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Recipes with kajmak

6 recipes that use kajmak, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Komplet lepinja, takes 25 minutes. It is most often cooked with garlic, beef mince and egg.

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Cicvara

Shepherds' huts on the Durmitor and Sinjajevina plateaus in northern Montenegro gave the Balkans cicvara, a dish of kajmak and young cheese melted slowly with cornmeal until it turns rich, golden and stretchy and butter seeps out at the edges. It is stirred and eaten hot, often at breakfast after early milking, with a cup of cold sour milk or plain yogurt to cut the richness. Young cheese for this is fresh and mild; most is made with rennet, so look for one with vegetarian rennet if you need to, and use clotted cream if you can't get kajmak. A common mistake is turning up the heat to hurry it, which burns the bottom and makes the cheese seize into rubbery lumps. Chef's tip: stir with a wooden spoon in figure-of-eight strokes and keep going until a thread of cheese stretches as you lift it.

30 minBalkanRice & GrainsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Karađorđeva šnicla

Belgrade restaurants have served this since a local chef created it in the mid-20th century, naming it after Karađorđe, leader of the First Serbian Uprising; diners fondly call it the maiden's dream. A thin pork escalope (veal is the other classic) is spread with kajmak, Serbia's rich, slightly tangy clotted cream, rolled tight, double-breaded and fried into a golden log that oozes when cut. It comes with chips or roast potatoes, a lemon wedge and tartar sauce. If you can't find kajmak, beat cream cheese with a little soft butter and a pinch of salt. Rolling it loosely is the mistake that ruins it, because the cream escapes into the oil; roll tightly and chill before breading. Chef's tip: fry only until golden, then finish in the oven, so the crumb stays crisp while the pork cooks through to the centre.

60 minBalkanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Komplet lepinja

Roadside inns in the hills around Užice and Zlatibor in western Serbia serve this as a breakfast for people with a long day ahead: a round flatbread hollowed out and filled with kajmak and an egg, baked, then soaked with pretop, the hot fat and juices left from roasting pork or lamb. It is rich, salty and messy, eaten with your hands with a yogurt drink and pickled peppers. At home, save the drippings from a Sunday pork roast, keep them in the fridge and reheat until bubbling. The usual slip is cutting the lid too thin, which leaves no room for the egg and it spills over the side. Bake until the white is fully set; for anyone pregnant, very young, elderly or unwell, bake on until the yolk is firm too. Chef's tip: put the lid back on for the last two minutes so it toasts, then dunk it straight into the hot drippings.

25 minBalkanBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Njeguški ražanj

Njeguši, the stone village high above the Bay of Kotor in Montenegro, is famous for two things: its air-dried pršut ham and its sheep's cheese. This dish wraps both inside thin pork escalopes, which are rolled tight, threaded onto skewers and roasted, traditionally on a spit, until the outside is browned and the cheese melts into the ham. It is pork through and through, and once the rolls are cooked right through the cured ham inside is cooked too. Serve with roast potatoes and a little kajmak or sour cream. A common mistake is pounding the pork too thin, so it tears; aim for 5 mm. Chef's tip: marinate the pork overnight in the fridge with garlic and oil; the meat stays juicy around the salty filling.

90 minBalkanMeatGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Ćevapi

In Sarajevo's old Baščaršija bazaar, ćevabdžinicas grill ćevapi from morning till late night, serving them ten at a time stuffed into a puffy, griddle-warmed somun flatbread with raw onion and a spoon of kajmak. The little skinless fingers are made from beef (often mixed with lamb), seasoned with nothing more than salt, pepper, garlic and a little bicarbonate of soda, which gives them their bouncy bite. Belgrade and Banja Luka have their own versions, but the idea is the same: smoky meat, soft bread, sharp onion. People often over-season them with herbs and paprika; the Bosnian way is plain, letting the meat and charcoal speak. Chef's tip: chill the shaped ćevapi well before grilling and turn them only once or twice, so they keep a juicy centre and a crusty outside.

40 minBalkanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Pljeskavica

Leskovac, in southern Serbia, holds a whole grill festival every September in honour of pljeskavica, and Belgrade's street kiosks sell it day and night in a lepinja flatbread with chopped onion, kajmak and urnebes, a fiery cheese spread. It is a broad, thin patty of mixed beef and pork with onion and paprika, grilled hard and fast. The 'gourmet' version, gurmanska pljeskavica, hides cheese and bacon in the middle, and that is the version given here. This recipe contains pork. A common error is pressing the patties on the grill with a spatula: the juices drain away and they dry out. Chef's tip: press a shallow dimple into the centre of each patty with your thumb before grilling; it stops them doming up as they shrink.

40 minBalkanMeat
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with kajmak