Easy Bougatsa (Greek Custard Pie)

Tags

bougatsa, custard, dessert, fyllo pastry, Greek, sweet

If you’ve been to Greece, chances are you’ve tried bougatsa. Maybe for breakfast one morning before hitting the beach? Or after stumbling upon a small bakery with a batch of pies fresh out of the oven? Bougatsa is the one with the fyllo pastry wrapped around a thick creamy white custard, with icing sugar and cinnamon sprinkled on top. It’s good. It’s very very good.

Luckily there’s a way to make it easily, without faffing around with buttering flimsy sheets of pastry that dry out if not kept under a damp towel, etc etc. Some people call it the lazy woman’s bougatsa. I’m not sure about you, but any recipe with the words “the lazy woman’s…” in its title, is going to get my attention.

This particular recipe is ridiculously easy. I should say dangerously easy, as whipping up a dish of this bougatsa with such little effort could mean ill-fitting jeans are in your imminent future. And it keeps well in the fridge; in fact it gets better during the two days after it’s baked. However, I have very kindly made a small batch here, so it shouldn’t do too much damage. Unless you make it every two days!

The original idea to make this came from the blog Funky Cook (in Greek) and the recipe I used is from the blog Sugar Flowers Creations (in Greek).

Ingredients

250gr fyllo pastry
125gr butter, melted
3 eggs
1/2 c. milk
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
icing sugar and cinnamon for dusting

Instructions

1. Lightly grease a rectangular baking dish (mine is 25x16cm) and preheat your oven to 180C. Take each sheet of pastry and gather it/bunch it up widthways. Put one sheet next to the other in the dish, bunched up. (If this doesn’t make much sense you can check the pictures in the original recipe here, and also here.)
2. Drizzle the melted butter over the pastry in the dish. Pop it in the oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until it starts to go a golden colour.
3. While the fyllo is baking, beat the eggs lightly and add the milk, sugar and vanilla. Whisk until smooth. Pour the egg mixture over the half-baked fyllo. Move the dish a bit so it’s distributed evenly and return it to the oven.
4. Bake for another 20-30 minutes, or until golden. Let it cool slightly.
5. To serve, sprinkle with icing sugar and cinnamon. I did that separately for each portion at the time of serving. Store it in the refrigerator but it’s best served warm (about 15 seconds in the microwave will do the trick nicely for each individual piece).

Note: If you want a proper sized bougatsa pie, double all the ingredients execpt the eggs, of which you will need 5.

Other classic Greek desserts
Galaktoboureko by Elena’s Cooking
Cream Horns from Sabor by Conna
Samali from Sabor by Conna

Pastitsio. Need I Say More?

Tags

bechamel, bolognese, cheese, crockpot, Greek, meat sauce, minced meat, pasta bake, pastitsio, slow cooker, spaghetti

Hello! Well, yes, here I am! It’s been a while. Phew, a busy few weeks. I’ve just completed the last of a series of projects that popped up at the same time as my new Greek blog launch. One was a recipe contest for the restaurant chain TGI Friday’s, the other a guest post at a food related website (more on that in future) and the final one was another secret mission about which I can say that it involved making a Christmas recipe and photographing it. While it was 25C outside. Weirdest feeling!

All this at the time I was supposed to be building up the content of my own new blog. And practicing my new food styling and photography skills after a fabulous workshop in Holland at the end of September. Oh, and entertaining my gorgeous little nephews who came over for a week’s visit from the UK with my cousin and my uncle! Rather than try and do everything at once (I’m not good at that) I set myself a schedule (I’m better at that) and got all the projects done one after the other, while keeping a week in between completely free so I could enjoy the holiday with my family. It was my uncle’s first visit to Greece, after his sister (my mum) has lived here for 45 years! It was such a fab week!

Gazing at the sea on a one-day cruise
Swimming in a pool all to oneself
Being buried in the sand
Eating a huge ice-cream
Digging one’s way to China

Now I’m hoping to get into a rhythm with my posts, both for The Foodie Corner and OTO Spaghetti, and maybe show up here a little more often. That’s the plan anyway…

In order to celebrate all the above, and to make up for my disappearance, I am sharing a really good recipe. Not that all the rest aren’t really good… but this is a rather special dish. Pastitsio. Anyone who has been to Greece knows what it is. Its elements are I suppose –more or less- the same as those of lasagne, but somehow the taste is different. Equally yummy, but different. While lasagne is best made to be fairly sloppy, pastitsio should be able to proudly stand tall with each layer clearly visible on its mouthwateringly beautiful profile. Yes, I do love my pastitsio, is it that obvious?

