Kabuni and Tre Leche Desserts in Kruja

Up in the mountains outside of Tirana is the old town of Kruja. The town is famous for the old castle and the old cobblestone Bazar.
But that are not the only famous things the area is known for.

At the local Hotel Panorama overlooking the area around Tirana to one side and the Adriatic sea on the other side.

Two famous desserts are served here in the hotel.
But the first order was Raki

A hard liqueur that is distilled in all of Albania.

Now the ominous Kabuni dessert.
It contains meat!
Risotto rice cooked in milk with sugar and cinnamon. Cooked beef is shredded into fine strings, raisins and walnuts.

It is very sweet and tasty. The fine strings of meat are completely mixed into the rice.
Only when you catch a small chunk of meat, you know what's in there.

The other dessert was very creamy and heavy. Super sweet and tasted a bit of caramel.

Ice Cream in Bitola, North Mazedonia

Beeing in a country on a National Holiday is always bad for a tourist when you are going to visit a city.

The 8th of September was this year the first holiday as the new nation of North Mazedonia
 Formerly known as the Former Jugoslavian Republic of Mazedonia. This holiday fell on a Sunday, the president moved the celebratipn to Monday and most people had a day off.

We made a stop in Bitola after we crossed the border into the country. We wanted to get some local cash and have a snack.

The money exchanges were all closed, so were most of the other shops. Just a few cafes and bars were open.

I went to a cafe with a wide open sitting area. Someone was washing the tables and the other waiters stood inside at the bar talking.
After 8 min I went in and asked for some service.

I had a Cappuccino and a Brazi Mango Ice Cream. It was nicely made up.
It tasted great.

Edessa food at the waterfall

On the route from Thessaloniki we made a stop at the waterfalls of Edessa. The main one drops 70 m down.

Having an hour there at lunch time, I was looking for a bit of food. The tour guide told us, that we will have a long day ahead of us until we reach the next destination in North Macedonia at the lake Ohrid.

I found a restaurant just near the stream that drops down and went in. I asked the waiter if the restaurant manages the service in a limited time and he said, sure, no problem.

I ordered Tzatsiki as a starter and that was served promptly. He recommended a chicken skewer as a fast meal.

Now waiting time grew longer and longer and I asked about my order. Soon, soon.

With just 10 min to spare it arrived. I paid immediately and wolfed down the chicken.

The chicken was good quality and nicely grilled, but the fries were soggy.

With just 3 min to spare, I reached the tour bus.

Service at Restaurants is slow and there is a lot to improve

Thessaloniki and a bit of food

I am on the road again.

This time through northern Greece, North Macedonia, Albania and the isle of Korfu.

What kind of food can I expect?

When I arrived in Thessaloniki yesterday and reached the hotel around 3 pm I was hungry.
No food on the airplane and a early start from home.
I went out and looked for a place where the locals sat.
But I had to get bottled water first. When I came from the airport, I discovered every 200 m some small newspaper and sweet stands. That went through the whole strech of the city.
I found one and then looked for some food.

It was a Kebap Grill with a lot of tables inside and outside.

An ice cold beer is a great beverage after a long day and that was the first I ordered.

Salad with Chicken Strips Cesar Style

I wont call it a Cesar Salad!

But most of the core ingredients are like the ones in the original recipe.
I had some iceberg lettuce sitting around and some chicken inner fillets. Cesar Salad was the first that came to my mind.

Wrong salad. Wrong type of bread - it did not matter, the ingredients made a great salad.

