A Communal Comfort: Khachapuri
Anyone who is close to me knows that I have a few loves in this world. Video gaming is near and dear to my heart, and so is academia and cooking. Yet one thing that I almost always make time for, whenever I can really, is the Eurovision Song Contest.
I’ve been a fan of Eurovision for the better part of the past 4 years. I was a distraught, stressed college student waiting on finals results when I saw this a little headline on what Facebook’s news feed was then announcing that the final was happening in a few days. “Huh”, I remember telling myself, “Didn’t ABBA win that?” and maybe I should check it out. 48 hours of video watching, research, and overall excitement later, I tucked myself into my bed, popped open the computer, and live streamed the 4 and a half hour long grand final from Vienna, Austria. I was enthralled. The diversity of the music was incredible, with some songs clearly emulating the culture of the countries that they originated from, giving each little package of melodies an identity. There was also this feeling of comradery and unity as each song played. Then came the voting sequence and seeing 10,000 music crazed fans shouting in unison for a certain song to win during the voting period grasped my attention and wouldn’t let me go. I knew I had found something amazing.
Eurovision is what every other song competition wishes it was!
Photo: Ralph Laumann
In Eurovision, each country that takes part selects a song and singer to represent them. Sometimes they are hidden talents, other times they are mega stars from their country’s music market. They write and debut a new song, and then compete in a week-long festivity to see who will win. There are two semifinals, with 10 countries advancing from each one. Then on Saturday the grand final, with all the finalists, happens. The winner is decided by both professional juries from each country and a worldwide televote, where the winning entrant has the opportunity to host the next years contest in their own home country. This competition was started in the 1950s to help bring together the European continent after the horrors of World War II, and its been going strong ever since!
Dylan and I have had the opportunity to celebrate in our own way every year: We throw a Eurovision Party! On top of live streaming the competition, we also create a veritable smorgasbord of food from the host country to enjoy while the show (mostly) serenades us with catchy tunes. We’ll invite our friends over, and have a grand old time! We’ll even pull out these cute little voting sheets and follow along as the competition progresses, marking which songs are our favorites.
Why talk about Eurovision? Well, The other day, a post on one of our Eurovision fan groups asked what kind of food people had at their parties. Embracing the inner food traveler that I always wanted to be, I jumped in. Many people contributed what they did in their home countries, and one user in particular from Eastern Europe shared something that immediately caught my attention: Khachapuri.
The egg rising up out of the cheesy lake on this bread boat. Scrumptious!
Khachapuri hails from the Caucasus mountain region, around the nation of Georgia (yes, there is a country named Georgia. No, it has few similarities to the american state other than the name). Here many culinary expeditions are simple, utilizing the ingredients that they have around. Being predominantly farmland, that means farm fresh produce and dairy. Combine these two factors, and you get easily accessible dishes that each region of the country can put its own spin on. Khachapuri is one of those dishes. It’s a yeasty dough, rolled into to form a little boat, which is then piled high with salty feta and fresh, mozzarella, and then baked. The version I learned about also includes an egg on top, which is then baked a little more to be super delicious and runny. Its served as is, without any utensils, and is meant to be eaten by hand, taking each delicious chunk of bread, dipping it into the egg-y cheese mixture, and inhaling by the handful.
Naturally, I had to give this cheese boat a try, and when I made it, I was amazed at how simple, yet rustic the dish was. The bread was thick, and sturdy, perfect for dipping into the molten salty cheese blend. The egg adds a creaminess, and the seasoning on top gives the dish a kick that makes you want to swan dive in for seconds! I did a little different spin on this, adding a bit of an Idahoan touch, compliments of a few vendors I frequent at the Boise Farmer’s Market. Ultimately, this is the perfect party food for a group to gather around and enjoy each other’s company!
First is to make the yeasty dough. I added the Flour, Yeast, milk, warm water, and salt all into a mixing bowl, and stirred it all together until it was smooth and elastic. There’s a few things to note here. First, Use instant yeast if you can. It’s just plain easier. However, if you only have active dry, then you MUST bloom the yeast first in a little warm water before mixing it in, about 5-10 minutes. Second: make sure that the salt doesn’t immediately touch the yeast. Salt kills yeast, and you want this baby to rise! Once the dough is smooth, drizzle a little olive oil into a bowl, and place the dough inside, and cover. You want the dough to double in size, which will be about an hour. However, for best results, let rise overnight!
