Easy Greek Recipe's

Baked Cherry Tomatoes and Feta

2009-06-01T09:40:00.002+01:00

INGREDIENTS

1 tbspn minced garlic
2/3 cup olive oil
2 lb cherry tomatoes
1 loaf focaccia bread (or French bread) heated
6 oz soft feta cheese
2/3 cup fresh basil cut chiffonade

METHOD

Steep garlic in olive oil at least 1/2 hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and stem tomatoes and cut them in half (put unwrapped bread into the oven). Put tomatoes in a shallow baking dish, pour olive oil and garlic over and toss lightly. Bake 10 minutes; sprinkle over chunks of cheese (cut into 1/2-inch pieces) and slivered basil. Stir gently. Serve with bread to mop up juices.

Greek Style pasta with shrimps

2009-05-30T11:29:00.002+01:00

NOTES
Greek : Μακαρονάδα με γαρίδες
Serves / Yields : 4 persons
Season:All season

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup olive oil
3 cloves of garlic
1 pound uncooked medium shrimp, peeled, deveined
1 1/2 cups drained canned artichoke hearts, chopped
1 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup chopped tomatos
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
fresh parsley
oregano
500 gr angel hair pasta or linguine

METHOD

Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Add garlic and saute 30 seconds. Add shrimp and saute until almost cooked through, about 2 minutes. Add artichokes, feta, tomatoes, lemon juice, parsley and oregano and saute until shrimp are cooked through, about 3 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Meanwhile, cook pasta in large pot of boiling salted water until just tender but still firm to bite, stirring occasionally. Drain. Transfer pasta to large bowl. Add shrimp mixture to pasta and toss to coat. Add salt and pepper if needed and serve.

Artichoke moussaka

2009-05-30T11:23:00.002+01:00

INGREDIENTS

15 artichokes
1 bunch springg onion, finely chopped
1 bunch dill, finely chopped
1/2 kg minced meat (pork or beef)
2 spoons butter
1 tomato, not to ripe
3 lemons
Some oil For the cream
1 lt warm milk
8 spoons flour
2 eggs
4-5 spoons butter
Piquant kefalotyri chese, grated
Some grated hard tack

METHOD

Clean the artichokes. Slice the stem of the artichokes and remove the outer leaves, which are hard in texture. Rub each artichoke with the lemon and put all of them in a saucepan full of salted water. Boil them and when they are ready remove from heat and drain.

Prepare the minced meat. Heat the oil in a saucepan, roast the onions, add the butter and the minced meat. Stir well. Add some water and the tomato and simmer until all water is absorbed. When ready remove from heat and add half of the dill.

Cut the artichokes in pieces and spread them in a baking pan along with the minced meat. Then, prepare the cream as the following instructions indicate: Heat the butter in a saucepan and add the flour. Add gradually the warm milk and stir until the cream thickens. This is the procedure for making the bechamel sauce, which is used as topping in moussaka and pasticio. Do not let the cream boil. Remove from heat. Beat the eggs well and add them with half of the cheese and the rest of the dill

Baked Lamb with oil and oregano

2009-05-30T11:19:00.001+01:00

INGREDIENTS
Serves 6 persons

1,5 kg lamb (front part preferred)
1/4 tea cup olive oil
Juice of two lemons
1 spoon oregano (if fresh then better!)
Salt
pepper

METHOD

Wash the lamb, and dredge with salt, pepper and oregano. Place it into a baking pan and pour the olive oil and the lemon juice. Add 1 cup of water and bake in 180 - 200 C until it is well baked. At regular intervals pour the lamb's sauce on top of the lamb.

Greek Cheeses

2009-05-30T01:04:00.003+01:00

Greek Cheeses

Feta: By far, the most popular and the most ancient of the Greek Cheeses. It is the traditional cheese of Greece. Feta is traditionally made from goat or sheep's milk and is stored in barrels of brine. Most feta comes from mountainous areas. Greeks eat feta in different ways. It is used in salads (greek salad - horiatiki), baked in pies, crumbled on omelettes or even stuffed into fish. Probably the most favourite way to eat feta is to lay a thick slab on a plate, pour some olive oil and a pinch of oregano on top.

