Cheese Truffles (aka Cheeseballs)

Tags

blue cheese, cheddar, cheese, cheese truffles, cheeseballs, feta, finger food

The blue cheese ones

So, I’ve really got to stop doing this. Showing up now and then with a recipe I’ve nicked from my Greek blog… But I couldn’t not share this one with you guys. I’m actually really proud of these cheese truffles (the fancy name for cheeseballs). Cheeseballs aren’t an achievement in themselves; they’re ridiculously easy to make. It’s the flavour combinations I’m going to brag about. I did a lot of research and found a lot of recipes, however none made me think “THAT one”. So I decided to sit my derriere down and make one up (or three). And these are what I came up with:

Feta and Honey with Date and Walnut Coating
Cheddar, Gouda and Apple with Caramelised Almond and Sultana Coating
Blue Cheese with Sesame Coating and Strawberry Jam on a Cracker
(mouthfuls, literally and otherwise!)

The cheddar ones (at the front) and the feta ones (at the back)

The reason I was searching high and low for a good cheeseball in the first place, was the fact that I had chosen this as my finger food contribution to a recent street party. I’m part of a group of food bloggers here in Athens called Food4Good. We organize or participate in events where people can come along and sample (well, gorge on usually) our creations, paying a small amount of money which all goes to various charities. In this case, we participated in a street party which also included music, kids’ arts & crafts, kids’ yoga and all sorts of cool attractions. It was smack bang in the middle of an upscale shopping area, on the Sunday before Easter. The shops were open and the weather was lovely, so you can imagine how busy it got! We had all sorts of goodies, both savoury and sweet. Feast your eyes on this lot.

Mini meat pies with bulgur wheat dough, by Elena is Cooking

Smoked Salmon Potato Nests with Yogurt and Dill Filling by Sabor by Conna

Mini Tarts with Feta, Egg Bacon and Roasted Red Pepper Fillings by Wonderfoodland

Mini lenten apple pies by Funky Cook

Mini vanilla and chocolate cupcakes by Sugar Buzz

Mini pavlovas by Gourmelita

Before I move on to the recipes, I would like to once again thank Artemis Tsipi of Wonderfoodland, a fab food photographer and friend, who took all these beautiful shots and gave me permission to use them here. Check out her blog here (also in English, look for the links) and her lovely work.

And now, here goes:

Ingredients

Cheese Truffles (aka Cheeseballs)

Feta and Honey with Date and Walnut Coating

325 gr. feta cheese (choose a sturdy one, not a very soft one)
175 gr. cream cheese
2 Tbs + 1 ½ tsp honey
100 gr. walnuts, finely chopped
110 gr. dates, finely chopped
salty pretzel sticks (one for each cheese truffle)

Cheddar, Gouda and Apple with Caramelised Almond and Sultana Coating

200 gr. blanched almonds (for the coating)
1 Tbs + 2 tsp honey (for the coating)
1/2 tsp salt (for the coating)
1 tsp cinnamon (for the coating)
1/2 tsp (scant) freshly grated nutmeg (for the coating)
1/8 tsp freshly ground pepper (for the coating)
100 gr. sultanas, finely chopped (for the coating)
350 gr. mature cheddar, thickly grated (on a grater with large holes)
90 gr. gouda, thickly grated
150 gr. cream cheese
2 pinches (between 1/8 – 1/4 tsp) salt
1-2 green apples, chopped into small cubes

Blue Cheese with Sesame Coating and Strawberry Jam on a Cracker

350 gr. blue cheese
100 gr. butter, softened
30 ml brandy
1 tsp freshly ground pepper
1/4 tsp plus a pinch of salt (depends on saltiness of blue cheese)
toasted sesame seeds for coating
1/4 – 1/2 jar (100 to 180 gr.) strawberry jam
small salty crackers (one for each truffle)

Instructions

For the Feta and Honey Truffles

Mix/knead the cheeses and honey in a bowl with your hands. Take small amounts and shape into small balls. This mixture is soft and gooey so you might want to thump me at some point. Stay calm, wash your hands often (it helps) and persevere. It’s worth it. Put them on a plate and refrigerate for a while so they start firming up. Mix the chopped walnuts and dates in a bowl. One by one, place the cheeseballs into the mixture and roll them around till they are well coated. Pop onto a plate and refrigerate again for at least 4 hours. To serve, stick a pretzel in each so they look like lollipops.

For the Cheddar, Gouda and Apple Truffles

First make the caramelized almonds for the coating. Spread the almonds on a baking tray lined with greased parchment paper. Toast in preheated oven at 190C (fan) or 200C (conventional) for 7 minutes. Meanwhile, mix the rest of the coating ingredients except the sultanas, in a bowl. When the 7 minutes are up, add the almonds to the bowl, mix to cover well, return them to the baking tray (spaced apart slightly), and finish toasting for another 6 minutes. Timings may differ from oven to oven, but be careful as you can’t really tell if they are burning now they are coated in honey. Let cool and chop finely. Mix with chopped sultanas and set aside.
In a large bowl place the cheeses and salt, and mix well with your hands. Take a small quantity in your palm, shape into a ball and press a cube of apple into the centre. Close it up and continue with the rest of the cheese. Roll the balls into the coating mixture, pressing well so it sticks. This will be trickier than the feta ones, as the cheese won’t be so soft. Place the balls in the fridge.

For the Blue Cheese Truffles

Crumble the blue cheese into a large bowl, add the butter, brandy, salt and pepper, and mix with your hands. Try the mixture and add salt if necessary. Shape into very small balls (this one is strong) and roll in the toasted sesame seeds till coated. Place in the fridge till firm. To serve, smear a bit of jam on each cracker and pop a truffle on top. These should be eaten in one mouthful so you get all the different flavours at once!

