Browsing Category: Kitchen

Pilaf Din Ficat De Pui {Chicken Liver Pilaf}

While Pilaf Din Ficat De Pui (pronounced pee-lah-f deen fee-cah-t deh p-oo-y-ee) can be made with other, more familiar, parts of the chicken, I encourage you to try it with the livers. Chicken liver adds a hearty, decadent touch to what would otherwise be your standard pilaf dish. It’s also common to use all parts of an animal (yes, even the more undesirable organs), so this recipe makes use of the uncommon but flavorful and earthy offals (a.k.a. organs).

Update 05.2021 // Hey! This recipe has been featured in the opening scene of the horror-survival video game Resident Evil 8 Village.

↓ Recipe below ↓

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Ciorbă de Legume {Sour Vegetable Soup}

I’m a huge fan of recipes that make use of what you have, especially if it’s on the verge of meeting its trashcan demise. So while this Ciorbă de Legume (pronounced ch-or-bah day leg-oom-ay) has a list of vegetables that make up the soup, I give you free rein to add in whatever vegetables you need to use up! If it’s a heartier vegetable (think potatoes, cauliflower…) add it to the pot earlier in the recipe. If it’s a more delicate vegetable (think tomatoes, zucchini…) add it in near the end of the cook time.

This recipe, in particular, is a bit similar to my Transylvanian Bean Soup recipe (Supă de Fasole Transilvăneană), however, you’ll notice this recipe is a Ciorbă while that recipe is a Supă. So… what’s the difference? Both translate from Romanian to English as “soup,” though they denote key differences between recipes. “Supă” tends to refer to a sweeter soup with vegetables and/or noodles, but no meat, whereas “Ciorbă” tends to refer to a more sour soup with vegetables and/or noodles and is more likely to have meat in it (though neither of these recipes does).

Update 05.2021 // Hey! This recipe has been featured in the opening scene of the horror-survival video game Resident Evil 8 Village.

↓ Recipe below ↓

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Pasta de Cartofi cu Pâine și Zahăr {Romanian Potato Pasta with Bread and Sugar}

Bună băieți. De mult timp, nici un chat!

Hey guys. Long time, no chat!

I know it’s been a while since I’ve blogged. I could say life got in the way (it did), or I haven’t been cooking Romanian foods as often (I haven’t), but really I just didn’t prioritize blogging as much as I should have. I know my blogging schedule was lax to begin with (every/other Monday), but it became really lax, more like every/other half year.

So sorry. I hope to make From Dill to Dracula more of a priority in my life, because this food—and this country—really do fill me with happiness, joy, and warmth, and I still want to share these feelings and recipes with the world.

Guys… I’m back!

This past weekend, my little—but not so little—sister came to visit this past weekend. I like her more and more as we get older. Here we are out for drinks one evening:

Good people 🙂

And she brought with her the request to make this recipe during her visit. As kids, we affectionately called it Noodlies (pronounced: nude-lees), though I can tell you with great confidence that this is not the authentic name, no matter how fun it is to say. Noodlies. Noo-oo-d-lee-ee-ss.

C’mon, you know what I’m talking about.

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Tortul de Ciocolată din România {Romanian Chocolate Layer Cake}

Hi friends! *waves* This summer has been crazy and, for the majority of it, I haven’t even been home, so From Dill to Dracula has taken a hit. That being said, I have a lot of fun blog posts coming your way, and I’d like to kick it off with a series: My Cousin’s Cookie Collection.

Growing up, us four cousins on my dad’s side each had a cookie recipe named after each other. This recipe was always called Heather’s Cookies, so named after my eldest cousin. Of course, the downside to this is that I don’t have an official name for these cookies—lost in years and with age. And even though I’ve tried scouring the internet (and Pinterest) to find the proper name, I’ve come up empty handed.

Because this recipe uses biscuits, the only recipes that tended to come up were similar to my Salam de Biscuiti recipe, but this one is still… different. The addition of coffee (the instant variety) and a layering of cream to biscuit make it more of a cake than a cookie (even though that’s how we referred to them as kids).

Since I couldn’t very well title the recipe Heather’s Cookies, the best descriptor for this recipe I could come up with was Romanian Chocolate Layer Cake, or tortul de ciocolată din România (pronounced tour-tulle day ch-oh-k-oh-lah-tah dean Rome-ah-knee-ah).

This recipe is one of many I received from my grandmother in Romanian, and have since had my mom translate for me. Trying to translate recipes myself hasn’t gone so well in the past. Case in point:

(Shameless plug: If you don’t follow me on Twitter, please do!)

But I digress. It’s time for some food, right?

My husband likened this to a chocolate lasagna mixed with the texture of a tiramisu, and he’s pretty accurate on both counts. The layers of biscuit and cream are a lot like a traditional Italian lasagna, and because the biscuits are so porous, they absorb some of the cream and become soft, cakey bites. Yum! Enough talking. It’s time for some food, right?

Since there are four cousins, this will be the first of four recipes in my Cousin’s Cookies Collection. They’ll be posted in the order of the cousin’s age, so stay tuned for my very own cookies (“Ashley’s Cookies“) next!

↓ Recipe below ↓

—But first, some pretty pictures—

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Salam de Biscuiti {No-Bake Chocolate Salami Roll}

I know what you’re thinking; chocolate salami?!? Ashley, there are some sweet and savory things that just aren’t meant to be mixed!

