Completing the series of posts with Greek food and drink glossary - I hope it's been useful. Again, the bold italics show where the accent goes.
veal - moscharee
vegetable - lahaniko
venison - kreas elafioo
vinegar - xeedee
walnut - kareedee
water - nerro
wheat - starri
whiting - merloongios
wine - krassee
yeast - maya
yoghurt - yaoortee
zucchini - kolokeethaki
Greek Meatballs In Avgolemono Sauce (Keftedes me Avgolemono)
This is another way of preparing meatballs and is especially popular in the Agrinion area (NW Greece). We have already seen the recipe for Avgolemono soup (Avgo means egg and Lemoni is lemon) and in this recipe, we are using it as a sauce for the meatballs or keftedes.
Ingredients
For the meatballs
1kg minced beef
1 large onion very finely chopped
Bunch of chopped parsley
A few leaves chopped mint
2 slices dry, white bread soaked in milk and well drained
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 whole egg
1 cup plain flour
1 ½ cup vegetable oil for frying
Salt and pepper to taste
For the sauce
2 tablespoons flour
100 ml extra virgin olive oil
Juice from 2 medium lemons
Yolk from 1 large egg
1 litre water
Preparation
Meatballs
Apart from the flour and the vegetable oil, mix all the other ingredients together well.
Make medium-size balls from the mixture.
Roll the balls in flour and then deep fry them for 15 minutes.
Sauce
In a heavy-bottomed pan, heat the oil, then add the flour and stir well for 3 minutes.
Add 1 litre water and mix well.
Add the meatballs and simmer for 30 minutes, until the sauce is slightly thick.
Beat the egg yolk thoroughly.
Add the lemon juice to the egg and keep beating.
Add 5-6 tablespoons of the sauce to the egg and lemon mixture and stir well.
Add this mixture to the meatballs in the sauce, shake the pan and remove from the heat.
Serve with a sprinkling of pepper and fresh mint on top.
If you've tried this recipe please rate it!
If you've tried this recipe please rate it!
Eat and Enjoy!
Other Meatball recipes:
Youvaralakia
Keftedakia
Greek Cookery Classes Corfu 2010
I know this summer is hardly over, but we have started some initial planning for next year, when we would like to have Greek Cookery Classes in Corfu. This would be for small, friendly groups combining a holiday on this lovely island with hands-on lessons in authentic, local Greek cooking.
You may have noticed the simple poll at the top left of the blog. I would like to ask you to take a few seconds to answer it, so that we can get an initial indication of the interest - or lack of it - from readers of this blog. We will of course be coming back later with more details.
For those of you who are reading this as a subscriber, I would like to ask if you could visit the blog and just quickly answer the poll.
And please do feel free to add your comments on this post.
Many thanks and, who knows, perhaps I'll be seeing some of you next year!
You may have noticed the simple poll at the top left of the blog. I would like to ask you to take a few seconds to answer it, so that we can get an initial indication of the interest - or lack of it - from readers of this blog. We will of course be coming back later with more details.
For those of you who are reading this as a subscriber, I would like to ask if you could visit the blog and just quickly answer the poll.
And please do feel free to add your comments on this post.
Many thanks and, who knows, perhaps I'll be seeing some of you next year!
10 Favourite Greek Vegetarian Recipes
I previously posted a list of 10 Favourite Greek Recipes, which was based on the most visited recipes on this blog. This is a list of the 10 most popular vegetarian recipes on this blog.
There are many traditional and easy Greek recipes which are vegetarian - Greek cuisine is not all meat as some people seem to think! You can also take a look at a suggested Greek Vegetarian Meal, which has suggestions for main courses, side dishes and dessert.
There are many traditional and easy Greek recipes which are vegetarian - Greek cuisine is not all meat as some people seem to think! You can also take a look at a suggested Greek Vegetarian Meal, which has suggestions for main courses, side dishes and dessert.
The favourite. Say no more!
A cheese pie which is incredibly easy to prepare and is unbelievably light.
This is a traditional spicy cheese dish, which can be served as a meze with ouzo or beer, or as a dip.
A classic, easy to make Greek side dish.
Another traditional and delicious side dish.
Dolmades can be eaten as a meze with ouzo or as a side dish. 
This is a very popular dish in the summer. Stuffed peppers, tomatoes, eggplant and zucchini.Spinach Pie (Spanakopita) with Homemade Filo Pastry
Another type of spinach pie with instructions on how to make the filo pastry.
These tasty fritters are very easy to prepare and can be served as one of several side dishes - they go nicely with tzatziki or as a light snack on their own.
