Little Cooking Tips - Mediterranean

This winter was milder than usual here in Greece. Not much snow like other years, relatively high temperatures and lots of sunshine. When the calendar showed March 1, the spring seemed to have arrived already. This meant that we could start again our long walks in a grove nearby, breathing fresh air, enjoying the scent of pines. It’s so relaxing and therapeutic, walking with your other half, discussing, sharing, dreaming, isn’t it?

We also took the opportunity to visit an Athenian beach, pictures of which you can see in this post. We were the only people there during this season and really enjoyed the uninterrupted sound of the sea. To get there, we drove up the mountain Penteli, where the view of the city below on one side, and the bay on the other, was breathtaking.

This weather is perfect for celebrating Easter, which is a few days away. Most of us take a few days off to visit the countryside during this period. Last year, we published an extensive post for Greek Easter traditions in this recipe for Tsoureki sweet bread. We think you’ll really enjoy reading it if you missed it. Also, if you’re looking for a classic Greek recipe for lamb (that’s very popular in Easter), you can find it in this post.

Fusion cuisine: using the best of each culture

In the last month, we cooked various new recipes. We wanted to invent new ways of cooking classic dishes of various cuisines and see what happens. We tried a lot of spices and techniques and some of the results were truly amazing!

Of course, we know that most of the people who visit the blog prefer the traditional Greek and Mediterranean recipes, so we’ll keep this as in focus, but from time to time we’ll share some of these fusion recipes. We think you’re going to love some of them!

Sweet orange-glazed shrimp recipe with cardamom

In one of our experiments, we wanted to see if we could take a classic Asian-style recipe for shrimp and use Mediterranean and Middle-Eastern/Indian ingredients to make it. The result surprised us; it was one of the best recipes for shrimp. Ever.

The recipe is similar to some “firecracker” shrimp recipes we had tried in the past. However, the flavors are quite different. We used balsamic vinegar, which adds depth of flavor to the dish and its tang balances out the sweetness from the -also added- honey. We also used orange juice and zest, for its fruity, fresh flavor. These three are classic ingredients of the Mediterranean.

The Middle-Eastern/Indian ingredient was cardamom. Cardamom is an amazing spice that was used in ancient Greece but nowadays you will rarely find it in any Greek recipe. In India and the Middle East, however, it’s still present in many dishes. Cardamom has a sweet, complex scent, with floral, clove and pepper undertones. If you haven’t used it before, you’re in for a treat! It’s perfect for savory dishes like curries or stews and it’s amazing for baking as well (cardamom cakes are fantastic with tea). You can buy cardamom in pods, crush them open and grind the seeds with pestle and mortar. This is the best way to enjoy its flavor and takes less than a minute to prepare. You can also buy it already ground, but we find this less aromatic.

We used shrimp for this recipe, as we were on Lent, but you can definitely use the same sauce with a diced chicken fillet or a chicken fillet cut into thin strips. Shrimp is a healthier choice though and we think it also tastes better with this sauce.

The recipe can be used as a quick, delicious appetizer or a main dish. Just cook and fluff some rice first and serve the shrimp on top. Basmati and Jasmine work best. It will be an ideal super-fast weeknight meal that will put a smile on your face. If you’re having this as a main, and you’d like more sauce, you can easily double the ingredients (except the shrimp and cornstarch).

So, let’s see how to make this sweet, aromatic, orange-glazed shrimp with cardamom!

Ingredients:

- 500g / 17.5oz / 1lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 45g / 1.6oz (6 tablespoons) cornstarch
- 125ml (1/2 cup) fresh orange juice (1 large orange)
- 30ml (2 tablespoons) balsamic vinegar
- 30ml (2 tablespoons) honey
- 5-6 cardamom pods (or 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom)
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon orange zest
- salt, pepper
- vegetable oil for frying

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Preparation:

Rinse the shrimp and pat dry using paper towels.

Use pestle and mortar to crush the 5 cardamom pods (pic. 1, pic. 2). Extract the seeds (pic. 3) and grind them to powder (pic. 4).

Add the cornstarch (pic. 5) in a large bowl; place the shrimp on top, adding salt and pepper (pic. 6). Mix well to coat well with cornstarch. In case they turn out a little soggy at this point, do not worry. They will fry just fine.

Pour vegetable oil in a frying pan (about 1.5cm / half an inch) and place on medium-high heat. You can also use a nonstick pan for better results. Once the oil is hot, fry the shrimp in batches (pic. 7), about 2 minutes, then flip them (pic. 8) and continue frying for about a minute and a half more. They are ready when they’re golden brown on both sides. Once they all fry, set aside.

Glaze:

Pour the orange juice into a medium-sized saucepan and add the balsamic vinegar (pic. 9). Add the honey (pic. 10).

Add the ground cardamom (pic. 11) and the garlic (pic. 12), salt and pepper.

Use a whisk to mix the ingredients (pic. 13) and place over medium heat, for 7-10 minutes (depending on the heat), stirring from time to time, until it’s reduced, at least by half. You can reduce it to your desired syrupy consistency, thicker or thinner. At this point, add the orange zest (pic. 14) and mix.

The result will be a thick sauce, like the one in the pic. 15. Dip the shrimp in the sauce in batches and serve over a bed of rice, garnishing with extra orange zest.
Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. You can make this sauce as thick or thin as you prefer. The first try you make this try to reduce the original volume of the sauce at least by half.
2. You can also use ground cardamom, but freshly ground seeds from pods are always more flavorful.
3. In case your shrimp-cornstarch-salt-pepper mix turns out soggy do not worry. It happened to us sometimes in the past and the shrimp fries just fine.
4. Prefer basmati or jasmine rice to serve this shrimp.

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Fast&Easy

Traditional Fried Greek Pastry with Honey and Nuts (Diples)

littlecookingtips — Sun, 17 Dec 2017 16:44:10 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

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Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

And before we even realize it, it’s almost Christmas! We have been trying to publish this post for days; we prepared the photos, tested the recipe to make the proper measurements and adjustments, wrote most of the text and then….we had to pause: the workload at the office, for both of us, was immense. Instead of getting in the mood for the Holiday Season, we had to deal with various urgent (they’re always urgent aren’t they?) issues. Moreover, we got a bit sick from flu! So, we are posting this right before Christmas, instead of 10 days before. Hopefully, though, you’ll be able to try this recipe in the Holiday Season. If not, it’s still a popular recipe all year round.

Diples: a delicious recipe for sweet fried dough

The recipe we are posting this Holiday Season is the one for Diples. Diples (pronounced thee-ples) is a traditional, festive dessert, that’s mostly served at the Peloponnese but is also popular thought Greece. A similar variation in Crete is called Kserotigana (meaning fried until dry). The word diples literally means “folds”, because one folds a thin sheet of dough while it’s being fried in a pan. Diples are very popular during Christmas but are also served at weddings, baptisms or other celebrations.

We got the idea for posting a recipe for diples, a couple of weeks back. You see, we had a one-day excursion to the Greek country, in the area of the Peloponnese (in Arcadia). It was a winter’s day, and we enjoyed watching the landscape changing colors, to darker shades and the weather getting colder and colder. We stopped by a local bakery, and saw a tray filled with golden diples, dipped in honey and sprinkled with lots of cinnamon and crushed walnuts. Of course we bought a few and immediately told each other that we should share our version on the blog! :)

Our Diples version

Our version for diples is the easiest one. We’ll show you how to make the dough and how to fry them in simple, rectangle-shaped strips. We won’t mess with actually folding the strips in the pan, as this takes quite a bit of practice and it would be hard for someone who never tried diples before to understand how to make them through a blog post.

So, this is the simplest version. The dough is the same –of course- we use in the folded diples as well; the only difference is that we won’t fold them. We’ll make delicious, crusty sheets of fried dough, scented with cinnamon and orange. In our version diples look a bit like Mexican Buñuelos. Only they are rectangle-shaped and not round. The process for making them is also similar to Buñuelos, so if you tried them before, you ‘ll easily follow the instructions in this recipe.

We won’t use ouzo, which is a liquor often used in diples. We want this recipe to be alcohol-free so that your children can enjoy it as well. We remember ourselves as kids, running to the countertop to get some of the diples that had been just prepared by our moms.

Little cooking tips for making great diples

The key to making perfect diples is to roll the dough out, really thin. The thickness should be 2 mm – 1/16in or less. This way, when we fry our little strips of dough, they’ll become crispy and stay this way in the next days (if you manage not to eat them all in the same day– for us at least it’s hard LOL).

Another important factor for making great crispy diples is the syrup. The syrup should be a bit thick and is always scented with cinnamon and quite often with orange zest as well. You must not dip the fried diples in the syrup for too long though. They are usually dipped in the syrup, after they cool down, for just one second. Keep in mind that the fried dough should be cooled down to room temperature and the syrup should always be hot.

If you plan to serve them on the next day, then you can fry the dough, and keep the diples strips in an open container. On the next day, you can make the syrup, dip them in it while hot, and then serve them, drizzling with lots of honey and crushed walnuts. If you don’t have enough time, then you can also make the syrup a day ahead, and warm it up in order to dip the diples in it, before you serve them.

Please never keep the diples in your fridge. They will become soggy. Diples are kept in a humid-free place of your house, uncovered. If you want to cover them, then use a simple cheesecloth or tulle; something that allows the air to circulate.

What we love about them

One of the best things about diples, is that they really easy to make. They are also really affordable, a peasants dessert, made with inexpensive materials: flour, eggs, sugar, honey, and cinnamon are the main ingredients.

Another thing we love about them is that you can easily make them a day ahead, and make some syrup (or warm up a ready one) and serve them on the next day. This makes them perfect for celebrations when you have a ton of things to do.

Moreover: who doesn’t like fried dough?!:) From churros (Mexico) to loukoumades (Greece), from beignets (France) to doughnuts (USA) and from rosettes (Sweden) to banh ran (Vietnam), it seems that sweet fried dough is a universal favorite. Diples are delicious thin sheets of fried dough, with a thin layer of cinnamon and orange-scented syrup: could you resist that? The honey and the crushed walnuts add extra texture and aroma. So when your teeth crack through the crispy dough, you get all these flavors in a single bite, the honey fills your mouth, and you can’t wait to get to the next bite and devour as many diples as you can:)

Along with melomakarona, kourabiedes and Vasilopita, diples is one the most desired desserts during the Holiday Season in Greek households. That is why we included them on our list of Greek comfort foods.

So let’s see how to make these amazing festive treats!

