Anastasia

Monday's Greek Recipe - Kypriakes Ravioles- Cyprus Ravioli

For the dough

• 4 water glasses self-raising flour
• pinch of salt
• 1  1/3  water glasses lukewarm water

For the filling

• 3 water glasses halloumi cheese, grated
• dried mint
• 2-3 eggs
• 1 chicken stock cube

Directions

1. To make the dough, mix the flour and the salt, stir in as much water as needed and knead to make a rather firm dough.
2. To make the filling, combine the halloumi cheese, the mint and the eggs to make a rather firm mixture.
3. Divide the dough into small portions.
4. Flour each portion and roll it out into a thin sheet which you cut into strips  of 9-10 cm width.
5. Place each strip on a flat surface dusted with flour.
6. Put about half a teaspoon filling at intervals of 4 cm on the half length of the strip.
7. Fold the remaining part of the strip over the filling to cover it completely.
8. Cut ravioli in round shapes with a special round ravioli cutter, dipping the cutter in flour every time.
9. Place the ravioli on a flat floured dish and dust with flour on both sides to prevent them from sticking together. Continue until all the dough and filling are used. It makes about 130 ravioli.
10. In a large pan, boil plenty of water with the chicken stock cube, add the ravioli and cook for 10-15 minutes.
11. To serve, place the ravioli in a semi-deep serving dish and sprinkle with grated halloumi cheese.

Note: If you have a pasta machine, you can use it to roll out the dough into strips.

Recipe by Sandra Lysandrou

Monday's Greek Recipe - Kokoretsi

Photo Credit

INGREDIENTS

 

• Guts of lamb. You might need guts from more than one lamb. Ask for 2 hearts, 2 spleen, liver and 1 lungs, 2 testicles
• Bowels (intestines) of lamb. At least 4 are required for a medium size kokoretsi
• oregano
• Salt
• Pepper
• Some olive oil

METHOD

Wash the guts very thoroughly and cut them in small pieces. Be careful not to cut them in too small pieces because you will no be able to skewer them. Wash the bowels very carefully and try to clean them from inside. Leave them in a washbowl and keep the ends of each bowel in one side in order to be able to seperate them. Prepare the souvla (iron stick). Start skewering the guts in the iron stick until all are passed to the iron stick. Pin one end of the first bowel in the one side of the souvla and wind the intestine around the skewer. If the bowel reaches its end tie it with the end of the next bowel and continue to wind until all bowels are wrapped and no guts are visible (you should only see the bowels along the souvla). Season with salt, pepper and oregano. Prepare the fire and roast on all sides until guts are brown and crispy. Check that "kokoretsi" is ready and remove from fire. Cut the kokoretsi in cylinders of 5 cm wide in order to remove it from the souvla in pieces. Put in platter, oil the kokoretsi pieces, season with extra salt, pepper and oregano and serve.

via www.greek-recipe.com

Kokoretsi is a meal that is traditionally made and served at Easter, along with Lamb on the Spit. It is made from the internal organs of the lamb, arranged on a skewer and cooked over the hot coals along with the lamb on Easter Sunday. It can be found at other times of the year in some tavernas. The purpose of this meal was to make use of the organs of the lamb, that was gutted and cleaned ready for the spit, and not to waste any parts of the animal. Kokoretsi is traditionally served as a starter.

Monday's Greek Recipe - Melitzanes Imam Baildi - Imam Baildi Aubergines

For the Greeks, the Great Lent has already begun. This is a  time period of about 40  days before the Greek Holy Easter. During this time most Greeks fast and avoid eating meat and dairy products. 

Ingredients

10 aubergines / eggplants)

6 onions cut in rings

6-8 cloves garlic sliced

1 tea cup olive oil

1 tbs sugar

some finely cut parsley

6 ripe tomatoes finely chopped and peeled

salt and pepper

Directions

1. Peel the aubergines in stripes, cut one edge but do NOT remove the stem and put them in salted cold water for about 30 minutes so that they open up like ...small boats.. Then squeeze the aubergines with your hands.

2. In a bowl mix the onions, tomatoes, garlic, parsely, sugar, salt and pepper.

3. Fill in the aubergines with this mixture and pour the rest over them. Add the olive oil plus a cup of water. 

6. Put them one next to another in a baking pan and bake in pre-heated oven for about 1 hour at 170*C (= 325 Fahrenheit).

7. Serve with some crushed feta cheese. 

 

Monday's Greek Recipe - Psarosoupa me Trahana - Fish Soup with Trahana

 

4 servings

Ingredients

1 cup extra virgin Greek olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped

1 kilo (2 pounds) grouper or other gelatinous Aegean or Mediterranean fish, bones in, cut into serving pieces
1 medium carrot, pared and cut into diagonal slices

2 celery stalks, finely chopped

Juice of 1 lemon

1 cup Cretan or Cyprus  sour trahana, dampened until soft
Extra virgin Greek olive oil and fresh parsley sprigs for garnish

Directions

1. Heat olive oil in a large pot and cook the onion until soft.
Add the fish and saute lightly.
Remove with a slotted spoon and transfer to a platter. Add the carrot
and celery to the onions.

