Oregon Berry Festival 2015 and BlackBerry Grilled Cheese

Next weekend on Friday July 17 and Saturday July 18 is the 5th annual Lifewise Oregon Berry Festival 2015. This FREE festival at the Ecotrust building  in the Pearl District showcases everything berry, from

  • Fresh berry vendors booths with their farm fresh berries and berry products
  • A Healthy Berry Pavilion education booth with information to introduce you to berries you may not be aware of or ways to incorporate berries into your diet and explain all the various health benefits of berries. And there’s also a culinary historian to give a brief history of Oregon berries.
  • Berry themed food booths
  • Cooking demonstrations featuring berries
  • An Oregon’s Best Blackberry pie contest and demo by Pacific Pie Company
  • Berry themed crafts at a children’s booth, appearances by blueberry mascot Ima Blueberry with coloring sheets and face painting, as well as family friendly live musical entertainment
  • There’s a chance to win a bike by filling out a Oregon Berry Festival passport by following clues and gathering stamps from vendors
  • On Saturday evening a separate Gala Berry Dinner at OMSI will be held to show how you can use berries for every course, from cocktail hour to savory to sweet dishes (tickets are $105 all inclusive, available at Brown Paper Tickets)

Lifewise Oregon Berry Festival Lifewise Oregon Berry Festival

I’ll be attending the Berry Festival on Saturday at part of a Berry Festival media tour with the Oregon Raspberry & Blackberry Commission (ORBC), including visiting a working berry farm. I’ll be reporting back with what I learn and a NEW recipe. For now though…

What: Oregon Berry Festival 2015
When:

  • Friday, July 17, from 12:00pm to 6:00pm
  • Saturday, July 18, from 11:00am to 5:00pm

Where: Ecotrust Event Space at NW 10th and Johnson, Portland, Oregon
Who: Everybody… and it’s FREE!

Recipe for a Berry Grilled Cheese

Blackberry Grilled Cheese with blackberries, basil, fontina, a touch of pesto
Usually my berry consumption is raw: right out of the pint, in beverage form via smoothie or juice (or fruit beer!!), sometimes it’s folded into a salad or ice cream or sorbet. I rarely have it cooked, and when I have cooked berries it’s generally because it is part if a dish while I’m dining out. Also, I am a cook that prefers the forgiveness of savory foods, not a baker. What can I say, I guess I’m not a sweet girl who follows precise technical instructions.

In celebration of the upcoming festival though, I decided to seek out a recipe featuring berry and that cooks with it but isn’t a traditional dessert – and when I saw this Fontina + Blackberry Basil Smash Sandwich from the blog how sweet it is (with her upcoming cookbook Seriously Delish coming out soon), I was sold.
Blackberry Grilled Cheese with blackberries, basil, fontina, a touch of pesto Blackberry Grilled Cheese with blackberries, basil, fontina, a touch of pesto

I’m not going to provide the whole recipe here: you should definitely click on over to check out her gorgeous photos and the recipe instructions yourself. But, at a high level you only need a handful of ingredients!
For your Blackbery Basil grilled cheese, you will use Oregon Blackberries, about 4 ounces (about 14 berries) per sandwich Blackberry and Basil, a great combination of flavors

  • Multigrain bread: I used Franz Mt Hood Multigrain and Flax
  • Fresh Oregon Blackberries
  • Chopped fresh basil leaves from my garden
  • Fontina cheese (mine are from one of my local cheese loves, Willamette Valley Cheese Co)
  • And a little olive oil or butter for grilling!

The slight changes I made is that I probably used a lot more basil than she did for my sandwich (I used about 4 ounces of blackberries, which was about 14 berries FYI and almost 7 basil leaves for each individual sandwich) because I love basil. Do not wear a white shirt when making this blackberry basil smash part/get your apron out.
Make sure you carefully smash your blackberries as it does squirt a bit. Don't wear a white shirt For the Blackberry Grilled Cheese, I used about 14 blackberries and chopped 7-8 leaves of basil for each sandwich

I suggest brushing on the olive oil or melted butter on both sides of the bread before adding your spoonfuls of blackberry basil smash as that makes more logistical sense than her order. I also had a little leftover pesto from the Cashew Cheese on Cucumber recipe I shared earlier this week, so smeared that on also. I was generous with my cheese, probably about 3 ounces per sandwich, which I grated to melt better and spread over every centimeter of my bread.
Franz Mt Hood Multigrain and Flax bread makes for great sandwiches, especially grilled cheese! I used a little pesto inside my Blackberry Basil Grilled cheese Grilling my Blackberry Basil Smash grilled cheese sandwich, adding the grated fontina to the bread and pesto

Since you grill this low and slow to get melty and brown, it shouldn’t heat up your kitchen too much. Maybe you are calling me a cheat because it isn’t so much cooking the berries as slightly warming them up, and the only prep is smashing them essentially into jam… but I don’t care.