Ingredients:

For the dough:

- 250g / 9oz / 0.55lb (2 cups), all-purpose flour, sifted
- 15g / 0.5oz (1 tablespoon) granulated sugar
- 2g / 0.08oz (1/2 teaspoon) baking powder
- 1.5g salt / 0.05oz (1/4 teaspoon) salt
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 30ml (2 tablespoons) fresh orange juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 4-5g / 0.15oz (about 1 tablespoon) orange zest
- vegetable oil for frying (sunflower seed, corn, soybean or canola oil)
- coarsely ground walnuts, ground cinnamon, and honey for serving

For the syrup:

- 280g / 10oz (1 1/3 cup) granulated sugar
- 250ml (1 cup) water
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 4-5g / 0.15oz (about 1 tablespoon) orange zest
- 45ml (3 tablespoons) fresh orange juice (about half an orange, juiced)
- 112g / 4oz (1/3 cup) honey

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Preparation:

For the dough:

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook, add all the dry ingredients (pic. 1): the flour, the sugar, the baking powder and the salt. Mix well with a spoon.
If you don’t have a stand mixer, just add the dry ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. Add the beaten eggs to the dry ingredients (pic. 2).

Add the orange juice (pic. 3) and the vanilla extract (pic. 4).

Add the orange zest (pic. 5). Start your mixer at a low speed (1/3) and let it incorporate everything and knead the dough for about 4 minutes (pic. 6). The dough is ready once it has come together and holds its shape, without sticking to the bowl. If you don’t have a stand mixer, then mix everything together by hand and knead for 5-6 minutes until you get a smooth and only slightly-sticking result.
Note: Depending on the flour you used and the volume of the eggs, the dough may be a bit sticky. If it’s too sticky, to the point that you can’t work with it (e.g. it sticks all over your floured hands), add a tablespoon or two of flour and knead for a few seconds.

Shape into a ball, and cover with plastic (pic. 7). Let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour (we recommend 4-6 or overnight for better results). After the dough has rested, place on lightly floured surface. Lightly dust the dough with flour as well (pic. 8).

Divide it into two or four balls (pic. 9) with a dough scraper. Roll a ball out thin (with flour-dusted rolling pin). Try to shape into a rectangle (pic. 10). The thickness of the rolled out dough must be 2mm or less (about 1/16in).
Note: You can also use a pasta maker to roll the dough into thin sheets.

Using a pasta/dough cutter, cut the excess dough, in order to give your sheet a rectangular shape. Then cut the sheet into 10-15cm X 5-7cm / 4-5in X 2-3in rectangle strips (pic.11, pic. 12).

Place each strip on a damp towel (pic. 13), to keep it moist and prevent it from sticking. Continue with rolling out the next ball of dough. Repeat the process until all the dough is cut into strips. Put a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in 4-5cm/2in of oil. To check if the oil is hot enough, you can use a small piece of dough (pic. 14).

If it rises to the surface and starts bubbling gently (pic. 15), then the oil is hot enough to fry the diples strips. Gently place a few strips (never more than 2 or 3) in the pan (pic. 16). Fry for about 1 minute, flipping once halfway through, using two forks, until golden. Depending on the oil used and how hot it is, you may even need less than a minute, so keep an eye to check if they’re crispy and golden.

Transfer each fried strip (dipla) to paper towel-lined plates to drain the excess oil (pic. 17). You might need more than one because you should not stack them on top of each other but rather next to each other. Let them cool completely. Place all of them on a plate (pic. 18).

For the syrup:

Start making the syrup: Add the sugar, the water, the cinnamon stick, the orange zest and the orange juice in a small or medium pot/saucepan (pic. 19). Place over medium-high heat, uncovered. Once it starts simmering, lower the heat to low and let it simmer for 5-6 minutes, stirring gently from time to time. Remove from heat and add the honey (pic. 20). Stir to dissolve.

Using tongs (pic. 21), dip each fried dipla strip into the hot syrup for just 1 second (pic. 22). You just want them to get coated in syrup, so don’t let them stay in it for long or they’ll become soft and mushy (which is the opposite of the desired consistency for diples).

Place in a large plate, in layers, adding ground walnuts, cinnamon and honey in each layer, according to your liking.

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. If you don’t plan to serve immediately, it’s better to keep the syrup aside or in the fridge and not dip the diples in it. Then, right before serving the, you can warm it up and dip the diples strips in it. This way, they’ll stay more crispy.
2. Do not store diples in the fridge or they’ll become mushy.
3. Keep prepared diples in a plate or an open container and cover with cheesecloth if you have to (we often store them in the oven before serving them ourselves). High humidity is their worst enemy.
4. You can make the dough a day ahead and the syrup as well, and simply warm the syrup up, for dipping the diples, before serving them. Do not store either in the fridge before this (or after!).
5. We find that the best way to make diples is to make the dough and fry the diples first and then prepare the syrup. This way, the syrup is still hot when the fried diples have cooled down.
6. You can also serve diples sprinkling with a little powdered sugar along with ground cinnamon.
7. Keep the excess dough you cut when giving the sheet a rectangular shape. Knead all the scraps into a ball and make a few more strips in the end.

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How to make Greek Traditional Chicken Soup Avgolemono (with egg-lemon sauce)

littlecookingtips — Mon, 13 Nov 2017 17:26:30 +0000

Photo and text by Mirella Kaloglou and Panos Diotis.

Calories (per serving):

370

Servings:

serves 4

Preparation Time:

15 minutes

Cooking Time:

50 minutes

This week the cloudy, grey skies of the last days, finally cleared up. A glorious sun showered Greece with much-needed warmth and sunshine, to help coping with a recent natural disaster.

We won’t go into much detail –as this makes us really sad, because there were casualties- but a rare phenomenon, a Mediterranean hurricane hit Greece in mid-November. The outskirts of Athens were hit really hard by the storm, and now that it’s over households and businesses affected, have the difficult task to start assessing the situation in order to heal their wounds, if possible.

We don’t want to write much more about this; it’s really a painful situation. In this blog, we prefer to write about the positive things in life, to celebrate food and tradition. As you have noticed through the years, we don’t write about the Greek financial crisis or anything similar. We rather write about the beautiful things that life has to offer. This blog is all about memories, traditions, culture and –of course- food.

So -taking a big breath- we’ll focus on these. Most of us got to enjoy the autumn and the cool weather. Ourselves, we got the opportunity to walk in nearby groves and make small excursions in the country. The setting with the yellow, orange and red leaves is so majestic, isn’t it? And walking (or driving) in the country, offers a panorama of emerald-green meadows and dark woods, that you gaze in awe, in their autumn splendor. The other day, while taking photos, we noticed how a scene of nature in the fall, is as beautiful as the work of an impressionist painter, don’t you agree?

Harvesting Olives

In November, we have the olive harvest, here in Greece. It’s a tradition that hasn’t changed for thousands of years and the process is still more-less performed in the same manner. The olives are hand-picked by the workers -but also to a large extent- by families who own smaller olive groves. During the last years, most people opt for cold-pressing the olives, which means that they have a lower yield of oil, but the quality is higher. Organic groves are also on the rise, which is also great news, as the olive oil produced in them has both an amazing flavor and is free of any trace of pesticides.

Some of the best, chubby olives, are selected for pickling. These will become edible after a simple brining process, as olives are naturally very bitter. After brining, they are stored in olive oil and herbs, to accompany the meals in the months to come. There’s nothing like having selected your own olives and enjoying them in your table. There’s a link here with one’s past, with people who did this before, and people that will follow and continue this tradition.

Winter is coming :)

As November nears to an end, the festive period of Christmas and the New Year is gradually getting closer. The scents of orange, cinnamon, and clove from making melomakarona and diples will start filling the air in Greek households. The aroma of the flower water from buttery kourabiedes will put a smile on everyone’s face.

As mentioned in the kourabiedes post, regarding Greek Christmas, pork is the most popular choice as the traditional meat of the season. But it’s not the only one. Another popular dish for Christmas is the Greek chicken soup avgolemono (egg-lemon sauce). This soup is often the meal at the Christmas Eve dinner, or the first course at the main meal on Christmas.

Both of us have wonderful memories of Christmas past, sitting on the table with the family to enjoy this warm, delicious chicken soup, while the fire was crackling at the fireplace and the discreet music in the background was playing carols or Sinatra (or anything similar from the Rat Pack), staring at big piles of melomakarona, awaiting us for dessert :)

The chicken soup avgolemono

This soup is -of course- also popular all year round and is definitely one of the best and simplest dishes of the Greek cuisine. It’s also one of the most beloved Greek comfort foods. Perhaps that’s why we got many requests for this specific soup from our visitors and friends. These requests especially increased during the last year; as we noticed, this chicken soup is also getting a lot of attention from people abroad, being so easy and delicious as it is. So, we were waiting for the weather to cool down, in order to share it on the blog; and the season right before Christmas seemed to be the perfect time to post this.

Traditionally, this soup is made with a whole, free-range chicken. That is why olive oil was rarely added to the soup (usually only a drizzle when serving it), as free-range chickens have natural fat and one does not need to add more. You can make the soup with a whole chicken, cut into 6 or 8 pieces, in which case we suggest you double the rest of the ingredients of this recipe, as a whole chicken will weigh about 1,5 -2 kg / 3,5-4,5 lbs.

Being more practical, we preferred to use chicken thighs for this recipe. Buying boneless, skinless chicken breast or thighs is far more convenient and easier to handle for most people so, we tried both and then adapted and tested the recipe, with just (500-700 gr / 1-1.5lb) of chicken. We found that the thighs work better for this soup, as they do have a little fat and come out tastier in the end, in comparison to chicken breast. Of course, feel free to use whichever part you prefer.

There are countless variations of this recipe. This version is the traditional way our parent’s families make it and a very popular version in general. Plus, it’s really simple. You start by making a broth/stock, simmering the chicken and the veggies with peppercorns and bay leaves. When ready, you remove the chicken and the veggies and keep them aside, to chop and add them later on, when you’ll serve the soup. The broth is strained and then simmered with starchy rice until it softens. And the final step is making and adding the magic ingredient: the avgolemono (literally meaning egg-lemon) sauce.

This sauce is so delicious, that many people abroad are calling this soup simply “Avgolemono”. That’s not very proper though, as the same sauce is added in other dishes as well. For instance, one of the most popular Greek winter (and Christmas) dishes is a pork and celery stew called Hirino me Selino and it’s quite common to add egg-lemon sauce to this. Magiritsa, a traditional Easter soup, is also served with avgolemono, even in its vegetarian version. So, it’s better to call this dish “chicken soup avgolemono”, to distinguish it from other Greek dishes that also contain the avgolemono sauce.

What is avgolemono?

Now, what is the avgolemono sauce? It’s a very simple sauce, where eggs (whole or yolks) are beaten until creamy and fresh lemon juice is then added to them. While whisking vigorously, one starts to add slowly warm broth into the mixture. The purpose is to raise the temperature of the egg-lemon mixture to almost the same level as the broth in a soup. This way, the eggs won’t curd, they won’t become scrambled in the soup. They will turn into a creamy sauce that adds a wonderful silky texture to the soup. You won’t believe that you got this texture without using cream. And it’s really simple to make.

You can use whole eggs (not just the yolks) if you prefer a sauce with more froth. In this case, when you add the sauce in the pot (in the final step), simply hold and swirl the pot, don’t stir. It comes out better this way. Some people also like to beat the egg whites into foam separately, and then mix them with the yolks and the lemon juice. Then they temper the whole thing with the warm broth.
In this recipe we added just the yolks, as we believe that this soup looks better with less frothy sauce. It’s entirely up to you, to use the yolks or whole eggs. It’s simply a matter of preference.

