Olives and fetta

Souvla - Greek lamb BBQ on the spit.

2011-04-24T18:55:00.000-07:00

We won a souvla a couple of months ago so Greek Easter was the perfect time to test it out. DH got advice from the Souvla oracle (DB) and with some lamb loin pieces from Supreme Souvla (Belmore) the result was a success.

Good pieces of meat lined up the fat side next to a meat side along the skewer helps to baste the meat throughout. The coals were lit ahead of time and the meat skewers were added once the coals became grey. You don't want any flames during the cooking process.
We rotated the skewers every 15 minutes so they all browned consistently.

I can still taste it. mmm.

Greek Easter eggs

2011-04-24T18:48:00.000-07:00

This year I got some advice from my favourite Greek sweets shop at Parramatta and my Greek Easter eggs worked out.

The dye is diluted into a warm water and vinegar solution and then added to the saucepan with the eggs. I began with a low simmer and allowed it to then slow boil. There was only one layer of eggs in the saucepan so the result was no breakages and each egg was boiled properly.

My youngest nephew got advice from his grandfather on how to beat the rest of us and this year he won the egg cracking competition. We all had fun.

Baklava fingers and wheel

2011-04-24T18:41:00.000-07:00

This Easter I decided to make a couple of shapes with the basic baklava recipe.

The first version was to make Baklava fingers. Below is the result of rolling the fillo pastry with the nut mixture. I've cut the pastry into quarters along the length and then rolled the pastry, tucking in the sides after the second roll turn.

The nut mixture consists of almonds, walnuts, sugar and ground cinnamon. I've used unsalted butter to seal the pastry although you don't need to seal the pastry when you pack it tightly into the tin. You will however need unsalted butter to coat the top of the pastry.

The syrup is a water, sugar and lemon juice mixture that I prepared the day before. The trick with baklava is to add cold syrup to hot cooked pastry. Alternatively, add hot syrup to cold cooked pastry.

The snail version below was done by placing the nut mixture along lengthways on the fillo pastry. Then you use the round cake tin to shape the snail. Everything step is then the same.

I did baste both versions with syrup and then drained out the excess.

They remained finger lick'n good.

Kourabiethes - two recipes

2011-04-24T18:29:00.000-07:00

This year I decided to test two recipes. The first recipe is from The Complete Middle East Cookbook by Tess Mallos. My mum used this book as her reference cookbook for lots of Cypriot recipes. Mainly the ones you do once a year.

Makes 40; Cooking time: 20 minutes; Oven: 160C or 325 F.
1 cup unsalted butter
3 Tablespoons icing sugar sifted
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon brandy
1/2 cup finely chopped roasted almonds (optional)
2 1/2 cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
Cloves and 2 cups icing sugar to decorate finished biscuits

Directions:
1. Melt butter until bubbles subside and sediment is golden brown - do not burn. Pour oiled butter and sediment into mixing bowl. Wait until butter has solidified before attempting the next step.
2. Add first quantity of icing sugar and beat on electrix mixer until light and fluffy. Add egg yolk and brandy and beat well.
3. Remove bowl from mixer and stir in almonds if used. Sift flour and baking powder twice and mix lightly into butter mixture. knead by hand until smooth.
4. Break off small pieces the size of a large walnut. Shape into crescents, or roll into balls, place on a flat surface and pinch tops twice, making four indentations and at the same time flattening them slightly.
5. Insert cloves in the top of each biscuit, and place on ungreased baking sheets.
6. Bake in a modertely slow oven for 20 minutes or until lightly coloured. Do not brown. Leave to cool on tray for 10 minutes.
7. Sift icing sugar over waxed paper and lift warm biscuits onto this. Sift more icing sugar on top and sides.
8. When cool, place in a container and sift remaining sugar on top of biscuits. Seal and store for 2 days before using to improve flavour.
9. When serving, place each in a small paper cup cake container.
Note: The melting and light browning of the butter is not traditional but it does give a delightful flavour to the biscuits. Many excellent Greek cooks use this method, but omit this step if you wish.

