Albania Food

Tirana's Romaine Salad

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This is a very simple salad, not particularly exciting, but it provided a good, light, contrast to the mint qofte with which I served it. I can't say much more about this salad, but I should note that there was none left. In Albania, this salad is often served at local restaurants as an appetizer.

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Tirana's Romaine Salad

Ingredients

one head of romaine lettuce

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

2 hard-boiled eggs, sliced

salt

Pepper

olive oil

lemon juice

Instructions

Wash the lettuce and break the leaves into bite-size pieces. Toss in a salad bowl and decorate with chopped green onions and egg slices. Add salt and pepper to taste. Right before serving, add olive oil and lemon juice to taste.

Pule me arra
(Chicken with Walnuts)

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Chicken with walnuts is a traditional Albanian dish that seems to have close relatives in Eastern Europe. Traditionally, the chicken is boiled and the stock left from the chicken is used as a base for the sauce. However, I hate boiled chicken and I could not make myself prepare it in such way. Instead, I roasted it and used bouillon-cubes. If you want to make it the traditional way, boil the chicken in water,covered, until cooked, and then reserve one cup of the remaining stock.

This dish was surprisingly tasty. Everyone liked it and I might make it again.

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Marga's Pule Me Arra

Ingredients

4 large chicken breasts

1 cup roasted walnuts

1 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup butter

2 tbsp. flour

2 tbsp. vinegar

6 cloves garlic, crushed

salt

pepper

Instructions

Roast chicken breasts in 350-degree oven until done.

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add flour and cook, stiring constantly, until lightly browned. Add stock and bring to a boil, stirring constantly to avoid lumps. Add vinegar, garlic, walnuts and salt and pepper to taste. Stir and cook until warm.

Serve over chicken.