In this post, we share a trick used by many cooks that helps a lot when reheating this soup. If you do this, the reheated soup will look much better. The trick is to add a little cornstarch in the lemon juice and then add this to the beaten eggs (or yolks). If you plan to serve the whole thing at once, you don’t need to do this though.

You can easily make this soup a day ahead without the egg-lemon sauce, and the next day reheat it well, make the sauce and add it to the soup right before serving it. It will be as delicious as it was freshly made.

You can also add more rice if you prefer a thicker soup. This is only suggested if you serve the whole soup at once. If you plan to serve it on the next day, the rice will continue to absorb the broth and the soup will be very thick, with almost no broth, so keep that in mind when you want to add extra rice.

So let’s see how to make this yummy chicken soup with avgolemono!

Ingredients:

- 500 – 700g / 1 – 1.5 lb (2 large) skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut in 2 or 4 large pieces *
- 1-2 carrots, peeled
- 1 stalk celery, cut into two pieces
- 1 large onion, peeled
- 2-3 bay leaves
- 1/4 teaspoon peppercorns
- 1 chicken stock bouillon (optional)
- 2 lt / 8 cups / 2qt water
- 1/3 cup medium-grain rice **
- salt, pepper

For the egg-lemon (avgolemono) sauce:
- 2 egg yolks (from large eggs)
- 1 large lemon, juiced
- 1 teaspoon cornstarch (optional, but highly recommended)

* You can also use chicken breast
** Choose a starchy rice, like Arborio, Carnaroli

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Preparation

Place the chicken, the carrots, the celery, the onion, the bay leaves, the peppercorns and the bouillon in a large pot and cover with 2lt/qt of water (pic. 1). Place over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Once it starts simmering, reduce the heat to medium-low.
In case white foam forms on the surface, using a slotted spoon, skim off and discard (pic. 2).

Simmer covered, for 30 minutes. Then remove the chicken (pic. 3) and the veggies with a slotted spoon and place on a plate (pic. 4).

Place a fine sieve/colander over a large bowl and strain the stock from the pot (pic. 5). Pour the strained stock back into the pot, place over medium-low heat, and add the rice (pic. 6), salt and pepper (season well). Simmer for 20-25 minutes, depending on the type of rice you chose. Taste some of the rice to see if it’s soft (not chewy). When ready, remove the pot from the stove and set aside.

Add the cornstarch in the lemon juice and stir to dissolve. This is optional, only if you use cornstarch (which is highly recommended). In a medium-sized bowl, whisk the yolks until creamy, for a couple of minutes (pic. 7). Add the lemon juice (pic. 8) while whisking continuously.

Start adding broth from the pot (keep whisking continuously), one ladleful at a time (pic. 9). Add broth from the surface of the pot, to avoid adding much rice. It’s ok if the broth you add contains a little rice.
Add very slowly the first two ladles with broth, whisking vigorously (pic. 10). You will need about 3 full ladles to warm the sauce up. The whole point is to increase the temperature of the egg-lemon mixture to that of the level of the broth. This way, the yolks won’t become solid.

Once hot, pour the frothy sauce mixture into the pot (pic. 11), and stir. Ready to serve (pic. 12)

Shred the chicken (it’s now cool enough to handle) with your hands or chop it with a knife, and serve the soup with it, adding some chopped carrots or celery as well if you like, and freshly crushed pepper and/or finely chopped parsley.

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. You can make this dish with chicken breast, or even a whole chicken, cut into portions. If using whole chicken, simply double the ingredients, it will come out amazing.
2. The reason for suggesting the use of cornstarch is that it helps when reheating this soup to avoid cooking the yolks.
3. You can make the soup a day ahead without the egg-lemon sauce, and the next day reheat well, make the sauce and add it to the soup right before serving it.
4. You can also use whole eggs (not just the yolks) for a sauce with more froth. In this case, when you add the sauce in the pot (in the final step), simply hold and swirl the pot, don’t stir.
Some people also like to beat the egg whites into foam separately, and then mix with the yolks and the lemon juice.
5. You can add more rice if you prefer the soup thicker (like a stew) or less if you prefer a clean, broth-like soup.
6. You can also try this with any short pasta, like orzo, or couscous. It’s not the traditional way to make it, but it does make for a great soup.

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Healthy

Mediterranean oven baked fish with tomato sauce and paprika

littlecookingtips — Wed, 04 Oct 2017 03:47:11 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

405

Servings:

serves 4

Preparation Time:

10 minutes

Cooking Time:

1 hour

Is it really October?

It’s early October as we’re writing this post, and looking back, with the exception of short periods of rain, the last month has been practically another summer month. It takes a while for Autumn to get here. Lots of sunshine, high temps and people rushing to the beaches, especially on the weekends, to get some comfort.

In the last few days though, the temperature dived about 10 degrees, and now we all feel that it’s really October. Lower temps mean we can concentrate easier on things we enjoy at home. One of them is cooking. Another is blogging. Like we’re happily doing now.

Visit to Epidaurus

One of the things we especially enjoyed this summer, was a daily visit to Ancient Epidaurus. It’s one of the places we always wanted to visit, that’s also close to Athens, but for some strange reason, we never had so far.

So, at the beginning of our summer vacation, one morning we woke up early, had a small breakfast and drove to Epidaurus. After using the highway, there’s a hilltop road (paved of course) for about an hour, but the scenery with the olive trees and then the pine trees make the trip enjoyable. The day that we visited was windy, which was great, as it helped us to cope with the high temps.

Arriving at Ancient Epidaurus, we bought a ticket which is valid for visiting everything at the site. We visited the Ancient Theatre, which is still operational today, with performances every summer and thousands of spectators.

The theatre can accommodate up to 15.000 spectators and was constructed in the 4th century BC. The amazing thing about this site is the unique acoustics. The theatre is constructed in such a way that one can hear perfectly what the actors say on the stage, regardless of one’s sitting and without using amplifiers.

We loved the great Stadium they also built nearby, where many competitions took place in antiquity, mostly to honor the god Asclepius. It was really impressive and preserved in great state.

Near the theatre, there’s a wide flat place with many ruins. In these ruins one can see what’s left of the walls of the -once glorious- Asclepeion. The Asclepeion was a sanctuary devoted to the healer-god Asclepius, son of Apollo. It was a sacred and highly spiritual place, where ill people came to get advice for their ailments. Healing mineral springs nearby were believed to help one cure and the priests guided and helped the sick with various practices.

At its height, there were so many people visiting, that they also built a huge restaurant/banquet hall, called hestiatoreion (to this day the word means restaurant in Greek) with a majestic entrance, right next to the Asclepeion, to feed all the visitors. If you’re following us on Instagram you might’ve seen our relative Story :)

We loved the great Stadium they also built nearby, where many competitions took place in antiquity, mostly to honor the god Asclepius. It was really impressive and preserved in great state.

Finally, we visited the marbles and the statues in the Museum. It was a great collection, and we loved reading ancient Greek and understanding some of the sentences. So wonderful to be able to communicate through time with the people who lived there thousands of years ago, isn’t it? The building of the Museum was rather outdated though; definitely, needs a renovation and lights. We hope someone will take a look at this at some point.

Sun and sea

After spending a few days in Athens (we also visited the Zoo which is close to the Athens airport and had a lot of fun!), of course, we went to Evia, to visit our favorite Aegean beaches and enjoy the garden of Panos’ parent's house in the country.

We went to Korasida, Cheromylos and of course, Mourteri/Agios Merkourios. These three beaches are among our favorites, and we try and visit them every year. Especially the last one, which is a 5km long beach, with very few visitors, so you can enjoy the sea without any noise or people close to you if looking for a calm place. The first half of the beach is called Mourteri, and the second half is called Agios Merkourios. A cliff divides the beach in two, separating the more touristically developed Mourteri from, the more deserted, but calmer Agios Merkourios.

When we want to visit these beaches, we keep an eye on the weather, to see which days the winds are not so strong, as these beaches are exposed to northern winds, and there are a lot of waves on windy days. If you ever visit Evia and want to swim there, here’s a tip: a great indication for the waves is the weather of Kymi ( a nearby town). Also, always visit early in the morning when the winds are low.

This summer we used a lot our diving masks and snorkels. This way, we had a lot of fun observing the amazing marine flora and fauna in the area. The waters on the Aegean side of Evia are crystal clear, and you can see beautiful cuttlefish on the sandy or pebble bottom, shells, shellfish, and sea urchins on rocks; and of course, a plethora of fish :) It was truly magical diving in these blue waters.

The organic garden

As we mentioned many times before, one of the things we love about visiting Evia is the fact that Panos’ parents have a big organic garden there. Even though during the summer people don’t cook as much as in the winter, there’s so much produce there, you can’t help it trying out new recipes, new ways to enjoy it.

As you have probably guessed, we made countless Greek salads, fried huge stacks of zucchini fritters, dipped them in tons of tzatziki, baked pans and pans with gemista, had a lot of kagianas for breakfast or lunch, made moussaka when in need for comfort food, used the eggplants with pasta or made melitzanosalata and went on and on. We couldn’t and wouldn’t stop, as long as there was produce in the baskets :)

What we wouldn’t use, we sliced, grated, chopped and did whatever necessary to preserve for the winter. So now our freezer is full of in-season-out-of-season frozen produce. :) And that’s a great practice for everyone, in order to enjoy tasty veggies. Buy them when in-season, and especially when on sale, chop or grate and freeze in ziplock bags. This way, you can make a magnificent marinara in the middle of the winter, with the flavors of an August’s tomato. Isn’t that great?

In the evenings, we loved sitting on our veranda to enjoy a cantaloupe, a watermelon, some apricots or peaches, and -in late August- some grapes and figs. Figs are so awesome. If you never had them before, buy a few when in season and eat fresh, preferably on the same day. You really have to try them: soft and silky on the outside, with dark red, soft flesh on the inside and crunchy tiny edible seeds. Just cut one in quarters and put it on some Greek yogurt. Drizzle then with honey: heaven! It’s the perfect dessert, plus it’s super healthy!

One pan baked fish

During the summer, people don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. That’s understandable, with all the outdoor activities one can enjoy during the season. So, one pan, easy recipes, are a perfect choice. Since we shared our summer memories in this post, we thought we should share one of the one pan recipes that only need a few minutes to prepare. Plus now that it’s October, you probably have a ton of things to do on weekdays, right?

And this is one of the easiest fish recipes out there. A dump and bake, one-pan baked fish that we make very often on weekdays, when the time is precious, being busy with all day-to-day activities and our household.

Fish is a great source of lean protein, and also contains a lot of heart-healthy fats (omega-3 fatty acids) that are good for one's heart. So, pairing it with a vinaigrette lettuce salad or brown rice it makes for a complete, filling AND healthy meal. Isn’t that great?

