The recipe for this dish was provided to us by the Shhhuma Restaurant in Velika.

GARLIC SOUP
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Ingredients:
70 g garlic
6 medium potatoes
70 g butter
Salt, pepper
800 ml water
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Preparation:
Peel and crush the garlic. Peel and dice the potatoes.
Melt the butter in a pot and add the garlic. Let it sauté over low heat for 10 minutes.
Add the diced potatoes and cook for another 5 minutes, then pour in the water and let it simmer gently. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Once the potatoes are cooked, blend the soup with an immersion blender until smooth. Adjust the seasoning if needed.
Serve the soup with toasted bread pieces seasoned with garlic and herbs. Enjoy your meal!

Pork Tenderloin in Bacon with Plum Sauce

Ingredients:

• 0.80 kg pork tenderloin
• 0.08 kg bacon
• 0.15 kg dried plums
• Salt and pepper
• 0.10l white wine
• 0.12 kg onion
• 0.02 kg garlic
• 0.03 kg flour
• 0.40 kg peas
• 0.12 kg butter
• 0.08 kg mini tomatoes

Preparation:

1. Clean the pork tenderloin from excess fat and sinew. Cut the tenderloin into medallions, season with salt and pepper, and wrap each medallion in bacon.
2. Sear the medallions briefly in heated fat. Remove the meat and set it aside to rest.
3. In the same pan, add finely chopped onion and sauté until golden. Add garlic, dried plums, and flour, then pour in the white wine and broth, and simmer for a short while.
4. Make a puree of peas and butter.
5. On a plate, place the pea puree, add the medallions, top with the sauce, garnish with mini tomatoes, and enjoy!

The recipe for this dish was provided by the restaurant Ramarin from Garčin

CARP CHIPS

Ingredients:
1 kg cleaned carp fillets
3 eggs
cornmeal for coating
1 teaspoon dried granulated onion
salt and pepper

500 ml yogurt
5 cloves garlic
5 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

Preparation:
Cut the carp fillets into thin strips, 2-3 cm long and 1 cm wide. Season the strips with a teaspoon of salt and dried onion. Beat the eggs and add a pinch of salt. Also, add a pinch of salt to the cornmeal for coating. Dip the strips in the eggs, then coat each strip in the cornmeal, shaking off any excess. Fry them in deep fat until they turn a nice golden color (one to two minutes). For the sauce, finely chop the garlic and parsley leaves and mix well with the yogurt. Serve the carp chips with the yogurt sauce and pickled onions. Enjoy your meal!

The recipe for this dish was provided by Grešna pilnica restaurant from Klenovnik.

SOUR POTATOES WITH SMOKED PORK
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Ingredients:
800 g smoked meat
700 g potatoes
80 g butter
100 g sour cream
250 g pickled beetroot
200 ml buttermilk
Salt
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Preparation:
Cook the meat and, simultaneously, cook the potatoes.
When the potatoes are cooked, add the butter and sour cream, and mash them into a puree. Add the beetroot, which you have previously soaked briefly in buttermilk.
Serve the puree, add the sliced meat, and garnish with pickled, sweet, or hot peppers.
Enjoy your meal!

CERNIČKI ĆUPTETI

Ingredients:
Mixture:
1 kg ground pork
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1/2 tablespoon hot paprika
2 cloves garlic

Dough:
1 kg flour
2 deciliters milk
A piece of yeast
2 deciliters melted pork fat
1 tablespoon salt
1 deciliter white wine

Preparation:
Dissolve the yeast in warm milk, adding a little sugar and flour. Leave it in a warm place while you melt the pork fat. Add a few pinches of salt to the sifted flour, then add the yeast mixture and milk. While kneading, gradually add the melted fat and wine. Roll out the dough to a thickness of half a centimeter and cut it into squares 5x5 cm. Place half a tablespoon of meat on each square. Fold the squares into little parcels by bringing the edges towards the center, and place them in a baking dish previously greased with pork fat. Leave enough space for them to rise during baking. Bake the ćupteti in a preheated oven at 200°C for about forty minutes until golden brown. Cool and serve. Enjoy your meal!

BRAISED DUCK

Ingredients:
800 g duck leg and thigh
200 g carrots
5 g celery stalks
200 g onions
10 g garlic
2 bay leaves
200 ml red wine
350 ml vegetable broth
20 g duck fat
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:
Debone the duck leg and thigh, remove the skin, and cut the meat into strips. Rinse and peel the vegetables, then chop them into smaller pieces.
Heat the duck fat in a pot and sauté the vegetables until softened.
Add the duck meat and bay leaves, and brown the meat until it changes color.
Pour in the red wine and cook until it evaporates.
Add the vegetable broth, reduce the heat to low, and simmer for about 30 minutes.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Serve with dumplings or potatoes as a side dish.
Enjoy your meal!

Note: This recipe was provided by Restaurant Bernarda from Varaždinske Toplice.

