Gavros Ladorigani and Potato Salad

If you can get fresh anchovies, called gavros in Greek, forget those canned, salty ones and you must definitely try this dish.

Gavros is one of my favourite small fishes because it is not only cheap but it also tastes good and of course a good source of heart-healthy Omega 3 fatty oil acids which prevent cardiovascular diseases.   We all know that Omega 3 acids do not increase cholesterol levels and help lower triglycerids.  Combined with olive oil (monosaturated fats and vitamin E) tomatoes (lycopene), garlic (allisin), parsley (vitamin C) makes this dish full of antioxidant nutrients which protect the heart vessels.

Gavros Ladorigani (baked anchovies)

Preparation time: 30 minutes

Baking time: 40 minutes

Serves: 4

• 1 kilo gavros
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/2 cup Olive oil (reserve a few tablespoons for the end)
• Oregano
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1- 2 cloves garlic
• 6 tomatoes, cut into slices

Directions:

1. Wash gavros and remove the head and the guts. Wash again and drain.
2. Marinate gavros with the olive oil, lemon juice and herbs and spices for at least 30 minutes.
3. Cut tomatoes into slices and place a layer on your baking dish.  Then neatly arrange a layer of gavros on top of the tomatoes, as well as all the marinade ingredients.
4. Finally, add the tomato slices on top and sprinkle some salt, freshly ground black pepper, oregano and the remaining olive oil.
5. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees C for 30 minutes. When the tomatoes are almost cooked, mix the fish carefully not to break it and cook for another 10 minutes.

This dish can be served as a mezes (appetizer) but also as a main course accompanied by a filling, healthy and tasty potato salad, which I made, avoiding mayonnaise but using olive oil.   If you do not have a microwave, wrap the potato in aluminum foil and bake in the oven for about an hour.

Patatosalata (healthy potato salad) – Recipe by Ivy

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 10 minutes (in microwave)

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

• 4 medium potatoes
• 2 spring onions
• 4 tablespoons parsley, finely chopped
• 5 gherkins
• 2 tablespoons capers
• Oregano

Salad dressing:

• 1/3 cup olive oil
• ½ teaspoon mustard seeds
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 clove garlic

Directions:

1. Wash potatoes and bake them with skin on.
2. Add all the salad dressing ingredients in a food processor and process.
3. Peel potatoes and cut into small pieces. Pour the salad dressing on top while the potatoes are still hot.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and mix.
5. Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper on top and a pinch of oregano.

The winner of the giveaway in my previous post is Jeannie Reeves.   Congratulations Jeannie and please contact me with your full address.

Tags: Gavros, Potatoes, Salads, Seafood

1st February today and “Kalo Mina” as we Greeks wish each other at the beginning of each month, which is a wish to have a great month.

I have been asked by Sierra Rose to review her cookbook, “Mom’s Favorite Recipes” which is a collection of classic American recipes, like Chocolate Chip  Cookies, Southern Style Nut Fudge, Pumpkin Pie,  Candied Sweet Potatoes or Yums, Macaroni Salad, Coleslaw, Pot Roast etc.

In order to do this, I chose her Lemon Meringue Pie, lemon being one of my favourite ingredients and flavour.  Sierra uses a store bought 9 inch pie crust but as I could not get one at the supermarket I had to make one myself.

This was a very fun recipe to make, simple yet delicious. The cream is thickened with cornstarch in addition to egg yolks, and contains no milk. It reminded me something between custard and Cypriot mahalebi and was very easy to make. The cream was perfect in taste, not too sweet and the flavour of lemon was well balanced and not overwhelming and I am definitely going to use this lemon cream in the future as well.

I am sorry I have no other photos to share but soon as I made the Lemon Meringue Pie last week, my back problems kept me in bed for a few days, so the pie was eaten and I could not get any more pictures.

