Having repeatedly enjoyed traditionally prepared Bosnian cevapcici from Skela on 956 Merivale Road, I decided to try my hand at making my own. Besides, with the summer more than half over, I have to exploit my access to a gas barbecue as much as possible. I thus armed myself with a modified recipe from the Frugal Gourmet, some tips from a colleague, and some information from various websites and made an attempt.

My first encounter with these caseless sausages appeared on foodiePrints sometime ago. What ended up coming off the grill was visually acceptable. The grill marks made the suasages look authentic. However, the texture was very different. The cevapcici that I had had from Skela were moist and chewy on the inside. Mine were drier and more crumbly.

I served my failed cevapcici with skewered vegetables and mini-potatoes.


Cevapcici off the Barbecue

Plated Cevapcici

The recipe follows:

Based on recommendations and some surfing, I cobbled together the following recipe. It borrows from a recipe from the Frugal Gourmet.

Recipe

Fresh Chives from my Herb Garden

Chopped Aromatics


Ground Veal and Lamb

Spiced Ground Meat

Completed Mince

Cevapcici off of the Grill


Mini Potatoes

Grilled Mini-Potatoes

Stuff You'll Need:

• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 lb ground veal
• 3 tbsp Hungarian paprika
• salt to taste
• 2 tbsp freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 1 chopped medium onion
• 3/4 cup chopped chives
• 1/4 cup of mineral water
• Olive oil for brushing

Prep:

1. Finely mince the garlic and deposit into a metal bowl.
2. Finely chop the onion and add it to the garlic
3. Coarsely chop the chives and add them to the onion an garlic

Method:

1. Add both the ground lamb and veal to a separate metal bowl that can accommodate all of the ingredients.
2. Add the paprika, salt, and black pepper to the meat.
3. Add the chopped aromatics (garlic, onion, and chives to the meat) to the meat.
4. Pour the mineral water onto the meat
5. Mix until combined
6. Form cigar shapes (1 inch by 4 inches) and place them on plastic wrap
7. Gently brush each sausage with olive oil
8. Grill each sausage over medium-high heat on the barbecue for 2 minutes on each side. Use a spatula and a pair of tongues to ensure the sausages don't come apart when you turn them.
9. When the sausages develop nice grill marks, place them onto the heating rack and close the barbecue lid
10. Continue cooking until the sausages reach the desired doneness. For me that was another 2 minutes. The sausages were no longer pink in the middle.

Regarding the potatoes, wash them. Par-boil them in water for 5 minutes. Remove from the water, rinse, and drain. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and cover with chopped chives. Grill on the barbecue until coloured.

Here is where I think the recipe went wrong. I have also included some suggested improvements.

• I used ordinary ground meat and didn't process the meat any further. According to several websites, cevapcici meat needs to be passed through a grinder at least twice. It needs to be finely ground. For me, that means processing in a food processor.
• I need to work the meat further, by squeezing it through my fingers repeatedly.
• I used lean ground veal and lean ground lamb. Next time, I am going to look for 80/20 minced red meat.
• I am going to use club soda next time, not mineral water. I am also going to use more of it and gradually work it into the mince. Perhaps 1/2 cup to 2/3 cup for 2 lb of meat.
• I will also keep the meat cold, so as not to melt the fats. This includes refrigerating the meat, for at least an hour, before cooking, over a hot grill.

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