My opinion:

The preparation time with the melted butter took too much time to do and then wait for the butter to solidify. The final biscuits were a bit heavy for my taste. The result was still the traditional Kourabiethes. You should try this for yourself to see how it works for you.

The picture below is the chopped almonds.

The second recipe is taken from Step-by-Step Greek Cooking from Family Circle books.

Makes 24; Preparation time: 20 minutes; Oven: 180C but I used 150C because my oven is fierce.

Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

1/2 cup icing sugar sifted
1 egg yolk
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
1 Tablespoon brandy
3/4 cup roasted hazelnuts finely chopped
3cups plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder

1 cup icing sugar to decorate finished biscuits

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to moderate 180C. Using electric beaters, beat butter and sugar in a small mixing bowl until light and creamy. Add yolk, beat well. Add vanilla essences and brandy; beat until combined.
2. Transfer mixture to large mixing bowl; add nuts, baking powder and flour. Working quickly, use hands to press ingredients together to form a soft dough. Do not knead.
3. Shape 2 teaspoons of mixture at a time into a crescent shape. Repeat with the remaining mixture. Place crescents into ungreased biscuit tray about 4 cm apart. Bake 25 minutes or until lightly golden. Remove, cool on tray.
4. When cool, dust biscuits liberally with icing sugar. Serve shortbread with Greek coffee.

My opinion:
These took less time to prepare and the mixture was lighter, resulting in a lighter biscuit.

Final result: I used almonds for both recipes and they all tasted great and no one complained about the biscuits. Both recipes are easy to make for novice cooks who want a yummy biscuits.
PS: Don't breath in or out when you eat these. Icing sugar can be tricky :)

Wild rice salad

2011-04-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

Salad ingredients:
1 pkt (100gm) Wild rice - soaked for 2 hours and boil until soft.

2 cups cooked rice
1 capsicum - sliced finely
1 cup snap peas - par boiled
fennel for decoration

Dressing ingredients:
1 part basamic vinegar, 1 part olive oil, salt, pepper, 1T curry powder, lemon juice

This salad is a summer family favourite and once it's made, it lasts in the fridge for days. If you want fibre, this salad has plenty. Omit the amount olive oil if you can't have it in your diet. Add brown rice for more fibre.

Paella

2010-08-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

We had a quiet day in after actually going out on a Saturday night, so I cooked.

The secret action was to cover it with alfoil at the end and let it cook. I took it off the heat before the rice burned, which is a no-no, so next time I'll leave it to burn a bit around the edges.

Nuts - baklava

2010-08-16T04:36:00.000-07:00

Baklava

This is my latest batch of Baklava. It has a mix of almonds and walnuts and the syrup is a sugar, water and lemon mix.

I wanted to use up the filo after making spanakopita a couple of weeks ago.

pancakes

2010-07-17T02:49:00.000-07:00

At the same afternoon tea I made a stack of pancakes.

Again using the commonsense cookery book, they were great, with a bit of nutella.

Walnut cake

2010-07-17T02:45:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to host an afternoon tea for my family. I was planning on making a Greek walnut cake but the recipe I had was full of eggs. I was gobsmacked. Not that I have a cholesterol problem so I took the basic cake recipe from the commonsense cookery book and added walnuts and cinnamon, with a dash of baking powder. I topped it with chopped almonds.

As you can see, I added too much baking powder but it was still so good...

mince sauce

2010-07-17T02:36:00.000-07:00

There are times when I get organised and cook ahead of time. Now these times can be rare at times, so while working on a new recipe, I threw together a quick mince sauce to be frozen for later.

This recipe is simple:
Chopped onions and crushed garlic are sauteed in some olive oil. Then I added the mince. In this instance it was a blend of pork and beef mince. Then I added in a tin of chopped tomatoes with some chopped fresh tomatoes. To allow the sauce to simmer, I put in 1 cup of chicken stock and pepper. Once the sauce has reduced, it cools and then is put into containers for freezing.

