Vedrana Barbir’s trips to Croatia follow a tasty theme.
“When we go back home, all we do is eat,” she said.
There’s time for family and friends, of course, but it’s easy to see why food plays such a prominent role.
For one thing, Barbir worked as a chef in Croatia and still has friends in the restaurant business there. Then there’s the setting of her hometown on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Just over a coastal mountain range lie gardens, orchards and vineyards. The Adriatic teems with seafood, and sea salt is harvested on the beach.
The food, Barbir notes, is close in spirit to Italian cuisine, like her accompanying recipe for Pollo alla Romano. Italy is a two-hour ferry trip across the Adriatic from her hometown.
Barbir and her husband, Ivan, left because of war of the early 1990s and landed in Wichita thanks to a family connection. Here, they’ve raised their own family and thrived in the hospitality business. Vedrana works as a personal chef and caterer. Ivan works at the Wichita Country Club and helps with Vedrana’s catering.
For some clients, she prepares a full week of easily reheatable meals, many influenced by healthy Mediterranean diet guidelines.
Occasionally, her talents are called upon for pull-out-all-the-stops charity fundraising dinners, like the 10-course feast for 12 lucky diners that raised thousands of dollars for a local nonprofit.
Either way, it’s a little taste of home.
Pollo alla Romano (Chicken with Peppers)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (see note)
Salt, pepper and oregano
1 cup diced onion
2 cups diced bell pepper, preferably a mix of red and orange or yellow
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Splash of dry white wine
1 cup chopped tomatoes, fresh or canned
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 tablespoon capers, optional
1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
Directions:
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat in a 10- or 12-inch nonstick skillet. Season chicken to taste with salt, pepper and oregano. Saute chicken in oil until lightly browned on both sides. Transfer chicken to a plate.
Heat remaining tablespoon of olive oil in the skillet. Add onion and bell pepper and sauté until soft, adding garlic near end of sautéing time. Deglaze pan with white wine, then add cherry tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, about 10 minutes or until bell pepper and chopped tomatoes begin to break down into a sauce.
Return the chicken to the skillet. Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and cover, simmering about 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Stir in the capers and parsley and serve with rice or pasta.
Note: If using bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs, increase the amount of time the thighs are simmered by about 10 minutes or until they are cooked through.
Source: Vedrana Barbir
