Kok is a popular dessert in Greece, and is fairly easy to make. It’s also easy to find fresh ready-made kok at any zaxaroplasteio (pastry shop). A dessert fit for all occasions which is the reason for its popularity. Well that and of course the chocolate glaze. A thin layer of glaze made with melted chocolate and cream dresses its top. However, it’s the combination of vanilla pastry cream filling and chocolate topping is what gives it that defined balance of flavors. You can actually taste each component of the kok without any of it overpowering the other. An amazing experience for the tongue, wouldn’t you say?

You can also find a few other flavors of kok. Lots of pastry shops make a strawberry custard version topped with chocolate glaze which is seasonal, as well as a chocolate-filled kok rolled into coconut. The traditional flavored kok is that which no one seems to get enough of. So whatever flavor you decide to indulge in or bring as a gift to a friend it is sure to be a hit!

Enjoy!

Serves: 35 to 40 of these little treats can be made from one batch.

INGREDIENTS:

For the cookies:

2/3 cup of sugar
6 eggs, separated
1 cup of flour
6 1/4 tablespoons of cornstarch

For the filling:

1 cup + 100 ml of whole milk
2/3 cup of heavy cream
6 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon of sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup of cornstarch

For the syrup:

2/3 cup of water
3/4 cup of sugar

For the chocolate glaze:

4 tablespoons cocoa powder
5 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons water
2 ounces margarine
1 egg yolk, beaten

INSTRUCTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Cream 3/4 of the sugar and the egg yolks. Beat the remaining sugar and egg whites to stiff peak stage. Add half the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture, stir lightly and slowly add the the flour and cornstarch. When mixed, add the remaining egg white mixture.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Using a pastry bag, squeeze out small cookies the size and shape of vanilla wafers: circles about 4 cm in diameter and ½ cm high. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden. Cool on a rack.

Place milk and cream in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Combine sugar, cornflour, egg and egg yolk, and add 1/3 of the warmed milk and cream mixture before it boils. Stir well, then pour back into the saucepan and continue to stir. As soon as the cream melds and begins to bubble, remove from heat. Empty the cream into a clean bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and set aside to cool.

When the cream cools, stir gently with a wire whisk to soften, then place a small amount of cream (1-2 teaspoons) of cream on the flat side a cookie and place the flat side of another on top to create each pastry.

Boil the sugar and water together for 2 minutes. Allow to cool slightly, then dip one side of the filled kok cookie in the syrup. Set aside, syrup side up, on wax paper.

Prepare the chocolate icing by melting the margarine and stir in all the ingredients but the egg yolk. When the mixture is smooth and well combined, stir in the egg yolk. Pour chocolate icing over the cakes. Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving..

Dip the kok into the chocolate glaze on the same side as the syrup.

Refrigerate in a covered pan or dish for 1/2 hour before serving.

By Pam Kanavos

honestcooking.com

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Serves: 5 – 6

INGREDIENTS

• 1 medium sized chicken (about 1.200 grams) or just thighs and breast
• 500 grams Chilopites pasta
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 4 ripe tomatoes peeled and blended with 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 cups water plus 2 more cups of boiled water

DIRECTIONS

1. Wash the chicken and season with salt and pepper. Blend the tomatoes in a food processor with tomato pasta.
2. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place it in a baking dish. If you are cooking a whole chicken place the breast facing down.
3. Add the olive oil, half the water and the tomatoes.
4. Preheat oven at 180 degrees C and roast the chicken, turning once. When roasted, remove chicken to a platter and add the remaining hot water. Bring to a boil and then add pasta. Stir a couple of times until the pasta is cooked (about 20 minutes) and if needed add more hot water.
5. Serve, grating some Greek dried Myzithra, graviera, kefalotyri, halloumi or any other hard cheese on top.

kopiaste.org

While the request from Athens could help the two sides overcome the impasse reached at Monday’s Eurogroup, the fact that Greece will purportedly ask to extend its loan agreement rather than its program could lead to complications.

The Greek side is apparently willing to agree to a moratorium on any steps that could affect the country’s fiscal targets and is ready to discuss other measures but is not willing to adopt the terms of the existing bailout. The proposal is due to be sent to Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem this morning and the Dutch finance minister will decide if it merits calling an extraordinary meeting of eurozone finance chiefs for Friday.

A European Union official told Kathimerini’s Brussels correspondent Eleni Varvitsioti that the problem with Greece asking for an extension of its loan agreement and not the terms that come with it may create problems in parliaments such as Germany’s, which have to approve the prolongation of the agreement.

