It will be my friend from Romania Birthday party, I will like to surprise him, any ideas??!
Answers: I want to prepare couple traditional Romania dishes (not tooooo difficult to make) I am doing the cake, I was thinking about a cake with the Romania flag colors with a big "N" on the red. but a surprise party with out food...... any idea about a traditional romania cake? Dishes?
ROMANIAN STUFFED CABBAGE
Cabbage
Ground veal
Ground pork
Instant rice
Tomato juice
Tomato sauce
Sauerkraut
Garlic salt
Pepper
Parboil whole cabbage. Tear off leaves and cut out core. Combine ground veal and pork (may substitute ground beef for veal and pork, but it's not Romanian that way) and enough instant rice to hold it together. Sprinkle with garlic salt and pepper and mix well (this is sort of like making a meat loaf). Lay cabbage leaf out flat and top with a small handful of meat mixture. Roll cabbage around mixture to make what looks like a small pillow. Place roll in rectangular casserole dish with tucked side down (it won't open up upon baking this way). Continue with cabbage rolls until casserole has one layer.
Cover cabbage rolls with sauerkraut leaving a little juice. Pour a combination of tomato juice and sauce over the sauerkraut. Bake in a 350 degree oven for about an hour or until meat is cooked. This dish is FANTASTIC with mashed potatoes using the tomato mixture as gravy.
OR
MITTITEI (Grilled Romanian Hamburger)
2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 tsp. finely chopped garlic
1/2 tsp. ground allspice
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/4 tsp. crumbled dried thyme
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 c. beef stock, fresh or canned
Vegetable oil
Combine all ingredients except oil in a deep bowl. Knead vigorously with both hands until ingredients are well blended. Then pour in the stock and beat with a wooden spoon until the mixture is smooth and fluffy. Taste for seasoning. Divide the mixture into 18 equal portions and roll each one into a cylinder about 3 1/2 inches long and 1 inch thick, moistening your hands with cold water as you proceed.
Grill or broil on the highest setting about 3 inches from the heat for about 8 minutes, turning them with a spatula or tongs every few minutes until they are crisp and brown on all sides.
OR
ROMANIAN CORN SALAD
1 (17 oz.) can corn, drained
1 (6 1/8 oz.) can tuna, drained
5 tbsp. mayonnaise
4 hard-boiled eggs, diced
1 (4 oz.) can mushrooms, drained
Paprika to taste
Fresh parsley to taste
Salt and pepper to taste
White vinegar to taste
Mix mayonnaise with paprika, salt, pepper, parsley, and vinegar. Sauce should taste sharp, will mellow after chilling. Add remaining ingredients. Mix well. Chill 4 hours to overnight.
OR
SAVARINA (ROMANIAN)
SAVARINA:
6 eggs, separated
6 tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3 tbsp. flour
3 tbsp. plain bread crumbs
1 tsp. vanilla
SYRUP:
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. water
1 tbsp. rum essence
Strawberries
Whipped cream
Beat 6 egg whites. Mix in 3 tablespoons sugar. Beat 6 egg yolks with remaining 3 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, vanilla, flour, and bread crumbs. Fold egg yolks mixture into egg whites mixture gently so as not to deflate. Bake in a lightly greased and floured cake pan for 30 minutes at 300°F degrees.
SYRUP: In a saucepan, combine water and sugar. Bring to a boil, then remove from heat. Allow to cool and add rum essence (real rum may be sustituted).
Cool Savarina (you may freeze the cake to make it easier to handle but this is not required), cut crosswise through the center of the cake to make 2 separate layers.
Pour syrup on the bottom layer, then layer with strawberries. Replace the top layer and pour syrup over the top.
Top with whipped cream and garnish with strawberries.
JM