Moussaka with Soy milk

2010-05-17T00:46:00.001-07:00

When I have vegies that need cooking, and there's some mince in the freezer, moussaka is a good solution. Stir fries are my first 'everything vegie' dish.

I always layer the potatoes first so they cook in the vegie and mince sauce. Then layer is eggplant then zucchini. The layering depends on what you have and the size of your baking dish. This is my little baking dish. I've used herbs and cracked pepper on different layers. There's no cooking at this stage. Traditional recipes call for the layers to be pre-cooked or fried.

This is the mince layer is the second last layer. Ok, if you're a real vego, use cooked brown rice and drizzle with salsa sauce.
Below is the beginnings of the bechamel sauce. The reason I've used soy milk is because DH still is lactose and fructose intolerant, from last year's salmonella poisoning. The salmonella was something he picked up in Austria last year.

This is a tricky part so if you're not up for it, don't bother. I add in the milk in small quantities and guess when I have enough for the baking dish. Use 2T butter and 2T flour, make the roux and then gradually add in the milk.

The oven is 180C and I place the dish on a larger metal tray, in case the sauce overflows while baking.

Easter flaounes 2010

2010-04-01T17:46:00.000-07:00

This year I made these flaounes at home.

DH helped me roll out the dough using a pasta maker. I gave this job to him because I needed a hand and he loves any technology, and the pasta maker is something he's been wanted to use for a while.

My right hand was jarred 4 weeks ago when I cycled from St Ives to West Head so my wrist is now taped up, but I still kneaded the dough for this recipe.

Last year I made about 90 flaounes that it took ages to eat and give them away so this year my Godmother gave me a locally produced Greek cook that had a recipe for 60 flaounes. This recipe is by Dimitra Papilos, in the from home to home fund raising cookbook, St Raphael's Greek Orthodox Church, Parish of Liverpool and Districts, 2009.

Cheese mix ingredients (prepare the mixture the night before)

5 medium pieces haloumi cheese, grated (I used 1 pieces of haloumi from Woolies)

6 cups cheddar cheese, grated (I used 3/4 pack of a 500 gm tasty chees grated from Woolies)

1kg kefalograviera, grated (I used 800 gm)

1 cup fine semolina

1/2 self-raising flour (I used plain flour and added 4 T baking powder)

2 sachets yeast (I started the yeast in 1/2 cup luke warm milk)

2 cups chopped fresh mint (I used 1/2 cup fresh mint from my garden)

2-3 dozen eggs (I used 8 eggs in the mixture and freshened it up with 2 eggs before I used the cheese mix).

extra eggs for glazing (I used 1 egg)

1kg sesame seeds (I used 300 grams of sesame seeds)

I also added half of the mahlepi and mastica required for the pastry.

Directions:

Use a laundy size plastic tub for this because it's a large amount of ingredients. My bowl was a real struggle to use.

In a large dish, add all the cheese. Then add the semolina, flour, yeast and enough eggs to make a wet but firm mixture. Set aside in a cool place over night, but cover it with a towel.
If you like sultanas, add some in the preparation stage or just add a few as you assemble the flanounes.
You can now make the pastry. I made this the night before after making the mixture, but most Greek mums make this on the day. I work full time, so this was a handy option.

Pastry ingredients: (Prepare the pasty the night before)

3kg plain flour (I used the flour for bread)

5 cups self raising flour (I used 1 cup)

6 cups luke warm milk (I used 4 cups)

3 cups vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

1 pkt mahlepi powder

10 grams crushed mastica

Directions.

Again, use a huge plastic bucket/dish. These are massive quantities.

Prepare the pastry by adding the sifted flours together with the oil, luke warm milk and spices. knead together until soft and pliable.
Cover and set aside to rest and rise.