Recipe for 2:
1 small iceberg lettuce
350 g chicken inner fillets
Olive oil spray
Chicken seasoning
40 g Parmesan cheese
1 raw fresh egg yolk
2 anchovies in oil
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
White balsamic vinegar
A pinch of salt
Pepper
Fresh chives
Rye bread
1 tbsp butter

Marinate the chicken fillets in some seasoning after spraying them with oil.
Shred the lettuce leaves and wash them.
Fry off the chicken strips and make sure they stay tender and juicy.
In a pan with oil and the butter and 1 of the garlic cloves, brown the bread chunks.
Chop the chives.
Grate 1 tbsp of Parmesan finely
Use a speed peeler and peel some fine strips of Parmesan.
Make the dressing:
Egg yolk with chopped anchovies, seasoning, minced garlic clove and grated Parmesan mixed together and loosened with olive oil and vinegar.
Bring everything together and top with chicken and Parmesan strips.

Hummus - extra creamy

Hummus Said Restaurant in Acre, Israel is listed as one of the best Hummus places.

I love Hummus. But usually I use the canned chickpeas. I make the effort and peel the husks away. Using only a small can, this can take about 30 min to do it. But it is worth the effort and the hummus is a lot better to digest.

Now I watched a YT Video from "My Name is Andong". He visited this Restaurant in Acre and was impressed by the hummus. The recipe is simple, but time consuming.

Compairing this hummus to the ones I usually make is like Eating in a Michelin star restaurant or in a Fast Food Joint.

Start with soaking the 500 g dry chickpeas in a lot of water for about 10 Hours.
Now you have to cook them and get the husk off.
You can peel off every husk after cooking by hand- the same way I am doing it with the small can.
But there is a bit easier way.
Use an Alkaline.

Get the drained chickpeas in a pot with 2 tsp of baking Soda. Stir them for 3 minutes so that they are all coated. Pour in enough water to boil the chickpeas.  Cooking time is 30 - 40 min.
Caution: they cook and produce a lot of foam. Take the foam off. Take some of the husks off during cooking. Some will float on top.
When the chickpeas are done, drain and cool them down and wash off the remaining husks.
Now starts the fun part. Separate by Hand more of the husks.

Let the chickpeas go cold

3 lemons and 3 cloved of garlic and 50 ml water get into a small food processor
Pour the liquid through a strainer and mix with 200 ml Tahini paste.

Do not ask me why
 When you stir the tahini into the lemon garlic juice, the mix gets dry and grainy.
Use about 80 ml of water to loosen the paste until it has the consistency of a thick batter.

Use a large food processor and add chickpeas and tahini mix and a good 150 ml of olive oil.
Some cumin seeds intensify the taste of the hummus.

Squid and Scallops in a Salad Leaf

Asian style salad and a little red Jasmin rice are the base to fill a leaf of iceberg lettuce.
Samfire in lime and olive oil and a bit of dressing from Hoi Sin sauce and Ponzu sauce are the extra of this dish.
But the best are the squid rings and the succulent scallops.

I was absolutely not sure what to prepare, when I bought the seafood in the morning. Breading the squid for deep frying or criss cross it with a knife and flash fry it in a pan to get nice looking curls.
50 g of Samfire went into a small bag too.

When I checked through my fridge and the other things on the kitchen counter, an Asian salad was the dish I wanted to prepare. Some kind of summer roll without the rice paper but with lettuce leaves.

At first I cooked about 60 g of whole grain red Jasmin rice.
I cut the squid tubes in rings and with just a little seasoning cooked them in the pan with the scallops for just a bit more then 2 minutes. Easy peasy.
The samfire got blanched for 30 seconds and with Lemon juice and olive oil and pepper dressed.

ingredients for the salad:
1 red bell pepper
2 spring onions
2 small carrots
6 cherry tomatoes
1 pok choy
1/4 bunch fresh coriander
1 tsp roasted sesame oil
1 tbsp sunflower oil
1 lime juiced
roasted sesame seeds
1 tsp Agave syrup
salt and pepper
Japanese 8 spice powder

large iceberg lettuce leaves

mix ponzu with hoi sin for a dipping sauce.

In an iceberg leaf fill in some red rice, salad, samfire and squid rings. Stuff in a scallop and try to close it. Eat with the dipping Sauce.