Tsourekia and Eggs

This Sunday coming, Greeks all over the world will be celebrating Easter. Its a very big event in Greek culture with many traditions and religious rituals. There's Lent with the fasting, the many cakes, breads, biscuits and of course the dyed eggs. Its a wonderful time with Easter Sunday being the "big day". Everyone feasts and eats so much food!!!

The week leading up to Easter Sunday is termed as "Holy Week" with church services on every night. Its a busy week with the majority of the food preparation being done during this time. I remember when I was growing up the house being so frantic. "Koulouria" (the traditional Greek Easter cookies), "kourabiethes" (icing sugar covered almond crescent biscuits) and "tsourekia" (Greek Easter Brioche bread) were staples for us during the lead up to Easter. And the eggs. And the offal soup a.k.a "magerista"...and the lamb ready for the spit....you get the idea! There is so much food surrounding you, it made fasting during this time all that much harder!

This year, I set out for the first time to make my own "tsourekia" and dye the eggs red. Well lo and behold I got mixed results! The first batch of tsourekia turned out like bricks! On closer inspection I realised I had been using an old packet of yeast! So of course they didn't rise. Oh well you live and learn! Eventually I made them and they turned out gloriously plump and golden. My eggs turned out ok. A few blemishes here and there but otherwise fine. They're probably not the traditional version but they certainly tasted as I remembered. I love eating tsoureki in the mornings, toasted with some marmalade on top. I'm actually going to use the recipe for this and make something else in the near future. Tsoureki are traditionally made with a 3 plait twist. Each plait symbolising an element of the Holy Trinity. They are also baked with an red egg in them as a symbol for the blood that Christ spilt dying on the cross. They are similar to brioche and can store for a few days (if they last that long).

Delicious with a spread.

RECIPE FOR TSOUREKIA

• 250ml of milk
• 80g of unsalted butter
• 750g of plain flour
• 1tsp of salt
• zest of 1 grated orange
• 3/4 cup of caster sugar
• 1 packet of instant dried yeast
• 1/2 a cup of orange juice
• 3 eggs

FOR THE GLAZE

• 1 egg yolk
• a splash of milk
• flaked or slivered almonds

1. Warm the milk in a saucepan over a very low heat. Add the butter stirring it into the milk so it will melt. Allow to cool.
2. In a large mixing bowl place 100 grams of the flour with the yeast, salt, orange zest and a tsp of the sugar.
3. Pour in the cooled milk/butter mixture in and beat with a wooden spoon to obtain a lovely batter.
4. Cover with a saran wrap and a towel and leave it for about half an hour.
5. When you return you should have a lovely bubbly mixture. Place in the remaining flour, sugar, orange huice and eggs.
6. Mix until you have a lovely soft dough. If you find its sticky add more flour. But be careful not to add too much. We're after an elastic, silky dough.
7. Give it a good bash and knead for about 5 mins. Work that gluten baby!
8. Once kneaded place in an oiled bowl and lightly oil the top of the dough. Cover with saran wrap and a few tea towels and leave it to do its work. (I left mine for about 2 hours in a very warm room and it more than doubled! It was glorious!).
9. When you notice it has doubled take it out and divide the mixture in two. With one of the halves, divide into three equal portions and shape these three portions into "ropes". They should be of equal width and length. Now, remembering scouts, form a plait, tucking the ends in underneath on the top and bottom.
10. With the remaining dough, I played around a did a few double twists and whole loaves.
11. Brush with the egg yolk/milk glaze and sprinkle with the almonds.
12. Bake in a 180 deg C pre heated oven for about 25 mins. They should be golden and sound hollow when you tap them underneath.
13. Leave to cool and transfer them to wire racks

Enjoy!
ΚΑΛΟ ΠΑΣΧΑ ---HAPPY EASTER

Tags:recipes recipes baking recipes Greek

Greek style steak sandwich...with tzatziki

Woah! The tzatziki recipe I posted the other day certainly had a lot of "passionate" responses. It was good to see. Everyone loves their food and has a particular way of preparing tzatziki. I learnt a few things myself and this is why I love blogging. You can really learn a lot. Peter kindly pointed out to me that I forgot to salt the grated cucumbers. Its a good step to remember as the salt helps to draw out the extra moisture. Thanks Peter. Ivy pointed out that you could try tzatziki mixed with mustard. I'd never heard of that and I was quite interested to know more. Jenn noted that it tastes great with low fat yogurt, but it should be the FAGE brand. I know that brand but I haven't seen it here in Australia. That yogurt is delicious and the low fat one is pretty thick. Thank you to everyone who responded with such kind suggestions.

My post today will cover another way to use tzatziki. In a hearty steak sandwich. It basically utilises some of the ingredients that I prepared in my antipasto. I had some leftover roasted tomatoes, tzatziki and olive ciabatta bread. I wanted to play around in the kitchen and see how far I could stretch these ingredients. Then I thought about making a steak sandwich and using the tzatziki as my sauce. It was hearty and very filling. It's a real no brainer and very simple to prepare. I used a thick (quite thick actually!) piece of lamb fillet that I marinated in some olive oil, oregano, salt and pepper. I then seared it in a "chargrill pan" (one with ridges in it) for about 5 mins and then cooked it in the oven for about 10. I let it rest and then made my sandwich with the other ingredients. Some beautiful organic salad leaves. The roasted amoroso tomatoes and the tzatziki. The only thing I think this sandwich could have benefited from is some fried onions. Overall I was very impressed and it was a good way to use the leftover tzatziki.
Happy eating everyone!