Yes and yes. You read that right: this is a chocolate salami dessert, formally called Salam de Biscuiti (and pronounced sah-lah-mm day bis-coo-eat-ee). And, you’re right that chocolate and cured meats stuffed into intestine casing shouldn’t be mixed. But that’s not what this is.

My favorite dessert growing up, only made for special occasions, since it isn’t the healthiest of Romanian recipes in my repertoire. I hope it becomes your favorite, too. I mean, how can it not? Butter, chocolate, rum. Captain Jack Sparrow would be proud, I can assure you. Bonus: it’s a no-bake recipe! Quick and easy to make, then try to forget about it while it’s in the refrigerator!

Yes please. Let’s do this.

↓ Recipe below ↓

—But first, some pretty pictures—

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Eating like a Vegetarian in Meat-Centric Romania {FIXED}

February 13, 2017 Ashley R.

Growing up I’d often comment on how it would be impossible for me to become a vegetarian (or—gasp!—a vegan) with my family dynamic. As far as I knew, Romanians were meat lovers. The more meat, the better. ALL THE MEATS. From the parts you know are edible—like pork chops or chicken breast—to those that tend to be avoided—hooves, tongues, delicious fried fat nuggets.

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Jumări {Pork Graves}

January 16, 2017 Ashley R.

Romania Top 5 2017 — A Year in Review | From Dill To Dracula www.FromDillToDracula.com

Some of my favorite Romanian delicacies are things I know I’d never be able to make (or even attempt to make) on my own. And, ironic enough, they all tend to be pork products. Go figure. The previously featured Clisa {Smoked Bacon} is one of those; a great addition to eggs, soups, campfires, or as a midnight snack on its own. This next recipe-less feature is called

This next recipe-less feature is called Jumări (pronounced jew-mair-ee) is a true treat in my household. Up until Thanksgiving 2016, I hadn’t had a piece of these golden nuggets for years, and that’s simply because they’re literally fat, fried in more fat, and sprinkled with salt. A.K.A. You can’t eat too many at once, and you most definitely shouldn’t eat it without bread to sop up all the grease swimming around in your stomach.

I’m doing a great job selling these, aren’t I?

↓ How about some pretty pictures? ↓

4 Comments Kitchen

Zacusca {Roasted Red Pepper Spread}

Romanians love dips and spreads. I’ve already featured Salata de Vinete, an eggplant salad spread, and today I’m excited to bring to you another smokey veggie goodness recipe: Zacusca (pronounced zah-coo-sk-ah). And… surprise! Even though the star of this recipe is the red pepper, there’s eggplant in this one, too!

Fall is the perfect time to make this recipe. With the Autumn harvest, there’s an abundance of fresh vegetables with robust flavors just waiting to be made into something anew. Zacusca is smokey, salty, a little sweet, a little acidic, and fits perfectly atop a slice of crusty baguette. This is also a great recipe to couple with my Coca Bread, or Romanian Flatbread. It’s quick and easy to whip up and gives you a nice carrier to get the zacusca to your mouth.

Since it does take a while to complete this recipe, I wouldn’t fault you for passing it up. Thankfully, zacusca has become more mainstream, with some specialty grocery stores stocking it on their shelves. Here are some options I found from Amazon: here, here, and here.

↓ Recipe below ↓

—But first, some pretty pictures—

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Romanian Flatbread

You’ll notice I don’t have the Romanian translation of this blog title. That’s because I’m not entirely sure it’s a Romanian recipe, though it is a family recipe and as many generations back as I can document my family has come from Romania. So I’m going to go with this recipe having Romanian roots. We call it Coca Bread (pronounced coke-ah) but I wasn’t able to find an equivalent recipe anywhere online so that might just be a family name.

That being said, this recipe is awesome and easy when you want (and/or need) a quick bread to sop up soup or sauce. It’s quick to make, doesn’t need time to rise, and I’m pretty sure you have all the ingredients already in your pantry/refrigerator. I’d liken it to a pita bread or naan, but there are still differences between those recipes and this recipe.

This is a fantastic recipe to have in your back pocket should you realize midway through cooking a meal that bread would really take it out of this world.

↓ Recipe below ↓

—But first, some pretty pictures—

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Gomboti / Găluște cu Prune {Plum Dumplings}

Găluște cu Prune {Plum Dumplings} | From Dill To Dracula www.FromDillToDracula.com

I’m back from an unexpected hiatus, where I spent almost all of September, and a bit of October, writing and revising one of my novels. It’s set in 1989 Romania, so I’m able to feature a lot of the dishes on From Dill To Dracula within the story, which is an exciting meld of my two hobbies.

And, well, I’m back! I’m ready to kick off the fall season with fall colors, warm drinks, and these delicious plum dumplings otherwise known as Gomboti (pronounced gom-boat-ee) or Găluște cu Prune (pronounced gah-lou-sh-tay coo proon-ay). To me, everything about these scream fall, and after Milwaukee teased us with a little Summer in October, we’re back in fall temperatures and I’m ready to embrace everything that comes with it.

To be honest, we didn’t have these dumplings very often. I remember my grandma making them a couple of times, but that was enough to hook me. It has to have been at least a decade and a half since I’ve been able to savor the flavor (thanks for the writing tip, Ariana Grande).

By the way, my husband calls these Plumplings, which I don’t have a Romanian translation for, but I’m okay if you call these that, too 🙃

↓ Recipe below ↓

—But first, some pretty pictures—

4 Comments Kitchen