A tip from Nastia on getting kids to eat

Someone metioned Kalamata olives. I am impressed they are being sold all ove the world (For the record, Kalamata is a Greek city in Peloponese.) If you want your kid to eat kalamata olives put them in a tomato salad with some good virgin olive oil. The oil will take away the bitter sour taste, also kalamata olives are VERY good with feta cheese, oregano and peppers in the salad.

Carbonara Sauce, by Nastia

In a deep pan put
2table spoons of butter or margerine
about 200grms ham cut in very small cubes
some mushrooms
stir fry for a couple of minutes and add two tablespoons of flour, continue fry,
add 2 1/2 cups of milk in room temperature,
salt and pepper,
mix until it gets creamy (not too thick)
take off the fire and add two eggs beated mixing well and fast.
Its great with any kind of pasta.
You can add some cheese crumbs on top of each serve (optional)

No Bake, No Metric Measurement Cheesecake, by Nastia

I think its time for my cheesecake recipe, I like it cause it does not need baking and I can give you the ingredients in cuos and pieces saving me from the *&^%$%#@ metric system.

One can of sour cherry, or abour 35-40 pieces fresh sour cherry (take off the core)

Two cups of sour cherry juice (coffee cups)

Two table spoons of Corn Flour

Two cups of powder sugar

1cup of cream (Creme fresche)

1pack of Philadelphia cheese

1 pack and 10pieces of petite beurre or digestive cookies

1 pack of butter

Melt the butter, crush the cookies until they become powder (I use the blender for that.

In a medium pan put the cookie powder and the melted butter, stir until they become ven and press them at the bottom (must be even in the whole pan.

Stir cream, cheese, and sugar until they become thick spread over the cookies

Add the sour cherries refrigerate for 30min

Boil half the juice in the other half put the corn flour and mix. When the juice boils add the cron flour mix and stir in the same direction until creamy spread on the top of the cherries. Refrigerate for another hour.

This is the only dessert that turns out yummy every time

Avgolemono, from Nastia

Fish soup for us to day with special Greek sauce called Avgolemono and its yuuuummyy.

You will need

Two big or three small fish for soup (cod is good, scorpaenid also good)

Two or three carrots peled and cut in rounds

two big potatoes cut in cubes

One celery root with the leaves chopped

two big onions chopped

one tea cup of white rice (not the yellow one)

Juice from three lemons

Three eggs

olive oil

salt pepper

Boil the fish in some salty water and remove them, add the veggies and the olive oil in the wather and boil for 5 mins, add the rice and boil until the veggies and rice are soft add some water if necessary. Take all the bones of the fish and put the flesh back to the pot.

Beat the eggs until foamish, add lemon juice slowly and keep beating until it takes a light yellow color. Add two big soup spoons from the pot to the mix, stir and add the mixture in the soup. Be carefull when adding the eggs the soup must be hot but not boiling, cause then the eggs will harden and the soup will be junk. It can replace chicken soup when someone is sick.

Spanakopita, from Nastia

Pies have a great part in Greek tradition, we make them for holidays, funerals, memorials, Christmas, Easter, as a main dish as an appetiser, or as a dessert. There are also sweet pies, such as Bougatsa (cream pie).

I made Spanakopita (Spinach pie) yesterday, with home made leaves and fresh spinach. For a big pan you will need:

750gr Flour for pies (26oz, or 1.6lbs, approx. 6 cups)

1 kg (2.2lbs) fresh spinach

5-6 fresh onions (the green ones)

about 100gr (3.5oz) anise finelly chopped

500gr (17.5oz, a little over a pound) feta cheese

2 tbsp vinegar

olive oil

Cold water/salt pepper

In a large pan fill with water until in the middle, wash the spinach thoroughly and add to the cold water, light the kitchen scald the spinach in hot water until soft (dont boil the water and make sure the leaves are nice and green, not over boiled) take off the spinach wait a little and then squeeze all the water out.

In a pan put some olive oil, the onions (chopped) and the anise, stir fry, add spinach and mix well, add salt and pepper, turn off the heat and leave the pan without cover.

Prepare the leaves.

Make a dough with flour, water, and vinegar, has to be soft and not sticky, if the water is cold the dough is better, separate in 18 small balls. Using a rolling pin make small pitas puting three of them one over the other with olive oil in the middle (Pita-oil-pita-oil-pita) that will give you six triplets of pitas. sprad olive oil in a pan, preheat the oven at 180C (I think 350F)

Take the first triplet and with the rolling pin make a big pastry leaf (must cover the pan), put it in the pan, spread olive oil make second leave, spread olive oil, make third leave, add the spinach mix and feta cheese crumbs until well covered, continue with the rest of the leaves (three at bottom three on top) Turn the leaves edges on the inside of the pan (they make a yummy crust after bake) Spread olive oil and some milk on top of the pie and cut it in square pieces.