Note: All the truffles need time in the fridge to firm up. However, they are best served at room temperature, so remember to take them out about 30 minutes to an hour before you start munching. Best thing about these guys? They actually taste better if they are made the day before. Perfect party food if you ask me.

Unfortunately not all the goodies pictured above are available, but here are two of them. Wish I had a couple of each right now…
Smoked Salmon Potato Nests with Yogurt and Dill Filling by Sabor by Conna
Mini Tarts with Feta, Egg Bacon and Roasted Red Pepper Fillings by Wonderfoodland
The coating for the cheddar truffles was inspired by these incredible almond snacks on Wonderfoodland.

Lenten Bulgur Wheat Salad with Cashews and Mandarins. And Some Rambling.

Tags

bulgur wheat, cashews, Lent, mandarin, salad, vegan

Um, hello… do you remember me? Yes, it’s me, Eleni. I bet you thought I’d never be back! Well, here I am. Gosh, it’s weird writing in English… my fingers can’t seem to find the right keys!

So, my news. Busy busy with little brother blog The Foodie Corner. It’s funny how I think of blogs as being boys… wonder why… Anyway, lots going on over there as I recently launched my new pages from which I am selling slow cookers in Greece! Yay! It’s something I’ve been obsessing about for a couple of years now. It’s an almost unknown cooking device here, goodness knows why. So for a long time I knew I wanted to bring them over and introduce the wonders of slow cooking to Greek people. Many of course already know how brilliant they are, since the internet is a major educator on all things trendy and popular. But now they can easily purchase one by ordering it from my blog! Yay again! Now I just need to somehow tell everyone in the country about this. Yeah, that’s not so easy/cheap to do (if it’s one it’s not the other). But I will get there. I will. I will. Won’t I?

The past few days have been a bit strange. Apart from the above question that keeps popping up in my mind a-l-l-t-h-e-t-i-m-e, I am also having trouble switching my mind off work. The combination of working for yourself and working from home is, I’m sure, a fool-proof recipe for this condition. One of the two is bad enough, but put both in the mix and there you go. Business and life become one gooey mixture which oozes into every single corner of your mind. Can I just say here that I’m not complaining. I love what I’m doing and I have absolutely no regrets about the decision I made. I’m just putting my thoughts into html and what better place to do it than my hobby-blog? So back to the oozing mess of work/life. What do I mean? Well, say I’m on Facebook and I’ve posted my newest recipe link (pure business), and I’ve then clicked on “home” to see what everyone else is up to. I’m sitting there liking stuff, and adding new friends, and catching up with old ones. Am I wasting time? It’s not pure business, but surely as a blogger I need to keep up and be seen out there? That colleague I haven’t seen in years might want to buy a slow cooker! Business/life = blurred. I’m in the kitchen and I’m cooking. It’s dinner but it’s also my next post. Does the time I spend chopping and prepping count as work? Blur. Does the time I spend washing up count as work, since the dishes held my next post? Blur (ha). Do I deserve an extra hour in bed tomorrow because I was writing this post till ten o’clock at night? No so blurred (I do). Anyway, you get the picture. And I’m sure lots of you know exactly what it feels like; I haven’t just discovered America. The worst thing about it all is that I can’t stop thinking about recipes, food and the blog. If I’m left for one minute to just sit quietly without any distractions, my mind will automatically go to that recipe I saw on tv, that photo I saw on Pinterest or that idea I had for a good brownie. Food will not get out of my mind. At all. It’s driving me just a little bit nuts. Yesterday I resorted to 2 hours of ironing while watching Scandal, just to get rid of the cheeseballs that were in my head (don’t ask). Ok, I’m done now. That feels better already. No it doesn’t, now I’ve remembered the cheeseballs…

Moving on (if any of you are still here) I’m going to share one of the most amazing salads I’ve ever tried, let alone made myself. This was a dish I prepared for a charity event last December, and –if I may say so myself- it went down preeeetty well! As soon as I had mixed the dressing ingredients I was already in love with it just from the smell. You have to try it. I’ll leave you in peace now, I’m going to watch House of Cards. That’s one I really have to concentrate for, I haven’t a clue what’s going on even on the best of days…

Recipe adapted from Power Hungry

Lenten Bulgur Wheat Salad with Cashews and Mandarins

Makes a big bowlful (approx. 10 side servings)

Ingredients

1 box (500gr) bulgur wheat, soaked overnight in lots of water and drained well
2 spring onions, the white and a little bit of the green part, chopped (you can use more if you like it)
6 Tbs parsley, finely chopped (measured after chopping)
3/4 Tbs orange zest (from 1-2 oranges)
3/4 cup sultanas
1/2 cup cashews, roasted and salted
1/2 kg sweet mandarins, peeled, segmented, with each segment chopped in half

For the dressing
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup orange juice, freshly squeezed
3 Tbs lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3 Tbs honey (or vegan friendly substitute)
1 1/2 Tbs Dijon mustard
1 Tbs cumin
2 1/4 tsp cinammon
2 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Drain the bulgur wheat very well. Use some cheesecloth over a colander, fill it with the wheat, grab the corners creating a pouch and squeeze it dry. (Note: we do not boil the wheat)
2. Put the wheat in a large bowl with the onions, parsley and orange zest. Mix well.
3. Put all the dressing ingredients in a clean jam jar and shake till well incorporated. It will be thick and yummy.
4. Add the sultanas, cashews and dressing to the wheat and mix well but gently. To be sure, add the dressing in stages and mix as you go along, that way you can stop when you feel it’s enough.
5. Finally add the mandarin pieces and mix again, being careful not to break them up too much.
Note: The salad is best made in advance so the flavours have the chance to mingle and get to know each other. Just make sure to take it out of the fridge about half an hour to an hour before serving so it’s at room temperature. If you do this, keep the mandarins out till just before serving.

