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I've never been to the Croatian island of Rab. That said, I have been close, but on the morning of I decided that sleep was far more important than a trip to the famed 'happy island.' I think 2020 will be the year of a Rab visit but while still in 2019, I thought I'd try my hand at these gluten-free traditional Rab cookies. Don't ask me where the name comes from. Possibly the men (or women) of Rab were getting around with whiskers and hence, how about we name a cookie after them? But whatever the case these little elliptical-shaped cookies are delicious! They are slightly hard to the touch when done but super chewy in the centre (which I love). If you have gluten-free people in your life, or those that aren't into buttery desserts, serve them these, they are sure to impress! If you have gluten-free people in your life, or those that aren't into buttery desserts, serve them these, they are sure to impress! Let me know if you tried these sensational Rab cookies and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

Ah, another Christmas (or anytime really) no-bake winner. This chocolate salami recipe is very decadent, rich and, of course, chocolatey. It's a bit too chocolatey for me but with the addition of all the nuts and dried fruit this recipe is a taste sensation. Because you need to store it in the fridge for atleast two days to allow all the flavours to develop, you can make this salami way ahead of time and have it prepped and ready to go when guests arrive. Just take it out of the fridge, rub it with icing sugar and it's good to go! Let me know if you tried this chocolatey treat and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

Damen Kapric is a ye olde world cake that made its way to Croatia when the country was under Austro-Hungarian rule. This was my first time making it and while it's too sweet for me I feel like it's almost a magical cake. The thick layer of batter that turns into a dense sponge, then a layer of baked berry jam and finally a layer of meringue with pink food colouring through it. It's just wonderful to look at and a total show-stopper. I used the recipe from He Needs Food. Where traditional recipes just kind of slap the meringue on top and bake it in, the He Needs Food version has you piping the meringue on top. Yes it's more work (and more washing up) but the piping really makes it special and hence, I tried this recipe. It is sweet! There is sugar in the sponge layer, sugar in the jam, sugar in the meringue. But within half a day the whole thing was pretty much eaten up by the household so hey, nothing wrong with a bit of bouncing off the walls. I did add some rose petals (just because I have loads after I made the Rozata ) so I added these for the photography and yes, they were eaten as well. My word of advise is to use a springform tin. Once the berry jam bakes into the sponge and then with the meringue on top, there is no way you could get this cake out of a normal cake tin. So you must have a springform tin. Let me know if you tried this whimsey ladies cake and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

This was my first time ever cooking a tuna steak. Tuna, at all, really. I have eaten it loads of times as sushi and canned, but this steak thing was a first. I didn't really fancy having the centre raw so I did 'overcook' it, but it tasted delicious. I've also never tried any kind of fish with red wine so this was a first in itself but it tasted delightful and I will definitely try this sauce again when making any kind of barbequed meat dish. The recipe calls for Varenik or vincotto. I used vincotto and it was fine (and easily bought from the supermarket!) But one day I will try my hand at Varenik (about five kilos of grapes boiled down into a syrup). I took this recipe from Ino Kuvacic's book, Dalmatia, and while he too has had a play on the traditional Split recipe, which meant leaving the tuna to stew in the red wine sauce, I enjoyed this simple recipe that is perfect for "fish night." Let me know if you tried this tuna sensation and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

Because both of my parents hail from Slavonia, I had vaguely heard of Pašticada but had never made it and honestly I had never even tried it. So here is another first time recipe, being another Dalmatian classic that wasn't taught up north. Taking days to prepare, this is the grand-dame of Dalmatian cooking and served at home for special lunches/dinners or at weddings, christenings etc. While apparently you can make Pašticada with figs, I used Ino Kuvacic's recipe from his Dalmatia cookbook which uses the original recipe - apples and prunes for the sauce. And I have to add that I love any meat and fruit combination. Granted, it's not for everyone but it certainly is for me. I loved making this and I hope you do too! I also made the potato dumplings to go with it but the rectangular shape that they should be, didn't work for me, they all just fell apart in the boiling water. So I made them into balls, if you have any tips, please let me know. Let me know if you tried this Dalmatian sensation and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

My cousin Ksenija who lives in Croatia's Moslavina region (sandwiched between Zagreb and Slavonia) makes these stuffed pancakes all the time. She has two sons and most of the time loads of visitors that just, you know, drop in. And everyone seems to want a hot meal or a filling snack. Enter her stuffed savoury pancakes that are perfect for using up leftover pancakes, or left over chicken. Or everything can be made specifically for this recipe. You can also change things around and use whatever leftovers you have to stuff these, just let your imagination and stomach cravings be your guide! Let me know if you tried this Moslavačka sensation and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

Unlike American pancakes that are small and quite thick, a Croatian pancake is a thin crepe-style pancake that is usually served wrapped around itself. Once cooked, and hot off the stack, the crepe can be spread with jam, Nutella or sprinkled with sugar, then wrapped in on itself and eaten. Some of the pancake recipes that I've found contain soda water, but my mum always made them like this and so here's the recipe that she uses. I added in the lemon zest just to give some some extra zing, but feel free to take this out. They can also be stuffed with a filling, usually cream cheese, but in our next recipe I will share a cousin's recipe from Moslavina with savoury stuffing. This recipe makes about 20 pancakes. You can double or triple it if you wish. Let me know if you tried these wonderful, easy crepes and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

