Krassáto - braised pork with white wine, carrots and celery

   

  Wine is widely used in cooking all over Europe,  red wine mostly, and, as expected, such
recipes have been developed in wine producing regions. In the Peloponnese we grow both
red and white varieties of grapes, either  local or French, but where I live white is the most often cultivated . This is true of our own  family vine yard as well.
     We often use wine in cooking just for ''seasoning'' although there are recipes like the one presented here where wine is the star ingredient. Wine gives both taste and moisture to meat and you should never worry about the alcohol since it evaporates during cooking.

     Wine is called krasi in Greek, so a dish with wine as the key ingredient is called ''krassáto''.
I use a dry white wine from the local variety ''roditis'' but you can use your own
favorite  white wine, keeping in mind to buy an extra bottle for serving. And something
important to remember:  never use in cooking a wine that you wouldn't want to drink!

Tirópsomo - Feta bread

   

  In Greece we love both feta and bread and this pair, together with some olives, are the most common choice for a quick snack between meals.
Tirópsoma, sold in every bakery across the country, are savory breads made from common bread dough with the addition of feta in the batter, making it an easy snack to enjoy while on the go. 
     These feta breads can be flavored with oregano, olives, or even sun dried tomatoes in a   ‘special’ version. When feta bread is made at home the list of seasonings, herbs, cheese or even flour is endless. Here I give you the basic feta bread recipe that we make at home.  You can be more creative and try various additions or just follow this classic traditional version.

Portokalópita - easy orange pie for lazy but inspired cooks!!

    

 Most Greek pies (we call them pites), whether savory or sweet, are made either by  wrapping fyllo  pastry around the filling or by layering in many even layers. - alternating the fyllo  and then the filling. 
     There is, however, another type of pie that's made with torn up fyllo sheets baked in with the filling or batter, - a process that produces a fluffier and quicker result.  
     These are called  “Patsavourópites” literally ‘pites in rags’, partly to describe the pieces of torn fyllo and partly to suggest that they are the poor cousins of the more time consuming and elegant layered pies. Patsavourópites are very common in the Epirus region. The original version was a savory feta cheese pie but a sweet version was developed not long ago by some inspired housewife and the recipe has spread by word of mouth all over the country.
     To make a sweet  portokalópita  you need thin fyllo and yogurt custard scented with orange zest.

Karydópita - spiced walnut cake soaked in syrup

   

  Karydópita is one of those desserts that really smell like Christmas. It is a spiced walnut cake soaked in syrup and versions of it are found all over Greece. Almost every home cook has his or her own version using different proportions of the same ingredients, or using different basic ingredients; some prefer finely grated dry breadcrumbs instead of flour! This version is really fluffy but calls for too many eggs. 
     The recipe I am giving you is the one my grandmother used to make and happens to be my favorite. It is the recipe we still use to make the karydópita we serve at the tavern.

Melópita – Honey pie from Sifnos island

 

    Sifnos, located in the south Aegean sea, is a beautiful island famous for its ceramic workshops; ceramic bowls, plates, vases and cooking pots that bake wonderful oven stews.

     Al though it can be also found in other Aegean islands, honey pie is famous as a specialty of Sifnos. It is one of those traditional desserts made with simple ingredients found in any agricultural community: homemade myzithra cheese, honey (μέλι) from their own bees and free range eggs. These ingredients were enough to make people creative and turn an old fashioned cheesecake into something we may nowadays call a gourmet dessert. The addition of more honey and some cinnamon when served makes it even more impressive. 
    Myzithra (also called anthótyro)  is a low fat soft and fresh cheese made from both goat and sheep's milk, but if you can't find it abroad it could be substituted by Italian ricotta cheese with similar results.

Avgolémono - gives taste and texture to any soup

       

 Avgolémono is the most characteristic Greek method to thicken a soup. I remember my grandmother's ritual when making an avgolémono soup.  She used to claim that we should only stir the soup clockwise because stirring the opposite way would make the eggs curdle. 
        Thankfully things are not that complicated; you just have to mix the eggs very well, preferably with a mixer before adding lemon juice and gradually a cup of the hot stock (without stopping mixing as you add the stock). Once that is done, you return your avgolémono mixture back into the rest of the hot soup and you have a rich soup in both   taste and texture. If avgolémono is made properly there is absolutely no egg flavor in your soup. Soups thickened with avgolémono should be served immediately, so always make it at   the last minute, just before serving..

Apart from soups, the avgolémono method is used to give taste to other dishes such as chicken fricassee or lamb stew with greens.