Beets with Garlic, Yogurt and Cheese Crust (Au Gratin) – A Guest Post!

Tags

au gratin, beet, beet greens, beetroot, cheese, egg, Greek yogurt, vegetables, vegetarian, yogurt

Well, it’s done. The new blog is up. The Foodie Corner is live! Would you like to take a look? Yes it will all be Greek to you, but I’d love to hear what you think of the site!
 
Now I said I would try my best to keep Spaghetti going, and I will. And a few weeks ago I had a brainwave. Why not ask my friend and fellow blogger Artemis from Wonderfoodland, to step in with a guest post? She is the first Greek food blogger I ever met in person, and we clicked right away. I love her blog (which by the way is bilingual); from the recipes that always have a bit of a twist to them and her writing that discreetly reflects her wicked sense of humour, all the way to her gorgeous photos (putting mine to shame right here…). She has really come up with the goods here. This recipe is feeling right at home on On Top Of Spaghetti. So, enjoy!

§§§

There is this thing.
When I’m invited to write a guest post by another food blogger, I’m a little bit anxious.
What will it be?
Will my recipe “fit” properly into another blog?
Will the fellow blogger like it?
Will her/his readers like it too?
What do I have to write?

In this case, I guess my recipe choice was easy: Eleni is a beet lover. I know that. I’ve seen that. I’ve tasted that. I could never forget her beet chocolate brownies at the Food Revolution Day picnic.

My writing thing was easy also: I was lucky to get to know Eleni before her food blog adventures. And I’m really glad to know that another one follows her daring heart and does what she loves; cooking, writing, shooting, styling, sharing, communicating -not only through web and not only with food bloggers- but with anyone out there who loves food. In any way.

And I was really excited to see her beautiful “newborn”, The Foodie Corner, coming to life at last!

So, here I am, writing about beets myself too, finding the chance to get experimental and cooking something else rather than boiling them one more time!

These beets are for you, my dear Eleni!

Beets with Garlic, Yoghurt and Cheese Crust (Au Gratin)

Adapted recipe by Aglaia Kremezi

Ingredients

1 kg beets (leaves and half of the roots. The rest of the boiled beetroots eat them with some nice balsamic vinegar and olive oil)
2 Tbs all purpose flour
3 Tbs of olive oil + extra for greasing the baking dish
1 ½ cup milk (any kind of milk you love)
1 cup yoghurt (any kind of yoghurt you love)
3 garlic cloves mashed
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1 ½ cup grated cheese (use any kind of cheese you love that melts. I used a mix of several leftovers -Greek gruyere, gouda and kasseri, a yellow melty cheese)
3 stale slices of bread processed into crumbs (or rusk crumbs which is what I used)
salt, pepper

Instructions

1. Clean the beets: remove any not-so-good looking leaves, cut the roots from the leaves, cut the small “nose” of each beet on its other end and put them all into water baths to get washed very well -at least 3 water baths. Strain them and leave them aside.
2. Put a big pot full of water on to boil. When the water boils, put the beets in (leaves and roots). The leaves will boil quicker than roots, so in about 5 minutes check the leaves out. If they’re soft enough, take them out, but leave the roots in until they get soft too. Drain them, squeeze them (the leaves) with a fork to get most of their liquids out and set them aside.
3. Prepare the light béchamel: into a small pan, pour the 3 Tbs of olive oil on medium heat. Add the flour and start stirring quickly with a whisk until it gets slightly brown.
4. Add milk and keep stirring quickly on low heat. When it turns into a nice cream, remove it from heat and add garlic, salt and pepper. Stir well.
5. Add yoghurt, eggs and cheese too while still stirring well.
6. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Grease a baking dish that will fit the beets in a not very thin layer. I used several small baking dishes (one portion each).
7. Chop the beet leaves a little bit and the roots to very small cubes like dice. Mix half of the cream with the chopped beets (leaves and roots).
8. Spread breadcrumbs all over the dish, add the beets all over and cover with the other half of the cream.
9. Bake for about 30 minutes or until you get a golden crust. When baked, leave to rest for about 15-20′ before serving.

Slow Cooker Roast Beetroot and a Simple Lentil Salad

Tags

beetroot, crockpot, feta, lentils, salad, slow cooker, vegetables, vegetarian

The main recipe in this post hardly even merits the name “recipe”. It’s so easy and so simple. Roast beetroot in the slow cooker. I’m sure it’s been done before, but I haven’t researched it. So I can safely say it’s my idea! For as long as I can remember (or as long as it’s been on the blog) my most popular post is the Slow Cooker Jacket (Baked) Potato. I was pondering on this a few days ago, when the thought struck me. If you can just plop potatoes in there and bake to perfection, why can’t you do the same with beetroot? Many recipes call for roast beetroot, and the method they suggest is wrapping in foil and cooking in the oven for about an hour. Sound familiar? So instead of heating up the house and wasting loads of electricity, maybe it would be possible to use the mighty Crockpot for this. That was my reasoning. And I was right. As always.

I used the method without tinfoil, as using all that foil is wasteful and totally unnecessary. Just a bit of olive oil, some salt and that’s it. After six and a half hours on low, mine were cooked to perfection. They might have been ready earlier but that’s when I checked. The skins just slipped off with a tiny bit of help from the side of a knife. Gorgeous. If you can get your hands on some organic beets then you can probably eat the skin as well. I tasted a bit and it was not bad at all.