Day 2:

Clean and clear your kitchen ahead of time because you need stacks of room.
Preheat the oven at 200C (my oven overheats so I used base heat at 190C).
Blanche sesame seeds in boiling water and drain through a fine sieve.
Before commencing, add the fresh mint to the cheese mix.
For the glaze, beat some eggs and to that add some of the sesame seeds.
Break pieces of dough into portions and roll out on a clean floured surface to form a round shape. (This is when we used the pasta maker to take the pressure off my shoulders and hands).
Add a heaped spoonful of the cheese mixture to the centre of the pastry and fold the four edges together, leaving a small opening in the centre.
Glaze with the egg and sesame seeds.
Place onto a well greased baking dish and cook in a hot oven at 200C. (This is where I used baking paper on a scone slide, and didn't need to grease and re-grease the baking dish).
Continue until all the pastry and mixture is finished.

This recipe was always made by Mum when she was able to cook. She used this as a way to bring the family together. On occassions, she would even have extended family members help out when assembling this recipe. The mystery has always been in the preparation and I hope you enjoy the preparation journey of this recipe.

Greek Shortbread - Kourabiethes

2009-12-28T02:36:00.000-08:00

These were made by my GdM. She's a fabulous cook. These are all that were left after we devoured them at Christmas.

Here's my recipe that I've adapted from Family Circle Step by Step Greek Cooking.
Ingredients250gm or 8 oz butter or substitute
1/2 cup icing sugar sifted

1 teaspoon
1 egg yolk
3 cups self raising flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1 tablespoon whiskey
whole cloves
extra icing sugar to dust the biscuits once they're out of the oven.
Directions
Soften butter in a bowl. Beat well.
Add sifted icing sugar and beat until fluffy. The product should be lighter than when you began.
Add egg yolk and beat thoroughly.
Sift flour and baking powder.
Add to butter mixture.
Add chopped almonds and sprinkle lightly with whiskey. Emphasis on lightly.
Knead well and form into long biscuit shapes.
Place on a baking tray and cook in a moderate oven for 15 minutes.
Once they are golden brown, take them out to cool and dust with icing sugar.

Made 16 August 2010.

I made this batch today for work tomorrow.

Breakfast crunch - fruit crumble

2009-12-27T23:17:00.000-08:00

My foodie SIL and Bro bought use feed me now! by Bill Granger so I decided to use the cherries, lychees and strawberries for breakfast this morning. I'm strictly a savoury breakfast eater but I thought this would be a special post Christmas breakfast, that we could use up the fresh stone fruit in a 'healthy' way. PS I have to lose 5.5 kg, so that was kind of motivation to look for a 'healthy' option.

The picture above gives you an idea of how the resulting breakfast turned out. I used untoasted muesli in the crumble topping and I was easy on the butter.

Here's the real recipe:
Ingredients
350g rhubarb chopped into 5cm lengths
500g strawberries, hulled and halved
1T plain flour
50g caster sugar

Crumble topping
120g untoasted muesli
25g plain flour
55g caster sugar
100g cold butter, cut into small pieces

Serve with thick greek yoghurt
We didn't have any yoghurt, so that' probably why this was more like a dessert than a breakfast treat.

I used loads of fresh cherries, fresh lychees and fresh strawberries that we had on Christmas day.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place the chopped fruit into a baking dish. I used my blue pyrex pie dish. I just love the blue colour - such a greek. Sprinkle with the flour and sugar and toss to combine. Bake for 10 minutes.

For the topping, mix the muesli, flour and sugar together in a large bowl. Add butter and run in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs. If it's a humid day, like it was today, use the food processor on pulse. I ended up with a dough like mixture and realised there wasn't enough crumble.

So I used a crumble mix from a White Wings flour packet. It uses 3/4C plain flour, 150g butter chilled and cubed, 2/3C rolled oats (I used muesli) and 1/4C dessicated coconut (which I didn't have). I used much less butter and the breadcrumb texture worked out really well.