Tart Shell

Ingredients:

• 200 grams all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• ½ tsp salt
• 100 grams butter 10 grams shortening (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 egg beaten

Directions:

1. Sift together the flour and salt and set aside.
2. Place the butter and shortening in your mixer and beat until softened. Add sugar and beat until light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten egg, beating just until incorporated.
3. Add flour mixture and mix just until it forms a ball.
4. Flatten dough into disk, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
5. Place the dough on parchment paper and flatten with your hands. Cover with cling film and roll out the pastry to fit into your tart pan. With the parchment paper it is easy to turn the pastry round as you are rolling, it never sticks on the counter, no flour is required to be added and it is easy to flip into the tart pan.
6. Preheat oven to 180^o C (350^o F) and place rack in center of oven.
7. When you have inverted the dough in the tart pan, cut off any dough, which is in excess, cover with parchment paper and fill tart pan with pie weights, rice or beans, making sure the weights are to the top of the pan and evenly distributed over the entire surface.
8. Bake crust for 15 minutes, remove weighs and bake another 5 minutes until crust is dry and lightly golden brown.
9. Cool crust on wire rack before filling.

Lemon Meringue Pie, by Sierra Rose

Cream Ingredients:

• ¼ cup corn starch
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 ½ cup water
• 1 teaspoon lemon rind (optional)
• 1 tablespoon butter or margarine.
• 1 9 inch pie crust

Meringue Ingredients:

• 3 egg whites
• 6 tablespoons sugar

Directions:

1. Combine corn starch, sugar & lemon juice. Mix well.
2. Beat egg yolks, add to corn starch mixture. Add water.
3. Bring mixture just to boiling over medium heat, simmer gently for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Remove from heat, add margarine or butter & optional lemon rind. Stir until thoroughly blended.
5. Pour into baked pie shell.
6. Preheat oven to 200^o C (400^o F).
7. With electric mixer at high speed beat egg whites until soft peaks are formed, gradually adding the sugar.
8. Continue to beat at high speed to form stiff, glossy peaks. Spread over filling, sealing entire edge of pie crust to prevent shrinking.
9. Bake 8-10 minutes or until golden brown.
10. Cool on cake rack away from draft for two hours.
11. Refrigerate, serve cold.

Sierra was kind enough to offer a copy of her cookbook for my readers, from U.S.A.  So if you would like to win just leave a comment at this post.  Only one entry per person and P.O.Box addresses are not acceptable.

The winner will be seclected by Random.Org and will be announced in a few days.

Tags: Creams, Giveaway, Lemons, Meringue, Tarts and Pies

I am sorry I haven’t been around lately but this past week I wasn’t feeling very well, so I wasn’t up to visiting, commenting, writing blog posts, or even doing much with the book, except for editing a few recipes.

I have some awards to acknowledge and today Nadjibella made my day by giving me a sunshine award.  Now that I am feeling much better, I can see the sun shining gloriously again and hope to visit all of you within the next days.

First of all Chapot, from Dans ma Coquerie, recettes de Cuisine, has passed a Happy New year Award.  Merci Chapot and I am really sorry it took me so long to acknowledge!!

Even if January has almost passed, I am still passing this award to some friends.  I know that it is not time to wish somebody Happy New Year but if you wish to acknowledge you are free to choose one of the other two awards posted below:

The first Award goes to my Greek friends and to some friends who live in Greece.

Peter, of Kalofagas

Peter, of Souvlaki for the Soul

Marianna, of History of Greek Food

Elly, of Elly says Opa

Maria, of Kali Orexi

Liz, of The Making of Cupcakes

Niki, of Baking & Pastry

Cheryl, of Rice, Beans & Pistachios

Tobias, of Tobias Cooks

Magda, of My Little Expat Kitchen

Elena, from Bucataria Elenei, has given me a Friendship Award.  Thanks Elena!!

This Award goes to:

Rosa, of Rosa’s Yummy Yums

Natalia, of Gatti, Fili e Farina

Jen, of The Leftover Queen

Angie, of  Angie’s Recipes

Natasha, of 5-Star Foodie

Ben, of What’s Cooking

Gaye, of Laws of the Kitchen

Nadjibella, of Saveurs et Gourmandises

Heni, of Simplicity by the Sea

Marc, of No Recipes

Tina, of Choosy Beggars

Adam, of Baking with Dynamite

Nadjibella, of Saveurs et Gourmandises, has passed on to me a sunshine award.  Thank you Nadjibella, mon amie, I needed that today.