Blackberry Grilled Cheese with blackberries, basil, fontina, a touch of pesto

This recipe is ALL win.

Warning: this sandwich needs 2 napkins or a paper towel. I would not fault you for serving this open faced because it really is pretty too!
Blackberry Grilled Cheese with blackberries, basil, fontina, a touch of pesto Blackberry Grilled Cheese with blackberries, basil, fontina, a touch of pesto

For additional variant, you could swap out the fontina for a brie if you can’t find fontina, and feel free to add grilled chicken as a protein to your sandwich.

If you are looking for more berry good recipes, feel free to check out the website Oregon Berries, which not only provides information on various Oregon berries, but has a portion dedicated to berry recipes from food bloggers at Bloggers ♥ Oregon Berries as well as a Recipe Search based on the berry that may intrigue you!

I also have a few more past berry recipes I’ve shared: you can see that strawberries are my favorite berry, and that I could put together a whole dinner with just berries for every course if I wanted to! I wonder what the James Beard Award winning Chef Jim Dodge of the Gala Berry Dinner 2015 for the Oregon Berry Festival will do?!

Have you heard of the Oregon Berry Festival? What is your favorite berry, and how do you like to enjoy it, do you have a favorite recipe with berries and what is it?

Disclosure: I will be attending a media tour of the Oregon Berry Festival, but I will always provide my honest opinion and assessment of all products and experiences I may be given. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are entirely my own. And, this recipe is really delicious, as are all the strawberry recipes I previously shared on the blog. Support Oregon Berries to support local producers and it’s healthy and yummy!

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Recipe: Cashew Cheese on Cucumbers

With the heat wave in the past couple weeks,  I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that you might want to keep things simple when making food. I have been mostly doing quick sautés or dishes that require no cooking at all.

This recipe for Cashew Cheese on Cucumber does require a little forethought to soak the cashews in water for a few hours. Otherwise you only need a processor and a knife plus the ingredients to put together appetizers for a potluck or picnic, or just a healthy snack at home.
Cucumber with cashew ricotta and pesto

I like this combination for the refreshing cool crunch of the cucumber,  creamy but cheesy flavors with hint of garlic of the cashew cheese, and touch of salty herb from the pesto. I eyeballed a lot of these so make sure you taste to see what amounts fit your taste levels. The more nutritional yeast you use, the cheesier the flavor while being dairy free. Nutritional yeast is also a great topper to sprinkle on popcorn to have cheese popcorn with your movie!

Ingredients:

For the Cashew Cheese

  • 1 1/2 cups raw cashews soaked in water for 2 hours
  • 1/4 cup – 1/2 cup water; the more water used, the thinner and creamier the cashew cheese will be, so you want to add to your liking for consistentcy a bit at a time
  • 3 or so tablespoons of freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste if you’d like
  • 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast, or more to taste if you’d like
  • 1 clove of minced garlic, or more to taste if you’d like
  • Dash of onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt or more to taste
  • 1 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper or more to taste

For the Pesto – this is more of a rough guideline as I often just eye it after grabbing handfuls from my plant

  • 2 cups fresh basil
  • 1/4 cup or so of olive oil
  • 1/8 cup or so of pine nuts (for more flavor, toast the pine nuts in a dry skillet for a few moments until aromatic, but be careful it doesn’t burn)
  • 1/2 tablespoon of minced fresh garlic
  • pinch or so of salt
  • a few grounds of freshly ground pepper

Directions:

