BBQ side dish

Summer is the perfect season for a bbq, finding a side dish is not always easy though.

Here's my latest ideas: a couscous salad with 

• fried cubes of vegetables (eggplants and zucchini) and 
• fresh cherry tomatoes
• some good olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme 

or a pasta salad with

• fresh pasta trofie (soft thin twisted pasta from northern Italy)
• tuna in olive oil
• fresh cherry tomatoes
• mozzarela buffalo cheese
• freshly cut and chopped chives (ciboulette in french)
• some good olive oil, salt and white pepper 

will lift it. If you add a greek tzatziki to add some moisture to the whole menu, then you have the perfect combination! No, I forgot the most important ingredient: good company to share all this :) 

Alternatives for the Greek spanakotyropita!

Lazy for the full version of the greek spanakotyropita (spinach-feta pie) but still craving for it? I have some alternatives for you. Make the same filling as the original recipe and 

• either make snails using fyllo pastry that you fold in half, oil a bit, add some filling and roll and twist like a snail (see photos)
• or use 2 rectangular sheets of puff pastry that you insert the filling in between and cut in pieces 

Bake as usual until golden colored.

Enjoy!

Easy and light version of moussaka

 

Summer is the perfect time to bake greek moussaka, as eggplants are at their best, so I highly recommend it! The caveat is that it is not an easy task and usually in summer we want to rest and recharge. In addition, frying too is not the best summer task either.

So, here's an update to my original and authentic recipe of moussaka: Follow the exact recipe apart from the way of cooking the vegetables. For them, I suggest instead:

1. you cut them in small cubes, 
2. empty them in a big oven tray, 
3. pour some olive oil all over, add, salt, pepper and thyme or oregano
4. mix well
5. bake at 200 degrees of Celsius for about 30min or until softened 

My son even said that he prefers this version better :) Enjoy!

Mpougatsa, the greek custard pie!

Went to Greece for vacations and got addicted to mpougatsa for breakfast? Here's how to make it back home and extend your vacations a bit through food :)

Made with crusty fyllo and filled in with a custard cream made out of semolina is served dusted with icing sugar and cinnamon. It makes the perfect breakfast or anytime snack and why not as a dessert.

My 2023 Christmas recipes

 Merry Xmas with my recipes! To be shared with your dearest!

Melomakarona, Kourambiedes, Stuffed Turkey, Xmas Swiss roll, Ekmek kadaif, 

Stuffed mushrooms, Mini pasticcios, Pavlova and Xmas pudding. 

Cookies with white Wine

Have some left over white wine and do not know what to do with? I have you the recipe for!

I have indexed it here as Greek Easter cookies but you can improvise and do what ever you want with it.

Yesterday we went crazy and did a mix of various shapes like Christmas, Halloween and striped ones. We had lots of fun doing them with family, not to mention eating them :) 

PS: Better be a dry white wine though.

Portokalopita, the greek orange cake!

Years ago, when I have visited the greek island of Leros, a kind lady gave me the recipe of "patsavouropita" - a typical desert of their island. I made it immediately when I have returned home but at some point with time, I've lost the recipe, which I regret. Much later on, a similar cake "portokalopita" became very popular in Greece. Often tourists taste it at the end of a dinner at a restaurant or taverna as a treat and they just love it! 

I profit from this revival to gather various recipes from family, friends and online (thank you all!) and end up with my own. Here's my favorite that thanks to my blog I will keep for the years to come and I will pass it to my children :) 

Greek filo or fyllo dough for pies

Have you ever tasted spanakopita or spanakotyropita ? Oh my... I have given the recipe long time ago in this blog but using ready made filo. I have never given the recipe for a homemade "filo", the basic ingredient and this is outrageous for someone who comes from Thessaly, the region for traditional greek pies!
I will try to remediate today by dedicating this recipe to my mum, the best ever cooker who abandoned school very early to cook for her family that worked to the fields and who knows how to "open" the thinner ever possible filo. Sorry mum, I cannot compete with you, at least I try :)
Prepare though for quite some work, my moto "simple but delicious" is true only at half !
Attention: You will need a special wooden rounded stick or anything equivalent.
P.S : I have added some heavy cream in the filling of the original recipe today. 

"Papoutsakia" or stuffed eggplants for the novice :) [Updated, original 13/08/14]

[Updated 21/05/19 lighter version no frying]
Popular Greek recipe, perfect for the summer menu and very similar to moussaka : "papoutsakia"! The word literally translated means "little shoes" and opposite to shoes, it tastes and smells great :)

If you like moussaka, then you will love it also as it a bit easier and as it serves individually, it is great looking for a nice summer dinner among friends.