As mentioned, one of the things we love about this baked fish recipe is that it’s very easy and therefore convenient. You don’t need a lot of prep time. You simply turn on the oven, prepare the onion and the tomato, mix the ingredients for the sauce, dump it in a pan, dip the fish steaks in it and then lay them over and bake. As simple as that! And while it’s baking, you can prepare the salad or the rice (or both).

We call this recipe “Mediterranean fish” and not “Greek fish”, even though it does contain ingredients used it the Greek cuisine, just like in this very old “fish plaki” recipe on the blog (Please excuse us for the terrible photo, it was published years ago when we first started blogging LOL).

The reason for not calling this recipe “Greek”, is the secret ingredient: smoked paprika. Smoked paprika is a classic ingredient in the Spanish cuisine, not the Greek one. It’s a spice we love to use in many of our recipes (like in mac 'n cheese for instance), and has a very distinct, unique flavor. You can also use smoked Hungarian paprika, of course, that’s equally delicious; whichever is available around your area.

The type of fish we suggest using in this recipe is any large white fish. Fish steaks or fish fillets cut into large pieces would both work excellent. We have tried this with cod, haddock, swordfish and large sea breams. You can use whichever you prefer or is on sale. The sauce will provide all the flavor in this recipe, so don’t hesitate to buy a cheaper, more affordable piece of white fish.

Frozen fish steaks work well too, but make sure to thaw them properly. Place them (covered with film) in a bowl in your fridge, and let them thaw for up to 24 hours. Then rinse, and pat dry with kitchen towels. You will need a lot of towels, as frozen fish is watery. But it will work just as well as fresh. Perhaps it will take a little time more to bake, that’s all.

The combination of the smoked paprika with the extra virgin olive oil and the oregano is amazing. Plus, adding a good wine will enhance the flavors, creating a delicious dish. Make sure to dribble some of the juices from the pan on top of the fish when serving it. And a little extra virgin olive oil as well.

So, let’s see how you can make this easy fish in the oven!

Ingredients:

- 3-4 fish steaks or fish fillets (cod, haddock, swordfish) cut into large pieces, about 1Kg / 2lb
- 1 medium sized tomato, 250-300gr / 9-10oz
- 1 medium-sized onion, 130-160gr / 4.5-5.5oz, finely chopped or sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/3 cup (80ml) extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup (60ml) white wine
- 1/2 teaspoon dry thyme (or 1/2 tablespoon fresh)
- 1 tablespoon dry oregano (or 2 tablespoons fresh)
- 1 1/2 tablespoon paprika, preferably smoked
- salt, pepper
- a little finely chopped parsley to garnish (optional)

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Preparation:

Rinse and pat dry your fish steaks (or fillets). If using frozen fish, thaw in the fridge for 24hours, and then pat dry with a lot of kitchen towels, as it’s quite watery. Sprinkle some salt on both sides of each steak.

Grate the tomato (pic. 1) and strain it, using a fine sieve (pic. 2) to remove some of the water.

Add the tomato in a large bowl and add the olive oil (pic. 3) and the wine (pic. 4).

Add the thyme, the oregano and the paprika (pic. 5), salt and pepper, the onion and the garlic (pic. 6).

Mix well with a spoon (pic. 7) and empty the bowl’s contents in a baking dish, large enough to accommodate your fish steaks (pic. 8).

Press each fish steak into the sauce, flip and lay on top (pic. 9). The steaks will look like the ones in the pic.10.

Bake in a convection oven, at 200C / 390F for 30-40 minutes (depending on the thickness of the steaks and whether they’re fresh or frozen and thawed – in which case they’re usually waterier).

The fish is ready when most of the liquid has evaporated. Let it rest for at least 10 minutes before serving, to allow it to absorb the flavors of the surrounding gravy.

Serve with a simple vinaigrette-lettuce salad or rice. You can also serve this with French fries, if not looking for a healthier option :) Dribble the juices and some extra virgin olive oil on top for extra flavor.

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. As mentioned, if using frozen fish, thaw for 24 hours in a bowl in the fridge and then pat dry with kitchen towels. Makes sure it’s dry enough, as frozen fish tends to be watery.

2. You can use cod, haddock, swordfish, sea bream or any other firm white flesh fish for this dish. Skip tuna or salmon in this recipe.

3. Try to get some high quality smoked paprika for this. It will define the flavor of the dish. You can use it in countless other recipes as well: in stews, to rub chicken or steaks for grilling, you can sprinkle it with salt on fries, you can use it in dips/sauces …you get the picture :)

4. You can try this dish with fresh, finely chopped fennel fronds (or dill) and skip the thyme, the oregano, and the paprika. It’s a different, equally delicious variation that’s better served with French fries.

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Mouthwatering, Greek style oven baked feta (Guest Post)

littlecookingtips — Mon, 24 Jul 2017 17:00:23 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

144

Servings:

serves 2

Preparation Time:

10 minutes

Cooking Time:

10 minutes

getting close to vacation

It’s hard to believe that July is already coming to an end! The days seem to fly by this summer. We’re getting close to our vacation, and it’s ever harder to keep our minds together and not spend several hours each day, thinking of the beaches, the tryout of new recipes, the serene nights with fresh cold fruit on the veranda in Evia... all those relaxing days one desperately needs after a hard, busy winter season.

Just watching the starry sky every night when in the country, right before going to sleep, seems to connect one with body, mind, and spirit, doesn’t it? It’s these magical summer moments when you supercharge with relaxation and happiness that help you endure the hardships of everyday life.

We’re indulging ourselves with movie nights in the balcony in Athens and short trips to Athenian beaches for the time being. It helps, but it’s just not the same when you know that on Monday another full working week awaits you, right?

If you’re following us on our recently created Instagram account, you might have seen our video on “Stories”, where we visited a beach last Sunday, only to find out that the Aegean wasn’t in the right mood: huge waves (!) and winds prevented us from taking a short swim. The road trip, however, was compensating enough; we lowered the car’s windows and allowed the summer breeze, full of the aroma of wild thyme and pine trees to fill our lungs, listening to the cicadas as we traveled through small country roads where nature seemed to be still untouched by the modern civilization. Of course, on the next day, when we came back to Athens, the wind calmed down and we got really high temps again. Murphy’s law in action :)

guest posting at Easy and Delish

We felt so honored when Denise, from Easy and Delish asked us a few weeks back, to be part of a guest post series on her blog. You see, we have been following her work for quite a few years now, from the early days of her previous blog From Brazil to You, where she introduced us to her awesome, authentic and delicious Brazilian recipes! Denise has been an inspiration to us throughout the years and taught us so many things about cooking. For that, all her beautiful posts and her constant love and support, we'd like to take this opportunity and publicly say a huge THANK YOU to her, from the bottom of our hearts.

oven baked feta

Denise's theme in this guest post series was easy weeknight meals or quick desserts. Most Greek foods often take a little time to prepare, so we considered some of the simpler recipes we could use for this post, and after discussing this with Denise, we both agreed on an easy and yummy appetizer, which can also be served as a light meal, along with a salad and/or some crusty bread. This dish is the Oven Baked Feta! Some people also call this dish Feta saganaki, even though Cheese saganaki is mostly a fried slice of cheese.

You can find oven baked feta at almost every tavern in tourist locations throughout the country, especially in the summer. It's one of the most popular dishes, and it's usually one of the dishes people order as an appetizer, or a side in order to accompany grilled meats and tempura-style fried veggies.

The ingredients are very easy to find, are very simple, and the result is really delicious. Since the ingredients are only a few though, we suggest you use the best quality you can purchase. For instance, authentic sheep's milk feta is highly recommended as well as organic tomatoes and peppers.

To prepare the dish, you simply make a small "tray" from foil, add feta, onion, tomatoes, pepper, thyme, oregano and EVOO and broil it for a few minutes. The texture of the feta completely changes to slightly crunchy on the outside and soft and yummy on the inside. The veggies and the oregano add a lot of flavor and texture as well.

With the quantity described in this recipe, you can serve 2. You can easily, however, make a few more trays of foil with the same combo and serve A LOT more people. This is super convenient if you’re having people over, for a BBQ for instance. While the meat is being grilled outside, you can prep a cookie sheet/baking dish with as many as 6 of these small foil trays and broil them at the same time. It’s guaranteed that everyone will love them; this is one of the best recipes with feta cheese.

Ingredients:

Click here to jump over to Denise’s Easy and Delicious for the ingredients and the recipe!

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Fast&Easy

Vegetarian

Greek Cheesy Potato Fritters

littlecookingtips — Thu, 15 Jun 2017 06:39:42 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

216

Servings:

serves 6

Preparation Time:

30 minutes

Cooking Time:

15 minutes

the summer is finally here

At last, after relatively cool first weeks, this June became a summer month! The first days of the month were often full of heavy clouds and sudden, tropical thunderstorms. Some of those days the temperature was way below the season average, reaching only up to 24C/75F, having us wondering when the summer will finally visit Greece! Pretty frustrating, right?

Well, this week the situation changed dramatically. We got temperatures up to 45C/113F(!) and people run to the beaches. Across Greece, all destinations by the sea were packed. We couldn't decide if it would be better to stay indoors with the A/C or go to an Athenian beach and face the traffic and the crowd :)

Anyway; before this heatwave, visiting our family’s garden in Evia, we knew that the summer was just around the corner, as the tomatoes kept growing, the cucumbers and zucchini were ripe and delicious, the apricots were sweet and ready to picked, just as the deep purple plums and the dark red cherry plums.

the joy of picking produce from the garden

It is such a joy to be in the garden early in the morning on a warm summer day. You get to pick your fresh veggies and fruits when they’re still cool from the night dew. You should see the smiles on our faces, walking up and down the garden with wooden baskets on our hands, ready to be filled with fresh, organic produce. Our heads were exploding with cooking ideas while picking the veggies and the fruits! Thank God, there was a lot of produce so we didn’t have to compromise on how to cook them:)

After deciding how to use the vegetables and the fruits, we usually go for a quick swim on a beach nearby and then we get started: chopping, peeling, grating, preheating the oven, picking up spices and herbs…you get the idea:) A culinary frenzy takes place in a kitchen filled with colors, aromas and flavors.

After all, cooking real food, created with quality produce, love and imagination are what really counts, and sitting down to enjoy a meal with loved ones is the epitome of what cooking is about. It doesn’t need to be fancy or gourmet: a simple, hearty dish with flavors and aromas is enough to make everyone smile.

During the summer, we use fewer recipes with meat and we focus on the vegetarian aspect of the traditional Greek cuisine. This means that Horiatiki, zucchini fritters, gemista stuffed veggies and tzatziki are often on the table, with some crusty fresh bread and feta cheese on the side. Simpler, lighter recipes are perfect for the hot summer days, right?

making cheesy potato fritters

One of our favorite recipes we often use in the summer is made with potatoes. Everyone loves potato fritters, right? These fritters are vegetarian, for those eating eggs (ovo-vegetarians), they include Kefalotyri cheese, which melts during frying and they have a wonderful aroma from the fresh mint. It’s a Greek recipe you really have to try out. Yes, we know. Kefalotyri is hard to find if you’re not in Greece. That being said, you can also make this recipe using Pecorino Romano or Parmesan that are more widely available. The result is, of course, a bit different, as Kefalotyri is a hard goat cheese with a unique flavor, but it’s equally delicious.