I am passing this award on to the following:

Chapot, of Dans ma Coquerie, recettes de Cuisine,

Pierre, of Le Blog de Pierre

Joumana, Tastes of Beirut

Erica, of My Colombian Recipes

Reeni, of Cinnamon & Spice

Karine, of Food Gourmand

Simona, of Briciole

Kevin, of Closet Cooking

Alison, of Alison’s Trials

Soma, of e-Curry

Teresa, of Mexican-American Border Cooking

Elena, of Bucataria Elenei

I am really sorry if I have missed some other friends out but there will surely be another time.

Have a nice week-end all of you and think of what you can do for the people of Haiti.  Marc, of No Recipes and I are collaborating together and shall let you know more soon.

Tags: Awards

During my recent trip to Cyprus we took a trip to my brother in law’s village. On our way, we passed from my mother’s village which is called Kyvides and is on the road which leads to the “krassohoria” which is the wine producing area of Limassol.

The settlement of Pano Kyvides, according to the Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia, “existed at least from the Frankish period” and is linked to the medieval family de Quevides.

De Mas Latri mentions that during the Frankish period the village belonged to the Counts of Edessa. He also adds that in 1468, Pano Kivides, as well as the villages Lysos, Peristerona and Pelathousa were given as presents from the King of Cyprus James II to his mother Marietta of Patra. Regarding this action by James II, the Great Cyprus Encyclopaedia mentions that “possibly King James had at the time acquired the village by Hector de Quevides (if the village belonged to him). Hector de Quevides, a kingdom official, had been executed by James for being a traitor a few years before (in 1461), because he had taken the side of James’ opponent, queen Charlotte.”

The old village of Kyvides was destroyed by a major earthquake and the new village Pano Kyvides was built 3 km east of the old village in 1970 because of continuous landslips.   As you may see from the collage the village has lots of new houses because it has a lovely climate and because of its proximity to Limassol, a lot of families build their summer or permanent houses there.

In the collage above, the monument of the old lady on the top left-hand side is the sculptured bust of a heroess, Aggeliki Sotiriou, known by the name Philimon, a woman fighter of Cyprus liberating fight of 1955-59, which is situated next to the medieval chapel of Stavrou (chapel of the Holy Cross), on a hill, just outside the village, picture on bottom left and the kafeneio (coffee shop) she used to own, bottom right corner of the picture.

Lemesos (Limassol) district is the center of the wine trade and wine making in Cyprus. The cultivation of the vine in Cyprus is as ancient as the roots of the people of Cyprus. The cultivation of the vine in Lemesos is also as ancient as the Kingdom of Amathus and Curium many centuries B.C.

It is a well known fact, confirmed by various historical references, that wine has been produced in Cyprus for over 4,000 years until now.

Ancient people, worshippers of nature and beauty, chose the famous wine producing island of Cyprus as the center for the adoration of Aphrodite the Goddess of fertility and love and of Dionysus the God of wine.

From the beginning almost all exports of wine and spirits were made from the port of Lemesos. Also in Lemesos there exists the region of Commandaria (in Greek Κουμανδαρία), which is a de Facto wine with an appellation of origin.  The method of making commandaria is basically the same today as it used to be many centuries ago.   Also in the Lemesos district there are the two well known vine areas for the production of the quality table wines, Krasohoria and Pitsilia.

Lemesos is commonly recognized as the wine-making town of Cyprus and every September there is a Wine Festival taking place in the Municipal Garden. In 1987 the International Office of the Vine and Wine (O.I.V.) made a suggestion to declare Lemesos as the “City of Vine and Wine”.

The same year on October 31, during the General Assembly of the International Office of the Vine and Wine, which took place at Marino in Italy, Lemesos (Limassol) was declared as the “City of Vine and Wine” and the president of the International Office of the Vine and Wine, Mr. Mario Fregoni, awarded a medal and diploma to the Mayor of Lemesos.

