Search this site

For those special days when a 'normal' plain bread just won't cut it, Bishop's Bread is the bread to bake. Roasted almonds, sultanas, chocolate buttons, all with the aroma of orange zest put the 'special' in this loaf bread/cake. It's no wonder men in Croatia chose to become bishops! It's kind of like a cross between a fruit bread and a chocolate panettone and it’s perfect for when you want to bake something sweet after a weeknight meal or as a morning breakfast bread served with a cup of tea or coffee. In the original recipe, you would use a cooking chocolate block, broken into pieces, but I used chocolate buttons instead which makes the recipe even easier and your chocolate pieces are consistently sized. Also, to make it even easier (is that possible?) use almond slivers so you don't even need to chop. For a different serving suggestion, cut the bread into slices and lightly toast, then add lashings of butter. Ha! It's a taste sensation and better than any store-bought fruit, chocolate bread. Enjoy! Let me know if you tried this special bread and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Unlike traditional 'western' carrot cakes, this Croatian carrot cake recipe uses no walnuts. And I prefer it. Of course when my grandmother was baking this cake in Slavonia, there was no cream cheese icing, but I added that to this cake incase you wanted that extra lift. Hey, we like it a bit traditional and a bit modern here. Without the icing, it's still a wonderful, oh so moist cake, so don't worry if you forgot to buy the cream cheese, it's still good! Because I made it with the icing, I needed to level out the top of the cake (extra bits for the chef) so that the icing looked straight. The baking powder and vanilla sugar are the traditional Croatian ones used in the little packets. You can buy these at your local deli, but roughly I think there would be about a tablespoon in each packet. Let me know if you tried this hearty rustic cake recipe and what you thought? Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Don't ask me what's going on, but I've been baking way too much. And hence, I bring you this cherry cake, perfect for those end-of-season cherries. I'm not going to go into too much detail here, it's super easy, just make sure your cherries are washed and completely dry before putting them into the cake. Let me know if you tried this cherry cake and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

This is one of the best fish recipes I've ever made. I love octopus so that stays in number one position, but this Monkfish/Stargazer recipe is an easy second. Another one of Ino Kuvacic recipes from his Dalmatia cookbook, this is delicious! Let me know if you tried this absolutely delicious fish recipe and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Every time I make a Croatian fish or seafood dish it always feels like...this is the best one yet. And these heavenly calamari are in no way different. They are easy to make with a few key ingredients and you can choose your method of cooking ie. bbq, stovetop grill or oven. If you can, go with the bbq, that charcoal grilling really adds to the flavour. But be warned, prepare this recipe only for people you want to impress because it really is...heavenly! Let me know if you tried these heavenly morsels and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Possibly the easiest dessert recipe ever! And kinda healthy with the almonds...enjoy and don't break a tooth! Let me know if you tried these sugary almond treats and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Mulled wine is the drink that keeps those northern hemisphere winter parties, Christmas markets or any winter-inspired occasion fuelled and toasty. If there happens to be snow on the ground it's even more delicious (can that be possible?) In Croatia during winter, you can sample either this aromatic red mulled wine or a white mulled wine. Yes! White mulled wine...I'll try this another time. For this recipe, actually for both recipes, please use a wine that you would actually drink! Unlike Swedish Glogg with cardamon, almonds, and raisins, this traditional mull has no ingredients you can poke at and eat, rather it's completely strained and served with an orange slice. Even the orange slice felt a bit decadent. To me it's an acquired taste but served with a cookie (or two) it really is a treat on a cold winter night. Someone get me some snow and rain! Let me know if you tried this winter treat and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

This recipe originally comes from Croatia's Hungarian neighbours, and is now a staple of Croatian cuisine. The key ingredient here is ground paprika (I think you guessed that in the name). With this recipe I only used sweet paprika, but you can mix it up and use one tablespoon of sweet and either smoked or hot paprika depending on your preference. I should have at least used half a tablespoon of some hot paprika to give it some kick. You can make this recipe with larger chicken pieces, like Marylands or just thighs, or a whole chicken cut up into pieces. You can also use meat like beef or venison (venison is amazing) or fish. I will make a fish version in the coming months. Enjoy! Let me know if you tried this Croatian staple and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Here's another of those Croatian meat with fruit recipes...which I love!! You can use a whole duck for this and fill the duck cavity with apricots but this recipe is just so much easier! If you like apricots and aren't sure about duck, try this recipe, I’m sure you’ll fall in love with this wonderful meat. Unfortunately, my duck did get a bit burnt, but that’s more a fault of the strange hot side of my oven where everything seems to burn, rather than the recipe. And the sauce is delicious…next time I’ll be making mlinci (noodles) with the sauce…that may be another recipe. Let me know if you tried this Croatian apricot duck and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

I'm sure you've seen that weird, knobbly vegetable sitting near the long lengths of crisp green celery and thought 'What do you even do with that?' Well, it's celeriac (if you didn't already know) and you could try to make this salad? This salad needs to be served cool, just like French Salad, but this one is a lot healthier. However, celeriac has the distinct taste of celery, so if you don't like that taste, this is not the salad to try. The toughest part of this recipe is peeling and cutting up this knobbly root vegetable. A 600 gram one took me about 40 minutes to peel and cut, so you can make it the night before serving to get it all done and cold. Serve it with any baked meat. Let me know if you tried this strange salad and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Teta (aunty) Gabrijela is a culinary genius from the northern Croatian city of Varaždin who married one of my dad's best friends, Zvonko. So technically she is not really an aunty, but in Croatia every woman who is older than you is an Aunty, Teta. She would make this meatloaf whenever we visited and then my mum learnt how to make it (because it was so good) and so we got to enjoy Gabi's meatloaf in Australia even after she and her husband left to go back and live in Croatia.   You can also wrap the prosciutto around the eggs on the inside and leave the outside just to the mince, but it's a lot prettier with the prosciutto on the outside. And you can let your creativity run wild with how you wrap it around the loaf. Also, please cover with foil! I completely forgot to cover with foil and then 30 minutes later realised when all the edges of the prosciutto had burnt up. Sigh. Cover with foil and then in the last 15 minutes of baking, remove it to get the top crispy. Let me know if you tried this meat lovers delight and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)

Another one of those capital city dishes that are hearty and feature two types of pork - ah, Zagreb perfection! You’ll find this rolled pork dish in every Zagreb tavern and it’s lovely served with a crisp salad and glass of white. The plaits are easy to make and definitely easier if you use a schnitzel cut rather then the loin cut that you need to clean and prise apart. Up to you. Let me know if you tried this wonderful pork dish and what you thought Dobar Tek! Zivjeli! (Bon Appetit! Cheers and let’s live!)