How Did This Tradition Start?

The celebration of the 25th of March always occurs during the Great Lent, a period when many Greeks fast for nearly fifty days- abstaining from meat, fish, and dairy from Kathara Deytera up until Easter.

During Lent, however there are two exceptions: one on the 25th of March and the other on Palm Sunday when fish is traditionally consumed. In the old days, people living near the shores ate fresh fish on both occasions but people in remote mountain villages could not, as there were no refrigeration trucks to transport fish. Consequently, salted cod substituted fresh fish, during lent and other occasions, as it was cheap and could be preserved for a long time.

The basic secret for the batter is to use ice cold water which helps the fish not to absorb too much oil. Corn flour makes the crust light and crispy making it hard to resist devouring more than one piece! 

 

Cut the cod into portions, remove skin, rinse to remove salt and place in a bowl and cover with water.If cod is not a fillet make sure to remove all the bones. Drain and change the water every 3 – 4 hours for at least 24 hours before preparing.

Beat one egg white into meringue. In a bowl add the flour, corn flour, (baking powder instead of egg white), salt and pepper, fennel fronds, the beer, the olive oil and lemon juice and start mixing adding the water gradually, until you have a thick batter. Do not add all the water as you may not need all of it. Mix in the egg white and place the batter in the refrigerator for an hour.

Dip the cod into the batter and fry on both sides in hot olive oil. Serve with delicious garlic dip (skordalia).

Enjoy!

Article Source: Kopiaste.org

 

Ingredients

• 350g fine semolina
• 250g unsalted butter at room temperature
• 250ml whole milk
• 200g sugar
• 120g ground blanched almonds
• 100g pine nuts
• 50g all purpose flour
• grated zest from 1 orange
• 4 eggs
• 3 tsp baking powder

Syrup

• 400g sugar
• 360ml water
• 20ml (1 tbsp) orange blossom water (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. First make the syrup by boiling all the ingredients together for 3-4 minutes. Let it cool.
2. In a bowl mix together the dry ingredients: semolina, flour, powdered almonds, pine nuts and baking powder.
3. Pre-heat the oven to 180 οC.
4. Beat the butter with the sugar until white and fluffy. Gradually add the eggs and the orange zest, beat until fully incorporated and stop beating.
5. Stir in the dry ingredients until they have been fully incorporated.
6. Butter a rectangular baking tray measuring 35×23 cm and fill with the mix.
7. Bake for about 45 minutes or a until it has turned a golden brown colour. When you remove from the oven cut into pieces with a knife and pour over the syrup.
8. Let the Ravani stand for at least a few hours before serving so that it will absorb the syrup.

Source: Foodjunkie.eu

Ingredients

250g white chocolate, cut in small pieces
75ml fresh milk
1 vanilla pod
3 fresh, organic eggs, separated
350ml crème fraîche
fresh fruit for garnish

Method

1. Melt the chocolate with the milk in a bain-marie, frequently stirring. When the chocolate melts remove from heat and leave aside to cool, for 5-6 minutes.
2. Split the vanilla pod lengthwise and remove the seeds carefully with a knife. Add them to the melted chocolate and stir well.
3. Add the egg yolks to the chocolate, one by one, stirring with a whisker. Wait for each yolk to be fully incorporated before you add the next. Whisk the crème fraîche until it thickens and add it to the mixture, a little at a time.
4. Beat the egg whites with an electric hand mixer for 5-6 minutes until they form soft peaks. Add half the meringue to the mousse, folding it gently and, when it is fully incorporated, add the other half, again folding it gently with a spoon or a spatula.
5. Divide the mousse between 6 tall glasses and chill for 3h.

argiro.com.gr

Method

Put all the ingredients in a bowl. Knead until you have a smooth and light dough. Place the dough onto your working surface and knead for another 5 minutes to make it fluffy. Gather it to a ball and then pat it lightly on the top to flatten it. Place it inside an oil-greased baking pan. Use a sharp knife to score a cross on top. Place the pan on the bottom shelf of the preheated oven and bake the bread at 180ºC, for 35 minutes, until golden brown.