Soutzoukàkia - Cumin flavored meatballs in rich tomato sauce

    In classic Greek cuisine we don't use a great variety of spices, except pepper of course, cinnamon, cloves or allspice in tomato based sauces and, rarely, nutmeg in flour based sauces. 
     Some recipes, though, which have  an eastern origin but which have been completely incorporated in our cuisine contain different spices than we normally use. Soutzoukàkia are meatballs flavored with cumin and cooked in a rich tomato sauce. What makes this dish different is the cumin, an exotic flavored spice used widely in the Middle East, India and Mexico; cumin is also one of the spices used in curry powder. If you eliminate cumin from this recipe you will simply have ordinary meatballs, not a bad thing but we all need something exotic every now and then.
     Soutzoukàkia are usually served with fried potatoes, steamed rice or mashed potatoes. Tzatziki is a matching side dish giving freshness to this meal.
Believe it or not, soutzoukakia taste much better the day after, maybe because the aromas have spread more evenly over time.

Quince jelly, beautiful red jelly flavored with rose geranium

    

     Quinces are ideal fruits for jellies and jams because they have a wonderfully perfumed flesh and, most importantly, because they are full of pectin. In Greece we also make a sweet preserve with pieces of quince, but we also use them in cooking, for example in festive stews with pork or game, the same way you would use potatoes.
In different areas of the country quince jelly is flavored with rose geranium ( Pelargonium  graveolens) or lemon verbena, but you can also flavor it with cinnamon and cloves, vanilla, or something to your own taste.
     This jelly, popular all over the planet, can be used as a jam on toasted bread, to accompany cheese on a cheese plate, or as a natural jelly to gloss fruit tarts. It has a wonderful red color and, properly preserved, can be stored for up to a year. 

Pastitsio - baked pasta with meat and creamy bechamel

   

  Pastitsio consists of bucatini shape pasta( a thick spaghetti-like pasta with a hole running through the centre ), ground meat, and tomato filling, which are then  topped with creamy béchamel sauce and baked in the oven until golden.  Since everyone likes pasta, pastitsio is a wonderful dish for family gatherings. It brings back childhood memories,- the perfect mummy style comfort food.
     Pastitisio has an Italian origin (pasticcio) but in Italy it is made with lasagna pasta and without the bechamel sauce. I don't know when it was first imported but it was many decades ago and in its altered form it is now considered a classic Greek dish.

Halvas Rinas - semolina and almond cake flavored with Grand Marnier

  

   We call halvas confections made with semolina, oil, and syrup as basic ingredients. The result is a compact shaped bar. Halvas Rinas, though, is a very fluffy cake made with the basic ingredients of halvas but with the addition of eggs and milk and with the syrup added after baking.
     This cake resembles ravani, but it’s flourless and that produces an airy cake; at the same time the semolina, absorbs the syrup evenly. We made Halvas Rinas for the first time when looking for a dessert to enhance the taste of our new crop of almonds, and it turned out to be really good. Grand Marnier or any other liqueur you prefer gives an especially nice taste to the syrup. 
     Although I asked and even googled about Rina, the inventor of this cake, I found absolutely nothing, but her recipe has made her famous.

Kotopoulo me bámies - chicken stew with okra and tomatoes

   

  If we didn't like okra (sometimes called lady fingers or gumbo) for their wonderful taste, we would surely grow them for their big beautiful flowers.

     The okra harvesting period is from July to late September, and since they don't bloom all at the same time, you can enjoy their flowers all summer long.

     In Greek okra are called bámies, and we use them in many summer dishes. They actually compliment both meat and poultry, but also other vegetables in summer stews. In fact, the most common okra dish is a simple stew with tomatoes, cooked the same way we cook green beans.

     Many people don't like okra because they had a bad first experience with their gelatinous sauce, but if you toss them with vinegar and let them stand for an hour in a strainer, you will have a perfect result  no matter how you choose to cook them.

For my taste the ideal combination for okra is chicken, a quite popular dish all over Greece. 

Gemistà - stuffed tomatoes with rice and herbs

Stuffed tomatoes are called gemistà in Greek.
Red, ripe tomatoes with their natural sweetness can turn this humble dish into a wonderfully flavored summer meal. As a kid I remember we would cook this dish at home, mostly in August, when the tomatoes from our garden were ideally ripe.

Rice and finely grated vegetables together with herbs is the classic stuffing for gemistà. In some parts of Greece, raisins and pine nuts are used to give a festive touch to the dish. 
Another version calls for minced meat in the stuffing, but it’s not nearly as popular. 
Gemistà  can describe not only tomatoes but also other stuffed summer vegetables such as aubergines, green peppers, and zucchinis.

Melitzanes me tomata & feta - baked eggplants with tomato sauce and feta

     Eggplants and tomato; tomato and feta!  Add some basil or oregano and this chain reaction can give an explosion of taste in your mouth.
     Slices of eggplant covered with tomato sauce, and topped with feta can easily become a filling summer dish, served either as a first or as a main course.
     In Greece we season tomatoes with oregano, but basil is a classic Mediterranean companion for tomato as well;  so  it’s up to you.
Cooking this dish, won't take you more than 20-30 minutes.

