Bučnica

Today is one of those quick recipe days. Bučnica is something I absolutely love and it's really easy to make. Especially when you have the ingredients, of course.

Well, I do not. I have eggs, oil and sour cream. Everything else I work with are just replacements. It took months of trials and errors before I even knew which brands and/or varieties to shop for.

First of all, I can't find the right pumpkin. I mean squash. I've talked to several different farmers and been to several different markets, yet nobody had a clue what this particular thing was:

So I had to make do with what I could find. Zucchini. Yes, I understand they are the same family, but no, they are not the same. The real thing is shredded the same way Americans shred their cheese. Actually, it is grated. Grated zucchini, however, turns into mush. I've learned my lesson and now I take my time to dice it all. It takes forever to get them to be small enough to cook evenly, yet big enough to still keep at least some of their consistence. 

The real thing I don't have.

Fake things I work with.

Then there's the dough. It can be made at home, but I don't do that - I have yet to advance to that stage. Back home in Zagreb, I'd just walk to the nearest farmer's market and buy some. I'd show you a picture, but I couldn't find any. Of course, I had to find a replacement, or something that at least remotely works. Athens Phyllo Dough works, but it's far from the real thing. The sheets are to thin and absolutely tasteless. Actually, they are pretty similar to paper and often are hard to work with. But when there's nothing better... you get the point, right?

Next thing is cottage cheese, also known as fresh cheese. There are plenty of tubs here that say exactly that - cottage cheese. No fat, yes fat, random fat, low fat, this, that... but none of those actually contain what I need. Hell, what I want. Most of them are full of gum and other weird thickeners that disintegrate when heated. If baked or warmed up in any way, your so-called cheese turns into whey and strings. Actually, it often resembles glue. It's disgusting, to be honest. In the beginning, I gave up on any and all meals that called for cottage a.k.a. fresh cheese. But then I found Daisy.

Oddly enough, and unlike other brands, Daisy cottage cheese is made of - milk. Well, mostly milk. There is still sour cream in it (yes, I do understand that sour cream is, in fact, milk) and salt. And some vitamin. But at least there is no gum of any sort and no sugar either. I don't like the taste of this product on its own, though. It's not even close to the cheese I know. But it works every once in a while when I need it for cooking. I also buy Daisy sour cream. Not the light version of it. All other sour creams sucked.

Here is what I greatly miss and I really would settle for any variety:

These gorgeous guys do not contain any salt, gum or weird things one could find in a tub. So far, I have found something kind of similar only once, at a small Eastern-market-oriented store in Minneapolis. It wasn't too good and it was more than $7 for a tiny little package. It was still better than the tub of curds, that's for sure.

I could complain about eggs, too, but I won't. (LOL) I'll just say that I pay almost twice as much to have my eggshell be brown and or a sliver of hope that the yolk will be anything than pale pale pale yellow. It never is, though.

So, uh, yeah. Recipe. And I even said it was going to be quick, huh?

Get some zucchini. Needs to be washed, peeled and diced. It's actually ok with the peel on, too, but in that case I'd go with organic, I suppose.

Get some eggs. I'd say four, especially if they are brown (they come in extra small sizes, pretty much). 

Get the Athens Phyllo Dough, or make your own sheets.

Buy some Daisy, both sour cream and cottage cheese. Do not go for light versions, as they are not for people.

Also needed: oil, salt.

Beat two eggs, throw in the cheese, add zucchini and sprinkle some salt. Even though there's salt in the cheese, it won't be enough (and this is coming from someone who is not a fan of salt). 

Spread out two sheets of phyllo at the time and smear some oil all over one side of them. Add the mixture. Roll. Put in the baking tray.

Beat the other two eggs, add some sour cream and pour all over the rolls. Stuff into the oven (360-ish F) and bake until it's done. It's done when it turns brown and when the entire house starts smelling really good. This is the final product:

The whole tray has about 1700 calories and safely feeds four. Or more, if this isn't the main course or if it's served as dessert. I'd offer it with some yogurt.

Long story short - this is a very good meal. Especially if you've never had the real thing.