Commandaria,  which is one of the best Cypriot wines,  is a sweet dessert wine, produced in Cyprus for millenia, made from sundried grapes, xynisteri and mavro (black).  In fact it has been documented since the 8^th century b.C., by the Greek poet Hesiod, who named it Cypriot Manna. The name Commandaria was given much later, during the 12^th century A.D. Thus it has the distinction of being the world’s oldest named wine still in production.

The history of this wine is that during the crusades, Richard the Lionheart, on his way to the holy lands in 1191, had to stay on the island after great thunderstorm.  He and his men disembarked at the port of Limassol where he stayed and soon conquered the island. He built his castle in Colossi (my maternal grandmother was from this village) and during his wedding with Berengaria, they greatly enjoyed this local red wine. Richard the Lionheart pronounced Commandaria as the “wine of the kings and the king of the wines”.

By the end of the century, he sold the island to the Templar Knights, who then sold it to Guy de Lusignan. However, they kept a large feudal estate close to Limassol, where they would cultivate vines. This estate was referred to as “La Grande Commanderie”, to distinguish it from two other smaller estates, one close to Paphos and the other near Kyrenia. The knights learned to produce this local wine and when they started exporting it to the royal courts of Europe, it was then referred to as the wine of the Commanderie, which then became known as Commandaria and the area where it was produced is now known as the Coumadaria region.

It has been ascertained that in the 15^th century vines from Cyprus were planted in Madeira by the Portuguese, whence the Madeira wine has been produced, similar to the Cyprus “Commandaria”.  This information is also written on the bottles of Madeira wine.  Something similar is the case of the Hungarian Tokay wine which is similar to a good “Commandaria”. The Marsala wine also seems to be a copy of “Commandaria”. Thibaut IV the most renowned Count of Champagne, returning from the Crusades came to Cyprus to visit his cousin, Alice, Queen of Cyprus. In Cyprus it seems he was overwhelmed by its vineyards, its wines and its roses because it was looked upon as the most acceptable and covered present to be given, vine and roses. The vines were planted in the area of the Marne and from these grapes the world-famous Champagne was produced.

Sources:  Wikipedia, Limassol Municipality, Pano Kyvides Community, Cyprus Wine Museum, Google Maps.

Commandaria braised Pork with leeks and plum sauce

I have experimented with Commandaria a lot of times, although I have not posted many recipes.

This is a recipe I made during last summer, when I was experimenting a lot with poached fruit and wine. I cooked the pork in a sautéing pan together with leeks and spring onions and cooked it with Commandaria wine and bottled cranberry juice. The plumbs were poached separately and some of them were added to the dish when it was almost cooked. After cooking the meat, it was removed from the sautéing pan and everything in the sautéing pan was pureed in a food processor. I then prepared a roux and added the pureed ingredients to make the sauce, to which I added the meat again.

I am sorry I am not posting the recipe but I have to keep some of my recipes, that will go in the cookbook, unpublished   However, as stated before I would gladly e-mail it to anyone  who would like the recipe.

Haiti still needs help!!

I have added a widget on my sidebar in order to help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti.  Please add it as well, to let your readers know that donating $10 to help the people of Haiti is as simple as sending a text message of the word “haiti” to 85944 and of course there are may other ways you may also help if you visit their site.

Here is the HTML code if you don’t have time to look for it on their site.

<script src=”http://static.poprule.com/js/imc.js“>{”brand”:”thin”}</script>

Tags: Commadaria, Cypriot wines, Κουμανδαρία, leeks, Pork, prunes

Hi everyone.  I am back from Cyprus, after visiting my family for a few days.  Although the weather was not very good, mostly cloudy and cold, I had a great time.  The days passed so quickly and all the days were full, visiting most of my relatives and of course, eating and eating (and again eating) all the time.

On Sunday it was the name day of Aghios Antonios (Saint Anthony), so we went to the church of Aghios Antonios, in Limassol.    Aghios Antonios was our parish before the new church of Aghios Ioannis was built and was the church in which I was baptized.  The church is in the ex Turkish section of the city and you can see the mosque just behind the church bell tower.   As I have already written when it is the name day of a saint there is always a panigyri, which is a small fair around the churchyard with stalls selling local products.

We went to the panigyri on Sunday morning and I would like to introduce you to some of these local products.