This is definitely one of the best potato recipes you can use if you’re having people over. Throw a salad on the side and some tzatziki and everyone will be happy and ask for seconds. You can serve them as an appetizer or as a main, depending on the crowd. One thing is for sure: kids will love this!

The method for making these fritters is simple: you peel and chop the potatoes into chunks, boil them, mash them, and mix them with the rest of the ingredients. Then you simply fry them, using one tablespoon per fritter and serve them. That’s it!

This recipe is for 6-8 portions if it’s served as an appetizer or 2-4 as a main dish. You can adjust the mint flavor by adding more or fewer leaves, but in our humble opinion, about 10 are necessary. You can also add more cheese if you want them more soft and gooey. Another version you can try is with fresh dill and young onions: super yummy as well! The possibilities are endless: you can change this recipe and use your favorite spices and ingredients. Having new ideas already? Let us know in the comments, we'd love to hear from you!

So let’s see how to make potato fritters that are golden on the outside and creamy on the inside!

Ingredients:

- 1 kg / 2 lb (3 large) potatoes, peeled and diced in 3cm/1in chunks*
- 2 medium sized eggs
- 100 g / 3.5 oz (1 cup) Kefalotyri or Pecorino Romano or Parmesan, finely grated
- 40 g / 1.4 oz (5 tablespoons) flour, all-purpose
- 4 g / 0.15 oz (1 teaspoon) baking powder
- 6 g / 0.20 oz (10-12 leaves) fresh mint, finely chopped
- 1-2 garlic cloves, minced
- salt, pepper
- sunflower or other high smoke point vegetable oil, for frying
*prefer Russet, Yukon Gold or White potatoes

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Preparation

Place the potatoes in a medium sized pot (pic. 1) and cover with water (pic. 2), adding a teaspoon of salt as well. Place over medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes. The potatoes are ready when they’re easy to pierce with a fork and are getting rounder on their corners.

Drain in a colander (pic. 3). Don’t rinse. Let them sit for 5-10 minutes, to cool. Return the potatoes to the same pot and using a potato masher (or a heavy ladle), mash the potatoes (pic. 4).

Add the flour, the baking powder (pic. 5) and the garlic (pic. 6).

Add the mint, salt and pepper (pic. 7) and the eggs (pic. 8).

Mix well to incorporate (pic. 9) and add the cheese (pic. 10). Give the mixture a final stir.

Place a heavy-bottomed frying pan over medium-high heat and pour in sunflower oil to a depth of 2.5cm / 1in.

Once hot, using two tablespoons drop about a tablespoon of mixture into the pan at a time (pic. 11). Don’t overcrowd your pan; add a few tablespoons, but leave some space between the fritters. Their shape will of course vary, that’s the beauty of these. Fry until golden brown, then flip and fry the other side as well (pic. 12). Be careful: it takes less than a minute to fry each side! Fry in batches until you use all the mixture.

With a slotted spoon remove each fritter and place in a kitchen towel to drain the excess oil.

Serve with a fresh salad, like Horiatiki Greek Salad and/or tzatziki! Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. As mentioned, you can also use Pecorino Romano or Parmesan if you can’t find Kefalotyri.
2. You can replace the mint with fresh dill and finely sliced young onions for a different but equally delicious flavor.
3. These are awesome in sandwiches, burgers and hot dogs as well!

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Greek roasted leg of lamb - Kleftiko

littlecookingtips — Sun, 07 May 2017 05:50:50 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

563

Servings:

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This is a recipe requested by many of you friends out there: Kleftiko roasted leg of lamb. Judging from the number of requests, this must be one of the most popular Greek recipes abroad. :) Of course we do have our own version, which is traditional and authentic, without much fuss and without the need for too many ingredients.

This Easter, we published a recipe for Tsoureki, the traditional Greek Easter bread. However, this wasn’t the only thing that we baked during the celebrations. We also roasted slowly lamb, Kleftiko style. And we took the pictures in order to prepare this post for all of you that requested this.

During the Easter holidays we took the opportunity, as most Greeks do, to visit the countryside. Greece is really amazing during the spring, and if you’ve never been here in April or May, you’re really missing out. The nature is blossoming, the temperatures are warmer and the days are getting longer. So what would be better than visiting small villages and enjoying the breathtaking scenery? We loved walking in small footpaths, connecting forests to villages, meadows to serene –and empty- beaches.

Besides enjoying nature, we cooked a large variety of new recipes and tested some of our culinary ideas as well. You’ll be seeing the results of this in the near future, in some of our next posts. We baked our own bread with whole wheat farro(emmer) flour, we made our own pasta and the knowledge one gets from practicing with dough, is really priceless. There’s nothing like fresh, crusty bread that you make with your own hands, baking it at home.

An authentic Kleftiko recipe

As we mentioned though, one of the dishes that we cooked during the holidays was Kleftiko. The recipe for Kleftiko we are posting here is an authentic one, which means that it doesn’t include any veggies. It’s a recipe for a delicious, tender leg of lamb. You can serve this with a horiatiki Greek salad, lemon garlic roasted potatoes, tzatziki and fresh, crusty bread. The authentic version does not contain potatoes. After all, potatoes were not used in Greek cuisine until after the revolution of 1821 and Kleftiko is a much older recipe. Nowadays, people often add potatoes and/or peppers and/or cheese, like feta or kefalotyri in Kleftiko; the result is definitely richer. We suggest that you first try this basic recipe though and then move on and make it your own by adding your favorite ingredients in the dish.

Kleftiko: a little history of this recipe

Kleftiko, is derived from the word Klepht. Klephts were Greek anti-Ottoman insurgents, carrying on the war against the Ottomans throughout the years they had conquered Greece. Kpepht is literally the one who steals, named this way, because Klephts stole weapons and goods from the Ottoman authorities in order to continue their struggle against them.

They mostly lived in groups high in the mountains and in rural areas. Since they were evading the Ottoman army, they had to find ways to cook their food without being noticed. Their method of roasting the lamb took its name “Kleftiko” from them. The method was more less the following: first they were digging a shallow pit in the ground. Then they were lighting a fire, and as soon as enough burning charcoal was formed, they were placing the meat, covered in a package, on top. Then, they were covering everything (the package and the fire) with soil and rocks, in order to hide the smell and the smoke from the enemy and they were leaving the area.

This way, it was taking a lot of hours for the food to be cooked through, not unlike modern day slow cookers, but the result was very tender, juicy and delicious! So this method continues to this day, since it produces such excellent, tasty food. You can still find lamb cooked the traditional way, in the ground, in rural places in Crete and Central Greece. But most people of course, simply use parchment paper and their home ovens:) Another way to cook Kleftiko at home is using a clay pot or a Dutch oven.

In this post, we are using parchment paper, which is much closer to the original “package” idea for cooking the meat, back in the years of the struggle for Greek Independence. It’s really easy to replicate this and the lamb is falling-off –the bone tender.

Greeks and lamb

Contrary to popular belief, Kleftiko -and lamb in general- is not something Greeks enjoy on a regular basis. Lamb and goat are mostly cooked around Easter, during celebrations and in special occasions. For instance, if there’s a religious festival in a village (panigiri) you certainly will find lamb or goat being served .So, Kleftiko is a special dish that’s not very often cooked in Greek households; but when it does, it’s much appreciated by everyone. Most of us have beautiful memories, growing up in Greek households, when in special occasions, the smell of lamb, slowly roasting in the oven for hours filled the air. To this day, this smell takes us back to these wonderful times!

In this recipe, the leg of lamb is cooked to the point that you can shred it with a fork. It will remind you of pulled pork and similar dishes. That’s the way lamb is cooked in Greece. You won’t find any medium or medium-rare lamb here. The lamb is cooked in wine, olive oil and lemon juice, with herbs and garlic for hours. And when you take a bite, it almost melts in your mouth!

Ingredients:

- 1.5-2kg / 3.5-4.5lbs leg of lamb, on the bone*
- 4-5 garlic cloves, cut into slivers
- 1/2 fresh lemon, for rubbing the meat
- 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon dry thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 125ml (1/2 cup - 8 tablespoons) fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons), for baking the lamb
- 80ml (1/3 cup - 6 tablespoons) extra virgin olive oil, for baking the lamb
- 125ml (1/2 cup - 8 tablespoons) white wine

*if too fatty you can ask your butcher to trim some of the fat, or you can remove some of it yourself with a sharp knife. Usually not necessary.

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Preparation

First, using the tip of a sharp knife (a boning knife is perfect for this), make small slits in the meat (like in pic. 1), both on top and bottom. Insert a sliver of garlic in each slit (pic. 2).

Rub the meat with the cut side of the lemon-half, squeezing it gently (pic. 3, pic. 4). Do this on both sides.

Drizzle with the olive oil (pic. 5) and brush or rub to coat. Season generously both sides with salt (pic. 6).

Add the pepper (pic. 7) and the thyme (pic. 8) on both sides.

Rub the seasoning, trying to spread it evenly (pic. 9). Place 4 large pieces of parchment paper in a roasting pan, forming a cross; or 6 pieces, forming a star. Place the meat in the center (pic. 10).

Add the rosemary leaves (pic. 11), squeeze the juice of the two lemons (the 125ml, pic. 12), and add the olive oil (the 80ml, pic. 13).

Finally, add the white wine (pic. 14). Wrap the meat in the parchment, as tightly as possible, creating a package (pic. 15). At this point, some of the juices may spill into the roasting pan. Don't worry, it happens sometimes. Make sure most of it is in the package you created though in case this happens.

Tie the package with kitchen string (pic. 16). At this point, you can refrigerate it for up to 1 day. This will allow the marinade to penetrate fully into the meat. Take it out of the fridge for 1 hour before baking. If you don’t have the time for marinating though, you can go ahead and bake it straight up.

Bake in preheated oven at 200C/390F (convection oven - fan assisted) for 30 minutes. Then lower to 180C/350F and continue baking for 2 hours.
Finally, remove from the oven, cut the parchment with kitchen scissors. Baste the lamb with the juices and place the pan back in the oven, for 30 more minutes, until browned.

Let it rest for a few minutes before serving. As mentioned before, serve with a horiatiki Greek salad, lemon garlic roasted potatoes, tzatziki and fresh, crusty bread. Pure Heaven!
Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. As mentioned, this is the basic recipe for Kleftiko. You can add potatoes in the package, and bake them together with the lamb. You can also try it with peppers and onions, adding some feta or Kefalotyri as well in the last 30 minutes of baking (also try Pecorino if you can't find Kefalotyri). The result is amazing!
2. You can also omit the parchment paper, and bake this in a large, heavy Dutch oven or clay pot.
3. Kleftiko tastes much better if you let the meat in the marinade overnight and up to 1 day.