Ingredients

2 tea cups of strong flour
1¾ tea cups of wholemeal flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons yoghurt
1½ tea cups of milk

Preparation Time 10 minutes
Baking time 35 minutes

www.argiro.com.gr

Greece, a mountainous country, is a mushroom lover’s 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 4 servings

4 tbsp. extra virgin Greek olive oil
1 lb. / 500 g button mushrooms or Oyster mushrooms (plevrotous), trimmed, wiped or rinsed, and sliced thin
2 red onions, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 cup Arborio, Carnaroli, or Greek “glasé” rice
½ cup dry white wine
3 cups vegetable broth
3 sprigs fresh thyme, little leaves only
3 sprigs fresh oregano or marjoram, leaves only, finely chopped
1 tsp. pink peppercorns
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large skillet and sauté the mushrooms until soft but al dente. Remove from heat and set aside.
In a large, deep skillet or wide pot, heat the remaining 3 tbsp. of the olive oil over medium flame and add the onions. Season with a little salt. Cook over low heat for about 15 – 20 minutes, until the onions turn a deep golden color. Add the garlic, stir to soften for a minute, and immediately add the rice. Stir all together, to coat the rice in the oil.

Add 1 cup of the vegetable broth. Stir until absorbed. Add the wine and cook, stirring occasionally, until absorbed. Stir in the mushrooms and all their pan juices. Add as much of the remaining broth, 1 cup at a time, as needed to finish cooking the rice, which should be soft but al dente. Season to taste with salt and pepper and stir in the herbs. Remove and serve, garnished with the pink peppercorns.

Note: You may add cheese to this dish. Several tablespoons of creamy Greek feta, grated kefalograviera or kefalotyri, or parmesan cheese would work beautifully. The feta adds a whole other dimension.

By Diane Kochilas

To read more, please visit dianekochilas.com

Spanakopita is golden in color when baked, the color often enhanced by butter and egg yolk. Other white, fresh, preferably salted cheeses may also mixed with, or substituted for, the feta cheese. It is mostly eaten as a snack in Greece, and it can be an alternative to tyropita. There is a "fasting", or vegan, version of spanakopita, eaten during the Great Lent and other religious fasts, and composed of spinach, onions or green onions, other green herbs like dill, parsley or celery, olive oil and a little wheat flour, but without eggs or dairy products; the mixture is oven-baked until crisp.

Non-traditional vegan versions are available that typically use tofu instead of cheese. In rural Greece, smaller amounts of spinach are used, with the missing part substituted with leeks, chard, and sorrel.

Trim the roots from the spinach, or if using silverbeet, remove leaves from tough stems. Wash leaves and drain well. Coarsely shred the leaves and tender stalks of the spinach and set aside. Place the feta in a large bowl and coarsely mash with a fork. Add the ricotta, kefalograviera, eggs, breadcrumbs, nutmeg, pepper and oil.

Mix with the fork to combine. Add the spinach and set aside while preparing the pastry case. Preheat oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 20cm x 30cm x 5cm deep baking dish. Lay the filo out on a bench. Cover with a dry tea towel then a damp one to keep it from drying out. Line dish with a sheet of filo and butter the filo.

To read more, please visit 43things.com and leaveroomfordessert.com

Ingredients

2 tablespoons extra virgin Greek olive oil
450 gr sausages, outer skin removed, cut into large chunks
1 tsp chopped basil
½ cup Mavrodafni or other sweet red wine
6 cups chicken broth
1 butter stick (1/2 cup)
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 cup Carnaroli rice mix with mushrooms
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

Instructions

1 Heat a large, nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the sausages and sauté for about 5 minutes, until they begin to brown.
2 Add ½ cup of Mavrodafni. As soon as it evaporates, remove the skillet from the heat and keep aside.
3 Keep simmering the broth. Melt butter and add a little oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes. Season with salt. Add the rice and stir for 2 minutes.
4 Add 1 cup of the broth. When it is absorbed, add another cup, repeating the same process until most of the broth is absorbed by the rice. Return the sausages and basil to the rice. If necessary, add a little bit more broth. Add half of the cheese and stir.
5 Serve the risotto with the remaining cheese on the side.