Haloumi: Made in Cyprus, this cheese is very much like riccota and soft mitzithra in texture and in colour.

Telemes: Is a variation of Feta cheese. The difference is that it is made from cow's milk.

Kaseri: This is a mild - sharp tasting cheese (depending on variety). It is faint yellow in color, oily in texture and usually eaten on it's own. It is made from sheep's milk. It is good as a table cheese.

Mizithra (Mitzithra):It is made from sheep's or goat's milk and comes in two forms. The fresh, ricotta-lke Mizithra is unsalted. The dried version is salted, aged until hard and is good for grating and cooking. Like Ricotta and cottage cheese, Mizithra is more often used for sweet pies.

Anthotiro: A variation of Mizithra. It is buttery in texture It comes in to variations, soft and dry, like Mizithra.

Kefalotiri: This Traditional Greek cheese is very hard in texture. It is made with a combination of sheep and goat's milk. Salty and sharp tasting, it's similar to Regato and Parmesan and is used for grating over spaghetti. Primarily is used for frying. It is ripened for at least three months and so acquires a sharp aroma and a rich salty, tangy taste.

Kefalograviera: A cross between Kefalotiri and Graviera, this cheese is made from cow's milk. It's a hard cheese, pale yellow in color with a sharp taste and smell. Used as a table cheese, for grating or frying.

Graviera: Hard in texture, mild in taste, this cheese resembles Swiss or Gruyere in texture. It is served with meals or used for grating over spaghetti.

Manouri: Like Mizithra, Ricotta and Cottage cheese, Manouri is soft in texture and unsalted. It is made from full fat sheep's milk and is mainly used for sweet pies. In Athens and the islands manouri is the name of soft cream cheese.

Touloumotiri:It is a moist, snow-white cheese. It is sweeter and stored by hanging in goatskin or sheepskin bags.

Kapnisto Metsovone:One of the few smoked cheeses of Greece. It is made from cow's milk, but sometimes with the addition of a little sheep's or goat's milk.

Ladotyri:This is sheep's and goat's milk cheese. It is made in the shape of small spheres and so is sometimes called kefalaki (little head). Its proper name refers to olive oil, in which it is aged. It can spend as much as a year in this state and emerge richer and tastier to the point of decadence.

Fudge Apple Pie

2009-05-29T23:06:00.002+01:00

Fudge Apple Pie

INGREDIENTS

3 cups flour
8 apples
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 spoons butter
8 eggs
1 sachet baking powder
Icing sugar
1 doze of vanilla powder

METHOD

Mix the flour with the baking powder. Seperate the egg whites from the yolks. Beat the yolks with the sugar and the vanilla powder. Beat the egg whites to make a tight marengue. Pour in the yolk mixture the flour and the marengue and stir lighlty. Empty the mixture in a buttered baking pan. Clean the apples, cut them in thin slices and place them on top of the dough, in a way that half of each slice of apple is dipped into the dough. Bake in moderate oven for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven, let it cool and dredge icing sugar over the apple pie.

Olives & Olive Oil

2009-05-29T17:05:00.001+01:00

Olive oil is classified according as its oleic acidity (fatty acid content), the most important element in determining its grade, and to its flavour, colour and aroma. The European Union has defined a specific 30 word vocabulary for the "formal organoleptic assessment and grading of olive oil", which includes such terms as grass (flavour that's reminiscent of freshly mown grass) and positive astringent (the complex drying sensation produced in the mouth by tannins). As with wines, some people will argue persuasively that the oil from no two groves tastes alike.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil is derived from the first cold pressing of olives without refining. It has an oleic acidity level of less than 1%. Greece's ideal climate contributes most favourably to the superiority of its olive oil: richer, fruitier flavour, intense aroma and distinctive green colour. Extra virgin is produced in four styles: regular extra virgin olive oil, organic extra virgin, protected designation of origin (PDO) and protected geographical indication (PGI). One reason extra virgin olive oil is so highly regarded is because it offers an almost infinite variety of flavours and aromas. It includes no additives and even in harvest and processing is hardly interfered with. Its fruity taste and complex aroma seem to have almost universal appeal. Its light and delicate consistency make it perfect for dressings. Frying is generally not recommended for extra virgin. It is rich in volatile compounds that high heat will cause to evaporate and you'll lose many of the oil's subtler qualities. Also, the action may perfume your kitchen.
Virgin Olive Oil also comes from the first pressing without refining, but virgin olive oil may have an acidity level of up to 2%. Although its flavour intensity can vary, virgin olive oil is milder than extra virgin.
Olive Oil has an acidity level of no more than 1.5%. At the initial pressing it will be much higher than that, but the level is brought down to its legal limit by blending the refined oil with premium quality extra virgin olive oil. Milder in taste and colour, olive oil is the preferred medium for frying or for flavouring delicate foods that may be overwhelmed by the richness of extra virgin oil.