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Healthy

Traditional Greek Easter Bread (Tsoureki)

littlecookingtips — Mon, 03 Apr 2017 13:43:27 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

312

Servings:

12+ slices/pieces

Preparation Time:

4 hours

Cooking Time:

45 minutes

Easter is almost here! For all us Greeks, Easter (called Pascha in Greek) is the greatest religious holiday of the year. Celebrating Easter in Greece, is a beautiful event, even for the non-believers. The mysticism surrounding the days right before the Resurrection (which is celebrated on Holy Saturday, at midnight) is truly unique. Easter is a huge deal; a great social event, rich in traditions.

After the Great Lent, which starts 40 days before Easter (on Clean Monday), is the Holy Week, the week before Easter. This is a time when most Greeks, even the most secular ones, are fasting, abstaining from meat and dairy consumption. Churches are packed with people every night; the priests read the gospels that tell the story of Jesus’s last days and His path to the cross and the Resurrection. These days have a great sense of community, as everyone awaits Jesus’ redemption.

After all, Easter is always on spring, so there’s a great relation between Jesus’s resurrection and nature’s rebirth as well, after the long period of winter. Celebrating Easter in Greece is filled with the smells of flower blossoms, like jasmine and lilac. Most people celebrate Pascha in the country, in their villages of origin, so they’re getting in touch with their roots, meeting friends and relatives in a huge (and loud!) Greek celebration:)

Holy Week's Traditions

Some of the most popular Easter culinary traditions begin on Holy Thursday. This is the day of the beginning of The Passion, so eggs are dyed red, to symbolize the blood of our Lord. Most people dye hard boiled eggs at home; but they’re also available (already boiled and dyed) in super markets and grocery stores.

Another Holy Thursday tradition, is baking the Easter bread “Tsoureki”, which is very similar to Challah. It’s a braided sweet bread, that’s served after the Resurrection. Placing a red dyed egg in the middle of the Tsoureki is also common. The aroma of this sweet bread is truly unique; it’s a combination of ground Chios mastic (a natural resin) and ground mahleb (also called mahlab or mahlepi, it’s ground wild cherry pits). This is the recipe we’ll be sharing with all of you this Easter. As for getting those two ingredients, don’t worry; you can easily order them online and get them delivered to your doorstep; they are widely available:)

Many people are also baking Easter cookies, called koulourakia on Holy Thursday. They’re butter based, braided and glazed, and are usually served on Easter Sunday.
Both koulourakia cookies and the sweet Tsoureki bread are also eaten all year round, as they’re very popular with coffee and tea.

As the Passion progresses on Good Friday, the day commemorating the crucifixion of Jesus, the fasting is much stricter. On this day, most people will abstain from any type of protein and fat (like olive oil). Most people eat simple salads, dried or fresh fruits, bread and nuts. It’s a day of mourning; the image of Jesus is put on a funeral bier and the bells toll solemnly throughout the day. The bier is called Epitafios (or Epitaphios/Epitaph), and it’s decorated by young girls with spring flowers. During this day, almost everyone will visit a church, after midday (when the decoration is over) to pay his or her respects to this symbolic Jesus’ bier, usually throwing some flower pedals on it, like you would do for a close person or a relative who has passed away.

In the evening, there’s the Perifora of the Epitaph. In every town or village, the Epitafios is carried on the shoulders of the worshippers, in a symbolic funeral procession which takes place in the main streets. The people carrying the Epitafios are constantly changing in this process, as it is a great honor to carry Jesus on one’s shoulders. The people following the bier are holding lit funeral candles, and chanting one of the most wonderful Orthodox hymns: "Ω γλυκύ μου έαρ" (O glyki mou e-ar), which literally means “My Sweet Spring”, mourning the death of Jesus on this most beautiful of seasons. Here’s the hymn:

On Holy Saturday, people are beginning the preparations for the dinner that follows the midnight service and the next day’s (Easter Sunday) feast. In this day, most people will prepare the Magiritsa soup. Magiritsa is a soup with dill or fennel, greens and lamb’s liver and/or other offal, in egg-lemon sauce (avgolemono). When we prepare this dish ourselves we only use liver, as we find that it tastes much better; but if you’re not into offal, don’t worry: there’s a vegetarian version as well, made with mushrooms that’s equally delicious!

At the same day, people prepare two of the main dishes for Easter Sunday: the lamb or goat, that’s usually whole spit-roasted, is prepared with spices and it’s put on a spit to drain. The other dish is the kokoretsi, that’s truly not for the faint-hearted:) Kokoretsi is lamb’s (or goat’s) offal, usually liver and lung, chopped in small pieces and placed in a spit, heavily seasoned and tightly tied together with the lamb’s small intestine (that’s thoroughly cleaned at least a day before). The reason for this, is leaving nothing to go to waste, but we do realize that it’s a tough sight for any non-Greek to see:)

On Holy Saturday evening, most people will visit a church before midnight, for the last Mass. This is a huge community event; everywhere you look, around midnight you’ll see families walking towards a church with lambades on their hands. Lambades are the celebratory candles (white or decorated ones), that will be lit with the Holy Fire just a few minutes before Easter. The children’s lambades are usually given to them by their godparents or their grandparents (if the godparents weren’t available).

The Holy Fire is miraculously lit during Mass on Jerusalem, on the actual site of Jesus’ tomb on Holy Saturday and it’s then flown to Greece and distributed to all the churches, a few hours before midnight (when Easter will be celebrated).

So, when the priest reads the gospel with the story of the Angel discovering that Jesus was resurrected, the Holy Fire is distributed to the people observing the Mass. The flame of the Holy fire is passed from person to person and all the lambades are lit and any other lights are turned off. It’s truly a mystical moment, that wins even the hearts of the most devoted atheists:) People you don’t even know (and probably won’t see again) light your candle and you exchange wishes with them (and then pass the flame, lighting the candle of the people next to you).

On midnight, the priest is chanting “Χριστός Ανέστη!” (Christos Anesti! – Christ is Risen!) and the Easter frenzy begins! :) First, you kiss and hug every relative that is with you in the Church. Second, you kiss and hug any neighbor or other familiar person from your town or village you see on the church as well:) The bells toll madly and joyously, in the ports the ships sound their horns, fireworks go off everywhere, in the villages people fire their hunting shotguns(!)…you get the picture :)

And then the people start walking back to their homes with the lit lambabes on hand. It’s a wonderful sight to see, with all the smiling faces eager to start their dinner.
When people arrive at home, the tradition is to make the sign of the cross with the smoke of the Holy Fire on the door sill. At least one candle with the Holy Fire is then placed at the center of the dinner table.

The two main items on Holy Saturday’s dinner are the magiritsa soup and the hard-boiled red dyed eggs. The reason for not serving something like grilled meat (since the Lent is over after the midnight service), is to prepare one, after having abstained from meat for so long, with something lighter. So, the protein from the soup and the eggs is perfect; after all, this dinner is served very late at night.

But you don’t simply crack the eggs open and eat them; nope! :) Where’s the fun in that? On Easter, there’s a sort of “competition” at the dinner table. Here’s the deal: everyone selects a red dyed egg. Then, in pairs, people tap each other’s egg, intending to break the other’s without breaking one’s own. The last person with his or her egg intact, is the lucky person of the night:) When one taps the egg of another, one says “Christos Anesti – Christ is Risen” and the other answers “Alithos Anesti – It’s true that he is Risen”. Isn’t this wonderful?

And then, before you know it, it’s Easter Sunday morning! Early in this day, the men in the family prepare the fire and start roasting the kokoretsi and the lamb. This is traditionally a men’s work. The women prepare different small plates with meze, like eggs, dips and other goodies. These are the appetizers served before the big feast, that will follow when the lamb is ready. Most people try to eat less of those, and drink less wine and beer as well, to enjoy the roasted lamb when the table is set for the Easter Lunch.

When the lamb is ready, roasted to the point that the meat is falling off the bone, it is transferred to a table and carved into portions. The Easter table is then prepared, again with eggs, dips and other meze, salads and breads and A LOT of wine and beer. People stuff their faces with lamb, tell jokes and stories, and everything that you’d expect from a loud Greek family gathering. :)

Did we mention the music? Traditional Greek country music is played through speakers all over the country, throughout the day. This is the day when the distant uncle you’ve never seen before, is pulling your hand to stand up and dance with the rest of the family, as a courtesy to him:) Happy times, right? :)

When the feast (and the dancing) is over, which can easily take up to 12 hours (oh yes), there’s time for more: club sodas and dessert are finally served. Yes, there’s dessert as well! It all starts with the sweet tsoureki bread and continue with syrup-drenched sweets like baklava, kataifi, galaktoboureko and many more (even the non-traditional ice cream!).It’s not rare to see strange combinations at this point (perhaps the drinking has contributed to this!), like ice cream on baklava, ice cream on tsoureki, ice cream in your coffee etc.

The Tsoureki Easter Bread

But let’s get back to the wonderful sweet Easter bread: Tsoureki. As mentioned before, this is the recipe we’d like to share in this post (besides the traditions you just read). It’s a fantastic, fluffy bread, made with butter, milk, eggs and flour. The aromas from the Chios mastic, the mahleb and the orange zest however, are what make this truly unique (and delicious!).

Like we mentioned above, tsoureki is very popular and is also eaten throughout the year; you can easily get it at any bakery or pastry shop. People also bake tsoureki at home and serve it as a snack or with coffee or tea. Our favorite combination though is with chocolate-hazelnut spreads like Merenda or Nutella. You really don’t know what you’re missing if you never tried a slice of tsoureki with such spread! Please do try it.

If you never tried Tsoureki or Challah (that’s similar) before, making one might sound a bit challenging. Please don’t be intimidated though; with our step by step instructions, we’re confident you’ll bake a magnificent Tsoureki at your first attempt. Feel free to drop as an email or comment below, if you have any questions; we’re happy to help.

The secret for a really great Tsoureki is choosing a high-protein bread flour. You should check the package, with the nutritional info. The protein percentage should be at least 13% and the higher it is, the better. We usually buy a 14-16% protein flour ourselves. Also, don’t ever bake Tsoureki in a hurry. You should give the dough the proper time to rise if you want a fluffy and chewy texture.

So, let’s see the recipe for the authentic, traditional Greek tsoureki!

Ingredients:

- 500g / 17.5oz / 1lb bread flour*
- 200g / 7oz granulated sugar
- 115g / 4oz (1 stick) butter
- 125ml (1/2 cup) milk, lukewarm
- 12g / 0.4oz (1 1/2 sachet) dry yeast
- 3 eggs for the dough
- 1 egg, beaten for brushing the loaf before baking
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground Chios mastic**
- 1 teaspoon ground mahleb/mahlab**
- zest from a medium sized orange***

* Choose the bread flour with the highest protein content; the more the better. We buy 14%-16% protein flour. The minimum for this recipe is 13%. Check the package to verify this.
** Don’t worry about finding these. If they aren’t available at your local supermarket you can easily get them online and have them delivered to your doorstep.
*** Take off only the rind of the orange's skin. Be careful not to take the white pith as well, as it is bitter.