Can I just say here that I have absolutely nothing against the vacuum packed cooked beetroot from the supermarket. I have been buying this for ages (well, for the few years since I discovered I actually like beetroot). However, here in Greece you can easily find huge bunches of fresh beetroot, greens and all. This is even cheaper than the packaged version (which is not expensive) and the greens are really tasty in my Beet Green and Red Pepper Frittata. Now that cooking the actual beetroot has become so easy, I might be opting for the fresh more frequently. And if I can’t be bothered with using up the greens, the horses at my riding club will be very very appreciative!

Finally, because I really can’t post this without feeling I’ve cheated you out of a proper recipe, I’m including a salad I made with my cooked beetroot. Beetroot, lentil and feta salad! I’m thinking this might even be good with some canned tuna in it…

Slow Cooker Roast Beetroot

Ingredients

Fresh beetroot, as many as you like or as many as will fit in your slow cooker (you can stack them)
A little bit of olive oil
A little bit of coarse salt

Instructions

1. Cut the greens from your beetroot, leaving a bit of the stalks intact (about 2cm or an inch). Leave the tails intact. This is so that the beetroot doesn’t “bleed” while cooking. Wash them well, rubbing any dirt off but being careful not to break the skin. Dry with kitchen paper.
2. Using your hands, rub each beetroot with a bit of oil, and a little salt (don’t use too much salt as it is absorbed quite well).
3. Put into the slow cooker insert, cover, and cook on low for 6-8 hours. Time largely depends on quantity and size of beetroot. They are ready when easily pierced by a knife.

Beetroot, Lentil and Feta Salad

Makes enough for one big main course salad, or two side salads.

Ingredients

1/2 cup brown lentils, rinsed
1 small onion, peeled
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp salt
2 cooked beetroot, medium-sized, cubed
100g feta cheese, cubed (or more, to taste)
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
pinch of dried thyme
black pepper to taste
pinch of salt (optional – if your feta is not salty enough)

Instructions

1. Put lentils in a small saucepan with the (whole) onion and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, add salt and simmer for 15-20 minutes till soft but not mushy.
2. Drain and set aside to cool. Throw away the onion and bay leaf.
3. Add the beetroot and feta to a salad bowl. When the lentils have cooled add those too. Dress the salad with the oil, vinegar and thyme and season with pepper and salt if needed.

Note: This is a basic, quick and easy recipe. You can mix and match as you like, using any ingredient you fancy! Next time I will definitely try adding tuna, or maybe smoked trout.

So I’ve cooked them. What do I do with them?
Lazy, Luscious Spiced Beetroot Relish, by Not Quite Nigella
Beetroot, Leek and Walnut Salad, by Lisa’s Kitchen
Beetroot Raita – Lightly Seasoned Beetroot and Yogurt Salad, by eCurry
Beetroot Brownies, by Yours Truly
Beetroot and Feta Dip, by Yours Truly

Spanakopita Muffins

Tags

baking, feta, Greek, greens, muffins, spanakopita, spinach, vegetables, vegetarian

This is my 50th post so in order to commemorate the occasion, I thought I would create an index page with all the recipes. I didn’t do one from the beginning because it would look a bit sad with just a few lines under each category. 50 posts in over a year is not really that great, but it’s ok considering it’s just a hobby. Food blogging is very time consuming, it’s not like other types of blogging. You have to find the recipes (either by researching or waiting for inspiration), do the shopping, do the cooking and plan very well so you can take photos before eating everything (this is not easy as artificial light is not a food photographer’s friend – which pretty much rules out dinner time pics). Then you have to try and make the photos look decent (in my case), then write something to go with the recipe, and finally, research other similar recipes from blogs in order to “share the love”. This is not compulsory, but it was suggested to me by an experienced blogger and I agree that it’s a great idea. One thing (of the many) I love about this world is how non-competitive it is. Everyone is encouraging, friendly and helpful, without the “if I help you then you will steal my readers” type attitude. Fellow bloggers, thanks for being lovely people!

So, take a moment to glance at my recipe index. The recipes have been grouped according to blog category; if anyone has any suggestions as to how I can make my categories more user friendly, I am open to ideas. (Update: Oh, and a quick word of advice, don’t leave it till there are 50 posts. My hand aches…)

Of course I couldn’t post an article without something yummy attached, so here are the Spanakopita Muffins I mentioned in my previous post, served at The Mister’s surprise party. They are ridiculously easy to make, and offer with each mouthful a burst of spanakopita wonderfulness – minus the hassle of pastry. Don’t get me wrong, I adore pastry of all kinds. I could live on pastry alone (that’s probably why I’m now on a diet again…) but I don’t adore making it. It’s kind of intimidating… Anyway, moving on… This recipe is based on one by Eleni Psihouli, a well known Greek journalist turned cooking show hostess and food blogger. She made this as a cake, with double the ingredients.

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients

180g spinach, washed and roughly chopped
125g all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/8 tsp nutmeg
2 eggs
100g Greek yogurt – I used 2% fat
1/2 cup olive oil
1 spring onion, chopped
1/2 cup chopped dill weed
200g feta cheese

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C and place paper muffin cases in a 12 hole tin.
2. Heat a non stick frying pan on medium high, add the spinach and cook for a few minutes till just wilted (without oil).
3. In a large bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and nutmeg. I find the best way to do this is to use a whisk.
4. In a medium bowl mix the eggs, yogurt and olive oil till incorporated. Add to dry ingredients and fold in.
5. Add the onion, dill and spinach, and crumble in the feta cheese (keeping the pieces fairly big so they don’t melt during cooking). Mix till just incorporated.
6. Scoop into muffin tin (best way is to use an ice cream scoop) and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (double check in case the toothpick went through a piece of feta!).

Notes:
– Instead of all spinach you can mix in other greens such as kale or chard too. Whatever you fancy! The original recipe had parsley in as well, I didn’t have any.
– These muffins come out quite oily! I wondered if it would have been best to use less oil, but in the end I think this helped them keep really well. Plus, proper spanakopita has tons of oil.
– Don’t expect them to rise much.
– The spanakopita muffins freeze fantastically well.