For the Cashew Cheese

  1. First, you will need to soak the raw, unsalted cashews in water for about 2 hours. The water level should cover the tops of your cashews.
    1 1/2 cups of unsalted cashews Soak 1 1/2 cups of unsalted cashews in water for 2 hours
  2. Then, drain the water. Place the cashews, nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup water, lemon juice, the minced garlic and onion powder and salt in the food processor and pulse until roughly blended.
    After 2 hours of soaking, drain the water from the cashews To make the cashew cheese, place the drained pre-soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup water, lemon juice, the minced garlic and salt in the food processor and pulse until roughly blended
  3. Now as you continue to taste, add in the remainder of the water to get the consistency you would like. If you’d like, you can choose to add more lemon juice, or more nutritional yeast, or more minced garlic or salt to your preference depending on how garlicky, cheesy (from the nutritional yeast), lemony, etc you enjoy.
    To make the cashew cheese, place the drained pre-soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup water, lemon juice, the minced garlic and salt in the food processor and pulse until roughly blended. Add more water if you want it to be creamier, or leave it rustic and more dense To make the cashew cheese, place the drained pre-soaked cashews, nutritional yeast, 1/4 cup water, lemon juice, the minced garlic and salt in the food processor and pulse until roughly blended. Add more water if you want it to be creamier, or leave it rustic and more dense
  4. Add a few grounds of freshly ground pepper. You can serve as is immediately, but if you refrigerate it for a couple hours the flavors will develop more and texture get a bit thicker so  it will be even more tasty the next day – put it in a container to be used as a dip for a picnic with veggies, or spread on a sandwich, so many possibilities!

For the Pesto

Blend all the ingredients for pesto together – you may want to add a little bit more olive oil, salt, or pepper to taste. Puree until the mixture is smooth. Make sure you pause once in a while to scrape the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula as needed to make sure it all gets mixed well, as well as to taste and adjust to your liking.

For the final Cucumber Cashew Cheese appetizers

Slice the cucumbers and slather on a bit of the cashew cheese. With a spoon, add on a bit of the pesto. Serve!

Cucumber with cashew ricotta and pesto Cucumber with cashew ricotta and pesto

I put this combo on cucumbers buy it’s also great in sandwiches and the cashew cheese can be substituted in pasta like Ricotta in pasta shells or lasagna too.

What have you been making in the kitchen during this extended heat wave in Portland (or wherever you may be when it’s hot in the summer!)?

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Brownies topped with Potato Chips

I don’t really know what to say that doesn’t already seem obvious from the recipe title – chocolate and salt are amazing together. I don’t know how many years people have been sprinkling salt on chocolate chip cookies or chocolate bars. I’ve seen recipes and photos of brownies that have a topping of potato chips, but I never made them… until now.
Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips

The first time I made these, I did it with chips also in the brownie mix based on this Thrilllist recipe for Potato Chip Brownies– but nope. I didn’t like them because the chips inside the brownie turn out chewy. I suppose you could try it breaking up the chips into really small pieces (versus the “roughly broken up” they use) but unless your chips are pretty salty, I don’t think you’ll get much flavor or texture from them then, so what’s the point?

The other suggestion I can give you is that when you scatter your potato chips on top, think about where you will have your lines for the brownie squares and distribute it accordingly so that you don’t have to break a chip when you are cutting, sacrificing a chip in the process.
Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips

Ingredients:

  • One 9 ounce package of Dark Chocolate Chips – I used SunSpire Organic 65% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips. Because of the high cacao content, these are richly chocolately. How good your brownies are is all about your chocolate, of course.
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, cut into pieces (I put each stick of butter I use in KitchenArt 32000 Gourmet ButterMate, Whitethis Buttermate measure and butter-cutter, so I just added them in 1 tablespoon pieces)
  • 2 tablespoons water
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cups of Kettle Chip or Ruffles potato chips, broken up into 1 inch pieces or smaller. It is totally ok while you are waiting to top your brownies if you also pour yourself a bowl of chips on the side to snack on while you are cooking.
    When setting aside your ingredients after you melt the chocolate, butter, and sugar together in the pot for your potato chip topped brownies, it is totally ok if you also pour yourself a bowl of chips on the side to snack on while you are cooking

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease 8-inch-square baking pan.
  2. Take 1/3 cup of the chocolate chips and separate it from the rest. With the rest of the chocolate chips, heat it with the sugar, butter, and water in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir while the chocolate and butter melt together until they are well incorporated. Now pour into a large mixing bowl.
    Chocolate chips, butter, sugar, ready for the water and to melt away into chocolatey goodness for my recipe of Potato Chip Brownies (or just Brownies in general)
  3. Into the bowl with melted chocolate, stir in the eggs one at a time with a whisk – add one egg at a time. Add in the vanilla extract, then the flour and salt and stir well. Fold in the remaining 1/3 cup of chocolate chips you had set aside. Yum, so chocolatey.
  4. Pour your brownie potato chip goodness into the baking pan – the mixture should be thick. Add the 1 cup of potato chips on top.
    Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips
  5. Now bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out slightly sticky. Cool in pan and cut into bars when it is cooled – make sure it’s cool! Be patient!
    Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips

These potato chip brownies are best when they have cooled, and the same day of before the potato chips begin to get stale. I think these would be really fun to make for a picnic or potluck as a fun update on a brownie!
Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips

Have you seen or used these butter measure and cutters before? They are awesome for cutting teeny slices of butter and when I’m cooking measuring and always cutting perfect pieces!