Sprinkle the topping over the fruit mixture and bake for 30 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Serve with thick Greek yoghurt. Today this recipe took 20 minutes to cook and we relished it without yoghurt. Mmmm.
Preparing the fruit took 20 minutes and I wore disposable gloves, so I would have cherry stains on my hands. DH made me a latte while cooking, so I have lots of energy to keep cooking and not deviate and eat other stuff while cooking.

Pastichio - Greek lasagna

2009-12-27T23:05:00.000-08:00

At any greek gathering, we always have platters of food and Pastichio is one of those must haves. If you plan large gatherings, this can be made ahead of time and heated up on the day. Some people eat this cold, but that's up to your preference.

The beauty of this dish is that it's something that kids will eat and the grandparents will eat even if they are sensitive to spicy foods.

If you're health conscious, omit the cheese sauce and just use a thick tomato sauce.

Preparation order:

Pasta
mince sauce
cheese sauce
Assemble and then either store in the freezer or bake and then serve.

Preheat oven to moderate 180C.

Pasta layer:
Precook approximately 500 grams pasta strands with a hole. The amount depends on your dish.

Mince sauce:
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 Tablespoons dry white wine (optional)
1 can tomato puree or 400 grams home made tomato puree
1 Tablespoon parsely chopped finely
2 Tablespoons mint chopped finely
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in pan
Add onions and mince. Stir over high heat for 10 minutes or until well browned and all liquid has evapourated.
Add wine, tomatoe puree, herbs, cinnamon, pepper and bring to boil.
Reduce heat, simmer, covered for 20 minutes and stir occasionally.
Remove lid and simmer for 10 minutes.

Cheese sauce:
90 grams butter
1/3 cup plain flour 2 cups milk (skim is ok as is soy)
2 eggs lightly beaten (omit this if you're watching your cholesterol)
2/3 cup grated cheese (any cheese is ok, from ricotta to kaseri)

Directions:

Heat butter in small pan, then add flour.
Stir over low heat for 2 minutes.
Add milk gradually and stir until smooth. Use a whisk or if you have sore hands, get out the electrical beater - or your husband (he he).
Stir the cheese sauce over medium heat 5 minutes or until mixture boils and thickens.
Cook for 1 minute, remove from heat. That's it if you are not adding eggs and cheese.
Add eggs and cheese.
Beat until smooth.

Assembling:

Place half the pasta on the bottom of the baking dish.
Then add mince layer.
Place remaining pasta in the baking dish but leave room for the sauce. If you haven't added cheese and eggs, the sauce will filter into the pasta layer, but this is still as tasty option.
Place final layer - cheese sauce. Try to leave some room in the dish for the sauce and mince to bubble away as it cooks. Hungry yet?

Here are the left overs from my last attempt.

Kali oreksi

Sesame bars

2009-07-05T01:21:00.000-07:00

Ingredients
2 1/2 cups sesame seeds
2 1/2 cups peanuts
1 cup honey
1 cup sugar
pinch salt

Method

Toast the peanuts and sesame seeds on separate trays.
Boil the honey, sugar and salt in a saucepan for 20 minutes. Careful not to burn yourself or the mixture.
Remove from heat.
Stir the sesame seeds and peanuts into the mixture for 2 minutes.
Pour the mixture into a sponge cake tin or other small sided tray.
With a sharp knife, trace the cutting marks along the mixture and allow to cool in the fridge.
Store in an airtight container away from heat.

Impossible quiche

2009-05-30T03:36:00.000-07:00

Quiche ingredients

1/2 plain flour

4 eggs

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 sour cream

salt

pepper

filling ingredient choices

cooked chicken

sweet corn

ham

bacon

prawns

spinach

sliced crab sticks

Quiche directions

Grease a quiche dish
Mix the quiche ingredients first
Add the filling of your choice
Pour into greased quiche dish
Add grated cheese on top
Bake in a moderate oven for 1 hour.