Tags:recipes recipes Greek Greece lamb

Creamy, cooling and very luscious.

Tzatziki is probably one of Greece's most famous dips. It utilises ingredients which are plentiful in that country. We're talking thick, creamy sheep's milk yougurt. Crisp, cooling cucumbers. And loads of garlic. Its commonly used in souvlaki that are served in many restaurants and it often comes out as a starter as well. Whack it on some fresh bread and you are in heaven. Turkey does a similar dip but it's a little less thick. It's very easy to prepare and the secret lies in the yogurt. Please be wary if you make this NOT to use revolting low fat yogurt. Try to find a natural or organic one, often labelled as "Greek Style". Many years ago I remember my father buying the yogurt and letting it strain in a muslin cloth in the refrigerator for a few days. He wanted really thick yogurt and he claimed it was too "thin" straight out of the container. Be also wary on who you breathe on the next day. The garlic content isn't that high but it certainly makes an impact. Tzatziki is a very versatile dish and I love using it in a number of ways. It's fantastic served over char grilled or bbq'd lamb chops or even roast lamb in the cooler months. I recently served it as part of my summer antipasto. It went down a treat.

TZATZIKI RECIPE

250 Grams of good Greek yogurt. The natural, thick one!
3 small or "lebanese" cucumbers finely grated
2-3 finely minced garlic cloves
A good handful of dill finely chopped
Another good handful of fresh mint roughly chopped
A "splash" of extra virgin olive oil
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Peel and deseed the cucumbers. Finely grate them using your normal kitchen grater. Once this has been done squeeze the excess water out of them. We don't want them too wet. Place the grated cucumber into the yogurt along with everything else. Once everything is combined I recommend you place the tzatziki into the fridge and let it rest a little while. We want the flavours of the garlic to permeate. It's a good idea to make this the night before. That way all the flavours get to develop really well. My recent batch stayed with me for 4 days. It's so addictive and the flavour just gets better and better.

Tags:recipes recipes Greek Greece

Bread Salad

With the warmer weather finally making an impact here in Sydney, it's only appropriate to be whipping up so many salads. I mean how easy and simple. Following the KISS principle and relying on good quality produce, you really can't fail. I had often heard about the Italian bread salad called Panzanella. While I'm not sure the version I tried was "authentic", the flavours were mesmerising and unforgettable. While I was scanning my local deli the other day, I came across a product I had never seen before. It was called Tanour Mountain bread and the packaging explained it was Afghan in origin. It was very similar to the Greek style pita bread and looked similar to a large cooked pizza base. Not one to shy away from trying new things, I quickly snapped it up and started thinking of ways on how to use it.

With so many ingredients left over from my Thai Beef Salad, namely the cucumbers, tomatoes and red onions, I came up with this recipe. I tore the tanour mountain bread up in small bite size pieces and threw it with the cucumbers, red onions and tomatoes. To "Greek" it up a little I used some dried oregano leaves and made a dressing out of extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar. It was really refreshing. The vinaigrette had soaked into the bread, the cucumbers were crisp, the tomatoes were bursting with goodness and the red onion provided that extra sharp "sweetness". A perfect summer meal.

While there is no need to follow an exact recipe, its best to experiment sometimes. I just took the basic principles behind a Panzanella salad and applied them to what I had available. I'm sure this salad would work just as well if I had used a rustic style Italian bread. Maybe the addition of some fresh herbs would work wonderfully. Overall a fantastic result.

Tags:Salad recipes Greek

Spanakopita...A Greek classic

I haven't really ventured into much Greek food cooking on this blog. I constantly get asked about the title of my blog/website and how this relates to me. Well you can read a little about it here. I promise to provide a few more greek recipes as I go along. I also don't want to keep this blog too one dimensional. But I digress...

First off, let's start with an instant Greek classic. "Spanakopita" is a traditional Greek pie made with spinach and fetta cheese encased in that ever so thin pastry called "filo". Filo has numerous meanings in Greek but for this instance it refers to a piece of paper. Or as thin as a piece of paper. Spanakopita is served everywhere in Greece. From the hustle and bustle of busy Athens to local Greek villages. And everyone has their own version of it. Without going into too much detail, my grandmother used to roll out her own filo pastry (a hard skill to fathom...it takes years to master!) and use wild green spinach with a goats milk fetta as the filling.

Well, with the convenience of modern supermarkets I just buy my filo ready made! I also changed the filling slightly by mixing the fetta cheese with some ricotta and a little grated parmesan. Quite easy actually. Just be wary when using the filo pastry to do so quickly or it dries up very quickly. A good tip is to keep it covered with a damp tea towel while you work with it. You can also make individual triangular "spanakopites" (that's plural!...sorry for the Greek lessons folks!) and fry them. Hmmm...If I had more time I would attempt this but everyone knows my hatred for frying. Remember also with cooking that nothing is set in stone so feel free to play around with the ingredients.