More mini spanakopita treats from other blogs
Spanakopita Strudels by Alexandra’s Kitchen
Broccoli Spanakopita by Steamy Kitchen
Spanakopita Triangles and Then Some by Smitten Kitchen (some gorgeous looking fillings there)
Easy Spanakopita Bites by Iowa Girl Eats (I can’t get over the ready-crumbled feta!)

Smoked Salmon, Raw Courgette (Zucchini) and Spearmint Cannelloni Bites

Tags

courgettes, feta, Greek yogurt, herbs, lemon, nuts, pasta, salad, smoked salmon, spearmint, zucchini

Last Saturday it was The Mister’s birthday, so I decided to throw him a surprise party. I had been thinking of doing this for a while now, but I just couldn’t believe I could pull it off. But I did! Boy was it hard work, and nerve wracking and complicated. But so worth it. He was truly gobsmacked!

As you can imagine, I went a bit overboard with the food. I started preparations on the Wednesday, with the first step being the menu, the shopping list and the schedule. Yes, like the one I mentioned in my post on preparing ahead. Thursday morning was supermarket time, and from then on I spent a significant amount of time in the kitchen, cooking up all sorts of goodies. I was expecting about 20 people, so a buffet style dinner was the best option. For a peek at the menu take a look at the bottom of the post. It might seem a strange assortment of dishes, but I wanted to include some of The Mister’s favourites as well as some slightly more adventurous recipes. One of which is the dish featured in this post, Smoked Salmon, Raw Courgette (Zucchini) and Spearmint Cannelloni Bites.

You are probably wondering what I did for a birthday cake. Well, you will be surprised or maybe even shocked to hear that I let go of that part and allowed The Mister to blow out candles on a store bought cake. Was it a terrible thing to do? Well, time-wise it would have been a struggle to make it myself (it might have even ruined the surprise as he decided to come home early on the day of the party – yeah, I have a couple more gray hairs thanks to that – and he would have more than likely found me icing it). Plus, Greek store bought birthday cakes are delicious (they are patisserie style, creamy affairs with whatever decoration you can imagine – in this case The Mister’s football team emblem). And sometimes, you just have to accept that you can’t do everything. So I’m glad and grateful to The Mister’s sister for taking care of it!

Moving on to our recipe. A couple of weeks ago I saw that this month’s “Swallow’s Recipes for Life” challenge on Bangers & Mash is a recipe using salmon, courgette (zucchini) and pasta. I knew I wanted to participate, as these are favourite ingredients of mine. I had recently made a gorgeous pasta salad with raw zucchini (recipe by Elena’s Cooking) and thought I could use that as a base. It’s so summery and fresh tasting. I did however, want to make it a bit different to your average pasta salad. The original idea was to make a filling and stuff large pasta shells with it; that didn’t work out though as this particular type of pasta seems to have vanished from supermarket shelves in Athens. The only other alternative I could think of was cannelloni tubes. I wanted something that could be eaten as finger food, so it had to be large enough to accommodate a bite size portion of filling. This was the result. It was impressive and pretty, but also a little faffy! So you will find two versions here, one for the bites as shown in the picture and one for a regular pasta salad.

Makes 30 – 40 bites

Ingredients

300g courgettes (zucchini) (approx. 3 medium sized)
salt for helping courgettes to release water
200g smoked salmon, cut into chunks
140g Greek yogurt
20g (about 2 tsp) mayonnaise
80g feta cheese, crumbled into small pieces
2 Tbs spearmint, finely chopped (measured after chopping)
3 Tbs olive oil (plus more for pasta)
1 lemon, zest of
1 Tbs lemon juice
1/4 tsp white pepper (or more to taste)
1 Tbs pine nuts (optional)
1 box (250g) cannelloni or 250g pasta (penne, fusilli or farfalle)

Instructions

1. Coarsely grate courgettes and place in a colander over a bowl. Sprinkle lightly with salt, shake/flip in the colander and sprinkle again. Set aside for at least 30 minutes so liquid is released.
2. If you are making the pasta salad, boil your pasta according to package instructions. Drain and return to the pan (off the heat) with a bit of olive oil so the shapes don’t stick together. Shake it all up once in a while. For the cannelloni bites boil the tubes till tender but be careful not to overcook. After about 10 minutes taste one to be sure. When ready drain them and return to the pan with olive oil.
3. Put salmon chunks in a big bowl.
4. In a smaller bowl mix yogurt, mayonnaise, feta, spearmint, olive oil, lemon zest and juice, pepper and pine nuts if using. Mix well with a fork, breaking up any feta lumps. Taste and adjust to your liking. Add to the salmon but don’t mix yet.
5. After about 15 minutes you will see that the courgettes have started to “sweat”. When the half hour is up, help them along by squeezing a bit with your hands being careful not to mush them. Add to the bowl with the salmon and yogurt mix.
6. For the pasta salad, add the pasta to the bowl and toss well but carefully. Let it cool completely and refrigerate till a couple of hours before serving.
7. If you are making the cannelloni bites, toss the courgette, salmon and yogurt mixture carefully. Place the bowl with the filling and the pan with the cannelloni near you. Bring out the serving dish and place that near you as well. Take a tube, cut it into three smaller tubes, and peel the first one open with your fingers. (Make sure they have cooled enough, but don’t let them get completely cold as they will stick.) Fill the little tube with a teaspoon or two of filling (place your fingers at the bottom to keep the filling in) and quickly stand it in the serving dish, open sides up and down. Be gentle and fairly quick so the filling doesn’t plop out of the bottom while being transferred. Keep going till your filling is finished. I garnished with tiny bits of dill weed, but they are just as pretty without. Refrigerate till a couple of hours before serving.