2. Pour in l litter (1 quart) of water.
Season with salt and pepper.
Bring to a boil. Add the fish back in the pot. Put the lemon juice and cook until the fish is fork tender, about 20 minutes.

Remove with a slotted spoon, set aside, and keep warm. Add the trahana to the pot.

Simmer until tender.

3. Place fish back into pot and serve in soup plates, garnished with raw
olive oil and parsley.

Recipe by Demitris and Michalis Mavrikos

Vasilopita - the Greek New Year's Cake

My Vasilopita 2011

 

Some of you may remember my Vasilopita recipe posted on December 29, 2009. In this reblog, I have added  recent photos and  measurements in grams and ounces.

Vasilopita is the Greek New Year's cake. Vasilopita is associated with Saint Basil's Day on January 1^st  in Greece. On New Year's Day families cut the Vasilopita to bless the house and bring good luck for the new year.It is traditional to bake a coin into the Vasilopita (St. Basil's cake). The one who receives the coin is considered to be especially blessed  for the year. A piece of cake is sliced for each member of the family and any visitors present at the time. Slices are also cut for various other people or groups, depending on local and family tradition. They may include St. Basil and other saints, the Virgin Mary, the Church and the poor. In my family, slices are cut for Jesus Christ, for the poor and one slice for each member of the family.  Vasilopita is made in honour of a beautiful act of charity by St. Basil to the poor and needy of his flock. In order to insure that the needy would have money for life's necessities, and knowing that the needy were also proud people, St. Basil had the ladies of his church bake sweet bread with coins baked into them. In this way, he could give them money without demeaning them at all.  To this day, many wealthy families would place a gold coin in Vasilopita. It is meant as a gift to the lucky one since in Greece and Cyprus we exchange gifts on New Year’s Day as well! Saint Basil is our Santa Claus like Saint Nicholas in other countries.

 

Like Saint Nicholas at Christmas, Saint Basil puts the presents under the tree on January 1st

 

INGREDIENTS

 

• 1 cup butter  / 226 g / 8 ounces
  
• 1 cup sugar / 200 g / 7 ounces
  
• 3  ½  cups flour / 448 g / 15,75 ounces
  
• 2-3 tablespoons brandy or Grand Marnier liqueur
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup fresh orange juice / 250 mls
  
• the zest of 1 orange
• 1 cup yoghurt / 245  g / 8,64 ounces
  
• 1 cup almonds finely ground / 160 g / 5,64 ounces
• 6 eggs
  
• 1 coin wrapped in foil
  

 

DIRECTIONS

 

• Beat the butter and the sugar in the mixer until fluffy and then add the eggs one by one beating constantly.
• Mix in the yoghurt and sift the flour and baking powder.
• Continue to beat until the batter is fluid.
• Add the brandy or liqueur, the orange juice and the orange zest and continue to beat.
• Mix the almonds and don’t forget to place the coin in the mixture!
• Place the mixture in a flat, buttered pan and bake in a medium oven for about an hour.
• When cold decorate the Vasilopita with some icing sugar and almonds.

16 Days to Christmas - Christmas in Cyprus

When I was a child, people in Cyprus celebrated Christmas quite differently from the way they celebrate today.  In my family, just like in most Cypriot families, we'd put up our tree on Christmas Eve. Soon after lunch, on December 24, Dad would bring THE Christmas Tree - a pine tree. In those days, there were hardly any artificial Christmas trees in Cyprus or, if there were any, they were terribly expensive. In those days, fir trees were protected and no one had the right to cut them down for Christmas! There was a severe fine of  15 €, which was a lot of money then!

Now people and shops decorate for Christmas as  early as October!  Most working girls, including myself, don't have the time to spend on baking kourabiedes and melomakarona and I do envy the women who will bake our traditional sweets as well as our traditional Christmas Cake!.  A couple of years ago, I made time to bake my own kourabiedes and melomakarona When Alkis came  back from work, he said: " I can smell...Christmas!"

What does Christmas smell like  in your part of the world?

Monday's Greek Recipe - Psaronefri Gemisto - Stuffed Pork Fillet

Last week was such a busy week at work that I didn't even have the time to do the shopping at the supermarket. Alkis usually does the shopping as he finishes work earlier than me, but he was away on a business trip, so the fridge was almost empty. Saturday night was unusually cold for this time of year, so while Alkis was making a fire, I decided to ...experiment in the kitchen. I came up with pork fillet stuffed with spinach and feta cheese. That's all I had in my fridge. My friend Stefania once advised me to chop fresh spinach and keep it in the freezer instead of buying it frozen as I used to. She was right. The spinach came in handy!

Ingredients

• 500 g. pork fillet
• a bunch of spinach - chopped
• 200 g feta cheese
• 5 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 big onion, finely chopped
• some oregano

Directions

• Beat the pork fillet flat with a meat mallet

• In a non-stick frying pan, sauté the onion in the olive oil, reduce heat,  add the spinach and stir for about 5 minutes.

