Ok, ok, lets be serious…you know it…I know it…we all know it! There has been at least one time in your life where you have been alone in the house and had some food and the only thing you wanted was a kind of sauce… something to dip.
Just anything! But you didn’t…. L
Ok ok caaaaaaaaalm down…that’s why we are here! That’s what we are going to do….we are going to save the moment …once again!
The following is recipe for a sauce called Tyrokafteri. The direct translation to that is…hmmm…I guess spice cheese. To be honest you will see it with different names across the web but …for now let’s settle with that…tyrokafteri or…greek spice cheese dip.
Tyrokafteri Ingredients
250gr of Greek Yogurt
2 roasted sweet peppers
1 green pepper
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon of olive oil
250 gr of Feta Cheese
1/2 tea spoon of paprika
1/2 tea spoon of oregano
1 tea spoon of vinegar
1 chilli pepper sliced (or more if you want)
The process is really simple to be honest. Just mix everything on the mixer and serve. Ideally you can add more ingredients depending on your taste.
As I said those may vary in different areas of Greece or in the Balkans also. Despite that, those are the basic ones for a quite good amount of tyrokafter
How to make tyrokafteri?
Make sure that it has a creamy look and serve it with…more or less everything you want. Ideally as you put the ingredients you want to keep tasting it so you are sure that it doesn’t become too much or less spicy for your likings.
Usually tyrokatferi was a typical dip when I was going to my grandmother and had any meat related food… but you can easily use it as a dip with chips or just pita bread. Well, i hope you will like it….but if you dont! There is always tzatziki !
Enjoy!
p.s. try adding yogurt or tobasco ..the variations as always dont have any limit..but the basic ingredients are those.
As I have this cooking blog for some time now more and more friends are sending me advices for recipes. What to cook, how , when,… i think fame is starting to get me…
Sometimes it gets a little bit awkward. A while ago I was talking with four different girls in a pub for recipes as my friends were making fun of me from another corner.
Well, Fylia is our guest writer for today and she sent me a beautiful recipe for roasted lamb with a secret her mother was using. Secret from generation to generation i guess!
Anyway, here it goes. The recipe as it was send to me by Fylia.
[highlight] “Roast Leg of Lamb with a secret” from Fylia. [/highlight]
This is a recipe I have improvised, using my mother’s everlasting secret for roasting meat. It includes a special ingredient – which will stop being a secret very soon, sorry Mum! This helps to get a nice crisp skin on the meat, but most importantly, treacle’s down in the pan to mix with the rest of the liquids and create an amazing juice for dipping your bread (papara – Antonis knows). Potatoes roasted in this are oh-my-God…..
Enjoy!
Ingredients:
Leg of lamb, finely trimmed, approx 800kg (serves 6 medium hungry)
1kg new potatoes
6tbs Yellow mustard
6 lemons
Molasses (the secret)
1 ½ cup of olive oil
1/3 cup of water
rosemary
1 clove of garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions:
You need to use a roasting pan with a rack.
Peel the potatoes and cut into small cube-like pieces of approximately 3-4cms each side. Place at the bottom of the tray and put rack on top.
Peel the garlic clove and cut alongside into thin slices. Slice the lamb in several locations and stuff in the garlic with some of the rosemary. Place the lamb in the rack, on top of the potatoes.
Preheat the oven at 180o C.
In a large mixing bowl, mix the juice from the lemons, the mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. Pour over the pan and ensure all potatoes are covered. I use my hands to evenly distribute the liquid in the pan before placing the rack on top. Only add the water if the liquids are not enough to cover the potatoes. Sprinkle the potatoes with rosemary.
Use a brush to baste the lamb leg with molasses. Ensure a good quantity is covering the meat on all sides.
Place in the oven and cook according to meat guidelines – preferably keep the pan loosely covered with foil. Remove foil in the last half hour and allow the meat to rest for a while before carving. Always remember to check the potatoes too!
I always remember the times when I was young looking my mother preparing soups for supper..especially during winter….fasolada…lentil soup…..fish soup….and chicken soup.
One of the most stupid thoughts that I had seeing my mother cooking a soup is that it takes so much time. Well, that is not the case. Cooking a chicken soup is a one of the most easiest recipes you can have.
The reason why I say that is because you don’t need to have any extra skills or do two things at the same time…the only thing that takes time is cleaning the vegetables. Other than that is a recipe that it’s really straight forward and depends on you how much you want to change it.
The basic ingredients for me that you need to use are… chicken breast (obviously J ) , rice and lemon ! Other than that you can add as many vegetables as you want or have.
So lets try it !
Ingredients for Chicken Soup
1 small chicken
1 cup of rice
6 carrots
2 courgettes cut in large pieces
1 cup of olive oil
1 red onion trimmed
couple of leaves from celery
1 lemon juice
sal,t pepper
How to cook Chicken Soup
In a large pot put 2.5 litters of water, thoroughly wash the chicken and put it in the pot. Add the olive oil, onion, celery and a little salt. Cook chicken over medium heat for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. 15 minutes before the end pour into carrots whole.
Once thoroughly boil the chicken remove carefully and leave it in a platter. Remove carrots and leave it on the plate to cool. Pass the broth of chicken from fine strainer not to have pieces of chicken. Put it back in the pot and let it boil.
Remove the breast of the chicken. Cut into small pieces and pour the broth boils. Pour the chopped carrots. Taste and, if necessary, add a little salt. Add one cup of rice soup. Allow the soup to boil thoroughly until rice is melting and lightly thicken the soup.
The chicken is always in big pieces as well as all the vegetables.
