The Greek Food

Tag: leeks

  • Sausages with leeks

    Sausages with leeks

    Like other kids, I guess, sausages were my favorite food when I was young. Easy to make and tasty, anything that I could ask at that time.  However, as time went by I forgot to try and make any nice relevant dish with sausage as the main ingredient.

    To be honest I was barely trying. Yeah of course, there is the spetsofai which is very typical in Volos , central Greece, but I was looking for something different.

    So one Saturday night, I came up to the following recipe which surprised me in a number of ways. First of all because it is easy to make which is important nowadays when you are looking to eat something nice in less than 30-40 minutes.

    Also, the flavour of the leeks, make a real difference..

    INGREDIENTS FOR SAUSAGES WITH LEEKS

    • 2-3 sausages chopped in large pieces. Ideally anything spicy would do
    • 3 leeks chopped
    • Around 200gr of feta cheese cut in various pieces
    • Olive Oil
    • Salt Pepper
    • Paprika and some chilli if you want
    • A bit of oregano

    LETS COOK THOSE SAUSAGES

    • Ideally you will need a deep frying pan. I used one of those for Chinese food. Throw a bit of olive oil in there… just a teaspoon and then leeks. Stir them a bit and add water. You don’t want to cover the leeks with water but just a but until the middle so they start to get soft
    leeks with sausages
    The sausages mixed with the leeks and the feta cheese squeezing in.
    • If you want at that point, you can add ½ of a vegetable stocking cube..but not necessary.
    • As the water slowly evaporates and the Leeks become softer you add the sausages, salt, pepper, paprika and the chili (if you like it spicy) and stir. Let it for 4-5 minutes more.
    • Just before the end, when the sausages are ready, add the feta cheese and the oregano and stir it for 1-2 minutes. Bear in mind you don’t want your feta cheese to melt.

    They are ready to be served.

    Tip: Make sure when you clean the leeks, to always remove the outside part of the leek before you chop them. So they can be softer when they are cooked. I didn’t know that…my mother told me…

  • Cabbage and leek rice

    Cabbage and leek rice

    You know there are some things that are not in the cooking books and there are not in any encyclopaedia for Greek cuisine. There are things that just come up from real life and are…just there!

    When I was young one of the many foods that I hated was the so called, Lachanoprassoryzo! Ok I know you don’t understand what it is but it means, Cabbage and leek rice. Why did I hated it? Cause it had only vegetables inside and that’s something that no child can ever take!

    Despite all that, when you get older, things changes and you want more vegetables into your diet in order not to feel bad about the excessive alcohol that you consumed the previous night… So the previous weekend I remembered about this recipe and in fact I found details in some papers with recipes that my mother wrote for me when I first came in to UK.

    However, here is  the thing, when I checked around in the net to make sure that my mother has written the recipe correctly , I never found a similar recipe!. It was either cabbage rice or leek rice the typical greek recipe. I was angry! So I asked my mother to explain herself!  I couldn’t believe that all those years I was brought up with a recipe that it wasn’t cooked as thousands and thousands of years before!!! Surely there had to be a reason!

    According to her , the traditional recipe is either cabbage rice or leek rice but once my father had the idea to “marry” all of the ingredients into one dish and she how it will come up adding also carrots.

    To be honest I am sure my father heard that story somewhere else also, but it was a good story to tell , I think 🙂

     CABBAGE AND LEEK RICE (LACHANO PRASSO RIZO)

    • 1 medium but beautifull cabbage sliced
    • 3-4 leeks cut in rounds
    • 2 (sweet) little carrots cut in small rounds
    • 1 cup of -extremely- white rice (more or less for 2 people)
    • A small -cute- bunch of parsley, chopped
    • Salt and pepper
    • A teaspoon of olive oil
    • (red hot) Chili peppers (not necessary, if we want)
    • The juice from half a lemon

    Update 5/12/2013

    My brother complain recently that the recipe wasn’t clear enough. So he couldn’t how to make the food now that he lives 2 blocks away from in London. I guess he was right but i will not tell him that. I think i was more caught in the history of this dish rather than how to make it. So, lets makes it clearer.

    • In a big pot put a bit of olive and in medium heat throw the leeks inside that you have cut before in small round pieces. Let them sizzle for 3-4 minutes and then add, the cabbage, the parsley and stir really good.
    • Add some water to cover the cabbage, the carrots and let it boil for around 20-30 minutes. Basically until you see the cabbage and the carrots to start and become softer.
    • Add the rice, and then add more water if needed, in order to cover the rice. stir a bit more and let it boil for 15-20 minutes.
    • Remove the water with a strainer and serve it adding some lemon.

    Unfortunately in the picture is not really clear…but the more vegetables, the better rather than rice.. either way enjoy it! 🙂

     

  • “Tigania” Pork with leeks

    “Tigania” Pork with leeks

    In Greece there is a kind of dish which they call “tigania”. Basically fried meat combined with some sauce. Any fried combination of meat in Greece is called like that and is usually dish that people take in combination with others as  “mezedes”,

    Its not difficult but frying pork in combination with other spices always brings special flavors. I have tried various combination in the past and always i got something different.

    For this specific one i read how nice it was to combine it with leaks as it is something that is done widely in Greece. (trust me i checked forums where Greek mothers are discussing there cooking secrets)

    To be honest  think its easy to make different variations and its not something really difficult or uncommon nevertheless  oregano gives it a special flavor while you can mix it with greek feta cheese or other spices like thyme.

    Its up to you

    INGREDIENTS FOR “TIGANIA” PORK WITH LEEKS

    1. 500gr of pork chops cut in small cubes.
    2. 2-3 leeks cut in small pieces
    3. ½ cup of Olive oil
    4. Salt-Pepper
    5. ½ cup of white wine
    6. Oregano

    METHOD

    Cut the pork into medium size pieces wash and leave it to drain

    Put the oil into a pan and sauté the pork chops

    As soon as it is brown add the wine and let it “drink” all the alcohol.

    Add salt pepper and oregano as much as you want and continue to stir it.

    Just a little bit before it is done, add the leeks and stir for 4-5 minutes more.

    Serve it together with rice or chips.