Popeye would be proud

SOUVLAKI FOR THE SOUL'S SPANAKOPITA RECIPE
2 big bunches of Spinach (silverbeet works well too...maybe you can mix it up a little?)
200g of good quality fetta cheese
200 g of fresh ricotta
about half a cup of grated Parmigiano Reggiano
5 tbsps of finely chopped dill
10 spring onions finely chopped including the green bits
2 eggs
salt and pepper to taste
50g of melted butter for brushing filo pastry

METHOD
1. Chop up the spinach roughly discarding the stalky ends. Wash thoroughly! Once washed blanch in hot water.
2. In a food processor whizz up the fetta, ricotta, parmesan and eggs. We're looking for a creamy consistency with a little texture. Transfer to a bowl.
3. Add the dill and chopped spring onions to the cheese mixture along with the cooled down blanched spinach. Give it a good mix. Season accordingly.
4. Preheat your oven to 180 deg C
5. Spray a rectangular baking dish with some olive oil
6. Take the filo sheets out and start brushing them with the melted butter laying them on the bottom of the pre oiled baking dish. Stack them up about 10 or so. Make sure there's enough to make a base.
7. Transfer the spinach and cheese mixture and lay it over the buttered filo sheets.
8. Next, start brushing the next lot of filo sheets with butter. Lay these on top of the spinach and cheese mixture. Again use about 10 or so. Just make sure there's enough to form a decent pie top.
9. Transfer to hot oven and cook for about 45 mins.

Serve with a crisp side salad or cut into pieces to serve as a snack. The kids will love this and so will the adults!

Enjoy!
Pete

Tags:recipes Greek

What you are seeing above is the Holy Trinity. Well, not in a religious sense of course. This is the Holy Trinity of Greek cooking and food. These 3 ingredients make a very huge impact on the way Greek food is prepared. Lemon juice, olive oil and oregano. Or "rigani" as is it is pronounced in Greek. This oregano by the way, is not some pre packaged ingredient you will find in your local multi chain supermarket. Its a mountain oregano. Picked fresh and left out in the summer months to dry. It is then crumbled and stored for use in the later part of the year. Aah!!! the memories with my grandma. I can almost here the bouzouki playing again...

The olive oil is of a very superior quality. Extra virgin of course. Thought to be life giving by the ancient greek gods. I was reading the other day that alot of the Italian olive oil producers buy the oil from Greece and re package it as Italian....hmmmm. I'm not even going to touch that one! Let's not forget the lemons. Plentiful in Greece. Every house with a back yard has one. Real bloody lemons. Not those hideous things that have been waxed, like my Aunty Soula!!!
You combine the three and what do you get? Magic!!! Basted over roast meats and barbecued items. Used on vegetables and lets not forget Greek lemon potatoes. Washed, peeled and tossed in the above mixture and seasoned with salt and pepper. Bake in a hot oven you can't get better than that. One of the better Meditteranean food recipes of the region. I also like to use the Holy Trinity over salads. The fruitiness of the extra virgin olive oil, the tanginess of the lemon and the strong earthy tones of the oregano, all do their bit to ignite the senses. I seriously would be lost with out it in my gourmet kitchen.
I hope this post has inspired you to use the Holy Trinity in your next simple recipe.
Till next time
Pete

Tags:recipes Greek

I'm back and it feels great!!!

As I promised yesterday I'm itching to get back into the kitchen. After a busy week that included Biteclub I feel like cooking greek food. Or maybe "greek style food". Let's not get too involved with what constitutes "greek food". When I head into a greek restaurant on the odd occassion, I certainly don't see my mother and father's cooking on display. It's similar but not the same. Moving on...

As I returned form the Fox Studios Farmers Markets with a whole bunch of goodies, my mind was racing about what I was going to prepare. I remembered the halloumi cheese I had bought the other day at Broadway. I looked at my banana chilles, and I thought voila!!! A marriage made in heaven. Halloumi cheese originates from Cyprus and is traditionally made from a mixture of goats and sheeps milk. Naturally its hard and quite salty and has very similar characteristics to mozzarella. It has Jekyll and Hyde characteristics though!!! Cook it and it goes soft!!!...Its amazing. I like to add it to salads or serve it with caramelised onions as a canape. This is what I came up with:

Slice a few banana chilles in half and grill them until they go brown. Once they're cooked macerate them in a mixture of olive oil, vinegar and garlic. The grilled smokiness of the chilles combined with the olive oil, vinegar and garlic is a beautiful smelling combination.



Chop up some cos lettuce. Not too fine though. Add some beautiful chopped cherry tomatoes and top with the grilled haloumi. Just a word of warning. Don't cook it too long as it can literally get too soft and then it gets messy!!! Finally add the grilled banana chilles and drizzle the garlic, olive oil and vinegar mixture over the salad. Add some olives if you have any. I forgot on this occassion. Anyway, it makes a great starter for a dinner party and it looks mighty pretty too. Enjoy!!!

Tags:recipes Greek