Some of my favourite Cypriot panigyri sweets:  loukoumades, shiamishi, pompes, pischies and koupes.  You will find the recipes of all these in the links given except for pompes.  Pompes,  are similar to loukoumades and have probably taken their name, which means bombs after their shape.

Other traditional products you can buy at the panigyri:

Preserved pork meat is very popular in Cyprus and before refrigeration, it was the main source of red meat available. During the initial brining of meat to be cured, Cypriots also add red wine, therefore, there is a characteristic flavour to most of the charcuterie from the island.

Lountza is made from the pork tenderloin. After the initial brining and marinating in red or white wine, it is smoked. Although it can be aged, many prefer younger, milder lountza. It is often cooked over coals or fried with eggs as well as a sandwich filler or part of a meze.

Chiromeri is stronger than lountza and is made from the leg, which is similar to any smoked, air-dried ham,  although the wine flavour makes it characteristically Cypriot. In non-mountain areas, the same meat used for chiromeri is cut into strips along the muscle compartments and dried in the sun as pasto.

Cypriot Loukanika are made from the shoulder of a freshly slaughtered animal and the meat is not ground but cut into small chunks about 1 cm with a smaller quantity of chopped back fat, which are marinated in wine and brined and then stuffed into intestines, and smoked into sausages. A characteristic spice in Cypriot sausages is shinos, which comes from a shrub called shinos.

Tsamarella, is a product made of goat meat, which is dried in the sun and covered with salt and oregano. Tsamarella’s dark, burgundy-hued cubes are not particularly inviting in appearance. However, its bold spiciness and pleasant gamey flavor are remarkable, and is considered an excellent mezes, particularly good with zivania. Tsamarella is made from the thigh of the animal because it is the leanest and most highly valued cut and best provides the earthy, rustic flavor and smoothness they are looking for. The leg is butterflied and cut into strips, immersed in salt and oregano and left to dry in the sun for 7-10 days.

Apohti,, a kind of pastourmas (pastrami), is made mainly from beef fillet but pork fillet is also used . The meat is first marinated for 24 hours in red wine vinegar. It is then coated with spices, including black pepper, paprika, cumin and cinnamon and of course garlic, which ultimately give apohti its distinctive flavour. The apohti is then hung up to dry in a cool, well-ventilated place until it becomes hard.

The products you can see in the collage from top left are:

1) Arkatena are bread products made from a chickpeas extract, used as yeast.  The bread is flavoured with mahlep, cinnamon, nutmeg and rose water with a hint of sugar.  Very flavourful and tasty, the crunchy rusks are light and crispy and melt in your mouth 2) Coriander seeds 3) Dried legumes, such as fasolia (beans) of all kinds, koukia (fava beans), revithia (chickpeas) and louvana, yellow split peas 4) Trahanas 5)  Shoushoukos 6)  Pastelli made from carob syrup  7)  Pastelli with honey and nuts 8)  Sisamopites (sesame sweet pies)  9)  Raisins, sultanas, black currants etc.  10)  Nuts, such as almonds, walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, pistachios, etc.   11)  Dried fruit, such as figs, apricots, prunes etc. 12) louvana, yellow split peas.

Although I returned yesterday morning I did not find the time to blog and visit you as I have so many things which need to be done, and piles or ironing are awaiting for me after washing all day yesterday.

Yesterday I cooked Louvana soup, which is a yellow split soup but made my way.  The traditional way to make louvana is to boil the split peas until they are soft and thicken the soup with rice and then to caramelize onions and add them to the soup together with lemon juice.

Last night I made a toasted sandwich using Arcateno Bread, filled with halloumi, lountza and tomato.

Today I did not want to spend the time in the kitchen as I also had to visit the dentist, so I prepared a pasta dish and used some of the mint pesto and preserved mint which I made during the summer and of course used some lountza and halloumi I brought from Cyprus.

