Tag: greekcooking

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Yoghurt Beetroot Salad/Pantzarosalata

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Yoghurt Beetroot Salad/Pantzarosalata
Yoghurt Beetroot Salad/Pantzarosalata

This Greek beetroot salad is refreshing, earthy, creamy and crunchy – all at the same time!!

600g beetroot
45ml olive oil
zest and juice of 1 lime
2 cloves of garlic, minced
10ml red wine vinegar
30ml parsley, chopped
320g yoghurt
50g pistachio nuts, chopped

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Wash the beetroot and wrap each individually in aluminium foil. Bake for one hour and then allow to cool.
Peel the cooked beetroot and cut into small dice. Set aside.
Add the olive oil, lemon zest and juice, garlic and red wine vinegar to a mixing bowl and whisk together.
Add the diced beetroot and parsley and season with salt and pepper.
Add the yoghurt and half of the chopped pistachio and gently mix through.
Scatter the rest of the nuts over the salad and serve.

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Greek Meatballs in Tomato Sauce/Soutzoukakia

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Greek Meatballs in Tomato Sauce/Soutzoukakia

500g minced pork
500g minced beef
100g panko breadcrumbs
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, chopped
15ml ground cinnamon
5ml ground cumin
10ml salt
1 egg, beaten
150ml olive oil

Tomato Sauce:
45ml olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 x 400g tin tomato purée
500ml water
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
1 bay leaf
20ml sugar
1,2ml ground cumin
1,2ml smoked paprika
5ml salt

Add all the ingredients for the meatballs to a mixing bowl and mix it through with your hands.
Now shape the mixture into 30-40 fat sausages and place on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

For the Tomato Sauce:
Add the olive oil to a saucepan set over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and garlic and fry until soft and translucent.
Add the tomato purée and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the water, thyme leaves, bay leaf, sugar, cumin and paprika and simmer until the sauce has thickened.
Remove the bay leaf and blitz the sauce with a hand blender until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 220℃ and cover the bottom of an oven tray with a thin layer of oil.
Transfer the meatballs to this tray and bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
Now put the tomato sauce back on the heat and add the meatballs to it. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Serve with basmati rice as a main or in the sauce as a Meze.

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Greek Shortbread with Lemon Curd

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Greek Shortbread with Lemon Curd
Greek Shortbread with Lemon Curd

250g butter, room temperature and cubed
115g cornflour
340g flour
115g icing sugar, sifted
1 x batch Lemon Curd from this blog

Add the butter, cornflour, flour and icing sugar to the bowl of a food processor and process until the ingredients almost come together in a ball. The mixture is very dry and needs to be scraped down every now and then between processing. Keep going until you can squeeze clumps together between your fingers.
Wrap the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 180℃ and spray a miniature muffin tin with cooking spray.
Break pieces of the dough off and press it very tightly into the muffin holes so that it fills it almost to the top.
Bake the shortbread for 15 minutes.
Remove the baking tin from the oven and immediately make indents on the surface of each shortbread by pushing down firmly on it with the back of a 15ml measuring spoon.
Return the tin to the oven and bake for a further 5 minutes.
Remove and cool the shortbread in the muffin tins.
Spoon a teaspoonful of lemon curd into each hollow to serve.

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Stuffed Tomatoes/Tomatakia Gemista

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Stuffed Tomatoes/Tomatakia Gemista

12 large tomatoes
2,5ml sugar
200ml olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 onions, finely chopped
200g rice/orzo pasta
400ml chicken stock
50g pine nuts, toasted
half a batch of Greek Pesto (Search this blog for the recipe)
50g black olives, pitted and chopped

Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Cut a 2cm slice off the top of each tomato and scoop out the pulp – keep the pulp.
Sprinkle the inside of the tomato with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.
Pack the tomatoes close together into a shallow ovenproof dish.
Heat 100ml olive oil, add the onion and garlic and stir-fry until the onion is soft – about 10 minutes.
Add the tomato pulp and simmer until reduced and concentrated in flavour.
Add the rice/pasta, stock and 10ml salt and a few grindings of black pepper. Simmer for another 15 minutes.
Add the pine nuts, greek pesto, feta and olives and stir through.
Spoon the rice mixture into the tomatoes and pour over the remaining olive oil.
Bake for one hour.
Serve the stuffed tomatoes at room temperature with an extra dollop of the Greek Pesto.

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Garlic Prawns/ Gambas

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Garlic Prawns/ Gambas

This is a Meze classic, easy to put together and bursting with mediterranean flavours. Best served with crusty bread to mop up all the delicious leftover juices!

