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Recipes with sirene

9 recipes that use sirene, with photos, step-by-step instructions and cook times. The quickest, Panagyurski eggs, takes 12 minutes. It is most often cooked with egg, butter and flat-leaf parsley.

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Panagyurski eggsPoached eggs on garlic yogurt

Yaytsa po panagyurski come from Panagyurishte, a mountain town in central Bulgaria, and are eaten for breakfast or as a quick, light supper: poached eggs set on a bed of thick garlicky yogurt mixed with crumbled sirene, Bulgaria's white brined cheese, then drizzled with butter turned red with paprika. Sirene and feta are often made with animal rennet, so choose a vegetarian feta-style cheese if needed. The common mistake is warming the yogurt in a pan, which makes it split; let it sit at room temperature while you poach the eggs instead. Chef's tip: stir the paprika into the butter off the heat, because it scorches and turns bitter in seconds.

12 minBulgarianVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

KatmiLacy fermented pancakes

Katmi come from Thrace in southern Bulgaria, where they were once baked on a domed iron pan over the fire and served at fairs and family breakfasts. The batter is lightly fermented with yeast, so the thin pancakes come out full of holes and lacy, crisp at the edge and soft in the middle. They are folded and eaten with honey, jam or crumbled sirene. The common mistake is pouring batter into a pan that isn't hot enough, which gives pale, rubbery pancakes with no lace. Chef's tip: let the batter rest until bubbly, and pour it in a thin spiral from the centre outwards rather than swirling, for proper lacy edges.

45 minBulgarianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

MilinkiMilk dough rolls with cheese

Milinki are a Bulgarian breakfast classic, baked by grandmothers and sold in school canteens: soft little milk-dough rolls packed tightly into a tin, brushed with butter and topped with beaten egg and crumbled sirene before baking. They pull apart into fluffy, rich pieces with a salty, golden cheese crust. The mistake is a stiff dough; milinki dough should be very soft and sticky, so oil your hands rather than adding flour. Chef's tip: pack the balls close together so they rise up, not out, and stay tender at the sides.

60 minBulgarianBreads & Parathas
by KrazyBadal 0 views

ZelnikLeek and cheese pie

In the Pirin and Struma valleys of southwest Bulgaria, zelnik is baked in a large round tin for Sunday breakfast and village feasts: crinkled sheets of thin pastry layered with sautéed leeks (or cabbage or spinach), crumbled sirene and egg, then baked until crisp and golden. It is cut into wedges and eaten with a bowl of thick yoghurt or a glass of ayran. The common mistake is a wet filling: squeeze or cook the leeks until all their liquid has gone, or the bottom layers turn soggy. Chef's tip: scrunch the pastry sheets loosely as you layer them instead of laying them flat, so the pie bakes up light and flaky.

75 minBulgarianBaking
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Shopska salad

Shopska salata is named after the Shopi people of the Sofia region and has become Bulgaria's national salad, the first thing ordered at any mehana (tavern) with a cold glass of rakia. Ripe tomatoes, cucumber, onion and soft roasted peppers are dressed simply with sunflower oil and vinegar, then buried under finely grated sirene, the Bulgarian white brined cheese, so the top looks like fresh snow. Unlike a Greek village salad, there are no olives and the cheese is grated, not in a slab. Chef's tip: salt and dress the vegetables before the cheese goes on; dressing over the cheese is the common mistake and turns the white snow soggy.

20 minBulgarianSaladsGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Mish-mashScrambled eggs with peppers and cheese

Mish-mash is the quick summer supper of Bulgaria, cooked in every home from Sofia flats to Black Sea holiday villas once the peppers and tomatoes are cheap and ripe. Roasted peppers, onion and tomato are fried down, then sirene and beaten eggs are stirred through until soft and creamy, finished with parsley. The crumbled white brined cheese melting into the eggs is what makes it Bulgarian rather than Turkish menemen. It is eaten straight from the pan with fresh bread, often with a glass of cold beer. Chef's tip: cook the eggs gently and take them off while still a little wet; overcooking is the common mistake, and they turn rubbery and weep water.

25 minBulgarianBreakfast & BrunchGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

BanitsaFilo pie with cheese and egg

Banitsa is the Bulgarian breakfast pie, bought warm in paper from corner bakeries in Sofia and Plovdiv with a bottle of ayran or boza, and baked at home on New Year's Eve with lucky charms (kasmeti) tucked inside. Crumpled sheets of filo are layered with crumbled sirene and a custard of yogurt and eggs, then baked until the top is shatteringly crisp and the inside soft and tangy. It is not boiled like Turkish su böreği: the yogurt custard is what makes it Bulgarian. Chef's tip: crumple the filo loosely rather than laying it flat; flat, tightly packed sheets are the usual mistake and give a dense, doughy pie.

70 minBulgarianBreakfast & Brunch
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Chushki byurekFried cheese-stuffed peppers

Chushki byurek are one of the great autumn dishes of Bulgaria: in September, when the long red peppers ripen around Plovdiv and Pazardzhik, they are roasted, peeled, filled with sirene and egg, then dipped in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fried. The outside crunches, the pepper is silky and sweet, and the salty cheese melts inside. They are served hot as a main course with a tomato salad, or cold the next day. Chef's tip: dry the peeled peppers well before filling; a wet pepper is the usual mistake, and the batter slides off and the oil spits.

60 minBulgarianVegetarian
by KrazyBadal 0 views

GyuvechBaked vegetable stew

Gyuvech takes its name from the glazed clay pot it is baked in, and in late summer in the villages of the Rhodopes and the Thracian plain it is slid into the bread oven packed with peppers, aubergine, okra, green beans, potatoes and tomato, seasoned with paprika and the herb chubritsa (summer savory). In the last minutes, eggs are often cracked over the top and baked until just set. It is served straight from the pot with bread to scoop up the juices. Unlike Greek briam, the vegetables stew in a paprika broth under a lid rather than roasting in oil. Chef's tip: put a clay pot into a cold oven; heating it first is the usual mistake and can crack it.

100 minBulgarianVegetarianGluten free
by KrazyBadal 0 views

Goes well with sirene