Grilled minced meat rollsMititei

• 2 lbs/1 kg ground beef, 1/2 lb/250 g suet, 1/4 teaspoon baking soda, 2-3 garlic cloves, some ground pepper, juniper berries and caraway, 2-3 tablespoons meat broth, salt

• Grind the meat together with the suet. Add salt, spices, chopped garlic, meat broth and baking soda and mix everything with your hands for 15 minutes, adding two tablespoons of water a little at a time. Keep the bowl with this mixture on ice for 5-6 hours. Just before grilling, take tablespoons of the mixture and with wet hands, shape the rolls (they are approx. 2-3 inches long and 1 inch thick). Before placing on the grill, grease them with oil and during grilling baste them with a mixture of meat broth and oil.

Lamb haggisDrob de miel

• Innards (heart, kidneys, liver, tongue, spleen) from a lamb, 2 big onions, 2 eggs, 1 tablespoon mixed chopped parsley and dill, 1 tablespoon chopped green onions (green parts), salt, pepper, 1 tablespoon lard, 1 bread slice

• Grind the innards with the finely chopped raw or slightly fried onion, lard and crustless slice of bread (previously soaked and squeezed dry). Add salt, pepper, chopped parsley and dill, chopped green onions, beaten eggs and mix everything well. In a well greased pan, set the washed lamb stomach so as to cover the bottom and sides of the pan with room to spare. Arrange the ground meat mixture, cover with the sides of the stomach and bake. When ready, turn onto a plate and serve with green lettuce.

Lamb haggis

Regular cabbage rollsSarmale cu varza dulce

• 1 large cabbage, 1 3/4 lb/750 g ground meat (mixture of pork and beef is recommended), 4 large onions, 2 tablespoons rice, 1 bread slice, 3 tablespoons lard, 5-6 tomatoes or 1 tablespoon tomato sauce, salt, pepper, chopped dill, 1 qt/1 l borsh, sour cream

• Grind the meat with the crustless bread slice (previously soaked and squeezed dry) and a raw onion. Place in a bowl and mix with rice, dill, pepper, salt and finely chopped onion slightly fried in two tablespoons of lard. Mix everything well. Core the cabbage with a sharp thin knife and then blanch it with borsh. Then carefully remove the cabbage leaves, one by one, so that they do not tear. Cut larger leaves in 2 or 3 and then place a little meat in each cabbage piece and roll in. The smaller the rolls are, the tastier they are. Place a layer of rolls in the pan (take a deep one), then cover with a layer of chopped (julienned) cabbage, then a layer of thinly sliced tomatoes. Do this layering until all the rolls are made. The last layer must be tomato slices or add tomato sauce. Add a heaping tablespoon of lard, pour the borsh and let simmer on top of the range for 30 minutes. Then place in the oven so that the liquid is reduced. Serve with sour cream.

Regular cabbage rolls

Lamb roastFriptura de miel la tava

• 3 lbs/1,5 kg lamb meat (from legs), 1-2 tablespoons lard, salt, a few garlic cloves

• Wash and dry the meat, salt and let sit for a half hour. Grease a roasting pan with lard, arrange the meat in, pour 2-3 tablespoons of water and place in the oven, first at low temperature, then increase the heat. When it is roasted, place on a platter. Pour a few tablespoons of water in the roasting pan, add a few chopped garlic cloves and set it on top of the range where it should be allowed to come to a boil. Strain the liquid and pour it over the roast. Serve with French fries and salad to taste.

Easter cake with cottage cheesePasca cu brinza de vaca

• Sweet bread dough (regular or Russian). Filling (more or less in quantity according to taste): 1 lb/500 g cottage cheese, 4 oz/100 g raisins, 3-4 eggs, 1 tablespoon butter, sugar to taste, a little grated lemon peel, salt

• Mix the ingredients for filling to obtain a homogenuous paste. Roll a pencil thick sheet out of the sweet bread dough. Place in a baking pan. From another piece of dough form a long, finger thick roll and arrange it around the sheet, sticking to the walls of the pan. Place the filling within, without covering the roll on the edges. Make two more such dough rolls and place them over the filling in an X shape. After the cake has risen a bit in a warm place, use a little egg wash over the dough rolls. Set in the oven to bake. Remove from the pan when it is cold.

Easter cake with cottage cheese

Regular sweet breadCozonaci obisnuiti

• 2 lbs/1 kg flour, 10 oz/300 g sugar, 1 1/2 cups milk, 6 eggs, 2 oz/50 g yeast, 7 oz/200 g butter, 2 tablespoons oil, vanilla stick, salt, egg for washing the dough, grease for the pans

• Make a starter from yeast and a teaspoon of sugar. Mix until the consistency of sour cream, add 2-3 tablespoons tepid milk, a little flour and mix well; sprinkle some flour on top, cover and let sit in a warm place to rise. Boil the milk with the vanilla stick (cut in very small pieces) and leave it on the side of the range, covered, to keep warm. Mix the yolks with the sugar and salt, then slowly pour the tepid milk, stirring continuously. Place the risen starter in a large bowl and pour, stirring continuously, the yolk-milk mixture and some flour, a little at a time. Then add 3 whipped egg whites. When you finish this step, start kneading. Knead, adding melted butter combined with oil, a little at a time, until the dough starts to easily come off your palms. Cover with a cloth and then something thicker (like a blanket). Leave in a warm place to triple in bulk. If during kneading the dough seems too hard, you may add a little milk. If, on the contrary, the dough seems too soft, you may add a little flour. When the dough has risen well, take a piece of it, place on the floured work surface, give it the desired shape (round, oval, braided, etc.) and place in the baking pan previously greased with butter. Let rise some more in the pan in a warm place. Wash with egg and bake at medium heat. Take out of the pan as soon as it is done, place on a cloth and let cool.

Regular sweet bread

Traditional Easter Eggs