Pick the right apple

“You can buy apples year-round, but it’s much better to buy in-season apples. Right now, we use Cortland and Jonagold or sometimes even Granny Smith. Empires will be out soon and they are also a good baking apple. You want an apple that is both tart and sweet, as they will give the pie the best flavour. An apple like Red Delicious isn’t as flavourful when baked and tends to fall apart.”

Keep the filling simple

“To let the flavour of the apples come through, we keep the filling very simple: just cinnamon, sugar and flour. If you want to get fancier, you can add some of the earthier spices, like vanilla, nutmeg or allspice. But always make sure to only peel the apples right before use, so they don’t get brown before you start baking.”

Handle it as little as possible

“There’s really only two components to an apple pie: the crust and the filling. The filling is the easiest part; where it gets trickier is the pastry – pastry can intimidate people. It’s better to throw out an overworked crust and start again than to have a pastry that is tough. A 1/4 cup of water should be enough to bring the dough together, then start adding it by the tablespoon if it isn’t forming a loose ball.”

Butter is better

“You can use lard, shortening, butter, oil or some combination of the above for the fat for your crust, but we have found that an all-butter crust is what works best. The dough may not be as tender as with shortening or lard, but we’ve found butter imparts the best flavour to the dough.”

The secret ingredient

“One surprising ingredient we sometimes use in our pastry is white vinegar. Just a tiny splash, 3/4 tablespoon, won’t impart any flavour, but it does help tenderize the dough. It makes the final product a little less crunchy and the pastry … softer.”

Two baking temperatures ensure everything is cooked:

“First, cook the pie at a high heat (between 400 F and 425 F) for about 15-20 minutes to get the pastry nice and flakey. Then, to make sure the filling is cooked, lower the temperature to 350-375 F and bake for another 15-20 minutes. If you want the apples softer, you can cook it for up to 40 minutes, but you have to watch the crust. If it starts to brown (or burn) too much, cover it with foil or parchment paper.”

By Fraser Abe

www.theglobeandmail.com

Ingredients
Serves: 8 

500g beetroots
250g Greek yoghurt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, crushed
salt and pepper
2 teaspoons virgin olive oil
1 heaped tablespoon coarsely chopped walnuts
half walnuts for garnishing

Method
Prep:5min  ›  Cook:30min  ›  Extra time:1hr chilling  ›  Ready in:1hr35min 

Scrub and wash beetroots thouroughly under running water.

Put into pan with enough water to cover them and boil in medium heat for 30 minutes or until they are tender.

Rinse under cold water, peel (now the skin comes out easily with just a little squeeze of your fingers). Cut into slices, cubes, whatever you like.

Prepare yoghurt: in a bowl blend yoghurt, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper and half the olive oil. Add the beetroots and the chopped walnuts in the yoghurt mix, reserving a few pieces of beetroot for garnishing.

Place salad in bowl. Decorate it with pieces of beetroot and walnut halves and drizzle with the rest of the virgin olive oil.

Tip: You can omit the yoghurt and walnuts and serve beetroots with salt, vinegar, olive oil and finely chopped garlic.

By Maroula

allrecipes.co.uk

Ingredients

1.5kg chicken, cut into portions
1 teacup olive oil
640g fresh tomatoes
500g orzo/risoni
1 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper
water

Preparation

Wash and clean the chicken.
Cut into portions and sprinkle salt and pepper over the chicken.
In a large baking tray add plenty of olive oil, you may need to add more than 1 teacup depending on the size of your tray.
Grate the tomatoes over a bowl and keep.

In the tray add the chicken, and 1/3 of the tomatoes and mix all in.
Put in the oven on a medium heat and roast until the chicken is cooked.
Take the tray out of the oven and remove the chicken.

Add the rest of the tomatoes to the tray along with the orzo, 4-5 teacups of boiling water, oregano and salt to season.
Stir through.
Replace the chicken in the tray and return the tray to the oven.

Keep a check on this and give it a stir regularly to make sure the pasta doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan and also that the liquid doesn't dry up. If it does, add some more water, a little at a time, until the pasta is cooked. Be careful not to overcook the pasta.
The orzo should be coated in a rich tomato sauce with just a little runny sauce left over.

Serve with graviera cheese and a spring green salad.

You can adjust this meal to use beef or lamb instead of chicken. It is served in Greece with all meats. If using lamb, use a very lean piece and cut off all visible fat.