500g prawns, shelled and deveined
30ml olive oil
2,5ml crushed chilli flakes
3 cloves of garlic, minced
zest and juice of 1 lemon
a handful of parsley, chopped
20g butter
5ml Worcestershire sauce
5 drops tabasco

Add the olive oil to a frying pan and set it over medium-high heat.
Add the chilli flakes and 2 cloves of garlic and fry for a minute.
Add the prawn and stir-fry until cooked.
Add the lemon zest, juice and parsley and stir through.
Season with salt and pepper.
Spoon the prawns into a serving dish.
Melt the butter in the same pan and mix in the Worcestershire sauce, tabasco and one clove of garlic.
Spoon the mixture over the prawns and serve with a crusty loaf of bread and a glass of wine.

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Tsatziki

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Tsatziki

Tsatziki is an entire Greek summer on a plate and goes with anything: bread, roasted vegetables, meat and pita.

1 cucumber (English cucumber is perfectly fine) – 125ml grated and 83ml cut into small cubes
250ml yoghurt
1 clove of garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon
2,5ml salt
olive oil

Cut the cucumber in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon.
Grate the cucumber on the coarse side of a box grater – you need about 125ml when measured.
Now finely dice enough cucumber so that you have about 83ml.
Add the cucumber, yoghurt, garlic, lemon juice and salt to a mixing bowl and stir together.
Refrigerate for 30 minutes or stand at room temperature so that the flavours can develop.
Spoon the tsatziki into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil before serving.
Keep any leftover tsatziki covered in the refrigerator.

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Fresh Bloody Mary

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Fresh Bloody Mary
Fresh Bloody Mary

Tomato Juice:
1,5kg ripe tomatoes, cut into chunks
1 onion, finely chopped
10ml tomato paste
1 red chilli, deseeded and chopped
15ml lemon juice
salt and white pepper

Add the tomato and onion to a blender and process until smooth.
Pass the mixture through a sieve.
Pour the strained juice into a small saucepan and add the tomato paste and chilli to it.
Bring the mixture to a boil, turn down the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Skim the surface of the juice while simmering.
Take the saucepan from the heat, add the lemon juice and season to taste with salt and white pepper.
Cool the tomato juice and refrigerate.

For the Bloody Mary:
vodka
1 egg white, lightly beaten
coarse sea salt
olives
rosemary twigs

Dip the rim of a serving glass into the egg white and immediately dip it into the sea salt. Allow to dry.
Fill the glass with ice.
Mix together 150ml tomato juice and 30ml vodka and stir together.
Pour the juice and vodka over the ice and garnish with an olive studded rosemary twig.

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Greek Chicken Souvlaki Skewers

by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment on Greek Chicken Souvlaki Skewers
Greek Chicken Souvlaki Skewers

Souvlaki captures all the tastes of Greece and so these chicken skewers will not only transport you back to the azure sea and clear skies, but delight your tastebuds!

10 chicken breasts, skin removed
60ml olive oil
the juice of one lemon
1 clove garlic, minced
30ml dried oregano
salt and pepper
10-24 wooden skewers

Cut each chicken breast into 3 equal sized pieces.
Add the chicken and all the ingredients to a mixing bowl and rub everything together with you hands so that the chicken gets coated with it.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour (you may leave it overnight).

Cut the wooden skewers to fit inside your griddle pan.
Now thread 4-5 pieces of chicken onto a skewer. Lay it flat on a work surface and push another skewer through all the pieces of chicken so that you have to parallel skewers.
Place a griddle pan on high heat and wait for it to warm up.
Cook the chicken for 8-10 minutes, turning 2/3 times during cooking. You may add a few splashes of olive oil if you think the pan needs it.
Serve warm or at room temperature with plenty of lemon on the side.

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Traditional Greek Sofrito from Corfu

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Traditional Greek Sofrito from Corfu

Greek Sofrito is originally from the island of Corfu. It is a hearty and delicious meal of beef cooked in a garlic and vinegar sauce which in turn produces a fork-tender beef stew that literally melts in one’s mouth. This is a very traditional version and a staple food in every household …. I do hope you give it a try!

1kg beef shank, cut into chunks
125ml flour
30ml butter
80ml olive oil
8 cloves of garlic, sliced
80ml white wine vinegar
80ml white wine
450ml beef stock
125ml parsley, roughly chopped
salt and pepper
fresh lemon wedges

Add the beef chunks to a large mixing bowl and season the beef with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle the flour over the meat and mix the chunks with your hands so that each piece of meat gets covered in a thin coating of flour.
Add the butter and olive oil to a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add the beef in small batches and sauté until browned on all sides. Remove from the pan, add another batch and keep going until all of the beef is browned.
Turn the heat down to medium, add the garlic and stir-fry for one minute.
Now add the white wine vinegar, white wine, beef stock and beef chunks.
Simmer until the meat is tender and the sauce is thick and glossy – about 40 minutes.
Scatter over the parsley and cook for another 5 minutes.
Serve the Sofrito on chunky mashed potato and drizzle over a squeeze of lemon juice.