Spetzofai: Country Sausage with Peppers & Tomato

The choice of peppers is yours, but unless the sausage is extremely mild, red bell peppers are always a good choice. For mild sausage, try Greek pepperoncini or other mildly hot pepper. In this recipe, I used our local handmade sausage (loukaniko) which has enough spice to make my eyes water, so I chose red, green and orange (sweeter) bell peppers. Note: This is delicious on the second day as well!

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

· 2 pounds of spicy country sausage
· 2 medium onions
· 1 red bell peppers
· 1 yellow bell peppers
· 1 green bell peppers
· 1 large ripe tomato, finely chopped with juice
· 1 clove of garlic, sliced
· 1 tablespoon white or red wine
· 3 tablespoons of olive oil

Preparation:

Cut sausage into slices. Peel onions and cut into chunks. Trim peppers and remove seeds. Cut into chunks.
In a heavy-bottomed frying pan or skillet, saute the onion in the olive oil over medium heat until translucent, about 5-8 minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Add sausage, peppers, chopped tomato and juice, and garlic, and stir until all ingredients are well mixed. Stir in wine and cover. Cook for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Spoon onto serving plates and serve warm. A favorite with rice.
Yield: serves 4

Keftedakia (Meat Balls)

Keftethakia are a favorite dish and easy to make. I usually make up large batches of the meat mixture and use some for these cocktail meatballs, and others for hamburger patties or meatballs in sauce.
Tip: When buying the ground meat, ask the butcher to grind it twice. The grind used in the originals is finer than that usually found in grocery stores.

Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

· 1 Kilo of lean ground beef
· 2 large onions, grated
· 5 tablespoon of Greek Mint
· 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper
· 1 tablespoon of sea salt
· 2 eggs, beaten with a fork
· 2 slices of white bread, crust removed (best if slightly stale)
· 1 bunch of fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
· 3 tablespoons of olive oil
· 1/4 cup of toasted breadcrumbs
· 2 big potatoes thinly grated and squeeze out the juice
· 1 teaspoon BP
· olive oil for frying
· some flour


Preparation:

Wet the bread, squeeze out the moisture. Mix all ingredients for 10 minutes by hand until soft and well blended.
Form the meat into slightly flattened balls with a diameter of about 1 3/4 inches at most (about the diameter of a golf ball)and roll them in the flour.
Pour about 1/3 inch of olive oil into the frying pan and heat until hot. Add meatballs, and fry over medium heat until brown on all sides (about 15-20 minutes). (A 10-inch frying pan will hold about 25 meatballs.)
Serve with lemon wedges.
Yield: 40 cocktail meatballs
(if the micture is more than you wish to use for the day you can always safe the rest in a special freezer bag for another day to use!!

Hummus with Tahini

This dip is quick and easy to make, delicious, and healthy. No cooking involved. Just grab the blender and go. Chickpeas (also known as garbanzo beans) and tahini (a paste made from roasted sesame seeds) combine to make a tasty appetizer to serve with wedges of pita bread. A favorite in Greek restaurants outside Greece (see note below the recipe).

The key to great hummus is to let the flavor of the chickpeas come through, rather than be overwhelmed by the lemon (it's easy to get too much lemon taste).
Prep Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

· 2 1/2 cups of canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
· 1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice
· 1/4 cup of tahini
· 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
· 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil
· 1/2 teaspoon of ground cumin
· 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
· pinch of freshly ground black pepper
· 1 teaspoon of salt
· 1/3 cup of water
· parsley and olive oil to garnish

Preparation:

Put 1/2 the lemon juice and all ingredients into the blender except the chickpeas (and the parsley and oil for garnish) and blend for 5 seconds. Add the chick peas and blend on high until it reaches the the consistency of sour cream, but granular, about 10-15 seconds. Blend in remaining lemon juice to taste. If the dip is too thick but you don't want to add more lemon juice, add a little water slowly and blend until it reaches the correct consistency.
Transfer to a serving bowl, cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving. (It can be eaten immediately, but becomes even more flavorful if left to chill well.)
Drizzle of olive oil over the top and add a garnish of parsley or black olives before serving. Serve with pita wedges or slices of whole grain breads.
Note: Be sure to rinse the canned chickpeas well to clear away the taste of any ingredients used in the canning process.
About Hummus and Greek Food: Hummus is a dip/spread that is made from chickpeas. In fact, hummus is the Arabic word for chickpea. You may notice that many hummus recipes call for garbanzo beans, not chickpeas. Don't worry, garbanzo is the Spanish translation of chickpea. They are called cece beans in Italy.

