Ingredients:

1 kilo of cleaned squid 1/2 cup of olive oil 1/2 cup of dry wine (white or red) 3/4 cup of rice (preferably long grain) 1/2 tablespoon of tomato paste 1/4 bunch of fresh parsley, chopped

1 teaspoon of salt 1/2 teaspoon of pepper 2 1/4 cups of water 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced 1 medium onion, finely chopped toothpicks

 

Preparation:

Chop up the squid tentacles into small pieces.
Stir the tomato paste into the wine until smooth.
Preheat oven to 170C.

In a frying pan, sauté the onion, garlic, and 1/2 the chopped tentacles in the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the onion has softened and the mixture is steaming, stir in the wine and tomato paste mixture. Stir in parsley and cook until the mixture thickens slightly. Stir in 1/2 the water and bring to a boil. Stir in rice, turn off the heat, and wait for the rice to expand, about 15 minutes.

Using a spoon (or small measuring spoon for small squid), fill the squid tubes with the stuffing, to 2 cm from the top. Thread the top with one or more toothpicks to close and place in a baking pan. Add remaining stuffing, chopped tentacles, and remaining water.

Bake at 170C for one hour and 10 minutes.

Remove toothpicks before serving.

Yield: serves 6

By Nancy Gaifyllia

greekfood.about.com

Some are good for the liver, or kidneys, or cleanse the blood or all three and of course all are good for your digestive system. What fascinates me, living in the country as I do, is that the locals pick them from their own fields after the heavy rains in October-November. They do not grow them - they are collected wild. They always proudly tell you they are wild, even in the tavernas. “They come from the woods, I picked them myself this morning”.

By Greg Birbil

My wife who is of Epirote descent, remembers picking horta with her grandmother from empty lots in Massachusetts - they picked dandelions. I grew up in Brooklyn, not many empty lots and no horta. At least we never picked any.

Let me return to the “horta hunters”. A common sight in the countryside of Greece is a parked car, just off the road - Mercedes, BMW, or some other upscale car. There is a group of well-dressed older people, walking through the fields bent over scouring the ground with a knife in hand and a plastic bag in the other. Unless you realize what they are up to, it is a strange sight. Nevertheless these “horta hunters”, usually city folk, are having a great day out searching for their delicious greens. Remember, these are not poor people adding to their meager foods, but well to do people making the effort to have the delicious, beneficial greens that they grew up with.

If you are driving around the country side and see these “hunters”, you might want to join them, but make sure the field you pick horta from has not been recently used by sheep and goats, it might affect the taste.

To read more, please visit gourmed.gr

 

Total time: 15 to 30 minutes, depending on how many figs you grill at one time

12 large or 18 medium-size ripe but firm fresh figs (1 pound)

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses (available at Middle Eastern markets)

12 1/2-inch thick slices goat cheese from a log, about 6 ounces (see variations that follow)

Fresh mint leaves for garnish

1. Prepare a hot or medium-hot grill or heat a grill pan to medium-hot. Cut figs in half.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar and olive oil. Add figs to the bowl and gently toss until they are thoroughly coated.

3. Place on grill or grill pan flat side down. Grill for 2 to 3 minutes (depending on the heat), until grill marks appear. Turn over using tongs or a spatula and grill for another 2 to 3 minutes on the other side.

4. Remove to a platter or sheet pan and brush each fig on the cut side with pomegranate molasses (you don’t need much).

5. Arrange 2 slices of goat cheese and 2 to 3 whole figs (4 to 6 halves, to taste) on each of 6 serving plates, garnish with mint leaves, and serve.

Yield: Serves 6

Advance preparation: You can make this through Step 4 hours before you wish to serve, but you will have to reheat the figs, which you can do in a low oven. They should be warm. If you do this, you might want to brush with additional molasses.

Variation: Substitute 2 heaped tablespoons ricotta (2 ounces) or 3 heaped tablespoons Greek yogurt (1.5 ounces) per serving for the goat cheese

Nutritional information per serving: 236 calories; 15 grams fat; 8 grams saturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 30 milligrams cholesterol; 18 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 101 milligrams sodium; 9 grams protein

 

My decision was made easy when I discovered my local greengrocer brimming with cyprus potatoes. Bright with the distinctive red soil still clinging to their skins, these are a fantastic variety of spuds and I look forward to them coming into season. They're earthy in flavour, pale and fluffy when cooked – they make terrific mashed potato.

With creamy smooth and garlicky top of my gastronomic checklist, my skordalia ticked all the boxes. Served at room temperature, this pale whippy dip was demolished by all three daughters. A respite from hummus, but for how long?

(Serves 4 as mezze/side dish)

500g floury potatoes, such as cyprus, washed but not peeled
2 cloves of garlic
140ml olive oil (and 10ml extra for serving)
Juice of a small lemon
Salt & pepper
80g finely crushed toasted flaked almonds or walnuts to sprinkle on top (optional)

Skordalia must be absolutely smooth – use a potato ricer to mash the potatoes or push the cooked potato through a sieve with the back of a spoon.

Boil the potatoes with their skins on in plenty of salted water. Once cooked, drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel them from their skin.

Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt into a paste. Push the potatoes through a sieve, mouli or a potato ricer and add the garlic paste.

Beat in the oil and lemon juice – bit by bit – into the potato mix. Check the mix for salt and pepper.

If the skordalia is a bit too thick (it should be the consistency of hummus) thin with a bit of hot water.

If using the nuts, spread the skordalia onto a plate or bowl and sprinkle the nuts on top.

Add the extra trickle of olive oil to serve.

By Claire Thomson

theguardian.com

So, inspired by the pine honey, hot peppers, and dark raisins of Ikaria, the latter of which were once a prized agricultural product on the island, I set out, in my Athens kitchen, to make chutney because I wanted to serve it with a simple feta-phyllo pie, tyropita.

I call this my pleated tyropita recipe, because of the way you have to fill and scrunch up individual sheets of feta-cheese-stuffed pastry before baking. It’s a technique I learned a few years ago, and I’ve made the recipe a little healthier, by replacing the butter with extra virgin Greek olive oil. 

Serve it with the chutney, of course!

To get the recipe, please visit dianekochilas.com

By Diane Kochilas

 

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of lamb or kid offal (liver, heart, lungs, and other organs)
• Intestines from 2 lambs or kids
• juice of 2 lemons
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 5-6 green onions, finely chopped
• 1/3 cup of olive oil
• 2-3 rounded tablespoons of fresh dill, finely chopped
• 2 heads of romaine lettuce, well washed and finely chopped
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons of short-grain rice, well rinsed

For the Avgolemono (Egg & Lemon) Sauce:

• juice of 2 lemons
• 3 eggs at room temperature, separated
• 1 tablespoon of water

To read more and learn how to prepare this soup, please visit: The Spruce Eats