This recipe can be cooked in a large casserole saucepan on the stovetop. It is suited more to chicken and is ideal for smaller quantities. You will probably need to add a little water to the chicken in the beginning and let it simmer until cooked.

When you add the pasta, check the water levels, and stir often as it is more likely to stick on the stovetop, regulate the heat to low to not burn.

Source: Ultimate-guide-to-greek-food.com

Ingredients

60 ml olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 bunch shallots (spring onions), finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1.2 kg baby spinach
2 tbsp chopped dill
250 gm feta cheese, crumbled
150 gm full-fat ricotta cheese
3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
4 eggs, lightly beaten
½ tsp grated nutmeg
12 sheets phyllo (filo) pastry
120 gm butter, melted

For phyllo pastry
200 gm unbleached flour
A pinch of salt
7 tbsp water, plus more if needed
2 tbsp vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
½ tsp cider vinegar

Preparation:

Combine the flour and salt. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add this mixture to the flour and knead the dough till soft. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.

Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes.

Flour well and roll it out as much as you can. Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Cut out 12 sheets of 15cm x 15 cm measurement.

Heat oil in a frying pan. Add onion, shallots and garlic. Cook for 1 minute until softened, then add spinach and half the dill. Cook, stirring, over low heat for 1-2 minutes or until spinach has wilted. Drain in a colander and cool, then combine with cheeses, egg, nutmeg, salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 180°C. Brush a 2 ½ litre baking dish with butter. Lay one sheet of phyllo on base and sides and brush with butter. Repeat with 5 more sheets. Spread cheese mixture over top. You can make this dish by layering it like a puff or using the filling in samosa-shaped pastries. Cover with remaining phyllo, brushing each sheet with butter. Trim excess pastry with kitchen scissors and tuck edges into sides of dish. Brush top with butter and score in diamond patterns.

Bake for 45 minutes or until golden. Rest for 10 minutes. Warm remaining butter, add remaining dill and, when serving, pour over sliced spanakopita.

To read more, please visit deccanchronicle.com

 

2006 Pavlou Estate Klima

The Pavlou Estate in the Amyndeon region focuses on Xinomavro, the great red grape of northern Greece. (The winery even creates an intriguing white blend from it by crushing the grapes, then immediately discarding the skins.) This 100-percent-Xinomavro bottling shows off the variety’s distinctive dried-cherry flavors and streamlined tannic structure.

2004 Katogi & Strofilia Agiorgitiko

Dark cherry and espresso notes characterize this focused Agiorgitiko, which comes from a wine producer based in Macedonia. (One of its founders, Evangelos Averoff, was also the first winemaker in Greece to plant Cabernet Sauvignon, back in the ’50s.)

2007 Kir-Yianni Paranga

Yiannis Boutaris founded Kir-Yianni in 1997 after leaving Boutari, the company his grandfather founded in 1879. Since then, Kir-Yianni has become one of Greece’s top producers on the strength of wines such as this peppery Xinomavro blend, distinguished by its juicy cherry-berry flavors.

2006 Pavlidis Thema Red

Located in a narrow valley in the northern Greek region of Drama, the small, ambitious Pavlidis Estate creates a focused range of top-quality wines from hand-harvested grapes. This violet-hued blend of Syrah and Agiorgitiko combines peppery, gamey aromas with rich black-fruit flavors.

2005 Skouras Megas Oenos

George Skouras, this estate’s owner and winemaker, was among the first in Greece to blend international and local grape varieties. This bottling, which is largely old-vine St. George (an alternate name for Agiorgitiko) with about 20 percent Cabernet Sauvignon, has bright berry fruit with a note of blackberry liqueur.

2005 Tselepos Cabernet-Merlot

Yiannis Tselepos, one of the central figures of the Greek wine renaissance, started his Peloponnesian winery in 1989 after studying enology in Dijon, France, and working for several years in Burgundy. Known for his graceful Moscofilero white, he also makes this smoky, elegant red, full of black-currant fruit.

2004 Palivou Estate Terra Leone Ammos

This voluptuous, rosemary-scented Agiorgitiko, lush with potent black-cherry fruit, comes from fourth-generation proprietor—as well as first-generation winemaker—George Palivos. For this high-end bottling, grapes from a single vineyard Palivos owns high in the Neméa valley receive lengthy aging in French oak. Somehow, though, the oak notes don’t dominate the flavors of the wine.

www.foodandwine.com