There’s the dough, just before the rise. Look at it in its little bath of olive oil!
Once the dough is of a sufficiently plump size, preheat the oven to 450°F place on to a lightly oiled counter and knead a bit. You want the dough to reach a point where it wont stick to your hands, so add flour as needed during the kneading process. Then, cut the dough into quarters! Roll out each one nice and thin and roughly into a large oval. Then, roll the top and bottom edges of the dough, and connect them at the ends. I usually add a little twist just to make sure the dough won’t come undone while it expands in the oven! Then, transfer each boat to a parchment lined baking sheet.
Like a gaping maw, just beckoning for the cheese!
Now its time to add the cheese! For this recipe, we used low moisture Mozzarella and some delicious homemade feta that we got from Picabo Desert Farm. All her cheeses are made with goats’ milk, which gives this an extra creamy kick. Divide the cheese mixture among the four individual bread boats, and brush on some egg wash onto the crust. Place in the hot over for 15 minutes. This goes by quick, so keep an eye on it!
Family Photo time!
After the 15 minutes are up, take out the baking sheet, and crack an egg into each one of those plump little bread boats. Then, Place a small pat of your favorite butter around the egg. I like to make a small well in the molten cheese so that the egg will stay put, and not scoot all over the place when I move the tray back into the oven. Do just that and place the tray back into the heat for another 5-6 minutes. The egg will jiggle when it comes out, but don’t worry! The residual heat from the bread will continue to cook the egg to just the right consistency! I then finished it off with some deliciously punchy Idahoan Seasoning from Molly’s Mills. The Jalapeno, garlic, and finishing salt makes this the perfect accompaniment!
The butter adds a great finishing flavor to the Khachapuri! Try it out with your favorite compound butter!
And there it is! Khachapuri: The perfect tear and share. It’s a bit heavy, so don’t go about trying to eat the whole thing at once by yourself, it might lead to a stomach ache! Take your time, and savor the flavors coming together! This simple dish captures community and comfort in a single bite. Try it out at your next friendly get together, and see where the moments take you!
Its almost too pretty to eat!
Khachapuri Recipe
Servings: 4 hearty tear-and-share breads for around 10 or so people
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons instant yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
¼ cup Whole Milk
A drizzling of olive oil for the bowl
8 oz low moisture Mozzerella
8 oz good, crumbly feta
4 eggs + 1 for egg wash
A few pats of good butter (Compound butters do wonders)
A few intense grinds of your favorite seasoning, I recommend Mollys Mills’ Idahoan
Instructions:
1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, salt, water, milk, and yeast, and stir together until a smooth, elastic dough forms. The dough will be a bit sticky. Pour the dough onto a well-floured counter and knead gently for a minute or two, adding flour as needed to ensure it doesn’t stick too much to the hands.
2. Drizzle Olive oil into the bowl and place the dough inside. Then, seal the bowl in plastic wrap, and let it rise. As a general rule, I like to let this rise overnight. However, this dough can be worked with after about an hour.
3. Preheat the oven to 450°F
4. After the dough has risen, remove from the bowl, and knead ever so slightly, adding a touch more flour. Then, section the dough into 4 pieces.
5. Roll out each dough, adding flour as needed, until it is nice and thin, and roughly rectangular in shape. Then, roll the top and bottom edges towards the center. Connect the two rolls at either end of the bread, to form an oval shaped bread boat. Transfer the boat to a parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with each section of dough.
6. In a small bowl, combine the mozzarella and feta. Then, place about a quarter of the mixture in each boat. Brush the egg wash onto the bread, place in the oven, and bake for 15 minutes. Then, remove the bread boats, and create a small well in the center. Crack the egg inside each boat, place a pat of butter around the egg, and return to the oven for 5-6 minutes. Take the pan out and then let rest for 5 minutes (The residual heat will continue to cook the eggs).
