5 minutes. Shape dough into a ball. Grease a large bowl with 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add dough; toss around the bowl a few times to coat evenly with oil. Cover with plastic wrap and a towel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Return dough back to the work surface and punch down. Coat your hands with a little olive oil and knead again for 1 minute. Divide into 5 balls. Flatten the balls out into thick rectangles. Place the rectangles of dough onto a greased baking sheet. Brush the tops with a thin coat of olive oil. Let rest for 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) while the dough rests.
• Bake bread in the preheated oven for 12 minutes. Switch to the broil setting until the top of the rolls turn golden brown, about 1 minute. Remove from the baking sheet and allow to cool completely. Cut rolls in half lengthwise.

FLUFFY POGACA (PEASANT BUNS)

Steps:

• Mix sugar and yeast with milk.
• Combine flour, oil, salt, and mineral water in large bowl.
• Add milk mixture and mix well. You can add a little more flour or mineral water if either of them is not enough. You should have a pliable and nonsticky dough.
• Cover with moist cloth and let rest for 45 minute.
• Chop the parsley and mix it with cheese.
• PREHEAT oven to 350 degrees F or 180 degrees Celsius.
• Take a small piece of dough and flatten with your hands.
• Put a teaspoon of cheese mixture on it , close up folding the edges upwards like a bundle, and repeat with remaining dough.
• Place a parchment paper on a baking sheet and place the pogacas on it.
• The FOLDED side of pogacas should be at the bottom to have a ball shape.
• Coat each with egg yolk and a sprinkle of poppy seeds.
• Bake about 30 minutes, or until they get golden.

TURKISH POGACA

Steps:

• Mix everything together except the egg yolk.
• Wait for 1 hour for batter to double.
• Make small rounds as big as half of your palm.
• Press it with your fingers to make it as big as your palm.
• Mix feta cheese and parsley.
• Put the mixture into these small rounds and close it and round it again.
• Place it on the oiled oven sheet.
• Brush all the batch with the egg yolk.
• Place it in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes in 350°F.
• Put poppyseed on the batch as desired.

VANILLA KIFLI -- A VANILLA COOKIE (HUNGARY)

Steps:

• In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter & granulated sugar, then beat in the egg yolks & vanilla extract, before gradually beating in the flour.
• Form the dough into a ball & let it stand at room temperature for 2 hours.
• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• To form the crescents, roll about 1 tablespoon of the dough in the palms of your hands, continuing to roll & form a rope about 3 inches long & 1/2 inch thick. Bend the rope to form a crescent, then repeat with the remaining dough, while placing the crescents on ungreased cookie sheets about 1 inch apart.
• Bake about 10-12 minutes (Cookies will STILL be white in color.), then let them cool on the cookie sheets for 5 minutes to prevent breaking.
• While cookies are still warm, carefully roll each one in vanilla sugar, before letting them cool completely.
• In a double boiler, melt chocolate over low heat, & when cookies are cool, dip one tip of each cookie into the melted chocolate, then set on waxed paper to dry.

TAVCHE GRAVCHE (BAKED WHITE BEANS WITH PAPRIKA)

Steps:

• Drain soaking liquid and put beans and one onion in a pot, cover with liquid, bring to a boil and then let simmer until beans just start to become tender, not mushy.
• Drain off all but about two cups of the cooking liquid and set beans aside.
• In a saute pan, fry the remaining two onions in a generous amount of oil (1/4 cup) until translucent.
• Add broken pieces of paprika (and/or powdered paprika, if you wish), herbs, salt and pepper.
• Put beans into a glass or clay baking pot and mix in sauteed onion mixture. Add some of the cooking water, drizzle with remaining oil and place in a 350 degree oven.
• Check beans periodically for desired consistency, adding water or covering with lid or foil as needed.