Now, I know with lasagne lots of people go and add a cartful of veggies and make all sorts of adjustments. That would be fine here as well, but your end result would not be pastitsio. I’m sure it would be tasty, but I would have to object to the name being used in vain. The meat sauce has to be fairly simple, in fact even my recipe is quite a fancy version, and it has to be thick, not runny. It might be hard to find the proper pasta to use, it’s called bucatini (a thick spaghetti with a hole running through it), but it’s worth the search. If you really really really have to, use penne or rigatoni. I don’t think spaghetti is a good substitute. The béchamel, unlike lasagne, has egg in it which keeps it nice and thick (remember the standing tall thing).

Pastitsio is one of those with which you end up dirtying a hundred different pots and pans. That might have something to do with why I don’t make it that often… But it’s soo worth it. Here’s the recipe. It’s based on the one in the little Greek book “Recipes for children” by Mima Karvouni, a little gem of a book I use to find things to make for The Mister when I run out of ideas for food he might actually like rather than put up with (i.e. my usual blog experiment type cooking). For the meat sauce I use my slow cooker Bolognese recipe which is super tasty. Making it in the slow cooker is brilliant in this case, as you will see from all the steps below. You can make it the conventional way, there is a note in the same post for a stovetop method.

So, here goes… (ingredients are listed by order of appearance)

Pastitsio

Ingredients

500g bucatini pasta
2 Tbs margarine or butter or 1 Tbs oil (to keep the pasta from sticking)
1/2 c grated cheese (a hard yellow cheese would be best, like gruyere or parmesan or maybe manchego)
1 egg
salt & pepper
1 litre (approx. 4 cups) thick Bolognese sauce. Use this recipe BUT omit the stock to ensure a thicker consistency. It should be slightly thicker than what you would want from a sauce over a plate of pasta.

For the béchamel
100g margarine or butter
100g all purpose flour
1 litre milk
pinch of nutmeg
salt & white pepper (or black if not available)
1 egg

3/4 c grated cheese for topping
1/4 c breadcrumbs (not traditional, can be omitted)

Instructions

1. Boil pasta according to packet instructions, being careful not to overcook. Drain and add the 2 tablespoons of marge. Stir gently so that pasta is coated, then set aside to cool.
2. If you haven’t already made your meat sauce, do that now.
3. When the pasta has cooled a bit, add the egg and ½ cup of cheese, stirring gently till the pasta is coated with the mixture. Careful the egg doesn’t scramble.
4. Put half the pasta in a baking dish (mine is 30cm x 27cm – about 12”x10.5”), spread it around nicely and add the meat sauce in a layer on top. Then cover the meat sauce with the rest of the pasta, again spreading it out.
5. Make your béchamel. It’s important here that you have all the ingredients ready next to you. Melt the marge in a medium sized saucepan on medium to high heat, add the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon. You want the mixture to come together into a paste. Cook for a few minutes stirring constantly. Working quickly, switch the spoon for a whisk* (keep spoon next to you), lower heat to medium and add about half the milk while whisking quickly. Keep whisking till the mixture becomes smooth. It might thicken quickly, if it does then add the rest of the milk, without stopping the whisking. If it doesn’t, add the rest of the milk gradually (still whisking). When you are confident that the sauce is smooth, turn the heat up just a bit and switch back to your spoon. I find the spoon better at this stage as I can feel the bottom of the pan better and know if it’s catching. If it is, turn the heat back down to medium. Keep stirring, getting into the corners of the pan, till the sauce thickens a bit. It doesn’t need to be super thick as the egg will thicken it later. I stop when I can just see the bottom of the pan when the spoon swishes around during stirring.
6. Take the béchamel off the heat, add the nutmeg and some salt and pepper.
7. Preheat the oven to 200C (or 180C on fan).
8. When the béchamel has cooled just a bit, add the egg while stirring vigorously. Pour the sauce over the top layer of pasta in the dish.
9. Mix the ¾ cup cheese with the breadcrumbs and sprinkle over the top of the pastitsio.
10. Bake for about 45 to 50 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. Let the pastitsio rest before cutting and serving.

Note: (*) I find the best whisk for sauces and custards is the one pictured below. It gets into the corners of the pan better than the others, which are more suitable for bowls.

And a small announcement: In between writing steps 9 and 10 I found out that two of my recipes have made it to the final of the TGI Friday’s recipe competition. I’m a happy bunny!