Notes:
– I used between 10 and 15 cannelloni tubes. Unfortunately it is necessary to boil more than you will use so that you can allow for some to split during boiling or filling. I kept the rest, filled with leftover meat sauce from the lasagna, put them on a layer of tomato passata in a baking tin and froze the whole thing. I am hoping that I can pop that in the oven with some béchamel on top and get a good result. I will let you know!
– If you can find the large pasta shells they might be easier and prettier to use.
– There are a lot of different tastes in this dish so you could definitely omit the pine nuts without compromising the result.
– For a more conventional flavour you could substitute the spearmint with dill weed. But the spearmint is so summery and fresh; I think it makes this dish special.

Our party buffet offered the following:
Lasagna (The Mister’s favourite. I promise I will share my recipe soon)
Gorgonzola Gnocchi Bake (will share recipe when I make it again)
Chickpea and Avocado Salad (based on this recipe by Kalyn’s Kitchen, but I used leafy greens and parsley instead of coriander. The chickpeas were cooked on Wednesday night using my slow cooker recipe)
Green Salad with Sundried Tomatoes and Walnuts (which my friend kindly made)
Tabbouleh (bulgur wheat salad made by my Mum)
Potato Puffs (recipe on The Kitchn)
Spanakopita Muffins (recipe coming soon)
Cheese and Rosemary Corn Muffins (recipe coming soon)
Corn and Capsicum Muffins (recipe by My Favourite Pastime)
Cheese Platter with Naxos Island Graviera, smoked Regato and mild Cheddar
Marinated Mini Mozzarellas (based on this recipe by The Kitchn)
German pork sausages, Greek pork sausages and beef sausages (thrown on the BBQ after the party got started – enjoyed as hot dogs by the kids)
Farmhouse Pickle to go with the corn muffins and cheese

Red Pepper, Feta and Oat Frittata Cake – A Power Breakfast!

Tags

baking, cake, eggs, feta, frittata, low fat, oats, red pepper, vegetables, vegetarian

The other day I was looking through an old stack of magazine cutouts and pages printed from the internet, all containing recipes of course. I have a few of these stacks, waiting to be “sorted out”. They’ve been waiting a while and, let’s be honest, they will continue to do so for a good long time. There are always more pressing matters to attend to, like watching Law & Order.

This recipe jumped out at me. It has 5 main ingredients and can be thrown together in minutes, literally. That coming from me is something, as I can never complete a recipe within the time mentioned. Written in Greek, the page had no reference to a site, meaning it was from my pre-blogging days when recipes were saved just to cook and eat, not to share online! A quick search remedied that and I found that it’s actually from one of the biggest food related sites in Greece called “Nistiko Arkoudi” which means Hungry Bear.

Its title on the site is Oat Cake, but that just confuses things in English (oatcakes being an entirely different thing), and it’s not really a cake as it doesn’t contain flour of any kind! What it is, is a frittata baked in a loaf pan. So it looks like a loaf cake. Anyway, all that is besides the point. This frittata/cake/loaf is very tasty, and very healthy. It is especially good eaten for breakfast or as a snack, as it has loads of protein (eggs and dairy) and good carbs that release energy slowly throughout the day (oats). With the addition of a veggie (red peppers) you couldn’t make it more balanced if you tried! It will keep you full for ages.

I added a bit of freshly cracked black pepper and a pinch of oregano to the mix, as I thought these flavours would suit it, leaving out the salt as I expected the feta to make it salty enough. Next time however I will add half a teaspoon to give it a boost. This of course largely depends on the type and brand of feta used. I might also experiment with other herbs as well, like rosemary for instance. Come to think of it, sumac might be interesting; I’ve heard it goes really well with eggs. One thing is for sure, I will definitely be making this frittata cake again, whatever the combo. Stored in the fridge it will last for at least 5 days, but it’s nicer served warm (I warmed it up on my toaster rack, worked a treat).

Red Pepper, Feta and Oat Frittata Cake

Ingredients

2 Tbs olive oil
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped
4 eggs
1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup oats, rolled or quick cooking (I used quick cooking so they would blend better)
Freshly cracked black pepper to taste
A pinch of dried oregano

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C (160C fan). Grease a loaf pan (mine was 23.6×10.3cm – approx. 9”x4”) and sprinkle with a bit of flour. Move the pan around so the flour coats the bottom and sides, then empty it of any excess by tapping the bottom. This is an important step as egg tends to stick to pans.
2. Heat the oil in a small frying pan on medium and add chopped pepper. Gently cook till softened. I added some water when some pieces started to blacken. You could probably soften the pepper in a bowl in the microwave with a tablespoon or two of water.
3. While your peppers are cooking, lightly beat the eggs in a large bowl.
4. Add the feta, oats, seasoning and herbs, and then the peppers (without the liquid from the pan – I used that in a salad). Mix till incorporated and pour into the prepared baking pan.
5. Bake for about 20 to 30 minutes till a toothpick comes out clean and the frittata cake is starting to turn golden on top.

More eggy goodness in other frittata recipes
Beet Greens and Red Pepper Frittata, by me!
Baby Peas and Cheese Frittata, by Family Fresh Cooking
Kale and Goat Cheese Fritatta Cups, by The Kitchn
The Secret to a Perfect Frittata and Chickpea & Rosemary Frittata, by Stonesoup

Healthier Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower White Sauce

Tags

bechamel, cauliflower, cheese, cheese sauce, Mac & Cheese, pasta bake, vegetarian, white sauce

With many thanks to The Collector for the French antique plate, c. 1875-1891

I’ve started and re-started this post a couple of too many times now; it’s just not happening. Maybe I should leave it, and wait till some inspiration decides to return to my brain. I’m sure that would be the right thing to do. However, I really want to share this recipe with you all.