Hummus is one of the oldest foods dating back to ancient Egypt. We know that chickpeas were used quite frequently over 7,000 years ago.

Dakos: Rusks with Tomato and Cheese from Crete

A traditional meze or light meal on the island of Crete, dakos (also called "koukouvayia") is often called "Greek bruschetta," and is easy to make with few ingredients and no cooking. You can find rusks at online Greek food shops, make your own, or use a thick slice of grilled or toasted crusty country bread (without the water).

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

· 1/2 of a large round barley rusk (about 5 inches diameter)
· 1 large or 2 small ripe tomatoes, coarsely grated (discard skin)
· 2-3 heaping tablespoons of feta cheese or aged myzithra, crumbled or grated
· extra virgin olive oil
· freshly ground pepper
· Greek oregano (rigani)

Preparation:

Run the rusk under a spray of water (about 4-6 tablespoons) to moisten. Grate the tomato with a vegetable grater (or the large grate on a multi-grater) into a strainer over a bowl so most of the liquid drains off.
Spread the grated tomato on the rusk and top with cheese. Sprinkle with pepper and a good amount of oregano, and drizzle with olive oil.
Yield: One rusk serves 1 as a light meal, 2-4 as a meze.

Fava

Fava is an easy dish to make and its bright yellow color is a pretty addition to any table. It can be served as an appetizer, meze, or a side dish. Fava goes particularly well with dark leafy greens, salty dishes, and fish. Look for the peas at a Greek grocer, or try an Indian market and look for yellow daal (moong). Last choice: check your local grocery store for yellow split peas.

Ingredients:

· 1 3/4 cups of yellow split peas
· 4 1/3 cups of water
· 1 tablespoon of sea salt
· 2 tablespoons of olive oil
· -----------
· chopped red onion to garnish
· extra virgin olive oil to garnish

Preparation:

Put the peas in a pot with water to cover generously. Bring to a boil and cook 5-10 minutes until froth rises to the top. Drain the peas and rinse well.
In a pressure cooker, add the 4 1/3 cups water and peas. Bring to a boil, seal, and when pressure reached, reduce heat to low and cook for 10 minutes. Use fast-release of pressure, and open the pot.

Puree the peas and liquid in a food processor bowl, and return to the pot. Add oil and salt. Cook uncovered over lowest possible heat for 15 minutes until it becomes the texture of thick cream, stirring with a wooden spoon to prevent from sticking.
Serve at room temperature in shallow bowls topped off with olive oil and a tablespoon of diced onion.

Yield: serves 8-10 as a side dish, more if combined with other mezethes or appetizers.

To store: Cover and set aside for 12 hours, then refrigerate in an air-tight container.

COCONUT CAKE (by my beloved Granny Despina)

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 ½ cups coconut
¾ cup sunflower oil
2 ½ tea spoon fulls BP
4 eggs
some vanilla sugar

Syrup: 2 ½ cups of sugar and 2 ½ cups water, 2 gloves and 1 cinammon stick. We just bring it to boil and set it aside until the cake is baked.


Method:

First we whisk the sugar with the oil. When they become creamy we add the eggs to make a soft creamy mixture. Then we add the fresh milk. In a bowl we mix all the rest of the ingredients and we add then all slowly while whisking the micture.

Bake at 170 degrees until golden on top. To check if its baked put through the mixture a knife and if it comes out dry then the cake is baked.

Instantly after removing from the oven while it is still warm we poor the syrup which we had made allready and it is in a room temperature.

At the end optionally put some more grated coconut on top for garnish.

Cheese Cake

Ingredients:

1 pack Digestive Buiscuits
½ unsalted butter
1 Philadelphia Cheese
1 Vlahas (sweetened milk)
½ cup lemon juice
1 Blackurrant can or Redckurrant or Strawberries
1 morfat cream


Method:

Grate the buiscuits and mix it with the unsalted butter. We place it in an either rounded form or any kind of pyrex that we like and we press it with the back of a spoon to sit firmly. Place it in the fridge for half hour to become firm.

In the meantime we put in the mixer the morfat cream, and after 20 seconds the philadelphia cheese. When they become creamy we add the milk and the lemon juice.

Place the mixture on top of the buiscuit and place it in the fridge to set.

Just about an hour before serving add the blackcurrants.