• Drain the spinach and put a thin layer on the flat pork fillet.
• Crush the feta cheese with a fork and add it on the spinach

• Sprinkle with oregano.

• Roll the pork fillet and keep it tight with bamboo skewers.

• Sprinkle with some more oregano.
• Bake at 170*C in a pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes. This is what you get:

• Serve with brown rice, a mixed salad and a  bottle of Ktima Gerovassiliou - a great Greek red.

mixed salad

Avaton-Gerovasiliou

Kali Orexi!!! - Enjoy Your Meal!

 

 

Monday's Greek Recipe - Kefalonitiki Kreatopita - Cephalonian Meat Pie

For a large baking tin (approx. 35X40 cm) you will need:

Ingredients

For the filling:

1.5 kg meat (beef or pork)

1 large onion finely chopped

1 head of garlic finely chopped

parsley finely chopped

marjoram

1 tbsp tomato paste dikuted with a little water

2 cups water

1 cup grated cheese

2 cups long-grain rice

1& 1/2 cups olive oil

1/2 cup white wine

1 tbsp sugar

salt to taste

pepper to taste

grated nutmeg

For the pastry:

3/4 kg plain flour

1 egg

1/2 cup white wine

some warm water

a pinch of salt

 

Directions

1. Wash the meat, dice it into small cubes and mix it well with the other ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

2. Add the rice and water.

3. To prepare the pastry, put the flour into a mixing bowl. reserving 1 cupful to flour the board when rolling the pastry.

4. Add the egg, wine,  and salt and knead the mixture thoroughly.

5. Add the warm water, a little at a time, until the dough is the right consistency to be kneaded without sticking to the bowl.

6. Take a little more than half the dough and roll it out to the desired shape on a floured surface.

7. Grease the baking tin and line the bottom and sides  with the sheet of pastry which should overlap the edge of the tin all around.

8. Add the meat filling.

9. Roll out the rest of the dough and cover the pie folding the overlapping edges back over the lid, pinching them slightly together to seal the join.

10. Oil the top lightly and prick it here and there with a fork.

11. Brush the top with egg yolk for a glossy finish.

12. Bake in pre-heated oven for about 90 minutes, add some grated cheese  and serve with a green salad and a glass of dry white wine.

TIP - You may use frozen pastry for pies but this will never equal the taste of the authentic cephalonian meat pie.

RECIPE BY Anna- Maria from Lixouri, Kefalonia - Greece

PHOTO BY Anastasia

Indian Night

Last night, I surprised Alkis with one of his most favourite dishes: Indian Chicken Curry - an authentic Indian recipe I came across at allrecipes.com. Unlike me, Alkis loves hot and spicy foods and is a great fan of Indian cuisine. I also love Indian food but in its mild or ....very mild version. Well, after all, the way to a man's heart is through his stomach!! I served my Indian chicken curry with brown rice instead of Basmati - that was my own personal touch - and a mixed salad. It's impossible for us not to have a salad with lunch or dinner. If you like Indian food have a look at Curry in Kadai - an Indian cooking blog. You'll love it.

Since I can't eat spicy food, I had grilled salmon with lemon juice while Alkis was enjoying my delicious Indian dish.

 

 

Monday's Greek Recipe: Sheftalies - Grilled Minced Meat Rolls

Sheftalies is a traditional Greek Cypriot dish which is, however, widely known in mainland Greece as well. Just like there's a fish and chips outlet in almost every neighbourhood in the UK, in Greece and Cyprus there's at least one  "souvlatzidiko". This is a kind of fast food outlet where you can eat souvlaki and shieftalies. You can eat there or take your meal away or you can have your meal delivered at home. Since I took up cooking as a hobby about 4 years ago, I've been  interested in making homemade sheftalies. Here's my mum's recipe.

My first homemade sheftalies

Ingredients

• pork or lamb net fat, drained (panna)
• 1 kg minced pork
• 1 large onion coarsely grated
• 1 cup parsley finely chopped
• 1 level teaspoon salt
• pepper to taste
• 7 tablespoons milk
• 1 tomato cut in small pieces
• 1 cucumber cut in small pieces
• some more chopped onion and parsley to garnish
• cabbage and / or lettuce
• fresh lemon juice
• pita bread

Directions

1. Wash the net fat very well and then rinse with a mixture of vinegar and water.
2. Mix the minced meat, onion, parsley, salt and pepper and add the milk to make a soft mixture.
3. Cut the net fat into square pieces and put one tablespoon of the mixture on each piece.
4. Close the two edges and roll.
5. Place the sheftalies on a flat plate one next to the other, cover with food wrapping film and refrigerate for about an hour.
6. Put the sheftalies through small, metal skewers and cook over glowing coal or under grill turning to brown on both sides
7. Serve in hot pita bread filled with a salad of tomatoes, cucumbers, finely chopped onion and parsely, cabbage and lettuce. Only add fresh lemon juice.
8. You can also garnish with pickles, onions, parsely leaves and chips