We have a totally different Georgia on our minds, today!

The country of Georgia is located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia, in the South Caucasus region. Russia is to the north, Turkey and Armenia to the south, Azerbaijan to the east, and the Black Sea to the west. They have historical and cultural ties to both Europe and Asia.

Besides having a great food history, Georgia is also one of the oldest wine producing countries in the world. The things one can learn…

One of the first recipes I saw over and over was Khachapuri – a Georgian Cheese Bread.

There are various ways of making them, depending upon which area of the country you are in. Some had a stuffed crust, some did not. The shape was reasonably the same throughout.

Next, was Kada – another dish with numerous regional variations. Some were individual buns, some were streusel-topped, some were rolled, some were more pie-like.

For the Khachapuri, I chose a non-stuffed crust (I don’t care for stuffed crust pizza, so why do it here?) And I went for a more rolled and sliced streusel-topped Kada.

I looked at many recipes, watched a couple of videos, and went with a King Arthur recipe for the dough and I made my own cheese blend for the filling. The posted recipe is the King Arthur version. It had the ingredients most accessible to me, although I did not follow their filling recipe. (I used Feta, Ricotta, Pecorino, and a blend of Parmesan, Asiago, and Fontina – no flour or egg binder.)

 

Khachapuri – Georgian Cheese Bread

Dough

  • 3 tablespoons (43g) unsalted butter
  • 1 cup (227g) milk
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (6g) granulated sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon coriander
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons (9g) table salt
  • 2 teaspoons instant yeast or active dry yeast
  • 2 3/4 cups (330g) Bread Flour

Filling

  • 2 cups (227g) mozzarella cheese or Muenster cheese shredded
  • 1/2 cup (57g) crumbled feta cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 tablespoons (14g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon table salt
  • 1/2 to 1 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped chives

Egg Wash

  • 1 large egg beaten with 1 teaspoon water

Garnish

  • 4 large eggs cold from the refrigerator
  • 4 teaspoons (19g) butter

 

For the Kada, I more-or-less followed a Rolled Kada recipe, but added a streusel topping and cut them similar to that recipe. Variations on a theme…

Kada

from several online recipes

For the dough

  • 500 g all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 250 g butter, room temperature
  • 250 ml plain yogurt
  • 1 egg
  • 0.5 tsp baking soda
  • 0.3 tsp salt

For the filling

  • 150 g all-purpose flour, sifted
  • 200 g sugar
  • 100 g butter, softened
  • 1 tbsp vanilla powder

In a large bowl whisk together flour, salt and baking soda. Add softened butter, cut in small pieces. Use your fingertips to incorporate the butter into the flour. Add yogurt and an egg. Mix well. Knead the dough for about 10 minutes. If the dough remains sticky, add some flour, a little at a time. Wrap the dough into a clingfilm and refrigerate for 1-2 hours.

For the filling combine the flour, sugar and softened butter into a medium bowl. Add vanilla powder and mix the filling until it looks like dump sand. Reserve 1/2 cup.

Remove the dough from the fridge. Dust the working surface with some flour. Using a rolling pin roll out the dough into a thin rectangle. Spread the filling mixture over the dough leaving a 2-2,5 cm uncovered edge for sealing. Start rolling the dough up into a log shape. Using a rolling pin or your palm flatten the loaf out a bit. Brush the roll with egg wash and sprinkle reserved streusel on top.

Use the crinkle cutter or sharp knife and cut the loaf into equally-sized pieces. Line the baking sheet with parchment paper and put the pieces onto it. Bake the cake in a preheated oven (180 °C/355°F) for 25-30 minutes, until golden.

 

The Khachapuri was really good! My big mistake was making them too big. The recipe called for making four cheese breads, but when I started rolling out the dough, they seemed too small since it was the main dinner component. We’re pretty much two-pieces-of-pizza guys, so I really didn’t think it through – we both only ate half.  But…. they really were good and easy to make. I’ll do them again on a smaller scale. I also saw a video where a woman baked them on bread stones… maybe next time I’ll give that a try.

The Kada were the perfect dessert! Another dish I can see making, again.

They were very much like a rugelach and I could see them with chopped walnuts added to the filling. And, again, easy to make.

Georgia was a definite success. It’s now on to H… there are three very different possibilities…

Which one will it be?!?