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!)

Dukan Moussaka – Fabulously Healthy Protein and Vegetable Dish

Tags

aubergine, beef, cauliflower, crockpot, Dukan diet friendly, eggplant, Greek, low fat, meat sauce, protein, red pepper, slow cooker, vegetables

This is a complicated recipe. It’s not at all difficult, but there are many steps to it. It’s not a throw-together-right-after-work meal, but you can make it in stages over a couple of days; and that makes life a lot easier. The seed for this idea was planted when I made the Healthier Mac & Cheese using a cauliflower béchamel. I started wondering if I could use this sauce in a lasagna, but then it occurred to me that it’s actually Dukan friendly. So my thoughts turned towards adapting a classic dish to suit this protein and veg based diet. Lasagna was out due to the pasta, so what else could I make? Moussaka of course! Sadly the potato had to be replaced, but layers of red peppers compensated by lending their sweetness and bright colour to the dish.

On my first go at this experiment I tried to dry fry slices of aubergine (no oil is allowed in the diet) so as to keep with the traditional layering of meat and veg. That didn’t really go too well; aubergines like their olive oil. Also, I made the cauliflower sauce based on the mac & cheese recipe, which turned out a bit too watery and meant the top layer was very thin. So the second time round, I cooked the aubergine (eggplant) together with the meat in order to overcome the dryness issue, and made a thicker cauli sauce without the addition of water. There were less layers than traditional moussaka, but everything held together much better, and the result was tastier and much prettier!

I used the slow cooker to make the meat part, since this is by far the best method for cooking without oil or any other kind of fat. It’s also a great way to make minced meat sauces in general, as they always benefit from long simmering on low heat. I always leave my Bolognese on for a good 10 hours. If you don’t have a slow cooker I’m sure it would work just fine on the stovetop. Use water to gently cook the onion, then add the meat, and don’t forget to drain the fat before adding the rest of the ingredients. You want the result to be quite thick so watch the amount of liquid you add.

Before it’s cooked , the aubergine needs a bit of alone time with a good sprinkling of salt (don’t worry, it’s rinsed off!). This helps get rid of the bitterness that sometimes comes with this vegetable. I recently heard an interesting tip for those who grow their own aubergines; apparently if you plant them next to basil they’ll be less bitter to begin with!

As regards the preparation of this dish, what I did was make the meat sauce the first day. Then in the evening I made the cauliflower puree. Both went in the fridge overnight. The next day I made the peppers, mixed the puree with the rest of the topping ingredients, layered it all up in the baking dish and baked it. Broken up like that it’s not that big a deal really. And it’s well worth it! Oh, you could also use store bought roasted red peppers, but since they are usually preserved in oil it would be cheating a bit.

If you are not on the Dukan Diet, this is still a recommended recipe. It’s super healthy, low in fat, and very tasty. I suggest you sprinkle some grated cheese on top before baking! (Also allowed in the Consolidation phase of the diet)

Step 1

Slow Cooker Meat Sauce with Aubergines (Eggplant)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, chopped
3 Tbs water
500g minced lean beef
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs white wine vinegar
400g chopped tomatoes with juice + 2 Tbs water to rinse tin
1/2 cup tomato passata
2 medium aubergines, cut into chunks
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly cracked pepper
1 bay leaf
Salt

Instructions

1. Prepare aubergines by putting the chunks into a colander and sprinkling with salt. Give them a shake and sprinkle again, so that all the pieces have salt on them. Leave for 20-30 minutes (on a plate, as the veg will release a bit of water).
2. Sautee the onion in the 3 tablespoons of water on medium low heat till softened. Add to the slow cooker. Or just put the raw onion in the slow cooker and save yourself a step – to be honest I doubt it makes much difference to the end result.
3. Put the pan back on the heat, turn it up to high, and add the 2 tablespoons of water followed by the minced meat. Stir continuously breaking up any clumps. The meat will release fat and juices and start bubbling. When it’s brown all over with no pink showing, add the vinegar. Stir well and let it all bubble till the liquid in the pan has reduced. Transfer meat to the slow cooker with a slotted spoon and discard the remaining fatty juices (this is a diet dish!).
4. Add the tomatoes, passata, cinnamon, bay leaf and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir well.
5. Rinse and strain the aubergine well. Add to the slow cooker and stir into the mixture.
6. Cook on low for 10 hours (I imagine it would be fine after 8, but I was out so I don’t know for sure!). If you are around give it a stir halfway through.