APPLE PIE

Recipe provided by the Stari grad restaurant from Čakovec

Ingredients:
2.5 kg of apples
300 g of all-purpose flour
150 g of cold butter
3 egg yolks
250 g of sugar
30 g of vanilla sugar
1 packet of baking powder
4 g of ground cinnamon
40 g of sour cream
1 egg (for brushing)

Preparation: Make the dough by mixing 100 g of flour, sugar, egg yolks, butter, baking powder, and sour cream.
Divide the dough into two equal parts and place them in the refrigerator to chill.

Peel and grate the apples, then add the remaining sugar, sprinkle with cinnamon, and drain any excess liquid.

Roll out the first portion of the dough and place it in a greased baking dish. Puncture the dough in several places with a fork. Evenly distribute the apple mixture over the dough. From the second portion of the dough, cut strips and arrange them on top of the pie. Brush with egg and bake at 180°C (350°F) for about 30 minutes.

Serve the warm pie with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and garnish as desired. Enjoy!

The recipe for this dish was provided by the restaurant of the Hotel Varaždin in Varaždin.

SCRAPS MADE WITH LARD

Ingredients:

• 800g wheat flour (Type 550)
• 4 dl lukewarm water
• 12g salt
• 100 dl oil
• 160g lard
• Salt
• Pepper

Preparation: From the ingredients listed, knead the dough. It should not be sticky to your fingers. If it is, add a little more flour. Let the dough rest for at least half an hour.

Boil around 20 dl of water in a large pot and salt it. Divide the dough into 4 equal balls. Tear pieces of dough and stretch them thinner with your fingers, then drop them into the boiling salted water. Occasionally stir with a wooden spoon. Let it cook for a few minutes until the scraps float to the surface.

At the end, remove about 5 dl of the liquid. Drain the remaining dough and rinse with cold water.

In a pan, heat the lard, add the remaining liquid, then add the cooked scraps and mix everything together. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve with a seasonal salad. Enjoy your meal!

The recipe for this dish was provided by the Garešćin restaurant from Varaždin.

HOT CHERRY STRUDEL WITH VANILLA CREAM

Ingredients:

• 800 g cherries
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 100 ml oil
• Powdered sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar (10g)
• 50 g breadcrumbs
• 100 ml milk
• 150 g all-purpose flour
• 150 g plain flour
• 20 ml oil
• 100 ml water
• 2 eggs
• 1 vanilla pod
• 100 g sour cream

Preparation of the dough: Mix the all-purpose flour, plain flour, oil, water, and a pinch of salt to make the strudel dough. Let the dough rest, then roll it out and fill it with cherries that have been seasoned with cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla sugar. Roll the dough into a strudel, brush with sour cream, and bake at 180°C for about 30 minutes.

For the cream: Mix milk with sugar, add the vanilla sugar, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, add egg yolks, and stir until the sauce thickens. Sprinkle the strudel with powdered sugar, pour the vanilla cream sauce over it, and serve.

Enjoy!

MEĐIMURSKA GIBANICA
Recipe provided by Mrs. Slađana Herman

Ingredients:

Cheese Filling:

• 1 kg fresh cow cheese
• 3 eggs
• 100 g sugar
• 1 vanilla sugar
• Zest of half a lemon
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon salt

Apple Filling:

• 2 kg grated apples
• 100 g sugar
• 1 vanilla sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• Juice of half a lemon

Walnut Filling:

• 400 g ground walnuts
• 100 g sugar
• 100 ml rum
• 400 ml milk

Poppy Seed Filling:

• 400 g poppy seeds
• 100 g sugar
• 100 ml rum
• 400 ml milk

Strudel Dough:

• 500 g all-purpose flour
• 450 ml lukewarm water
• 50 ml oil
• 1 teaspoon salt

Other Ingredients:

• 200 ml sour cream
• 100 g butter
• 50 g bread crumbs
• 50 g semolina
• 50 g ground sugar

Preparation:

At the beginning of preparing Međimurska Gibanica, you need to make the dough, divide it into 5 equal parts, brush with oil, and let it rest for half an hour. While the dough is resting, prepare the cheese, poppy seed, walnut, and apple fillings.

Mix the cheese with sugar, salt, eggs, vanilla sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix the poppy seeds with sugar, vanilla sugar, rum, and hot milk. Mix the walnuts with sugar, vanilla sugar, rum, and hot milk. Peel and grate the apples, then add sugar, vanilla sugar, salt, cinnamon, and lemon juice.

Divide the strudel dough into 5 equal parts, roll them out to fit the size of your baking sheet.

Grease the baking sheet (large oven tray) with melted butter, place one sheet of strudel dough on the bottom, and spread the prepared walnut filling over it. Place another sheet of strudel dough on top of the walnuts, spread the poppy seed filling over it, then place another sheet of strudel dough and spread the apple filling over that. Finally, place the last sheet of strudel dough on top, and brush it with sour cream.

Bake the Gibanica for one hour at 170 degrees Celsius, or until golden brown. Let it cool, and sprinkle with ground sugar before serving.