Which brownie pieces do you like the most? The ones from the center that have all soft gooey chocolate sides, or the ones from the edge that have the crispy side?
Potato chip topped brownies recipe with rich chocolate brownie and the salty crunch of potato chips

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Recipe for Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw

Have you ever had this Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw? Supposedly it’s a common staple to see at potlucks and gatherings, but I’ve never seen it. I was sooo curious though, and I thought this would be a great dish to remind you of with Memorial Day weekend coming, up, as well as summer and potential potlucks and picnics.

There are other recipes I’ve seen out there using ramen which is making a strange comeback as an ingredient, such as Ramen Burgers and Ramen Grilled Cheese, Ramen Casserole or Ramen Snack Mix Ramen Omelet or even Ramen Pizza – all that I haven’t had the courage to attempt to make (see some example possibilities here). I thought I would take my first step with a Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw.
My take on Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw Easy and fast to make (also a great value in terms of cost of ingredients), Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw

Ramen is not the main ingredient of this slaw, which is super easy and fast to make – it is just the highlight that makes what would otherwise be a slaw into something else because of all the fun textures with every bite. The textures make this side dish fun as well as tasty, and as an accompaniment to a many times of proteins (especially bbq) can provide a great balance. Plus love having a slaw option that doesn’t involve Mayo but is not just a regularly expected salad.

This recipe serves 4-8 depending on the size of the slaw side you are dishing up! 4 would be some pretty big sides, more like if it was the only side to your protein.

Ingredients:

  • For the Dressing:
    • 1/3 cup Olive Oil
    • 1/4 cup Brown Sugar
    • 4 tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
    • Seasoning Packet From one 3 ounce Ramen Noodle Package
  • For the Slaw:
    • 1 12 ounce package of Broccoli Slaw. This is in the refrigerated prepared salad/veggies section of your regular grocery store, or you can shred together your own mix of slaw. This one is a mix of red cabbage, broccoli, and carrots 
    • 1 Avocado, diced (I like to cut my avocado in half and remove the pit, and then just peel away the avocado skin and dice from there)
    • 1 cup of shelled edamame (I used a frozen package that I defrosted)
    • 1 3 ounce Package of Ramen Noodles, this is the kind that comes in a square shaped package, not the cups
    • 4 tablespoons of Butter
    • 1/3 Cup Slivered Almonds

Directions:

  1. Whisk together the olive oil, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, and seasoning packet all together to make the dressing. Mix in the broccoli slaw and shelled edamame so the dressing is coating all the slaw. If you are not serving right away, cover and chill this. As the dressing soaks into it, it will be even more flavorful.
    Making the dressing for the Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw, just olive oil, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, and one seasoning packet from one of those packaged ramens! Whisk this all together. You can also use other vinegars, sesame oil, sub honey or agave, or use bottle Asian vinaigrette if you'd like Tossing the dressing and broccoli slaw, which is a mix of broccoli, cabbage, carrots that are shredded for Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw
  2. In a pan, melt the 4 tablespoons of butter over medium heat. Crush all the ramen noodles with your hands, and then toast the noodles and almonds in the butter until the almonds are fragrant, maybe 5 minutes. Set aside to cool. If you’d like, you can skip the step of toasting the slivered almonds if you purchase almonds that are already toasted.
    Crush the uncooked ramen noodles from the ramen package until they are bite sized, almost like croutons for Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw
  3. When you are ready to serve the salad, add the ramen noodle and almond mix and the diced avocado and toss until mixed, and then serve. By waiting to add the crunchy ingredients and the avocado (which will brown over time) until serving time the Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw will be at its peak texture, though it tastes good the next day too (just not as crunchy). So if you pack this for a picnic or outside gathering, consider bringing the noodle almond mix in a ziploc you add in – and I might only cut the avocado in half with a knife already, but leave the pit in, and then using a picnic or knive at the eating location cut the rest to keep it as green as possible.
    Broccoli Slaw, Edamame, Vinaigrette... then adding the last ingredients to toss in, the crispy fried ramen, toasted slivered almonds and the avocado for Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw Recipe, fast and easy but also tasty and full of fun textures!