Add the juice of a lemon, some salt if necessary and at the time of serving pepper. The soup is served warm.
You know sometimes they say that women when they are pregnant they want to eat the most obscure things on the most obscure times. Well, I don’t know if that is true or not but I have to say I felt the same couple of weeks ago.
For quite some time I wanted to cook stuffed squid and eat it the same way as I was eating it in Greece when I was leaving there. One Saturday, I simply went to the local market in Angel and did it.
I have to say it was quite difficult preparation for a first timer like me but the result was worth it. They are some different ways to do it and for this case I chose to grill the squid while you can do the same recipe but boiling it. I am guessing in that situation it will be with more thick sauce.
Now that I am thinking about it the whole process reminds me the Stuffed peppers and tomatoes (gemista) recipe… hmm
STUFFED SQUID WITH RICE AND TOMATO
INGREDIENTS
1 kilo of Squids
3 spoons of Olive Oil
200-250gr of Feta Cheese
1 can of tomato juice
1 tea spoon of capers
1 clove of garlic
500gr of rice
1 red onion finely chopped
a small bunch of parsley
Salt and Pepper
In a big deep pan, add a bit of olive oil and throw in the garlic and onions. In medium heat stir them really well and then add the rice and tomato juice. Stir properly and add water until the rice is done. Lower the heat and throw in the parsley, capers but also the trimmed feta cheese. Remove from the heat so the feta cheese does not melt.
Make sure you have cleaned the squid properly removing the inside bone. Take a small spoon and add the rice on the belly of the squid making sure you dont over do it. Close the squid with a toothpick and place them on a deep baking pan. When you finish with all the squids add the remaining of the stuffing on the pan and close the pan with a baking foil from the top.
Bake them for 20 mins in 180-200 degrees and then remove the aluminium foil and baking them for 15 more minutes.
Its difficult to write about the following dish as anyone that has been to Greece or is Greek knows about it. The following bean soup is called “Fasolada” in Greek and it is one of the most famous dishes in country and one of the most healthy ones you can find.
Trying to pronounce it can be a little bit difficult, but then again most of the recipes over here i guess would make you feel the same.
Fasolada -and not mousaka– has been often characterized as the national food of Greece. There are many stories behind that. One of it is that before German occupation of 1941 but obviously afterwards, Greeks didn’t have much money to eat and meat was rare and only for privileged people. So many greeks had Beans as a basic part of there menu.
Nevertheless, Fasolada has its roots also in ancient Greece where there are mentions about it.
Our Fasolada Soup
In Athens, every year they celebrated god Apollo on the fourth month of the Athenian calendar which most probably would be around …end of September with end of October in our times. In order to celebrate his presence they were cooking bean soup for him.
Why especially bean soup?
Well, when Thiseas according to ancient mythology, went to Crete to kill Minotauro he stopped in the sacred island of Dilos to make a sacrifice (Olive which was considered sacred…) to Apollo in order to help him and come back alive. However, Thiseas coming back to Athens after killing Minotauro didn’t had anything on his boat to give to Apollo.
Most probably they ate everything…
So Thiseas ordered his crew to gather beans that was left and offer them to Apollo in the temple of Dilos. The result? Athenians and later on other Greeks were always cooking bean soup at that time!Whatever story you choose doesn’t makes a big difference. The main point is that it is one of the most traditional dishes of the country.
The recipe is really simple but it takes a lot of preparation in order to succeed the proper taste.
Add some Feta cheese on top and your greek bean soup is ready
How do you make the Greek Bean Soup (Fasolada) ?
500 gr of medium beans
3 carrots sliced
2 medium onions sliced
2 celery sliced
1 tomato juice can
1/2 cup of Olive Oil
Salt/Pepper
Method
Boil the beans in pot for 35-40 mins and then strain them. Slice all the vegetables . Add in the pot the Olive Oil, as well as the vegetables and stir them really good as they start to sizzle.
Pour the tomato can and stir it good so it can mix with all the other vegetables. Then we add the half cooked beans and we pour a bit of boiled water so it can cover all the ingredients.
Cover the pot and continue to boil for 30-40 mins.
Add salt and water as well as Olive oil to make the bean soup more juicy. Serve it with Olives or pickles.
Is Fasolada Healthy?
It is
the dish of the Greek culture and tradition. A trademark of the Greek diet
which is extremely nutritious and
topical due to its low cost choice.
Like
all legumes, it is a very good source of plant protein in our diet. It is not
compared to the protein of meat and animal food, but when combined with foods
such as rice it is very close to it. It contains
significant amounts of insoluble and soluble fiber that contributes to lowering
blood cholesterol levels and good functioning of the gastrointestinal tract.
It is
also an excellent source of vitamin B1, which is also called thiamine, and
plays a role in our better mental function.
Adding
vegetables and spices, such as celery, carrot, significantly increases the
vitamin content of an antioxidant such as carrot. According
to the principles of the Mediterranean diet, legumes such as beans and lentils
should be consumed at least once or twice a week. And for those who cook them
we advise not to overdo it in the oil and add it to the end of the cooking or
even raw after boiling.
A cup
(172 g) of cooked beans contain:
Calories:227
Carbohydrates:40.8 g
Totalfat: 0.9g
Vegetablefiber: 15g Is excellent source:
Iron(3.61mg),
Magnesium(120mg),
phosphorus(241mg)
Flavic acid (256mcg)
and good source:
Zinc (1.93mg),
thiamine(0.42 mg),
niacin (2mg).
Still anot so well-known feature is their high antioxidant content.