I made this dish a couple of weeks ago, after an impulse buy of a head of cauliflower at the supermarket. What’s that you say? The words cauliflower and impulse don’t belong in the same sentence? I know. It just looked so nice! And hey, it’s cheaper than a pair of Manolos. This version of Mac & Cheese is made with a thick white sauce, just like the classic, but with a twist. The white sauce is in fact a thick, gooey, creamy, cauliflower soup. Clever, isn’t it? The idea came from this Alfredo Pasta recipe on A Pinch of Yum. I tried it a while ago and really liked it, but thought I could take it up a notch in tastiness (and down a notch in healthiness) by adding a whole load of cheese to it. Baked Cauliflower Cheese was one of our favourite meals as kids, so combining that with pasta was a no-brainer really!

I’ve simplified the recipe for the sauce so the Mac & Cheese is fairly quick to throw together, but for a super fast meal, make the sauce the day (or a couple of days) before. Then you can just mix in some cheese and cooked pasta, sprinkle with breadcrumbs and pop it in the oven. In future I might even try replacing béchamel sauce in other recipes with this cauliflower sauce; for example it would probably be lovely in a veggie lasagna with spinach. But first I’ll have to convince The Mister to have a teeny weeny try. I know he’d like it but just the mention of the main ingredient sends him running to the souvlaki shop.

Healthier Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower White Sauce (Bechamel)

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the Cauliflower White Sauce (Bechamel)

1 small head of cauliflower (approx. 700-800g)
2 cups broth or stock, whatever type you prefer
White pepper, to taste
Nutmeg, to taste
Salt, to taste
1 Tbs cream
1 Tbs olive oil

For the Mac & Cheese

375g pasta (I used penne)
100g mature cheddar, grated
100g cheese of your choice, grated (choose one that melts well, mozzarella or gouda would be good – I used Greek Kaseri)
60g cheese for topping, grated (same as above, or Parmesan, or anything in the fridge that needs eating up! I used Kaseri again)
½ cup breadcrumbs for topping (or enough to cover your mac)
½ tsp Italian seasoning (or a mixture of any dried herbs you fancy)
White pepper, to taste
Salt, a good pinch
Cauliflower white sauce (I used most of the sauce made with the above ingredients – it depends how gooey/runny you like your Mac & Cheese)

Instructions

Cauliflower White Sauce

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and boil it in the stock, covered, for about 30 minutes or until very tender.
2. Pour out 1 cup of the stock and set aside.
3. Using a stick blender, blend the cauliflower and remaining stock until smooth. Add the olive oil, cream, seasoning and the rest of the stock back in and continue to blend till very smooth (if you find that your sauce is already runny, just add as much of the reserved stock as necessary till it reaches the desired consistency. You want it thick and creamy, like béchamel. Mine was perfect with the 2 cups of stock).
4. Continue with the Mac & Cheese recipe or let it cool and refrigerate until needed.

Mac & Cheese with Cauliflower White Sauce

1. Preheat your oven to 180C.
2. Boil the pasta in plenty of salty water but stop just before it’s completely done (about 2 minutes less than you would normally cook it). Drain the pasta reserving ½ a cup of water.
3. Return the pasta to the saucepan and add the white sauce and cheeses (except the cheese for the topping). Stir well to combine. If it’s too thick you can thin it out with some pasta stock. I didn’t need to do this.
4. Now you can add some seasoning to the mixture if you want. I forgot to do this, so I just added the salt and pepper to the breadcrumbs. It worked for me because I liked the bursts of saltiness that came in the crunchy topping. If you prefer a mellower taste add the salt to the mixture.
5. Transfer mixture to an oven proof dish.
6. Mix the herbs (and seasoning if not already used) with the breadcrumbs and remaining cheese, and sprinkle over the mixture.
7. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the top is golden and the sides are bubbling a bit. If the sauce was in the fridge this might take a bit longer.
8. Let the Mac & Cheese rest for a while before cutting into it. Serve with a tomato or green salad.

Other Cool Cauliflower Recipes from around the Blogosphere
Cauliflower Cheese by The English Kitchen
Pureed Cauliflower by Kalyn’s Kitchen
Bacon Cheddar Cauliflower Chowder by Iowa Girl Eats
Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Fried Eggs by Love & Lemons
CrockPot Roasted Cauliflower Soup with Curry and Honey by A Year of Slow Cooking

Beet Greens and Red Pepper Frittata – Brunch for December’s Breakfast Club

Tags

beet, beet greens, brunch, eggs, frittata, red pepper, The Breakfast Club

“Breakfast Club: because breakfast should be more interesting than tea & toast or coffee & cereal.”

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for a while now, and the perfect opportunity just presented itself. The Breakfast Club is a bloggers’ challenge created by Fuss Free Flavours, and this month it’s being hosted by Bangers & Mash. The theme? Brunch. I love brunch. I would have brunch everyday if I didn’t have that annoying thing called an office to go to.

This eggy frittata is ideal for brunch or even a light lunch with salad. It takes a little longer to make than your usual frittata recipe, because you have to sauté the greens till they soften, but it’s a very easy dish to prepare and the result is tasty and healthy. It could still make a quick breakfast if you sauté the greens the night before and cook the frittata while you get ready for work, school etc. Don’t forget eggs are packed with protein so they’re great for providing sustenance and keeping you full for longer, without the crash that follows a carb-fuelled energy rush. I read recently that when you have eggs for breakfast (or brunch!) you tend to consume less calories during the rest of the day. Now that’s an incentive!