I have seen some recipes that add fruit – such as mango or mandarin oranges – but that seems to not be a slaw anymore to me as much as a shredded slaw salad hybrid. You can also top this with bits of crispy bacon too, or diced chicken (like leftover orange chicken from takeout the day before…), but in what I wrote below I kept it vegetarian. Add even more crunch with sunflower seeds.

Other options are to use a different kind of vinegar (I’ve seen versions with white or red wine vinegar) or use sesame oil instead, substitute brown sugar with honey or agave, or even bottled Asian vinaigrette. The key is the dressing is a balance of tangy from the vinegaraitte but also sweetness.
A fast and easy cold vegetable side dish with lots of great textures, Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw A fast and easy cold vegetable side dish with lots of great textures, Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw

Have you ever had a ramen dish using ramen besides the typical ramen noodle soup way like this?
Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw gives you the refreshing taste of slaw without the mayo and without having to do another typical salad for your greens on your plate Easy and fast to make (also a great value in terms of cost of ingredients), Ramen Noodle Broccoli Slaw

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Recipe for Balkan Cheese Pie – Burek and Adjika Sauce

I have had this Recipe for Balkan Cheese Pie from the Darina at the Gratinee blog pinned for a while, and for some reason in the past couple months I have been on a real Eastern European food kick. Most of it was Russian food, but also Mediterranean, so no surprise that the Balkans and this pie has risen to the top of my to do list to try.

This Balkan Cheese Pie sort of combines the best of both of these cuisines, the lighter Mediterranean touch where the pie is eaten with simple yogurt or salad or fruit, but also a lot of cheese and oven pie method of making a meal from the Serbia area that is so close to the Soviet and Russia and shares history and perception of Slavic brotherhood.
Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe. Just easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe. Just easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche

Also called Burek, this pie is at its core a pastry made from phyllo dough and filled with cheese (in this case cottage cheese and feta, though ricotta might also be used) and optionally also throw in some vegetables (commonly greens or mushrooms) or ground meat.

Thank you for the inspiration Darina. For an alternate version, instead of a pie, you could make a pita version – a pie and pita version are covered by Superfora here and Darina makes a spiral version that is a cross of pita and pie.

Balkan Cheese Pie – Burek

Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe. Just easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe. Just easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche
Ingredients:

  • 8 phyllo sheets (you can find these in the freezer section. Defrost them in the refrigerator overnight, and take them out to get to room temperature while you are mixing your cheese/egg in step 1 of directions below).
  • 1/2 pound  cottage cheese
  • 1/2 pound feta cheese, crumbled
  • 3 eggs
  • 1/2 cup club soda (this helps make the pie fluffy)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt (optional, depending on how salty you think it already is from your feta)
  • Browned meat or mushrooms (optional)
  • 1 teaspoon dill (optional)

Directions:

  1. As you are making your cheese mixture, let the phyllo dough which you probably bought frozen and have defrosted overnight in the refrigerator come to room temperature – still in the box though. Ok, now to the mixture. In a large mixing bowl combine the cheese, eggs, club soda, oil, and salt (optional, depending on how salty your feta already is). For this recipe I used cottage cheese and feta cheese that were both reduced fat, and you can also use ricotta. I hear it’s still not quite like actual Eastern European cheese, but this is the closest to it. Once the mixture is ready, now open the phyllo package and release the sheets – you wanted to wait until now to do this so it doesn’t dry out because then it will break easily (though for this recipe, it doesn’t matter as much is there are small tears and holes since you are folding the phyllo sheets in anyway).
    Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, now mixed with the eggs and club soda and olive oil As you are making your egg and cheese mixture, let the phyllo dough which you probably bought frozen and have defrosted overnight in the refrigerator come to room temperature
  2. Grease a 9 inch pie pan with non-stick cooking spray. Place two sheets of phyllo, one crossed over the other, over the pan and gently tuck in. With a ladle, spoon over some of the cheese mixture.
    Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets in layers. It doesn't matter if you tear the phyllo sheet as you will be folding it in anyway Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta. You layer the cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets in alternating layers Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta. You layer the cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets, 2 sheets for each layer
  3. (Optional) For variation, sprinkle layers with fresh spinach leaves, sauteed mushrooms, or browned ground lamb or pork on top of the cheese and egg mixture.
  4. Otherwise, fold the corners of the phyllo over the filling. Pour over some more of the cheese mixture. Repeat a few more times, using 2 layers of phyllo sheets and the cheese and egg mixture alternating. Pour any leftover filling over top layer.
    Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta. You layer the cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta. You layer the cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta. You layer the cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets
  5. Bake at 375F for about 30 minutes, or until top is golden and pie has puffed up.
    Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, still hot out of the oven Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, still hot out of the oven Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, still hot out of the oven
  6. Cool until lukewarm and then cut into pieces like quiche and serve.
    Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta. You layer the cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, though you can also use ricotta. You layer the cheese egg mixture with phyllo sheets