Fussili ala Cipriota, recipe by Ivy

Preparation time:  5 minutes

Cooking time:  20 minutes

Serves: 5

Ingredients:

• 500 grams fussili
• 5 slices lountza, cut into small pieces
• 4 slices halloumi, cut into small pieces
• 2 tomatoes, cubed
• 2 tablespoons olive oil and preserved mint
• 1/2 cup mint pesto
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions and strain.
2. Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil, together with mint and spices and saute the halloumi and lountza, until lountza is crispy and halloumi has browned.
3. Add the tomato and mix.
4. Add the fussili, mint pesto and season with salt and pepper.
5. Mix well and serve while hot.

I still have a lot to write about Cyprus, so stay tuned until my next post.

Tags: Aghios Antonios, apohti, chiromeri, Cyprus, Fussili, halloumi, Limassol, loukanika, Lountza, louvana, Panigyri, Pasta, traveling, tsamarella

I am not a person who believes in astrology nor do I listen to zodiacs on T.V. or read them in magazines and newspapers but I wonder if we had a retrogade Hermes (Mercury) this past week or maybe it was a “kako mati” or evil eye as we say in Greece and as some superstitious people would say?  But then I don’t believe in that either.    However, everything seems to be going wrong this week.  My computer got affected with a virus again and all this week it’s been shutting down every now and then and I didn’t get much work done.  After transferring my data to a portable hard disc and having the virus removed I had the Office 2007 installed and have been trying to learn some of its new features which will be useful when I begin editing my recipes but again some documents I have been working with haven’t worked well.   I also have to convert all the recipes into PDFs and I don’t even want to think about that yet.

Then my computer started shutting down suddenly without any warning and now I am terrified that if anything happens to the hard disc I have no backup whatsoever for my recipes.  I am now considering buying a new laptop.

Enough with bad lack and now to a recipe I have made during the holidays.  I’ve been cooking a lot with chestnuts lately as I had bought a few kilos a few weeks ago.    I boiled and peeled them and stored them in the deep freezer.  I did this last year as well and had chestnuts until a couple of months ago.

One of the recipes I made during the holidays was escaloppes with chestnuts in a brandy and orange sauce.  I know I am not giving the recipe as I should but as I have told you if you like the recipe I would gladly e-mail it to you.  You can see most of the ingredients I used in the collage but there is more to the recipe than what is shown in the pictures.

To start with I was planning to make another recipe with the round veal so I did not ask the butcher to cut it for me.  I cut it myself into thin slices and then I thinned it with a mallet.  I then prepared a spice mixture which I powdered in an electric spice grinder and used part of it to season the meat.   I then coated the escaloppes with milk and flour and then with egg and a second coating with a chestnut mixture.

I sautéd the escaloppes on both sides and removed them from the sautéing pan.  I then sautéd the onion and mushrooms and returned the escaloppes in the pan and finished the dish by adding  the brandy, orange juice and orange zest as well as some whole chestnuts.

I served the escaloppes with mashed potatoes and steamed vegetables and with a chestnut sauce I made and enjoyed it with a Cypriot Red Shiraz wine, of Fikardos Winery in Paphos.

I hope to bring back some with me next week as I shall be going to Cyprus this week to visit my sisters.  Sorry I haven’t been visiting you as often as I would like but shall catch up with your posts during the week end.  Until then take care!

Tags: escaloppes, Veal - Beef, Vegetables

Chronia Polla - Happy 2010!!  I hope you all had a wonderful time.   Unlike Christmas day, we had a wonderful time during these holidays.  The weather here in Greece was fantastic and more like Spring (I heard on the weather forecast that it was the hottest New Year day the past hundred years) so with a good weather like that we couldn’t stay at home for long.

December was a very sinful month and I have used more butter than I use in a whole year.  Hopefully, we will be back to normal healthy eating again and as most of you share resolutions this time of the year, mine would be not to eat butter again until next December :)  put some exercise in my life again and try and loose the extra weight I gained during the holidays.

I don’t really like making resolutions as I never keep them but this year my primary goal will be to focus on the cookbook and hopefully have it published within 2010.   There’s a lot of work needed to be done and believe me that is more work than I imagined.  It’s a huge project and I estimate that I will be working full time in the afternoons until late in the evening.  I am not sure if I will use the recipes I have already published, but my goal will be to recreate some of them to test them again and hopefully take better photos and of course make some new original ones, always using the best fresh local ingredients and giving substitutes to some Greek products I use, wherever possible.