Step 2

Red Pepper Layer

Ingredients

2 red peppers (I used the long Greek ones, but bell peppers would be fine)

Instructions

1. Cut one side of a pepper from the stalk down to the bottom, then do the same on the opposite side. You want to end up with two big pieces, as wide and flat as possible. These will make up the layer that separates the meat from the topping. Don’t worry about the bottom or sides curling in, they will flatten a bit after they are softened. If necessary, measure the pepper pieces against the baking pan or dish that you will use. If needed, use another pepper.
2. Take a large frying pan with a lid, cover the bottom of the pan with water, lay the pepper pieces in it and turn the heat to medium. Cook covered till the peppers are well softened, turning once. Mine took about 30 minutes. My mum suggested that I try doing this in the microwave next time. I wish she’d said it earlier… Anyway, make sure they don’t catch on the bottom of the pan. If necessary turn the heat down a bit or add more water. Set aside.

Step 3

Cauliflower and Yogurt Topping – The Fake Béchamel

Ingredients

1 smallish head of cauliflower (I forgot to weigh it – I think it was probably about 600-700g). You want it to produce 2 cups of puree.
1 Tbs vinegar
1 tub (200g) Greek yogurt (2% fat)
2 eggs
1/4 tsp white pepper
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

1. Cut the cauliflower into florets and put in a pan with a fitted strainer. Add water to the bottom of the pan (don’t let it touch the bottom of the strainer), together with the vinegar. Cover with a tight fitting lid and steam the cauliflower till very soft. (Vinegar helps with the smell!)
2. Remove the cooked cauliflower and blend it well, till it’s very smooth. Let cool a little. You want two cups. If you have some leftover, use it as a healthy sauce for meat or fish (you can thin it out with milk if necessary).
3. Add the yogurt to the cooled cauliflower puree while stirring continuously, followed by the eggs, pepper, nutmeg and salt. Make sure it’s all well incorporated.

Step 4

The Dukan Moussaka – General Assembly!

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. In a baking tin or dish, evenly spread the meat and aubergine sauce.
2. Lay the peppers on top, creating a layer and trying to cover the meat as well as possible.
3. Spoon the cauliflower mixture on top of the peppers and level it out. The dish I used is 16x25cm and everything fit perfectly.
4. Bake in the hot oven for 50-60 minutes, till it’s bubbling at the sides and firm on top. It will probably start to brown on the top, but mostly around the sides. I couldn’t get mine to brown all over. It didn’t matter!

Other Moussaka recipes – but none of them Dukan!
Moussaka by Brown Eyed Baker
Vegetable Moussaka by The Shiksa in the Kitchen
Leek Moussaka by The Perfect Pantry
And something a little different… Mussaka by FatFree Vegan Kitchen

Slow Cooker Giouvarlakia – Meatballs in Egg-lemon Sauce or Soup

Tags

avgolemono, crockpot, egg lemon sauce, Giouvarlakia, Greek, lemon, meatballs, minced meat, potatoes, slow cooker, soup, vegetables

For a while now I’ve been meaning to try and adapt this classic Greek recipe for preparation in the slow cooker. It’s one of those things I usually remember at the wrong time, like when I haven’t defrosted the minced meat. Finally, on Saturday I remembered to take the meat out of the freezer, buy parsley, and properly plan my experiment for Sunday. This had to be a weekend endeavour for me, as I knew the meatballs wouldn’t need all day in the slow cooker, and my working hours have me away from home for at least 9.5 hours on weekdays.

Giouvarlakia are meatballs made with rice in the mixture, cooked in water or stock and served (traditionally) in egg-lemon soup (Avgolemono). If you don’t fancy soup, this version makes the juice just thick enough to act as a sauce (albeit a runny one), ideal for being mopped up with fresh crusty bread. Chips (French fries) are also good vessels to use for plate cleaning in this case. The resulting meatballs are similar to the insides of these stuffed courgettes, but are much easier to make.

I started by prepping the veg, cutting it into fairly small pieces to cook quicker, and getting it going in the Crockpot. I then made my Giouvarlakia, slightly on the large side so as to delay cooking time a bit and allow enough time for the potatoes and carrots to soften. They were bigger than golf ball size, with about 3-4 level tablespoons of mixture in each one. The amounts stated below gave me nine meatballs. I used a 4 quart Crockpot and the meat, perched on top of the veg, was partially submerged in the 3 cups of water.