Sfougàto - zucchinis and kefalotyri cheese frittata.

   

 Zucchinis are widely available in summer and since they are quite popular for their light fresh flavor, many dishes are based on them.
    At this time of the year we usually have more time for cooking but we prefer spending time eating instead, so easy and fast recipes like omelets are always popular.
    This frittata with zucchinis, which on Aegean islands is called sfougàto (spongy), is easy to make and quite filling.

Scordomacárona –An easy spaghetti with garlic and tomato paste

   The first day we would go to our summer house, my mother always had to do a lot of cleaning, so there wasn't much time for cooking - Scordomacárona was the answer!

   This simple pasta made with tomato paste is probably the first dish I ever learned to cook, because it’s easy to prepare and very tasty at the same time. We use tomato paste a lot In Greece and a can of it is always available in every household fridge.

Santorini island makes a very special paste because they use the local heirloom ‘dry’ tomatoes which are grown in the volcanic soil of the island without ever being watered.  The plant absorbs water from the night breeze which brings moisture from the sea. Its taste is unique but the limited production makes it a bit difficult to find.

Mosharaki me lahanika - beef stew with summer vegetables

   

   This classic beef stew with tomato sauce is usually served with pasta or fried potatoes. However, in hot weather there are many tasty seasonal vegetables that can take the place of pasta and fried potatoes making a lighter dish with a summer touch.
      The stew can be made with beef or with any other meat or poultry. Zucchinis, eggplants, sweet peppers and potatoes( or carrots) are the most popular summer vegetables chosen for this dish. 
      We usually serve kokkinisto with graviera cheese as a side dish. It is a lightly salted yellow hard cheese with a sweet aftertaste. If you can't find graviera, then gruyere could be a good choice.

Melitzanosalata - eggplant spread, the monks' way

   

      Eggplants are the basic ingredient of many summer dishes; they make wonderful combinations with tomato, garlic, onion, peppers, basil and many other summer vegetables, all producing very tasty dishes.


     Today we harvested the first eggplants of the season and the best way to taste them without too much cooking is melitzanosalảta, a spread made with roasted eggplants, olive oil, vinegar and just an idea of garlic. Roasted red peppers can  also be added for extra color and sweetness. This vegan version is called agioritiki and takes its name from the monks’ community of Athos peninsula (Agio Oros). The addition of yogurt or mayonnaise does give a rich taste but one closer to what you find in the store bought melitzanosalata.

Zucchini fritters and choriảtiki salad - a light summer meal

    




     Mediterranean summers are very hot and heat calls for light meals. In Greece we use many vegetables in our summer cuisine - in salads, in vegetable stews, grilling them, baking them,  or making fritters for more filling bite size snacks. 
     The most famous Greek salad among locals and tourists is choriảtiki the base of which is tomato, cucumber, and onion topped with a generous slice of feta cheese. Choriatiki is also garnished with olives, green pepper, capers and dry oregano. Olive oil is the final and most important ingredient of any salad; it has to be fresh extra virgin olive oil because salads are not cooked, and therefore all special characteristics of the oil used affect the taste.
     A zucchini fritter (kolokythokeftẻdes) is a nice way to turn zucchinis (kolokỳthia) into a tasty snack. It is usually served as a first course or as a meze for your ouzo or wine. Some Greek yoghurt  is always nice with fritters.

Mosaico - Mum's chocolate log

    

  Our country cottage is in a small village. There was no shop to buy anything, and we had to visit the nearest town to get supplies. Of course we always would buy goods in advance, but there was one thing that as a kid I was missing in summer and that thing was ICE CREAM!!!.

      As you know, mums don’t like their children to be miserable, so I had a favorite ice cream substitute that my mother could easily make at our cottage with no special equipment. This was her chocolate and biscuits log; she called it mosaico. It is not her own invention; it’s actually a quite popular dessert all mothers used to make since the 70’s. 

     My mother makes this delicious dessert with vegetable margarine, cocoa, eggs and a couple table spoons of brandy to eliminate the egg flavor but, as an adult, I prefer to use less fat and  make it with dark chocolate and whipping cream. I will give you both recipes to decide which one fits better to your taste.

      I like this dessert all year long and specially on Christmas an easy to make dessert is always welcomed. 

Fava - yellow split peas puree with caramelized onions

     

Yellow split peas or fava, as we call them in Greece, are cultivated in many regions of the country where different microclimates give them completely different tastes. Santorini, apart from being one of the most beautiful islands, is the place of origin of the best quality fava beans produced in our country. The volcanic soil and the unique dry climate give to the beans an exquisite taste but the limited production makes it difficult to find them outside the island. Very good fava is also produced in the valley of ancient Feneόs here in the Peloponnese.   
     Fava is usually cooked as a puree and since its taste is quite neutral, caramelized onions, capers or some finely chopped Greek salad on top, can transform it into a gourmet dish.