Capsicums in Australia, peppers everywhere else. But that's not the strangest part of this recipe, no, the strangest part is that this is technically called a salad. I like to think that if you can toss something, then it's a salad. These roasted capsicums you don't toss though. Just lay them out on a platter, drizzle with the dressing and leave in the fridge to cool. It's the easiest "salad" ever! In the fridge, they can keep for over a week, so there's no need to eat them all at once and they are 100 per cent better when eaten cold. They can be served with any roasted meat, but I love the tops taken off, seeds scraped out and then spread onto a toasted piece of bread. They are also super for Lenten fasting. Whichever way you chose to eat this salad, it's delicious. And garlicy. So possibly keep your distance from people for a day post eating. Let me know if you tried this capsicum roasted salad and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

If you haven't heard of the Croatian buzara, it's a way to cook seafood in a sauce made of garlic, wine, parsley and breadcrumbs. One thing I didn't know is that there are two ways to make a buzara, the first being a 'red buzara' which is the usual way to make the recipe where you add tomatoes, or tomato puree to the recipe. If you want to try the red version, here is my Mussels Buzara recipe. But today I'm trying a 'white buzara' which keeps everything except the tomatoes, hence making it 'white'. This recipe is kinda like Croatia's version of garlic prawns. My mum would make it on Fridays and with Lent here it's the perfect Lenten eating recipe. There's no other side that you need other than toasted, crusty bread. Potatoes, rice or pasta just won't cut it. But do enjoy it with a glass of white wine :) Let me know if you tried this sensational prawn recipe and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

The world is in a strange place right now. I mean, you can't even buy a potato, let alone toilet paper (atleast in Australia). Ordinary people are brawling in supermarkets, and while things are changing every minute, it feels like nothing is happening all at the same time. And hey, I should know, I've just come back from a trip to New Zealand and have to spend 14 days in precautionary self-isolation. And so because there are no potatoes around (friends, family and the news tell me this because I can't leave the house), I used an old pumpkin I had sitting around in the kitchen as one of those "kitchen decorations" to make this pumpkin gnocchi. And while I'm boiling up the pumpkin, kneading the dough, I'm thinking about my Croatian grandmothers and great-grandmothers, who went through a lot worse than I will ever go through. And it comes down to one little saying, "everything is well, and everything will be better." And everything is well, because I still have a pumpkin! I have some flour, in over a week I'll get to see friends, family, Easter is still happening, I have basil growing in my garden, the roses are still blooming. And I just made the best pumpkin gnocchi ever. Covid-19 will come and go, but gnocchi is forever. And pumpkins always come in handy. Let me know if you tried these pumpkin treats and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

Because I have three one kilo bags of frozen peas in my freezer (one bag that is always there and two bags that are the 'just in case' bags for covid chaos) I thought hey, I really have to start using these up. And there's no better soup than this. Of course, originally, the recipe is best made with fresh, shelled baby peas (that are growing in your garden) but hey, the next best thing is frozen. Other ingredients are just a carrot and leek, so it's not that hard (even with covid) to come up with these ingredients. The original recipe also calls for a dollop of cream at the end, but I love this as a clear soup, so I left mine as is and instead added a squeeze of fresh lemon. You know, to keep those vitamin C levels up. So use up those peas, and that last carrot at the bottom of the crisper drawer and that one leek you found in the supermarket :) Enjoy! Let me know if you tried this sensational soup and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)

Well, what can I tell you? This is the fourth or fifth year I have tried making a Sirnica or Pinca (depending on what part of Croatia you're in) and again it hasn't turned out the fluffy, airy Easter bread that by all Instagram accounts (of much better bakers than me) it should be. Traditionally this bread is taken to Easter mass to take part in the food blessing ritual. You take a basket filled with goodies including this hunk of dough and then everything is taken home and eaten for an Easter breakfast/brunch (this is my favourite Easter meal of all!) The cross carved into the centre represents the resurrection and I've always loved the crushed sugar cubes decoration.  This is the first year that I used fresh yeast because there was no instant yeast left in the supermarkets that I tried (thank you covid-19) and it worked wonderfully. It frothed, foamed and bubbled up, I thought this bread is going to be amazing and yet it is still quite hard. BUT!! It is delicious to eat (when it first comes out of the oven). Anyway, regardless of how long this bread takes me to master, I will be baking it every Easter for the rest of my life! And even though there are no Easter masses this year (again, thank you covid-19), you can still make it to enjoy, or just stare at it over the Easter table. But I thought I'd share this recipe anyway because maybe it's my oven or something? And for you it may work out beautifully, let me know. Let me know if you tried this Easter bread (if it worked for you??) and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let's live!)