How about a little Melange for today?

Flavour Medley

I thought long and hard about the name of this meal. The Serbian name for this dish is: Djuveč (joovetch). I believe the dish itself has a Turkish origin, like many other dishes prevalent in Serbian cuisine. The name does not lend itself too handsomely to phonetic transcription and certainly sounds very awkward in English. The dish entails many ingredients and ends up giving this wonderful and succulent flow of various flavours. Hence the name. While the less than professional photo wouldn't make any magazine edition, this is what the dish really looks like. And it does taste very good :-).

Ingredients:




1. 1 lb of pork stew


2. 1 lb of beef stew


3. 2 onions


4. 1 red sheppard pepper


5. 1 yellow pepper, hot


6. 1 zuchini


7. a few mushrooms


8. a few tomatoes


9. two medium size potatoes


10. 1/4 lb of rice


11. a little bit of salt and seasoning

Preparation:
Cut onions into tiny slices and then across. Cut all vegetables into smaller cubes, strips or slices. Pour some cooking oil into a skillet and fry the meat until brown on some sides. Add salt. Do this over medium heat, previously letting the oil to heat up. Gradually add the vegetables in the following order: peppers, potatoes, zuchini, rice. Add some water. Chicken stock will add more flavour. Let it simmer for a while, until tender. Take your skillet of the stove and pour everything into an oven container, preferrably one with a lid. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices and lay on top of everything. Season to taste. Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C) and slide your container into the oven with the lid on for 30 mins. After that take the lid off and let it sit for another 30 mins.

Cooking tips:
I seldom prepare much according to exact measures in a given recipe and always look for inspiration when cooking. What that really means is add or take away mushrooms, potatoes, tomatoes, rice and anything else according to preference and taste. The same applies to veggie slices. I prefer thick tomato slices. The yellow pepper doesn't have to be hot. Mushrooms of any kind will do nicely. If certain family members like some vegetables, but others don't, don't put them everywhere.

Two important tips when cooking the meat. Don't put all the meat into the skillet all at once, because it might release water and then boil instead of frying. As some of it is done, you may want to take it out of the skillet to make room for more. Also when preparing beef, make sure the meat is well cooked and tender before you start adding vegetables.

If you find these measures to be too meaty, you can always more vegetable and rice. Eggplants come to mind too. Even carrots, green peas or corn.

Goat feta cheese complements this dish nicely, as does plain yoghurt. Serve hot. Bon apetit!