To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com

He said the European Commission had put such a suggestion to him before Monday's meeting of euro zone finance ministers but that it had been superseded by a different draft proposal - from Eurogroup President Jeroen Dijsselbloem - that he could not sign because it obliged Athens to extend its current bailout package.

Dijsselbloem's proposal was "highly problematic," he said. "We were offering to refrain effectively from implementing our own program for a period of six months and all we were getting back was a nebulous promise of some flexibility that was never specified," Varoufakis told reporters.

To read more, please visit thetoc.gr/eng

“Developments over the last few days have given me a significant degree of hope that, despite the differences, there is an appetite on both sides for finding common ground between the previous program and a new agreement between Europe and Greece that will put and end to the self-perpetuating crisis and will create a relationship of trust between us and our partners,” said Varoufakis ahead of his second meeting with his eurozone counterparts.

Wednesday’s Eurogroup ended without agreement as Greece objected to the wording of a common statement that suggested the current program would be extended. Athens wanted it to be clear that the bailout was being amended.

However, technical teams from Greece and its three lenders, the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund began talks on Friday with the aim of preparing the ground for Monday’s negotiations. Kathimerini understands that another, extra, Eurogroup meeting may be held on Friday if there is no agreement on Monday.

In his interview with Kathimerini, Varoufakis refused to speculate how close the two sides are to an agreement.

“Our resolute stance on totally logical matters will, in the final analysis, lead to a mutually beneficial convergence, even at the 11th hour,” he said.

To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com

In accepting such a possibility though, the European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has demanded that the toxic 30% be replaced by equal, alternative measures.

Sources suggest that the Greek government is willing to adopt the following structural reforms of the existing bailout agreement:

New Ethics Code for banks
Changes in the Judicial Code
OECD report on administrative burden
Taxation of collective investment vehicles
Broadening the definition of tax evasion and tax fraud
Changes in personal and company insolvency
Reforms in wages
Changes to legislation on the budget
Addressing legal hurdles in competitiveness, as noted in OECD report
Changes to investment permits
Changes to the government’s Accounting Plan

Additionally, the Greek government is said to have declared that it will not accept the following prerequisites for the completion of the troika’s final review:

VAT reform
Reduction of non-wage benefits
Changes to collective dismissal legislation
Changes to union actions legislation
Reform of pension system

To read more, please visit tovima.gr/en

Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and his eurozone counterparts failed to issue a common statement at a Eurogroup that ended early on Thursday morning. However, Tsipras met on Thursday in Brussels with Eurogroup chief Jeroen Dijsselbloem and agreed that representatives of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund should work on the details of a possible deal in the buildup to the Eurogroup on Monday.

“[We] agreed today to ask the institutions to engage with the Greek authorities to start work on a technical assessment of the common ground between the current program and the Greek government’s plans,” Dijsselbloem tweeted. This, he said, would pave the way for crucial talks between eurozone finance ministers next Monday.

"We leave today having made some significant steps," said Tsipras at a late night press conference following the summit. "The technical teams will work over the next few days to prepare the ground for Monday's Eurogroup."

Tsipras insisted that he did not feel "isolated" at the EU Council and said that he explained to his counterparts that the government wants to combine the mandate it has received with Greece's obligations as an EU member. But he insisted that Athens would not accept the continuation of the Memorandum of Understanding or the troika in its existing role.

"The memorandum as we knew it is over," he said. "The same goes for the troika."

To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com

"We discussed the possibility of an extension. For some that is clear that is preferred option but we haven't come to that conclusion as yet. We will need a little more time."

It appears that the two sides had agreed to release a joint statement but that last minute objections from the Greek delegations, which was led by Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and Deputy Prime Minister Yiannis Dragasakis, led to the process being abandoned.

Dijsselbloem said that the all the eurozone finance ministers would reconvene on Monday, which is the last planned Eurogroup meeting of the month, to reassess the situation but there would be no discussion between experts or visits to Athens in the meantime.

Varoufakis made a brief statement to reporters after the meeting and played down a failure to reach a common position. He said he believed a "healing deal" could be reached on Monday.

He denied that the sticking point had been an insistence from Greece's eurozone partners to extend the existing bailout and said there were no threats towards Greece during the meeting.

"We explained whey this bailout is not working," he said. "We want a new contract with Europe."

To read more, please visit ekathimerini.com