A traditional pie which can be eaten as a side dish or is a very tasty and nutritious snack by itself.Eat and Enjoy!
Authentic Greek Recipes On Amazon Kindle
This blog is now available on Amazon Kindle - so you can keep up with all the recipes wherever you are. You can subscribe for just $0.99 a month and you get a 14-day free trial to start. To check it out go here - Authentic Greek Recipes
If you don't know what Kindle is (and it isn't something you light fires with :)), then you can find out here -
If you don't know what Kindle is (and it isn't something you light fires with :)), then you can find out here -
Greek Sfougato
This is a type of pie especially associated with the island of Rhodes. You may not be able to get the Greek cheeses listed in the recipe where you live, so I have included suitable alternatives.
Ingredients
500g beef mincemeat
2 onions grated
6 eggs
1 kg courgettes / zucchini grated
1 bunch spring onions chopped
1 boiled potato grated
200g graviera Mytilinis cheese thickly grated
200g ladotiri Mytilinis cheese thickly grated
(If you cannot get these cheeses, then you can use 400g hard cheese such as Regatto)
100g kefalograviera Amfilohias cheese finely grated
(If you cannot get this, then you can use 100g parmesan)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon fresh mint chopped
100 ml olive oil
3 tablespoons olive oil (separate from the 100 ml)
Salt and pepper
Preparation
Spread salt on the zucchini, drain them well in a colander to remove all the juices and set them aside.
In a heavy-bottomed pan gently fry the onions in the 100ml of olive oil for 2 minutes.
Add the spring onions and fry for another 2 minutes, stirring well.
Add the mincemeat and stir well until all the liquid has been absorbed.
Add the potato, mint and parsley and stir for another 10 minutes.
Add salt and pepper and set aside to cool.
Spread the 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a shallow oven dish and heat it in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 5 minutes.
While the oil is heating up, beat the eggs in a mixing bowl and add the cheeses apart from the kefalograviera / parmesan.
Transfer this mixture to the cold mincemeat mixture and mix well.
Transfer the whole mixture to the oven dish on top of the hot olive oil.
Spread the kefalograviera / parmesan on top.
Bake in a pre heated oven at 180 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes.
If you've tried this recipe please rate it!
Eat and Enjoy!
Greek Feta Cheese
The Greeks eat the most cheese in Europe - figures show that 25kg per person is eaten every year here - so I decided that it would be appropriate to start a series of posts on Greek cheeses. I am a great lover of cheese and the variety and quality of cheeses in Greece is terrific.
I'm going to start with the best-known - Feta.
This traditionally dates back to the Homeric ages and Aristaeus has been credited with its discovery. In Homer's Odyssey the Cyclops is described as making and storing sheep's and goat's milk cheese. The following is from Samuel Butler's translation -
"We soon reached his cave, but he was out shepherding, so we went inside and took stock of all that we could see. His cheese-racks were loaded with cheeses, and he had more lambs and kids than his pens could hold...
When he had so done he sat down and milked his ewes and goats, all in due course, and then let each of them have her own young. He curdled half the milk and set it aside in wicker strainers."
Of the 25kg cheese eaten per person per year in Greece, 12kg is Feta! It is a white soft to semi-hard cheese, ripened and kept in brine for at least three months. Manufactured mainly in mountainous and semi-mountainous regions of Greece where the use of any harmful substances (fertilisers, pesticides etc.) is very scarce, it is distributed to the market in barrels, tin boxes or in the form of plastic-wrapped pieces.
Greek feta production is restricted to primarily sheep milk and some goat milk, while other countries use cow milk in the process. These countries also use coloring agents to change the yellowish tint produced from cow’s milk to a pure whiter form of goat and sheep milk. The subsistence of these goat and sheep is specific to the dry climatic conditions of certain regions in Greece, where there is a particular type of grazing. The methods of production are also unique to Greece.
Some recipes with Feta
Spinach Pie (Spanakopita)
Spinach Pie (Spanakopita) - a different recipe
Tirokafteri (Spicy Cheese Dip)
Cheese Pies with Yoghurt Dough (Tiropitakia)
Stuffed Green Peppers with Feta
Greek Cheese Pie (Tiropita)
Spinach Pie (Spanakopita)
Spinach Pie (Spanakopita) - a different recipe
Tirokafteri (Spicy Cheese Dip)
Cheese Pies with Yoghurt Dough (Tiropitakia)
Stuffed Green Peppers with Feta
Greek Cheese Pie (Tiropita)
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