So many of my non-Greek friends don’t realize that artichokes are one of the stars of the Greek spring, cooked up in countless ways in dozens of delicious regional recipes from all over Greece. This dish takes its cue from the many pilafs of Greece, but it’s a risotto, enriched with the national Greek...
Octopus pilafi — ktapodopilafo — is a traditional Greek Lenten dish. This version is decidedly more upscale and elegant, but retains its Greekness all the same.And, it doesn’t have to be Lent for you to savor this. Serves 4 1 small octopus or 3 – 4 musk octopi, about 2 pounds / 1 kilo...
This is a great, easy dish for midweek and weekends alike. Salt cod is one of the most popular dishes in Greece even though cod is not native to the Aegean. 4-6 servings 1 large saltcod fillet, about 1 1.2 – 2 pounds / 750 g – 1 kilo ½ -2 / 3...
Here’s a variation on the them of fried salt cod. the ouzo or mastiha liqueur add a delicious touch to this. 6 servings, or about 24 – 30 croquettes 2 large leeks, cleaned and chopped 1 medium piece of salt cod fillet, about 1 ½ pounds / 750 g, desalted* 2 tbsp fennel,...
This is one of the most classic ways to prepare salt cod in the Greek kitchen. Makes about 32 fritters 1 pound salt cod fillets, desalted* 1 ½ cups chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley 1 large onion, chopped 1 large egg, lightly beaten ¾ -1 cup. flour for all purpose 1 tsp baking soda...
This recipe was inspired and adapted from a recent posting of friend and Canadian food blogger Peter Minakis. It is really simple, really delicious and, to my palate, has that elusive quality called umami. 6 tbsp. extra virgin Greek olive oil 4 scallions or spring onions, trimmed and cut into thin rounds 1...
Maybe only the Greeks could consider octopus comfort food, but that is exactly what this dish is. Cooked slowly, the octopus exudes the most delicious juices, and these in turn find their way into the sauce for the pasta. My kids love this recipe. It’s a Lenten / fasting classic, but I cook this...
Black-eyed peas, total Greek peasant food!, get an elegant twist served up with sun-dried tomatoes inside an avocado. You can easily prepare this recipe without the salmon, which would make it great for vegans, too! For 4 servings 2 ½ cups cooked black-eyed peas* 2 scallions, trimmed and chopped 8 sun-dried tomatoes in...
This is a great way to make use of leftover boiled eggs…something Greeks have a lot of at Easter time! For 4 sandwiches 6 hard-boiled eggs 3 scallions, finely chopped 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley 4 tablespoons Greek yogurt 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 – 2 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil ½...
For 4 – 6 servings 1 ½ pounds of sweet or bitter greens of choice: Bok Choy (papoulies in Greek), Rainbow Chard, Kale, Collards, Sweet Dandelion, Chard, Amaranth (in season on summer) or bitter greens such as mustard greens, bitter dandelions and the whole range of wild chicories Salt Extra Virgin Greek Olive Oil...
6 servings 2 small heads Bibb or lamb’s lettuce, torn 1 fennel bulb, stalk trimmed, quartered and thinly sliced 6 large radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced 1 orange, peeled, pith removed, cut into sections then diced large ½ cup snipped fresh dill 12 Kalamata or wrinkled black Greek olives, pitted For the...
6 to 8 servings 8 large carrots 1 small clove garlic, chopped 4 tbsp. Aegina or other pistachios, coarsely chopped 4 tbsp. dark raisins, seedless ½ tsp. cinnamon ½ tsp. cumin powder ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper, or more, preferably 1 / 3 cups extra-virgin Greek olive oil Juice and zest of 1 orange...
8 servings 2 tbsp. pine nuts 10 oz./ 300 gr. Baby spinach, washed, drained and trimmed 1 red onion, peeled, halved, and cut into paper thin slices 1 ½ cups cherry tomatoes, rinsed and halved lengthwise 5 oz./150 gr. Manouri or pressed ricotta salata 24 Thassos, Halkidiki or other wrinkled black or brown ...