Another reason I love this recipe is that is uses up those lovely beet greens that many people throw away. What a waste! Here in Greece beet greens are usually boiled (to within an inch of their life) and served with vinegar and olive oil. This is the classic way to serve most greens, of which we have loads. There are hundreds of varieties, from those growing high up on mountains to those growing –as if by magic- out of rocks at the side of the sea. Many of these varieties are slightly bitter, so they are brought to a boil in lots of water, drained, and boiled again in fresh water until the stems are soft. All these greens are fantastically good for you, but I have a feeling they could be even more healthy without all that boiling. Sautéing seems a better way to preserve nutrients. Having said that I’m not sure all types are suitable, some might just be too bitter, but my experiment with the beet greens turned out great. I’ll be doing more experiments of this kind!

Recipe inspired by Kalyn’s Kitchen and her Swiss Chard and Mushroom Squares recipe.

Egg Frittata with Beet Greens and Red Pepper

Ingredients

2 Tbs olive oil (divided)
1 small onion, chopped
½ tsp sugar
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups (tightly packed) roughly chopped beet greens, stems removed (just the thicker stems that protrude from the leaves, no need to cut out the leaf “spines”)
1 red bell pepper, finely chopped
1 ¼ cup whole-wheat breadcrumbs
1 cup cheddar, grated
7 eggs, lightly beaten
¾ tsp salt
4 grinds of pepper
½ tsp Italian herb mix

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 180C and grease a ceramic pie dish.
2. Sautee onion with sugar in 1 tablespoon oil, over medium heat, till translucent. Add garlic and gently cook for a few minutes longer, till fragrant.
3. Add red pepper and cook for a few minutes till it starts to soften. Transfer onion and pepper mixture to a large bowl.
4. Wipe pan with kitchen paper, return to heat and add another 1 tablespoon of oil. Add beet greens and cook gently till stems start to soften, about 10 minutes. Pinch one of the thicker stems (or the bits left at the base of the leaves) to check for doneness (should “give” a bit between your fingers).
5. Add beet greens to the bowl with the pepper and onion. Mix in the breadcrumbs and cheese.
6. In a separate bowl lightly beat the eggs and add the herbs and seasoning. Add eggs to the greens mixture and stir well.
7. Transfer egg mixture to the greased pie dish and bake for about 30-40 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through.

Other Eggy Breakfasts (Frittatas, Casseroles or Bakes):
Recipe for Kale and Feta Breakfast Casserole by Kalyn’s Kitchen
Bacon, Potato and Egg Breakfast Casserole by The Kitchn
Mini Egg Frittatas with Broccoli, Cheddar Cheese & Chipotle Pepper by Cookin’ Canuck
Mini Greek Frittatas by Healthy Green Kitchen

Beetroot and Feta Dip – The Prettiest Dip in the World

Tags

beet, beetroot, dip, feta, spread

Forgive me readers for I have sinned. It’s been 10 days since my last post… (och there’s no way that line’s not been used before…). Anyway, it has been a while but this week’s been crazy, as was last weekend. I hosted a Thanksgiving dinner yesterday (a day later but Thursday was a school night here!) and was cooking for about 3 days… Look out for my next post for details.

Within the madness however, I did manage a quick post on my Greek pages. Quick being the operative word! I’d been thinking about going to Food Blogger Connect (#FBC5) in London in July, and I was looking for a blogger buddy in order to benefit from the Early Bird offer of 2-4-1 (ending tomorrow). It suddenly occurred to me to buddy up with someone from here in Greece. So I asked the nice peeps over at Greek Food Blogs and they suggested I write a post which they would promote within the online community. It took but a couple of hours and hey presto, Sugar Flowers Creations left a comment and we’re now looking for cheap flights! Yay!

As I really needed to get that post up as quickly as possible, I chose to include one of my easiest and simplest recipes from the “to-blog” list. The idea for this dip came from two things. First was a gorgeous salad a friend brought to a summer BBQ. Pieces of juicy, sweet and earthy beetroot, teamed with chunks of rich and creamy feta cheese. A match made in heaven. A few weeks later I was drooling surfing the website of another friend, who owns a company that imports/exports food (Elli & Manos). And I landed on this page. I knew I would love the beet/feta spread. So when I found myself with some leftover cooked beetroot and half a tub of feta that was begging to be eaten up, I wondered what would happen if I chucked them in the blender. The result was pretty amazing, in taste and in appearance! In my Greek post I didn’t mention where I got my inspiration, which was my bad, so I’d like to make it right. Elli doesn’t even know I’m writing this, so please don’t think it’s a sponsored post or anything. I haven’t tried their dip but how can it not work? It’s got beetroot and feta in it! (they’re based in Greece and the UK but check with them about delivery to other countries)

Here’s my version (would you please look at that colour? Is it not the prettiest colour ever?)

Beetroot and Feta Dip

Makes 1 small batch

Ingredients

180g beetroot, cut into chunks (I used the pre-cooked vacuum packed version. Might be even nicer with roast beetroot. Scrub, cut each into 4 or 6 wedges, toss in a bit of oil and roast for about an hour-90 min or until you can stick a fork in it)
80g feta cheese, crumbled
1 tsp oil
1 tsp vinegar (I used red wine vinegar and it was quite strong tasting. You might want to start with ½ tsp and add as needed)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
Scant 1/4 tsp white pepper
1/8 tsp salt (watch the salt because feta has loads already!)

Instructions

Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse till smooth.
(My shortest “Directions” section ever!)

If you love beetroot (do you know it apparently cleans your blood?) check these out:
Beetroot borani recipe (borani chogondar) by Nami-Nami
Beet Chop/Beetroot Patty by Sunshine and Smile
Beet Hummus by Simply Recipes
Beet and Sweet Potato Stacks by The Kitchn