Serves 6

greek food - greek cooking - greek recipes by diane kochilas http://www.dianekochilas.com/

 It is also one of the few things I do not make at home, first of all because it is so hard to replicate and secondly because one can still find good cheap souvlaki to eat everywhere in Athens (and all of Greece of course).

You might be wondering therefore why I am posting a souvlaki recipe. Well, this is no ordinary souvlaki, although it is just as juicy and mouthwatering as the real deal, with the difference that it is meant to be made at home and has ingredients you can find in almost any part of the world.

The main recipe belongs to a well-known Greek chef, Giannis Loukakos, and I have slightly tweaked it to make it less time-consuming, an important factor I think for the home cook. It is vital you choose the right part of meat for this dish: pork neck. With its high fat content neck is perfect for slow roasting, as the fat is rendered during cooking giving the most succulent, tender meat you will have ever tasted. This meat is then wrapped in a tortilla instead of the usual souvlaki pita, making each bite slightly less “bready”, and adorned with crispy salad leaves, chopped tomatoes or mustard and Greek yogurt. 

A wonderful dish like this deserves an equally good wine. I was lucky to have a nice bottle of Rossiu di Munte Pinot Noir 2008 (means ‘Red of the Mountain” in the local dialect) by Katogi Averoff at hand,  which was sent to me a while ago to taste and blog about. Set on the steep slopes of Pindos mountains, the vineyards of Katogi are I think the highest in Greece (940m above sea level), which means that the grapes have enough cool weather to produce a good Pinot.The winery also boasts a beautiful hotel and I think that it would be worth a visit, if you ever decide to see more than the islands in Greece.

The wine itself was medium-bodied, with nice, round tannins and lovely cherry fruit on the nose and palate. Its price is quite high for Greek standards (19-20 euro) which is partly due to the quality of the vinification process and the low production. Although duck would have been my first choice for a Pinot wine, it really suited the tender, mellow flavour of the meat and I am happy to have paired the two together. The next day we tried it with some full flavoured cheeses: an Appenzeller, a Vacherin and a 36 month old chunk of Parmiggiano Reggiano and it was really good with them too.

INGREDIENTS for 6 people

2kg pork neck, cut into cubes
1 kg onions, finely sliced
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
200ml red or white wine
750ml good quality chicken stock or plain water
2 tsp Greek dried oregano

for serving

Flour Tortillias (abour two per person)
mixed salad leaves (2-3 handfuls)
chopped tomatoes (about 3)
grated Cretan graviera cheese (or Pecorino omano)
Greek strained yogurt
aromatic mustard

DIRECTIONS

1 Season the meat pieces.
 2 In a pressure cooker heat 50 ml of olive oil and brown the meat pieces in two-three batches, making sue you do not crowd them in the pot.
3 Discard the fat and add another 50 ml of olive oil. Over medium heat saute the onions until they are soft and slightly coloured. Add the garlic and when you start smelling it pour the wine in the pot.
4 Let the wine simmer for a few minutes and then add the meat and stock to the pot.
5 Bring to the boil, close the pressure cooker lid and following the cooker’s isntructions cook for about 35 minutes.
6 When you open the pot the meat should be very very soft and quite a bit of liquid still. Continue simmering until all of the liquids have evaporated and the meat idoes not hold its shape any more, about 30-45 minutes.  Set aside to cool a bit before serving.
7 For serving: place the tortillas on the table (better cut them in half) together with 2-3 chopped tomatoes, the salad leaves, grated cheese, mustards and yogurt. Loukakos suggests serving this souvlaki with grated cheese, tomato and lettuce, but I liked it better with tomato, mustard and yogurt. Experiment with the flavours to find the one you like best!

foodjunkie.eu