This will be taking a lot of my time, at least until I get started, so I will try and post only once a week, considering that I have the Greek blog as well and will follow your posts on my google reader or facebook during breaks and will try and visit all of you as much as time permits.

I used frozen shrimps to make this risotto but you can use fresh ones if you like but frozen  shrimps are just as good and you can make this dish in no time.  The addition of feta made it creamy and we loved it.  I always like to try new flavours and when I made it again, instead of using parsley and dill I used dried mint.   Absolutely delicious!!

Greek Herby Shrimp Risotto – Recipe by Ivy

Preparation time: 10 minutes

Cooking time: 25 minutes

Serves: 5 - 6

Ingredients:

• 1 kilo (2.20 lbs) frozen shrimps or fresh if you prefer
  
• ½ cup Olive Oil
• 1 leek (white part only), finely chopped
• 2 spring onions (white part and a little of the green), finely chopped
• 1 – 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 500 grams (1.10 lbs) carolina rice (sub. arborio)
  
• ½ cup white dry wine
• 5 ½ cups chicken broth (I used homemade broth)
  
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons parsley, finely cut
• 2 tablespoons dill, finely cut
• 100 grams (3.5 oz) feta, crumbled
• 2 tablespoons graviera, grated (sub. parmesan)
  

Directions:

1. Boil shrimps for 5 minutes, strain and set aside.
2. Heat olive oil in a big heavy skillet over medium heat.   Sauté leek, onions and garlic until they are translucent (about 2 to 3 minutes).
3. Add rice and sauté, stirring continuously, until rice grains are oil-coated (about 3 minutes). Pour in wine and reduce heat to medium low. Simmer uncovered for 20 to 25 minutes, adding a cup of broth each time and stirring until it is absorbed.
4. Season with salt and pepper and five minutes before the end, add the last cup of broth, stir in the shrimps as well as the parsley and dill. When done mix in the feta.
5. Cover saucepan and let stand 5 minutes before serving, sprinkling some graviera, dill and parsley on top.

Happy New Year to all of you with Good Health, Happiness and Prosperity!!

Tags: Greek cheese, Italian, prawns, Rice, risotto, shrimps

Vassilopita

Tags: Christmas, Festive, Vassilopita

Hope you all had lovely Holidays.  I cannot say the same, as we had to spend a whole day in hospital on Wednesday, after my son had a stomach virus and then on Christmas day my husband caught it as well but thank God it only lasted for a few days and they are beginning to feel much better.  Our Christmas presents are still under the tree as no one was in the mood of opening them on Christmas day.  My son was planning to do his shopping the day he got ill, so he did not manage to buy all his presents, so we have decided to open them on New Year’s Day.

I still brined and stuffed a turkey for Christmas although we had lots of leftover for the next day.

We sort of celebrated Christmas today as it was the first day the whole family was feeling like eating so I made a few special treats for them.   All the following recipes are my concoctions, except the tyropitakia, although they also had a tweak.  If you would like any of the recipes I would gladly e-mail them to you.

Before today’s recipes, I made this recipe last weekend and have used turkey mince which I sauteed and you can see most of the ingredients I used in the collage.  I then wrapped the cooked minced meat in a provencal galette pastry and baked it.  I decorated it with pastry Christmas trees and a pink peppercorn on top.    The ingredients used in my recipe is for two roulades.  You can always add half the ingredients but I am of the opinion that if you can freeze food, as in this case, you save time and money by making it once and have more time for your family or for yourself.

I made a similar roulade today but I made a different phyllo similar to kourou which is a phyllo with butter and yoghurt.   The minced meat was not cooked but as I said I usually make more quantities and freeze them and in this case I had some turkey burgers ready which I used.  Again I made a roulade but with a different approach as it was filled with boiled eggs, smoked turkey fouantre and some Greek cheeses.

I made more phyllo and used it to make kourou tyropitakia with two different cheeses (mini cheese pies).