So many of my non-Greek friends don’t realize that artichokes are one of the stars of the Greek spring, cooked up in countless ways in dozens of delicious regional recipes from all over Greece. This dish takes its cue from the many pilafs of Greece, but it’s a risotto, enriched with the national Greek...
Fava is what Greeks call yellow split pea puree. It’s a wonderful vegetarian and vegan dish but also a first-class meze. Fava can be a carte blanche, the way Italian polenta is, for almost any topping, from plain raw onions or scallions and capers, to eggplant caponata, to these aromatic very “un-Greek” shitake mushrooms,...
Prassorizo, or leek and rice pilaf, is a classic Greek country dish. I took that basic idea one step further in this recipe, by adding saffron and turmeric to the mixture and transforming it into patties. You can do this with leftover prassorizo, too. It’s wonderful with a simple green salad. 3 tablespoons Greek...
Arcadian Walnut Skordalia Recipe from the forthcoming book, The Country Cooking of Greece, Chronicle Publishers, San Francisco This hearty, earthy skordalia, made dark with the addition of walnuts and red wine vinegar, is especially pungent. It is delicious with boiled or roasted beets. 6 servings ½ loaf stale rye or wheat bread, crusts removed...
Black-eyed peas, total Greek peasant food!, get an elegant twist served up with sun-dried tomatoes inside an avocado. You can easily prepare this recipe without the salmon, which would make it great for vegans, too! For 4 servings 2 ½ cups cooked black-eyed peas* 2 scallions, trimmed and chopped 8 sun-dried tomatoes in...
This is a great way to make use of leftover boiled eggs…something Greeks have a lot of at Easter time! For 4 sandwiches 6 hard-boiled eggs 3 scallions, finely chopped 3 tablespoons finely chopped parsley 4 tablespoons Greek yogurt 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 1 – 2 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil ½...
Tsoureki is the Greek Easter bread and it’s very similar to challah except it’s sweeter. But it goes stale fast. Here’s a wonderful way to serve up a delicious, elegant dessert if you have a loaf leftover. For 6 servings ½ kilo / 1 pound leftover tsoureki (Greek Easter bread) 3 large eggs,...
Tahini (sesame paste) replaces milk and butter in many Greek Lenten desserts, both traditional and contemporary. It goes particularly well with chocolate and with honey. 1 cup almond milk 3 ½ oz. / 100 g dark chocolate (couverture), chopped into small pieces 3 tbsp. honey, preferably Greek blossom or thyme honey 2...
Vasilopita is a must-have for any Greek New Year’s celebration. It also makes the world’s BEST French toast, not to mention bread pudding. 2 teaspoons mahlepi* ½ cup of water 1 teaspoon mahlepi seeds 1 1/2 cups, plus 1tsp. sugar 1 tsp. mastic crystals* 2 cups / 440 ml milk 2 packets active dry...
Yield: 4 dozen Shapes: buttons, about 1 ½ in./ 4 cm in diameter; small oblong fingers, about 2 in./ 5 cm long; hearts; diamonds; crescents 8 oz./ 228 g blanched almonds 8 oz. / 225 g unsalted butter, at room temperature 2 large egg yolks 15 oz. / 440 g Confectioner’s sugar 1 tsp....
8 servings 2 cups. basmati rice 5 to 6 Krokos Kozani (Greek saffron) threads 2 cups chicken broth 2 cups water 4 tbsp. butter Salt 2 tbsp. olive oil 2 large onions, finely chopped 2 large carrots, diced small Zest of 2 oranges, sliced into thin strips 3 tbsp. sugar 3 tbsp. water...