Baklava filling

2009-05-30T03:30:00.000-07:00

The filling mixture is the secret to any great Baklava. The filo pastry and unsalted butter is what you play with to hold the mixture. The syrup is up to you but always use warm baklava to cold syrup.

4 cups almonds

1 1/2 cups butter

1 teaspoon cinnamon

2 eggs

4 tablespoons sugar

Banana Cake

2009-05-30T03:24:00.000-07:00

Cake ingredients

2 eggs

4 oz or 125 gm butter

3/4 cup sugar

3 ripe bananas

1 teaspoon vanilla essence

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

3/4 cups self raising flour

3/4 cups plain flour

1 teaspoon bicarb soda.

Cake directions

Place in a blender and mix until smooth.

Cook in a moderate oven for 20 - 30 minutes.

Icing ingredients

125 gm or 4oz philly cheese

1 teaspoon butter

2 cups icing sugar

vanilla essence

Icing directions

Beat well and smooth onto cold cake.

Kourabiethes - Greek shortbread

2009-05-30T03:15:00.000-07:00

Ingredients

250gm or 8 oz butter or substitute

1/4 cup icing sugar

1 egg yolk

3 cups self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 cup chopped almonds

1 tablespoon whiskey

whole cloves

extra icing sugar to dust the biscuits once they're out of the oven.

Directions

Soften butter in a bowl. Beat well.
Add sifted icing sugar and beat until fluffy. The product should be lighter than when you began.
Add egg yolk and beat thoroughly.
Sift flour and baking powder.
Add to butter mixture.
Add chopped almonds and sprinkle lightly with whiskey. Emphasis on lightly.
Knead well and form into long biscuit shapes.
Place on a baking tray and cook in a moderate oven for 15 minutes.
Once they are golden brown, take them out to cool and dust with icing sugar.

Jenny's coconut cake - Greek style

2009-05-30T03:06:00.001-07:00

My mum has a rolled up notepad of recipes that she no longer cooks, but were her signature dishes that everyone adored. Before theses recipes are lost, I thought I would share these with you. As I test them out, I'll post up the finished product and steps along the way.

Cake ingredients

1 cup oil

1 cup self raising flour

5 eggs

2 cups coconut

vanilla essence

rose water

1 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

Syrup ingredients

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

rose water

lemon juice

Directions

Syrup

Place the syrup ingredients in a saucepan.
On a low heat, stir until the syrup forms.
Allow to cool and then start on the cake.

Cake

Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, then add the wet ingredients.
Place in a round tin.
Bake in a moderate oven.
Check after 20 minutes.
Bake until golden.
Pour the cold syrup over the warm cake slowly.
Spread the syrup over the cake and watch it glisten.

Easter flaounes

2009-04-16T05:48:00.001-07:00

These are the first flauones I made this year for Greek Easter. There are 90 in total and I couldn't have done this without my godparents and two aunties. Yes. Greek cooking is handed down from generation and making Easter foods is a tradition that takes lots of logistical planning, energy and a passion to achieve. But it's so much fun if you have the right reason for taking on such a traditional task.

Flaounes are the Easter currency. You take these with you when you visit friends and relatives during this time of the year. I am officially on my 'p' licence when it comes to Greek Easter treats.

Here's a simple recipe from my cuz:
Filling
3 1/2 blocks haloumi
1 kg tasty cheese
15 double yoke eggs if possible or 15 single
3/4 - 1 cup sultanas optional
fresh mint cinnamon
mehlepi and mastiha (check with your deli for these spices)
2-3 teaspoons baking powder
1 cup semolina
15g (3 packets) beer yeast mixed with warm milk
add 3 eggs into yeast after 10 minutes
Mix dry stuff first then wet leave mixture for a couple of hours

Dough
3 kilos S/R flour
2 blocks unsalted butter,
mix together in 1/2 cup of milk
add 1 sachet of yeast,
mahlibi,
mastiha,
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
add to dough knead add warm water as needed
leave mixture for a few hours before making

kali orexi