Bake for an hour or until brownish.

Tip in order to prevent the leaves from sticking on the kitchen counter you can spread some corn flour on the counter.

Tip, if you use cold carbonated water for the dough it will become more crunchy.

Tip, find a rolling pin that suits you I prefer something like this

which is made of wood but a plastic one will do the same job.

(imperial measures are editor's estimates - results may vary)

Pseudo-Greek Feast, an idea from Heather

Pseudo-Greek Feast

Appetizer:
pita chips & hummus - both store bought... I know how easy they are to make, but I already had them at home and I decided late in the day what I was cooking

Main:
- Salad of halved grape tomatoes, kalamatas, cubed cucumber, feta, & olive oil vinaigrette
- Chicken, marinated in olive oil, mint, oregano (both dried, not fresh), salt, pepper, garlic; basted with a mixture of fresh lemon juice and olive oil and broiled (i.e. in the oven with the heat coming from the top of the oven - I know they call this grilling in the UK so I don't assume it means the same to anyone). I used to always grill them, but I'm the worst griller ever. It came out really well - so delicious!
- served chicken with tzatziki, which I made by mixing drained plain natural yogurt, grated & drained cucumbers, and a little salt, mint, garlic, and lemon juice. I don't know if the mint is common, but I love it.
- roasted vegetables - this is nothing I've ever had at a Greek restaurant or in Greece, but I love it and think it goes well. (I used to grill these too, but, again, I suck.) I did zucchini, yellow/summer squash, baby portobello mushrooms, and yellow pearl onions, with olive oil, pepper, and oregano and just stuck them in a roasting pan in the oven until they were tender and juicy

Everything was really nice except for the salad because the dressing was just too tangy and acidic.

A note from Nastia, our resident Greek: VERY GOOD HEATHER, a real Greek dinner. Just one tip. Don't put vinegrette on tomato salad just plain olive oil and oregano, it tastes better. Also, don't put lemon juice in Tzatziki because it messes with the yoghourt, some oil will do.

Rabbit Stifado (Stew), from Nastia

Here is a Stifado (Stew) recipe with rabbit. Its concidered to be one of the best Greek dishes

Stifado

1	large rabbit, jointed
2	tablespoons tomato paste
2	bay leaves
4	tablespoons red wine vinegar (balsamic also works nicely)
1/2	cup olive oil
1/3	teaspoon sugar
4	cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1	small cinnamon stick (about a 3-inch length)
	salt and black pepper
4	whole allspice
1	sprig rosemary
2/3	cup red wine
1 1/4	cups hot water
11/2	lbs white pearl onions, peeled,left whole

Rinse the rabbit pieces and place them in a mixing bowl together with the bay leaves and vinegar; mix well and leave to marinate for at least 2 hours, or overnigh; remove the rabbit from the marinade and pat dry with kitchen paper.

1. Heat half of the olive oil in a large saucepan until hot, add the rabbit and fry the pieces until quite brown on all sides; add the tomato paste, bay leaves, sugar, garlic, spices and the hot water.
2. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Bring to the boil mixing well then reduce the heat, cover and simmer for about 1 hour.
4. Meanwhile, heat the remaining olive oil in a frying pan; add the onions and sauté gently for 15 minutes stirring occasionally, until golden all over; after the rabbit has been cooking for 1 hour, add the onions and oil from the frying pan to the saucepan; combine, then re-cover and simmer for a further 15 minutes; fish out the cinnamon stick, allspice berries and rosemary sprig.
5. Note: This can be served with pasta, noodles, rice or oven-roasted potatoes, but my personal favourite is homemade french-fries, which taste delicious dunked in the spicy sauce.

Souvlaki, from Nastia

Souvlaki

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 1/2 pounds of pork shoulder, cut in 3/4 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon of ground Greek oregano (rigani)
• 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon of sea salt
• 2 tablespoons of red wine (or good red wine vinegar)
• 2 tablespoons of olive oil

PREPARATION:

In a bowl, pour wine (or vinegar) and oil over the pork and toss to coat. Sprinkle salt, pepper, and oregano, and toss again. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

Note: If using vinegar, do not marinate longer than 2 hours or the meat can absorb too strong a vinegar taste.

If using wine, the meat can be marinated for up to 2 days as long as salt is also used.

Using 8 inch skewers, thread approximately 6 pieces of meat on each. This should make about 12 skewers.

Grill the meat turning until well browned, about 15 minutes. Serve on the skewers with a squeeze of lemon.

Note: If using a gas grill, use wooden skewers. If using a charcoal grill, use metal skewers. If broiling in the oven, use either, but wooden skewers should be soaked in water for several minutes before using.