Greek Easter recipes

If you are interested in traditional recipes done during the Greek Easter period, check my

Greek Easter recipes

Happy Easter!

Milopitakia, greek mini apple pies or cookies

October, the month of apples!

That's why I decided to present you today a recipe that was missing from my blog and that I like a lot: milopitakia!

Milopitakia, in greek, means mini apple pies but they are actually more kind of apple-filled cookies to be more precise.

Whatever you call them, I am sure that you will like them once you taste them, so here it goes in order to have them for real at your place :)

They look gorgeous too, no?

Tyropita, the greek feta cheese pie!

Family was asking for tyropita, the Greek feta cheese pie, last week and searching to find the recipe in my blog I realized that it was missing! I had only the spanakotyropita recipe that is even better but more complicated. So, you can imagine the rest... had to take photos on top of cooking :)
I was extremely busy & tired and so was my daughter that I asked to take fast some photos, which explains the low quality of the result. But it's better than nothing,  no?
So, if you like feta cheese, try this recipe and you won't regret it :)
My only regret is that I had to leave immediately after so I tasted it much later at night when I came back... at least family was nice and had left me a few pieces !

Happy Easter 2017

Dear family, friends, acquaintances and just passengers from this blog,

I wish you all Happy Easter whatever that means for each one of you, if it means something.
Actually, I am so busy this period that I have realized just 2 days ago that Easter is this weekend :)
This blog proposes several traditional Greek recipes to prepare these days that each one reminds me of the Easter time that I have spent in Greece with my family at good and bad times.
I continue to prepare most of them for my subsequent family and I will be glad if my effort will help others to bring up memories from their youth in the same way or even better :) Cheers!
Recipes:

• Easter eggs
• Roast lamb leg (traditionally we roast the whole lamp in a huge barbecue, though)
• Easter cookies
• Vivian's pudding
• Ribbon cake as Easter cake
• Tsourekia (recipe missing but you can see the next one)
• French brioche bread or Tsourekia

Feta cheese balls

Remember the recipe of feta cheese pies (tyropitakia)?
It's one of our favorite salty starters and if you have never tried it before this is the moment to do it!

I am giving you an alternative that is pretty simple, much simpler than the original recipe.

Ribbon cake as Easter cake!

Happy greek Easter even with a delay!
All the best to you and your families...

Heres my inspiration for a cake that I came up with, as this year for several issues I did not want to make a more fancy cake, as this Easter coincided with a bad anniversary...
You want to know more about it?
Let's call it the Ribbon cake!

Zucchini muffins

Remember the delicious zucchini balls that I have presented a long time ago?
Discover today my personal touch to turn them to muffin-like starters in a xmas dinner that I have organized recently. They looked gorgeous and they tasted even better! Just try them...
Procedure

• Use the same recipe for the filling and simply pastry dough (cut in disks) and assemble them in a muffins tray. 
• Sprinkle on top with some yellow cheese. 
• Bake for about 30min at 180 degrees of Celsius and fan.

Summer time cooking!

Do you have a crave for a bbq?

Summer is the perfect time to indulge yourself with meat cooked over charcoal and everything that accompanies such a treat.

Approaching 15 of August that is a holiday in several places, I suggest the typical greek combination of souvlakia and tzatziki, and why not a greek salad that is an old-time classic.

Add some grilled vegetables like zucchini and eggplants that will not pass unnoticed for sure.

Kali oreksi! (aka enjoy your meal in greek :)

Recipe reminder (Gemista)

Time to remember a nice vegetarian Greek recipe "Stuffed tomatoes, the greek way" or "Gemista" as we call it in Greek.
It deserves all your attention... Light, healthy, tasty, good-looking, what more to ask from a recipe?
Simply, enjoy!

Recipe reminder (Tyropitakia)

I would like to remind you a salty greek recipe that I just cannot resist :
"Tyropitakia", the feta cheese pies!
If you haven't tried it yet, just do... if you have, just give me some feedback of what do you think of it or tell me your own recipe, if you like sharing :)
You can even offer them in a nice gift box to someone, to give you some ideas. I always do that, when I want to thank someone ...
Specifically made today as a surprise for one of my kids that I missed soooo much ;) Enjoy!

Coconut "Ravani"

Ok, a difficult day for me (2 of may) has passed and life gets it's rhythm again. So, what's best than trying my favorite Greek cake? Coconut "Ravani" or Coconut semolina moist cake :)
Do you remember the recipe for ravani? If not, time to revise it ...
Find today a slightly different version that is one of my favorite Greek cakes with flaked coconut.