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Preparation

Grind the mastic into powder, with a mortar and pestle. You can use 1 teaspoon (or 2) of the sugar to make this easier, as mastic tends to be sticky when ground (pic. 1-3).

Add the yeast (pic. 4) and 1/4 of the flour –that’s 125g / 4.5oz- (pic.5) to the lukewarm milk.
Mix well (pic. 6) and cover with film or a kitchen towel. Set aside, away from drafts. Let it rest for about 30minutes to 1 hour until it doubles in size. Melt the butter on low heat. Set aside to cool.

Use a stand mixer or an electric hand mixer and beat the 3 eggs, for a few seconds. Add the sugar (pic. 7) and whisk, on medium speed, for about a minute (pic. 8).

Add the salt, the mahleb (pic. 9) and the mastic (pic. 10),

the orange zest (pic. 11) and the melted butter (pic. 12). Whisk for a few more seconds.

Add the prepared yeast mixture (pic. 13). Replace the whisk attachment with the dough hook (pic. 14). If you don’t have one, you’ll have to mix well with a spatula.

Gradually add the flour, one tablespoon at a time (pic. 15), while mixing continuously. Knead with the hook for 10 minutes (pic. 16), on low speed. If you don’t have a dough hook, knead by hand for 15 minutes.

The dough must be firm, smooth and a bit elastic. Place in a bowl (pic. 17), cover with film or a kitchen towel and set aside for 2 – 3 hours to double in size.

Punch down to deflate the dough. Empty it on a working surface (pic. 18). You can also dust the surface with very little flour. Be careful though; too much flour will have an impact on your tsoureki. If the dough isn’t sticking much, don’t flour the surface at all.

Divide the dough in 3 pieces (pic. 19). Roll each piece to form a loaf-like shape. Hold the ends and stretch it a bit more, to form a rope-like strand (like the ones in the beginning, in pic. 20). When the 3 pieces are formed into strands, pinch their ends together at one end (again, like in the beginning of pic. 20).

Braid the strands, the way that is shown in the animated picture (pic. 20):
1. Take the right strand and bring it over the middle strand. Set this next to the left strand.
2. Take the strand that’s now on the right, and move it slightly further to the right.
3. Take the left strand and bring it over the middle strand next to the right strand.
4. Take the right strand and bring it over the middle strand. Set it next to the left strand.
5. Take the left strand and bring it over the middle strand next to the right strand.
6. Continue the process (left to the right-then right to the left), depending on how long your strands are.
7. Tuck the ends underneath the braided loaf.

Don’t worry if the above is confusing to you! Here’s an amazing video from Titli Nihaan that can make braiding super easy to anyone.

Repeat as many times necessary to get the idea (that’s what we did a few years back!)

Carefully transfer the braided loaf on a -lined with parchment- baking sheet. Cover with a damp kitchen towel and set aside. Let it rise, for 1 1/2 – 2 hours. Brush generously with the egg that’s left (pic. 21).

Bake in preheated oven at 190C/370F (in convection oven - fan assisted baking) for 35-40 minutes, until browned. Allow it to cool completely before cutting it.

Kalo Pascha! (Happy Easter!)

Tips:

1. You really must try a slice of tsoureki with some fruit preserves or Nutella. The combination is divine!

2. Always wrap the tsoureki in film after cutting the slices you want to serve, in order to keep it moist, as it tends to dry out.

3. In case that’s rare!- there’s some tsoureki left after a couple of days, you can broil or toast it and make rusks. Those are perfect with your coffee or tea.

4. Choose a high-protein bread flour for this recipe. The more protein, the better.

5. If you liked tsoureki, and you like authentic bread recipes, you should also check out Karen Kerr’s amazing blog “Karen's Kitchen Stories”. Her food blog is one of our favorites and we often visit it to learn techniques and discover tips; especially those related to baking, as she's one of the top bakers out there. Take a look at this beautiful Challah for instance. Isn’t it wonderful?

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How to make Pastitsio: The Greek Lasagna Casserole

littlecookingtips — Thu, 02 Feb 2017 20:50:03 +0000

Photo and text by Mirella Kaloglou and Panos Diotis.

Calories (per serving):

803

Servings:

serves 10-12

Preparation Time:

1 hour

Cooking Time:

2 hours

What a winter! The period of unusually cold weather we’re experiencing this year, which has started before the Christmas season, isn’t like anything we encountered before. The snow storm Ariadne hit Greece hard in January, with heavy snowfalls, even at sea level. The temperatures plummeted for days, even in the islands(!), with snow up to 2m/6.5ft in depth in some places, like Evia.

So, when the storm passed, one of the best places to explore was Steni, a mountain village in Evia, within a quick drive from Athens. We wanted to see first-hand how much snow there was and explore nature as well.

When we arrived, the first images of winter scenery in the village were a testament to the serious problems the snow storm must’ve caused to the people living there. We went to Evia 15 days after the storm had passed and even then, there was a lot of frozen snow in the streets. The main roads however, were clear, so people could reach the island’s main city (Halkida) for provisions.

We had our morning coffee at a cute little café in the village, to warm ourselves up, and then started driving towards the top of the mountain. We wanted to see if we could reach the top, which is about 1800m/6000ft high, but couldn’t do it, due to the fog, snow and ice. The road was very slippery and narrow at places.

So, we took some pictures around the fir trees and the snow, enjoyed the scenery and went back to the village which was about 600m/2000ft down from the place we stopped for pictures. We bought some local honey and fresh artisan bread from the village’s old bakery to bring with us back to Athens. Both were excellent quality and we enjoyed them with a little butter in the next morning, to really appreciate the flavors.

With all this cold weather outside, the timing was perfect for the ultimate Greek comfort food: Pastitsio! What is pastitsio? It’s the Greek version of lasagna; an extremely delicious, rich baked meat and pasta casserole, with creamy sauce and cheese! Need we say more?

The word pastitsio, probably comes from the Italian pasticcio, a very similar pasta casserole that’s very popular around the Mediterranean. The Greek version has three layers: pasta, ground beef sauce (usually scented with a little cinnamon) and a top layer of creamy, cheesy sauce (we call it béchamel here, but it’s actually Mornay).

The pasta used in pastitsio is usually a long tubular macaroni. A slightly thinner version of this is bucatini. People abroad however, also make this dish with ziti, rigatoni or even penne, as long tubular pasta is a bit harder to find sometimes. In this recipe we’ll use the traditional macaroni, but feel free to try the dish with any of the aforementioned pasta.

Two of the main ingredients for this dish are the cheese and the eggs. Both of those help in binding the pasta, the meat and the sauce together. Also, when in room temperature, the top layer becomes thick like custard, just like in moussaka, the other popular Greek casserole. In order to help the sauce on top stay in its place, we have a small tip to share here as well: we keep some of the boiled and drained pasta aside; a handful of two will suffice. Then, we add them at the top, right above the meat sauce, and pour the béchamel cream over. The pasta added here, helps holding the sauce in place when everything is baked together.

Pastitsio is made with traditional Greek cheeses. Most people use kefalotyri. A sharp and salty hard cheese, made from sheep’s milk. Don’t worry though; if it’s not available at your area, you can use Parmesan or Pecorino Romano cheeses instead. The result is equally delicious.

If having to cook three layers sounds a bit confusing or hard, don’t worry. We’ll provide you with handy step-by-step pictures to make things easy. Making pastitsio needs a little time and effort, but the dish is definitely worth it! Put it on the menu for a Sunday meal with friends or family and it’ll be a huge hit.

If you want to save some time, you can make the meat sauce ahead. The meat sauce requires most of your attention, and we often prepare it a day before. This way, we only have to boil and drain the pasta and prepare the béchamel sauce the day we bake the pastitsio. It’s a lot easier this way!

You can also assemble the pastitsio a day ahead, put it in the fridge and then simply bake it right before dinner. Another option is to cook this dish ahead, baking and everything, and then store it in the fridge, covered with film; in this case simply reheat in a convection oven for 20-25 minutes (at 160C/320F) on the next day.

When you take the dish out of the oven, the smell will make it irresistible to cut right into it. You must resist the temptation though and allow it to cool down, before cutting into pieces. Let it cool down for at least 30 minutes. This way cutting the pieces will be easier and the temperature will be just right to enjoy it.

So let’s see the recipe for an authentic Greek pastitsio.

Ingredients:

For the meat sauce:

- 1kg / 34oz / 2lb ground beef*
- 250g / 9oz (2-3 medium sized) onions, finely chopped
- 400g / 14oz (about 2) tomatoes, grated**
- 3-4 garlic cloves, minced or finely chopped
- 180ml (3/4 cup) olive oil
- 125ml (1/2 cup) red wine***
- 70g / 2.5oz kefalotyri or pecorino cheese, grated****
- 1/4 teaspoon (a pinch) ground cinnamon
- salt, pepper

*You can also use ground turkey for a leaner version or ground lamb for a more authentic flavor. You can mix ground beef with ground lamb or beef with pork as well.
** You can also use canned crushed tomatoes
*** You can also use white wine or even cider.
**** You can also use Parmesan or Graviera or Dubliner or aged Asiago or Provolone.

For the pasta:

- 500g / 17.5oz / 1lb long macaroni or bucatini*
- 3 egg whites, lightly beaten (you will use the yolks in the béchamel below)
- 90g / 3oz (3/4 stick) butter, unsalted
- 70g / 2.5oz kefalotyri or pecorino cheese, grated**

*You can also use rigatoni or ziti or penne.
** You can also use Parmesan or Graviera or Dubliner or aged Asiago or Provolone.

For the béchamel (mornay) sauce:

- 200g / 7oz (1 3/4 sticks) butter, unsalted in room temperature
- 140g / 5oz flour, all-purpose
- 1.5lt (6 cups) milk, room temperature
- 3 egg yolks
- 70g / 2.5oz kefalotyri or pecorino cheese, grated**
- a pinch of nutmeg
- salt, pepper

** You can also use Parmesan or Graviera or Dubliner or aged Asiago or Provolone.

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Preparation:
Start by making the meat sauce. This is the part that requires most of your attention. You can make this a day before and store in the fridge if you want to save some time.

Add the olive oil in a large saucepan/skillet or a medium sized pot and place over medium high heat. Once hot, add the onions (pic. 1) and stir until softened, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the ground meat (pic. 2) and stir. Try to break it up with a wooden spoon or spatula. Cook until most of the moisture is evaporated.

Reduce the heat to medium and add the garlic, the cinnamon, salt and pepper (pic. 3). Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring continuously until it gets a bit dry (pic. 4).

Add the wine (pic. 5). Continue cooking for 2 minutes more and then add the grated tomatoes (pic. 6). Cook for 8-10 minutes, until most of the liquid evaporates and the mixture is thick.

