Greek Baked Quince With Yoghurt (Kidoni me Yaourti)

This is a really, really simple sweet to prepare - but so delicious! Quince is one of my favourite fruits and when it's baked and served with yoghurt and honey.... Well, just try it for yourself! The yoghurt should be Greek strained yoghurt and the honey should preferrably be Greek as well.

Ingredients

4 quinces

1 cup Greek strained yoghurt

1 tablespoon honey (preferrably Greek)

Preparation

Wash the quinces.

Wrap them in aluminium foil and bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees Celsius for 2 hours.

Remove from the oven and allow them to cool.

Remove the centre with the seeds and slice the fruit.

Serve with strained yoghurt with honey poured over the yoghurt.


 If you've tried this recipe please rate it!

Eat and Enjoy!

Greek Polisporo Soup

This 'multi-grain' or 'multi-seed' soup (sporos is the Greek word for seed) is really a kind of broth. It is traditionally made in villages on November 21st. The reasons for this are that it is the end of the planting season and so any grains / seeds that were left over would be cooked as a soup and this would also be 'offered' to the Virgin Mary (November 21st is one of her name days) in the hope that their crops would do well. It really is a delicious broth and very easy to prepare.

Ingredients

100g lentils

100g chickpeas

100g haricot beans

100g corn

100g broad beans

200g whole wheat

100 ml olive oil

Juice from 1 lemon

Salt

Preparation

Soak the broad beans in cold water from the morning of the previous day.

Soak the chickpeas in tepid water with 1 level tablespoon of salt from the previous day.

Next day, rinse the chickpeas thoroughly in plenty of water.

Drain the broad beans and with the help of a sharp knife remove the upper black parts.

Put all the ingredients in a heavy bottomed pan with enough water to more than cover them.

Bring to the boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.

Drain them and then put them back in the same pan and add boiling water – enough to cover them plus 4 cm.

Simmer for 2 hours.

Add salt to taste.

Beat the olive oil and lemon juice together well and pour on top of the soup.

Serve hot.


If you've tried this recipe please rate it!

Eat and Enjoy!

Update On Greek Cookery Classes In Corfu 2010

I previously posted about having Greek cookery classes in Corfu next year here. To get an idea of what interest there is I put up a poll (see top left of blog) and I have to say the interest shown has been excellent - so far 93 (32%) have said Yes and 60 (20%) have said they would seriously consider it.

We are now busy preparing and within the next 7 - 10 days I will post information about it. As I said in the original post, these will be lessons with small, friendly groups - 6 people maximum at a time. So if all the people who have said yes and are interested do finally want to come and want to bring their partners with them, then it's going to have to be a matter of first come, first served! We're not going to increase the size of the groups as we don't want to get away from the small and friendly nature of the lessons.

Thanks to everyone who has responded to the poll - whatever your response - it has given us a good idea of the level of interest.

Keep visiting, as information will be posted very soon.

Greek Stuffed Squid (Kalamarakia Gemista)

I think that Greek kalamari (squid) is well-known all over the world. So, for the seafood lovers amongst you, this is a recipe for stuffed kalamari with sauce.

Ingredients

1½ kg squid (kalamari)

1 bunch spring onions

120g risotto rice

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

60 ml olive oil

50 ml white wine

Salt and pepper

For the sauce

1 tablespoon tomato paste diluted in 2 tablespoons water

1 onion grated

2 cloves garlic chopped

400 ml chopped tomatoes

60 ml olive oil

50 ml white wine

Juice from half a lemon

Pinch of sugar

Salt and pepper

Preparation

Sauce

In a pan, fry the onion in the olive oil for 3 minutes.

Add the garlic and fry for another 1 minute.

Add the wine, allowing it to evaporate and then add the lemon juice, chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper and sugar.

Simmer for 20 minutes.

Squid

Remove the head with the tentacles from the body and with a sharp knife remove the ink, eye and mouth and discard them.

Empty the body completely and discard the contents.

Rub the tentacles and empty tubes with salt in order to remove the outer membrane completely.

Rinse very well in water.

Chop the tentacles and the spring onions.

In a pan, gently fry the onions in the olive oil for 2 minutes.

Add the tentacles and fry them until all the juices have evaporated.

Add the rice, parsley, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute.

Add the wine and stir until it has evaporated.

Add 100 ml of the previously prepared sauce (see above) to this mixture.

Let it slow cook for 5 minutes.

Stuff the kalamari with this mixture and secure the tube with a toothpick.

Put the stuffed kalamari in an oven dish and spread the sauce over them.

Cover the oven dish with a lid or tin foil.

Bake in a pre heated moderate oven at 160 degrees Celsius for approx. 1 hour.


If you've tried this recipe please rate it!

Eat and Enjoy!

Greek Chickpea Soup (Revithia)

This is a lovely warm, nutritious dish - just the thing on cold winter days! Although it's not a 'last-minute' dish - you have to soak the chickpeas overnight - it's a very simple and cheap recipe. Very popular, especially in the villages.

Ingredients

½ kg chickpeas

1 onion grated

1 teaspoon rosemary

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon baking soda

100 ml olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas overnight.

Drain them the following morning, add the baking soda and leave for 1 hour.

Put your hands in the bowl of chickpeas and rub them well.

Rinse the chickpeas very well 4 or 5 times.

Put them in a pan and add enough water to cover them.

Bring to the boil, removing the froth at the top with a wooden spoon just before they come to the boil.

Boil for 15 minutes.

Drain the chickpeas and then put them back in the pan and add enough warm water to cover them again.

Bring to the boil, add the onion and rosemary and simmer for about 1½ hours or until they are really tender – don’t let them get dry and add water if necessary.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

Whisk the olive oil with the lemon juice and add to the chickpeas.

Simmer for about another 5 minutes and then serve.


If you've tried this recipe please rate it!

Eat and Enjoy!