If you’d like, top with poppy seeds or like I did, with dill.
Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, topped with dill. Just easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo dough, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, using cottage cheese and feta, topped with dill. Just easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo dough, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche

You can serve your slice of Burek with a green salad, fruit salad, tomato salad or cucumber salad. In cooler days you might choose soup. Another option if you made it plain cheese like I did is serve it alongside your choice of cooked vegetables that are steamed, sauteed or roasted.
Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, here served with sauteed mushrooms in garlic butter. Burek is an easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo dough, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, here served with sauteed mushrooms in garlic butter. Burek is an easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo dough, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche Balkan Cheese Pie - Burek recipe, here served with sauteed mushrooms in garlic butter. Burek is an easy layering of cheese egg mixture with phyllo dough, like a Mediterranean or Eastern European quiche

I went super Eastern European and added Adjika sauce on the side.
Balkan Cheese Pie, or Burek, here with Adjika Sauce - recipe for both on http://pechluck.com Balkan Cheese Pie, or Burek, here with Adjika Sauce - recipe for both on http://pechluck.com

Adjika is sort of like a Russian pesto, but instead of basil, oil, and pine nuts it’s dried red peppers, garlic, salt, and some dried seasoning that are then ground up together. Yes, it’s supposed to be a bit spicy. There are some recipes out there with tomatoes, but I like it without because I don’t want it to be like salsa or ketchup – I want it to be a mix of sauce and chili paste, sort of what is alluded to by this article at Roads and Kingdoms on “Adjika: Sauce of Glory, Pride of Abkhazia“.

Most recipes for Adjika sauce I found use a lot of ingredients like tomatoes, carrots, and make a lot of cans. The version I do is a small amount – about 3/4-1 cup. You want the ingredients to be as dry as possible so that the most liquid comes from the additional of the oil, so you can choose for instance to use regular parsley instead of the dried kind in the spices and seasonings section, just make sure it is chopped and dry.
Balkan Cheese Pie, or Burek, here with Adjika Sauce - recipe for both on http://pechluck.com Balkan Cheese Pie, or Burek, here with Adjika Sauce - recipe for both on http://pechluck.com

Adjika Sauce

Ingredients:

  • 4 hot red chilli peppers
  • 1 cloves garlic peeled
  • 1 tablespoon parsley flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander
  • a large pinch of salt
  • A few teaspoons of Walnut or Olive oil, as needed for consistency

Instructions:

  1. Spread peppers on a table with wax paper underneath and let air dry until the chilis become slightly wrinkled if you can – you can make it without this step, but you’ll want to taste and add a pinch more to balance the liquid from the chilis
    Red chili peppers for adjika sauce - recipe on http://pechluck.com
  2. Wash the chillies, cutting off the stems, and then cutting the chilies in half to scrape out the seeds – if you like spiciness, save the seeds so you can add them to the heat level you want in step 4.
  3. In a food processor, add your cut seedless chilies, garlic, coriander and parsley into a food processor, add a splash of oil and pulse until a paste.
  4. And salt and pulse for another couple of seconds. Check the spiciness and add some of the reserved seeds if the sauce seems too mild to your taste. Add more oil as needed to get the desired consistency.

Adjika sauce, sort of like a Russian pesto that uses dried red peppers, garlic, salt, and some dried seasoning that are then ground up together

Have you ever heard of any of these two dishes? Do you know of any good places in Portland to get Eastern European food?

When you first read Balkan Cheese Pie, did you think of the Balkans… or Balki from Perfect Strangers?

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