Yield: serves 3 (4 skewers per person) as a main dish.

As a meze: To prepare this recipe as a meze, use smaller skewers (5-6 inches long) and put 3-4 pieces of meat on each to make approximately 20 skewers.

Taste tip: If you have the spice sumac in your cabinet, rub a little on the meat before adding marinade ingredients.

Pastitsio, from Nastia

My big fat Greek Pastitsio recipe

(imperial measures are editor's estimates)

500gr (16oz) of really big pasta (Spaghetti No 1 or penne) I prefer Penne because it’s easier to cut

¾ kilos (1.65lbs, or 1lb 10oz) Minced meat, one quarter kilo (1/2 lb) of pork and half a kilo (1 lb) of beef (No lamb)

About 350 gr (12oz) tomato sauce (if you can make it yourself from fresh tomatoes even better.

Two large onions finely chopped

Two tablespoons of margarine and some olive oil

For Beschamel Cream

Two fresh eggs

About four full tablespoons of flour

500 gr (about 18oz, a little over a pint) fresh milk

One tablespoon of margarine

Salt

Pepper

Cinnamon

Bay leaves

Some hard cheese to put on top

Cooking

Boil the spaghetti in salty water until al dente put a table spoon of olive oil in, strain spaghetti but keep moist separate in half.

Put the margarine and onions in a pot stir fry until they get brownish, add mincemeat and stir fry until there are no clots (must look almost cooked) add tomato, salt, pepper, some cinnamon, two bay leaves and a glass of water and cook until there is more mince than water (cooking time differs) Remove the bay leaves.

On a medium size pan put half of the spaghetti at the bottom, then all the mince and then the other half

In a small pot put margarine to melt and then add flour cook a little and then add milk start stirring at the same direction until it gets creamy (must be a little thick ) take off the stove and put the eggs in a plate mixing well.

Add a table spoon of the cream to the eggs, stir a little and then put the mix back in the cream. Stir until it becomes a soft and nice cream.

Put the cream on top of the spaghetti and add some cheese crumbs on top. Prefer a hard cheese such as parmesan. Bake until the top gets brown and enjoy. (Not very hot oven about 180C (350F))

We like red wine along and tomato salad with feta cheese and olives.

Paedakia (Goat Ribs), an idea from Nastia

Greek Alert!! Tonight is Sunday and our dinner is

Goat ribs (very famous in Greece) marinated in lemon and virgin olive oil with oregano and pepper, with fresh potatoes in the oven, backed with lemon juice, virgin olive oil onions, garlic and oregano. Greek feta cheese and fresh tomato and cucumber salad.

Goat ribs in Greek are called Paedakia (Pa-ee-da-kee-a)

Roasted chicken, an idea from Nastia

Try opening small holes in the meat, using a REALLY sharp knife. Then put half garlic clove in the hole. It does not explode and if you like garlic it tastes yuuummyyy.

Garlic Sauce from Nastia

Here is the garlic sauce recipe I promised.

1 ¾ pounds boiling potatoes

6 large garlic cloves, peeled

2 cups 1/2-inch diced French or Italian bread, crust removed

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Salt to taste


1. In a large pot, place the potatoes in cold water to cover by several inches and turn the heat to medium. Once the water begins to boil, about 20 minutes, continue to boil until a skewer glides easily through the center of each potato, another 25 to 30 minutes. Peel the potatoes once they are cool enough to handle. Pass the potatoes through a food mill or colander

2. Pound the garlic in a mortar until mushy. Add the garlic to the potatoes, mixing well. Soak the bread cubes in a little water until sodden, then squeeze the water out. Pass the bread through the food mill or colander. Blend the bread, potatoes, and garlic together with a fork in a mixing bowl.

3. Slowly pour the olive oil and vinegar in a steady stream as you continue beating with a fork until the mixture has the consistency of a thick mayonnaise. Do not do this in a food processor because the potatoes will become gummy in their over processing. Season with salt and refrigerate until needed.



Tip. add some walnuts also with the potatoes, or dont use any bread, just some walnuts and more potatoes.

Its VERY good with fried fish, beet roots, on toasted bread and with fried zuccini and fried eggplants.

Greek holiday food from Nastia

Next big food event is March 25th (It's a national holiday and we celebrate our fights against the Ottoman empire) Traditionally we eat fried cod with Scordalia which is a very thick sauce made by garlic, olive oil,vinegar, walnuts, and bread or potatoes, it's VERY spicy and requires a good teeth brushing afterwards.

Roasted rabbit, an idea from Nastia

Tonight - Rabbit with potatoes in the oven. Roasted in a metal pot we call gastra (dont know the English word) with fresh lemon juice, potatoes, onions, mushrooms, oregano and olive oil.