About table olives

The olive fruit is a drupe. It has a bitter component (oleuropein), a low sugar content (2.6 - 6%) compared with other drupes (12% or more) and a high oil content (12-30%) depending on the time of year and variety. These characteristics make it a fruit that cannot be consumed directly from the tree and it has to undergo a series of processes that differ considerably from region to region, and which also depend on variety. Some olives are. however, an exception to this rule because as they ripen they sweeten right on the tree, in most cases this is due to fermentation. One case in point is the Thrubolea variety in Greece. Oleuropein, which is distinctive to the olive, has to be removed as it has a strong bitter taste: it is not, however, pernicious to health. Depending on local methods and customs, the fruit is generally treated in sodium or potassium hydroxide, brine or successively rinsed in water.

TIPS

SIZE: The olive's suitability for table consumption is a function of its size, which is important to presentation. Olives between 3 and 5 g are considered medium-sized, while those weighing over 5 g are large.

SHAPE:Fruits that are more or less spherical in shape usually sell best, although some elongated ones also find favour.

STONE: The stone should come away easily from the flesh and a flesh:stone ratio of 5 to 1 is acceptable; the higher this ratio the better the commercial value of the olives.

SKIN: The skin of the fruit should be fine. yet elastic and resistant to blows and to the action of alkalis and brine.

SUGAR CONTENT: A high sugar content in the flesh is an asset. The lowest acceptable level is 4%, especially in olives that undergo fermentation.

OIL CONTENT: Oil content should be as low as possible because in many cases it impairs the keeping properties and consistency of the processed fruit. Only in certain types of black olives is a medium to high oil content desirable.

Bean salad

2009-05-29T16:46:00.003+01:00

INGREDIENTS

1/2 kg dried beans
1 onion, cut in rings
1 pepper, cut in stripes
2 eggs, boiled and cut in pieces
1 tomato, peeled cut in slices and with its seeds removed
Spoon of finely cut parley
Black olives
Pepper
Oil
Vinegar or lemon juice

METHOD

Soak beans in water overnight. Boil them in salted water and strain them when cooled. Place them in a platter and cover them with onion rings, pepper, parsley, eggs, tomato and some olives. Pour oil over the salad and season with pepper. Sprinkle with vinegar or lemon juice.

Ancient Fruit Salad

2009-05-29T16:40:00.002+01:00

INGREDIENTS

1 melon
2 peaches
2 pears
1 bunch of grapes
2 glasses Mosxato wine
1/2 cup peeled and chopped almonds
1/2 cup golden grapes
1/2 cup honey

METHOD

Cut the melon in half and carefully remove the flesh and cut into small pieces. Mix the melon with the rest of the cut fruit, the almonds and the grapes and fill the melon skins with this mixture. On a low heat, warm the wine with the honey mixing well. Pour this mixture over the fruit. Before serving, the fruit should be put in the refridgerator for an hour.

Beetroot Salad.

2009-05-29T16:31:00.002+01:00

NOTES
Goes well with garlic sauce.
Greek : Παντζαροσαλάτα
Serves / Yields : 4 persons
Season:Autumn,Winter,Spring

INGREDIENTS

750 grams - 1kg beetroots
olive oil
Salt
Vinegar

METHOD

Cut the green part of the beets and wash them. Boil beetroots and green parts for 1/2 hour and then remove outer skins from the beetroots. Slice the beetroots in thin pieces. Add oil, salt and vinegar and serve beetroots and green parts in a bowl.