About 30 pieces 1 pound/500 g. very good quality unsalted butter (preferably sheep’s-milk butter) 2/3 cup extra-virgin Greek olive oil 10 cups coarsely chopped walnuts or blanched almonds, or a mixture of both 3 cups zwieback or other unsweetened biscuit crumbs, such as Greek frigania or Melba toasts 2 pounds/1 kilo commercial phyllo...
Here is a collection of recipes for lamb and goat from all over Greece. You’ll find dishes from Epirus and Macedonia, in Greece’s mountainous north as well as dishes from the islands. If you have a regional Greek Easter recipe you would like to share, please send it along. If you have a picture,...
Cretan Lamb and Greens Casserole with Egg-Lemon Sauce / Arni Fricasse 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil 2 1/2 pounds lamb shoulder, cut into stewing pieces 2 cups coarsely chopped onion 2 1/2 pounds trimmed greens (any combination of spinach, chard, chicory, sorrel, wild fennel, vine shoots, bryony, or thistles) Salt and pepper to taste...
My friend Ilia once spent half a day in a London park turning a whole lamb over a pit of hot coals, anticipating the moment when he’d cut the crisp garlicky meat and find in every morsel the smells and flavors that would carry him back, even if momentarily, to Greece at Easter. Instead,...
Most Greeks the world over enjoy a hot bowl of mageiritsa soup after the midnight liturgy on the Saturday night before Easter. The soup, made with lamb or goat organ meats, is a perfect example of the home economy that characterizes the Greek cuisine. Nothing, in short, is wasted. The soup marks the end...
You can only do right by leftover lamb when you marry it with spinach, feta, herbs, and tomatoes and whip u a filling, quick omelet. Makes 4 servings 300 g fresh spinach, trimmed, chopped, washed and rinsed 2 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil 1 small onion or leek, trimmed and finely chopped...
What do you do with leftover roasted leg of lamb, or with any other cut, for that matter? Roll it up in filo pastry and call it a Greek spring roll. Makes about 20 spring rolls 2 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil 1 cup shredded cabbage 1 garlic clove, finely chopped 6...
So many of my non-Greek friends don’t realize that artichokes are one of the stars of the Greek spring, cooked up in countless ways in dozens of delicious regional recipes from all over Greece. This dish takes its cue from the many pilafs of Greece, but it’s a risotto, enriched with the national Greek...
Prassorizo, or leek and rice pilaf, is a classic Greek country dish. I took that basic idea one step further in this recipe, by adding saffron and turmeric to the mixture and transforming it into patties. You can do this with leftover prassorizo, too. It’s wonderful with a simple green salad. 3 tablespoons Greek...
Octopus pilafi — ktapodopilafo — is a traditional Greek Lenten dish. This version is decidedly more upscale and elegant, but retains its Greekness all the same.And, it doesn’t have to be Lent for you to savor this. Serves 4 1 small octopus or 3 – 4 musk octopi, about 2 pounds / 1 kilo...
Here is a twist on a very old and traditional Greek dish. Lentils are cooked with pasta, bulgur or rice in the Greek country kitchen. This dish is spruced up with a tiny Greek pasta called kouskousi, and spiced with prunes or other dried fruit, cumin and more. For 4 servings 1 1/2...
Another simple dish that’s perfect for lent, but also for vegans and vegetarians. It’s an easy recipe to fix on a weeknight. Greece, a mountainous country, is a mushroom-lovers paradise. Many mushrooms grow in the wild, but there are also a few companies that have made a thriving business out of cultivating them. Makes...
An easy pasta dish that calls for one of Greece’s iconic products, the Kalamata olive…perfect for Lent, vegans, and a quick mid-week meal. Makes 4 – 6 servings 6 tbsp. extra virgin Greek olive oil 1 leek, trimmed and cut into thin rings 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 2 cups good quality canned artichoke...
Visit us on the Blue Zone island Ikaria, where people have the longest life spans in the world, for a week of glorious Greek cooking classes in an ancient Greek-island village.