Last but not least I made a special baklavas and I believe that no one else has made anything similar before.  It has three kinds of nuts in it, the usual spices and after baking it I dipped it in chocolate.  There is nothing special to what I have described above but apart from the nuts I have used another unusual ingredient in the filling which makes all the difference and made a totally different syrup which you can see in the picture that it is pink.    I would not like to reveal these ingredients in the post for obvious reasons.

I am not sure whether I will post again before the end of the year so I am sending you my best wishes for Happy holidays and all the best for the upcoming New Year with lots of tasty food and good health to enjoy them.

Tags: Christmas, dough, Festive, Greek cheese, Ground meat, kourou, made with phyllo, phyllo, rolo, roulades, Turkey, tyropitakia

In Cyprus it is traditional to offer these treats after the wedding, instead of bombonieres (favours), which are offered in Greece. After the church ceremony the couple and the parents of the bride and groom line up for congratulations and one of these wedding cakes are offered to the guests, neatly folded in cellophane paper.

In Cyprus weddings are huge and a thousand guests is quite a usual number, some may reach two, three or even more thousands of guests. Everyone is invited at the church ceremony and depending on their financial status, there willbe either a reception at a hotel, usually by the swimming pool, or if the couple can’t afford such a reception they will have a party at a restaurant for close relatives and friends.

I remember back in the seventies, it was common to have wedding receptions at home and all the catering was, of course, done at home. During the week before the wedding, lots of preparations were made, and it goes without saying that all relatives and close friends, were there to help.

You may be wondering how could they do this at home with all those guests? This type of wedding parties was quite common and usually there would be lots of space in the yard or a plot of land next door which was not yet built but even when this was not also possible, the party would take place in the road and no one would complain, as they knew that they would do the same one day.  They would rent tables and chairs, even cutlery and hire musicians and the party started in the evening and ended around midnight.

Traditional Loukoumia are similar to kourabiedes but instead of flour they are made with fine semolina and a small amount of flour and with local butter. They are filled with almonds, (which is a local product), sugar and cinnamon and when they are baked, they are washed with citrus or rose blossom water and then covered with icing sugar. The sugar absorbs the moist from the water and creates a hard sugar crust outside but at the same it is flavoured by the rose or citrus water and the butter.

As I have said many times, Cypriot cuisine was and still is influenced by its neighbouring Middle Eastern countries and at a certain point pistachios were imported from Syria. In Cyprus pistachios were mainly imported from Aleppo (in Syria), known in antiquity as Khalpe or Beroea or Veroia to the Greeks and are known on the island as halepiana, which means coming from Aleppo. Although pistachios are very expensive compared to almonds they have prevailed and are mostly preferred. Some confectioners even use pistachio butter or oil to make them but even yet they do not compare to homemade loukoumia. We must not confuse them with mamouls, which are quite different in taste.

I first saw these made when I was in high school at my cousin’s wedding as I was there helping and faintly remember the procedure how they were made.

Unlike pasticcia, which was difficult to find a recipe, eventually two of my readers e-mailed me with instructions how to make them and I thank them very much. I will make them after the holidays. There is no recipe for loukoumia on the internet but as I said these were made at home, so my sisters knew how to make them.

I made some for Christmas, much smaller than the wedding cakes.  It may sound unusual to make these for Christmas as we have associated them with weddings but beside that fact I believe they are perfect for Christmas and I must say that mine turned out great much better than any I have eaten the past years when going to Cyprus. I made half of them with almonds, in the traditional way and half of them with pistachios. I even wrapped them in cellophane and these can now last for a few weeks (not that they will last that long).

Finally, I would like to wish all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays and announce the winner of the giveaway, who has been randomly selected from Random.Org.

If you are still curious to find out about the secrets mentioned in my post for melomacarona, I have updated the post.

Thank you all for participating. The winner is number 35 - Giota from the Greek blog.  Congratulations Giota and please communicate with me sending me your address so that I may mail the gift to you.  Happy Holidays!!

This recipe goes to Cinzia of Cindystar, for her event Baking under the Christmas Tree.

Tags: Christmas, cookies and biscuits, Cypriot Wedding Cakes, Loukoumia tou Gamou, Traditional