Afternoon Tea & Matcha Cookies

In general, I love matcha. It has a mellow flavor with a slight bitter undertone which makes it a suitable ingredient for beverages and desserts. Although I'm not much of a baker, I decided to try making these matcha shortbread cookies courtesy of Clotilde's recipe at Chocolate&Zucchini. Her dessert recipes are fantastic since she tends to dial down the amount of sugar she uses. I've made them twice already, in fact.

I paired a few cookies with some sweetened Thai tea for a lazy saturday afternoon...

Serbian Sarma

I learned the recipe from Mirko's mom when I went to visit his family. This was one of the many traditional Serbian dishes prepared during Slava, the annual celebration of the family's patron saint. What I like about sarma is that it's a very well balanced meal as it is - plus leftovers are perfect for lunch the next day (the above photo).

The meat mixture used in the sarma is equally versatile. Since I'm only cooking for two (to cover dinner + lunch the next day), I use half of the meat mixture for the sarma and toss the rest in the freezer. I whip it out later for a stuffed pepper recipe.

Serbian Sarma
(Time: 2.5~3hrs, Serves: 6~8 people)

1 lb ground beef

1 lb ground pork

1 cup uncooked rice

1 medium onion, finely diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp salt

1 tsp ground black pepper

1 jar of pickled cabbage leaves (leaves are tightly rolled in a jar)

1 can of tomato sauce (I like Trader Joe's)

32oz container of chicken stock

Note: The vinegar-y sarma lends itself from using pickled cabbage. Don't have pickled cabbage? No worries. Steam/boil a head of cabbage to make the rolls, and you can add vinegar to the tomato sauce (step 5).

1. Mix the ground beef, pork, onion, garlic, rice, salt, and pepper in a mixing bowl. Yes, use your hands!

2. Remove and discard the hard stems from the cabbage leaves. If that makes the leaves too small, just gently slice/trim the stems.

3. Place a small portion of the meat mixture on a cabbage leaf, near the stem. Fold either the left or right side of the leaf over the meat mixture, then roll. It will resemble a tiny burrito with one open end. Tuck the open end into the side of the cabbage roll.

4. Arrange the sarma in a dutch oven, or other nonstick pot.

5. Pour the entire can of tomato sauce and enough chicken stock to cover all the sarma. Add salt and pepper (and vinegar if you were unable to get your hands on pickled cabbage) to taste.

6. Put the pot onto the stove on high heat until it boils. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 2hrs until the rice in the sarma is fully cooked.