Remove from heat, add the cheese (pic. 7) and give it a final stir to incorporate. Have a taste to check for seasoning, and set aside. Remove the eggs, the milk and the butter from the fridge. Separate the yolks from the egg whites. Butter a large, deep 36x28cm / 14x11in baking pan (pic. 8) or a similar in volume, large baking pan.

Cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling salted water, for 2 minutes less than the package instructions.

Drain and transfer to the baking pan, keeping a handful (or two) of pasta aside (pic. 9), for the top layer (this is optional but we recommend it). Add the egg whites, the butter and the cheese (pic. 10) to the pasta and mix. Spread the pasta evenly in the pan. Preheat the oven at 170C/340F (in convection oven - fan assisted baking).

Layer the meat sauce on top of the pasta (pic. 11) and spread evenly (pic. 12).

Make the béchamel sauce:

Melt the butter in a medium sized pot (or a deep saucepan), over medium heat (pic. 13). Add the flour (pic. 14), whisking continuously.

You will make a thick paste (pic. 15). Slowly add the milk (pic. 16), little by little, whisking constantly until smooth. Continue whisking slowly and bring the sauce to a boil. Cook for a few minutes, until it starts to thicken.

Remove from heat and add the cheese (pic. 17), the nutmeg, salt and pepper. Add the egg yolks (pic. 18), while whisking vigorously.

Spread the smal ammount of pasta you kept aside, on top of the meat (pic. 19). Spread the béchamel sauce, evenly, on top (pic. 20). You can also sprinkle a little more cheese or breadcrumbs over the top, but that’s entirely optional (pic. 21).

Bake in the middle rack for 50 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the oven. Remove, allow it to cool down for at least 30 minutes, cut into pieces and serve.

Kali Oreksi!

Tips:

1. You can make the meat sauce 1-2 days ahead, store it in the fridge and warm it up (or simply bring it to room temperature) before using it in the pastitsio.

2. Feel free to try other types of ground meat as well, like lamb or turkey (or mixes of ground meat).

3. You can try making pastitsio with a variety of pasta and cheeses. Feel free to adjust the flavors according to your liking.

4. If you prepare this meal a day ahead, store in the fridge (covered with film) and reheat in a conventional oven for 25 minutes (at 170C/340F) the next day.

5. You can add more crushed tomatoes (up to twice the proposed quantity here) if you like the meat layer to be saucier.

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Oven Baked Meatballs with Roasted Potatoes

littlecookingtips — Sat, 15 Oct 2016 09:17:23 +0000

Photo and text by Panos Diotis and Mirella Kaloglou.

Calories (per serving):

1058

Servings:

Preparation Time:

Cooking Time:

What a great season to get inspiration from! The fall is here, with all its beautiful colors. We are so glad that we’ll get to taste all the wonderful vegetables of the season, once again. An abundance of pumpkins and squash, carrots and cabbage, potatoes and beets, cauliflower and broccoli, lettuce and young onions. Fresh herbs like fennel and dill are back on the table, our pots and pans adding flavor and color.

What a joy it is going for a walk in the fall. Exploring new places in the countryside is truly magical during this season. The explosion of colors in parks, gardens and groves is a feast for the senses. It regenerates and makes one happier, putting a smile on one’s face.

Of course we couldn’t miss visiting again our family’s garden in Evia (also known as Euboea) island, to experience this wondrous transformation. Getting back in touch with our true roots; touching the soil and smelling the rain in the ground creates a feeling we wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

It was so wonderful to see the new plants in the garden. To see the new fruits ripening on the tree branches. To see the olives, ready to be harvested for the winter.

As the nature is getting ready for the new winter season, it was time for us as well, to get back to blogging, after a few months’ absence. We missed all of you out there, and we missed sharing our passion for real, homemade cooking.

One of the first recipes we’d love to show you is a rustic, delicious and easy Greek food which is perfect for any Sunday meal with your family. During the last season, we published a traditional recipe for Greek meatballs (keftedes or keftedakia), which are fried and usually served with French fries or Greek baked potatoes, a Horiatiki Greek salad and/or Tzatziki on the side. As it turned out, this worked really well for so many of our readers and soon became one of our most popular ground beef recipes in the blog.

Taking this into account, we felt that we had to share another version of a Greek meatball recipe (keftedes), only this time they are baked in the oven with potatoes. The inspiration for the recipe came from a real life experience, a couple of winters ago. We have always loved the flavor and aroma of fenugreek.

Fenugreek is a plant whose leaves and seeds are often encountered in the ingredients list of an Indian recipe. It’s also used to flavor cured meats like pasturma. Even though it contains the term “-greek” in its name, we didn’t find fenugreek in modern Greek recipes or meals our mothers cooked while we were growing up. Nor was it used in foods prepared in restaurants.

Well, a couple of winters ago, Panos’ yiayia (grandma) Katina while sitting by the fireplace was sharing her memories of old recipes and ingredients she used to cook with, back in the 50s, when she was in her teens. Between others, she mentioned “tsimeni”, a word we once heard before. She started to describe how this spice was used in old recipes which she cooked back in the day and how it is still used today in…pasturma!

Since we love pasturma, we looked up “tsimeni” as soon as we heard that. Apparently, tsimeni was a word for a paste whose main ingredient is fenugreek, also called trigonella in Greek (or moshositaro, meaning fragrant wheat!). Looking more into trigonella, we discovered that it was a plant used in Southeastern Europe for millennia. So there was something Greek in fenugreek after all!

Unfortunately, perhaps because of its strong flavor and aroma, it was abandoned in the last decades, to the point that most Greeks (ourselves included) had no idea what it was. So, we had to experiment and try fenugreek in many Greek recipes. The end result was a variety of delicious dishes and marinades. For instance, try to add some fenugreek in a lemony chicken marinade, along with dry oregano. You’ll be surprised by the delicious result.

Back to our homemade meatballs now; as mentioned, we wanted to share another easy meatball recipe (keftedes). One of our most successful uses of fenugreek is in keftedes. Just like with biftekia (Greek burgers) which are also baked in the oven, these Greek meatballs are a great idea for a Sunday lunch. This is a food that’s even better when shared with your family and friends.

Our memories are filled with our parents hosting a Sunday lunch, with our cousins, aunts and uncles, under a gorgeous sun. Even on the coldest days of the fall, we are blessed with lots of sunshine here in Greece; and sharing a table with mezedes (appetizers), oven baked meatballs (or biftekia burgers) and good wine with your family, is truly warming for the soul. You probably have similar memories as well, having experienced magical moments like that.

In this recipe, we baked the meatballs on a bed of potatoes. Those golden wedges are slowly roasted in olive oil, enhanced with the citrus flavor of the coriander, the spicy taste of the cumin and the mild ginger-like taste of the turmeric. If you’re reading this blog often, you are already familiar with our obsession for turmeric. Turmeric adds a wonderful color and enhances the taste of every food it's added to. If you don’t have any turmeric, you can also add a little mustard instead, for a different, but equally delicious result.

The potatoes in this recipe are roasted until tender and soft in the inside and crispy on the outside. And their flavor is truly unique. Even if you don’t want to have meat, you can try and just bake the potatoes of this recipe. You can serve them then with feta and/or tzatziki, for a delicious vegetarian meal.

Keftedes and potatoes are best served with a fresh salad on the side. We often serve this dish with a simple lettuce and vinaigrette salad, or coleslaw. It’s also great with a horiatiki Greek salad and tzatziki.

If you want to serve something totally different and delicious, perhaps for Thanksgiving, this recipe is something you should probably look into; served with fragrant mashed carrots on the side, this is maybe one of the most delightful choices.

Full of aroma, filling and rustic, these oven baked meatballs are among the best comfort foods you can try. Plus they’re very versatile, since you can add or substitute the spices according to your liking, and create countless variations of your own. The possibilities are endless.

Another advantage of this recipe is that it’s a great make ahead recipe. You can easily prepare it a day before, allow it to cool to room temperature and then cover the pan with film and store it in the fridge. The next day, you simply remove the film, pop it in the oven for 15 minutes in 200C/390F and you’re ready to serve! Do not reheat in microwaves though; baked potatoes are tastier (and still crunchy on the outside) if you reheat them in a conventional oven.

So let’s see how to make these beautiful oven baked meatballs!

Ingredients:

For the meatballs(keftedes):
- 500gr / 17.oz / 1lb ground beef*
- 100gr/3.5oz (2 slices) bread, preferably stale
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon yellow mustard (you can add a spicy Dijon if you prefer)
- 1.5-2 teaspoons ground fenugreek**
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt, pepper

*You can also use ground turkey for a leaner version or ground lamb for stronger flavor
**If you can't find fenugreek anywhere then try fennel (in any form, a small minced piece of the bulb, toasted seeds, fresh chopped fronds) for a different but equally interesting result

For the potatoes:
- 1kg / 2.2lb medium sized potatoes (3-4 potatoes depending on their size), peeled
- 2 teaspoons ground turmeric*
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 375ml (3/4 cup) olive oil
- salt

*If you don't have turmeric, you can also use 1tablespoon of mustard

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Preparation:

Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise (pic. 1), and do the same with the two halves (pic. 2). Then cut them horizontally to form wedges (pic. 3).

Put the potatoes in a baking pan and add the olive oil (pic. 4) and the spices (turmeric, coriander, cumin, pepper, salt). Mix well/toss with your hands to coat the potatoes with the oil and the spices (pic. 5). Set aside.

Remove the crust from the bread slices and cut into chunks (pic. 6). Dense, stale bread is far better for this step. Add the bread chunks into a food processor and pulse to create breadcrumbs (pic. 7). Sometimes (depending on the bread), you may need to shake the food processor a bit, to get the process started.

At this point preheat the oven at 200 degrees Celsius/390 Fahrenheit. If using convection oven (fan baking) set at 180 degrees C / 370 F.

Add the breadcrumbs, the ground beef, the egg, the olive oil, the mustard and the fenugreek in a large bowl (pic. 8). Season with salt and pepper. Knead, using your hands, for 2-3 minutes. When everything is well incorporated, shape large meatballs with your palms (pic. 9). They don't have to be perfect, don't worry. This is a classic rustic recipe, where imperfections are perfect! :)

Arrange the meatballs on top of the potatoes and cover the pan with foil (be thorough).
Bake in the middle oven rack for 1 hour.

Then remove the foil, and keep baking for another 30 minutes (depending on how golden or brown you like the potatoes).

Kali oreksi!

Tips:

1. Serve with a Horiatiki Greek salad and/or Tzatziki and/or a Greek beetroot spread (pantzarosalata)
2. Feel free to try other types of ground meat as well, like lamb or turkey (or mixes of ground meat). This recipe is especially good if you’re looking to make turkey meatballs.
3. If you cook for more than four, make sure to double (or triple) the ingredients, as this recipe is just for four portions.
4. If you prepare this meal a day ahead, store in the fridge (covered with film) and reheat in a conventional oven for 15 minutes (at 200C/390F) the next day.

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