Slow Cooker Giouvarlakia

Serves 3

Ingredients

1 medium sized potato, cut into smallish pieces (approx. 3-5 cm or 1-2 inches)
2 small carrots, sliced
1 celery stick cut into chunks
3 cups of water or stock
500g minced meat (I used a mix of beef and pork, you can use just beef if preferred)
1 small onion, chopped finely
2 Tbs parsley, chopped finely
5 Tbs rice for risotto (Arborio or similar)
2 tsp salt, divided
¼ tsp pepper (I used white)
1 tsp olive oil
2 eggs
1 large lemon, juice

Instructions

1. Place potatoes, carrots and celery in the bottom of the slow cooker insert and pour in the water. If you want to help things along and maybe shorten cooking time, you can use boiling water. I used 2 cups cold, 1 cup boiling. Sprinkle one teaspoon of salt over veg and water. Turn on slow cooker to low.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the meat, onion, parsley, rice, 1 teaspoon salt, pepper and oil. Mix well with your hands till it comes together, but don’t over mix so the meatballs aren’t too dense.
3. Shape the mixture into meatballs and place on top of the veg in the slow cooker. Some won’t be completely submerged, that’s fine.
4. Leave them to cook for about 6 hours and check for doneness. You can use a thermometer or break one in two and take a peek. I find that the thermometer is best, as sometimes meat in the slow cooker keeps a sort of pinky colour, even if it’s well over the required temperature. Mine were in for 6 ½ hours on low and were done, as was the veg. During cooking (after about 3 hours) I also turned them upside down once, using barbeque tongs, but I’m sure they would have been fine even if I hadn’t disturbed them at all.
5. When the meatballs are ready take them out of the slow cooker with a slotted spoon (keep them warm as best you can, but don’t worry too much). In a mixing bowl beat the eggs and lemon juice till well combined. Place the bowl next to the slow cooker, and using a ladle, slowly add small amounts of hot juice into the egg mixture, beating continuously. Start with about one tablespoon at a time, and gradually increase the amount of juice added to the bowl. This is called tempering the eggs and it needs to be done so they don’t scramble. When most of the juice from the Crockpot has been transferred to the egg mixture, and the bowl feels warm to the touch, pour the mixture back into the insert. Take the insert out of the base and move it round a bit, so the sauce goes all round the veg, and place it back into the slow cooker.
6. Put the meatballs back into the sauce (or soup!), cover and leave for about 5 minutes till it’s all warmed through again. Keep an eye on it so the egg doesn’t misbehave!
7. Serve with fresh crusty bread and feta cheese.

Note: If you want to enjoy this as a soup, I suggest you use 4 cups of stock instead of the 3 cups of water.

Slow Cooker Meatball Mania!
Slow Cooker Meatballs with Orange Marmalade, by The Chic Life
Slow Cooker Asian Meatballs, by Taste and Tell
Apple, Turkey and Cheddar Meatballs Crockpot Recipe, by A Year of Slow Cooking
Almost Dukan Friendly Slow Cooker Turkey Meatballs, by On Top of Spaghetti

Artichokes A La Polita – Slow and Not So Slow

Tags

artichokes, avgolemono, crockpot, Dukan diet friendly, egg lemon sauce, Greek, slow cooker, vegan, vegetarian

Recently I’ve found myself adapting more and more traditional Greek recipes for the slow cooker. I’m pleasantly surprised by the many options and how easily adaptable they are. However, I realize there are many people out there who don’t own slow cookers, especially here in Greece, so I’ve decided where possible to include some brief instructions for a stove top method.
A La Polita means Of The City; however in Greece when you hear “The City” it means Constantinople (Istanbul). The original version of this recipe comes from Turkey, and was made with artichokes, whole small onions (shallots) and lots of oil. Over the years it has changed a bit and now usually includes spring onions instead of shallots, potatoes, carrots and sometimes peas. It can be made plain with a bit of lemon juice, or swimming in my favourite (yes you guessed it) egg lemon sauce!
I use frozen artichokes. You can use fresh if you want to, but for me they are a MAJOR pain. Once when we were visiting the village The Mister’s dad and I went for a walk and picked loads of lovely fresh ones, so I did the whole cleaning and rubbing with lemon thing and picking/spitting out tough bits all through dinner thing. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I can now enjoy the convenience of modern life and buy them all clean and white and ready to cook.
Usually the veggies are cooked in water, but in this case I used chicken stock to give it some extra flavour. I threw all the ingredients in the CrockPot together, but keep in mind this will give you very soft artichokes after the many hours of cooking. If you prefer them to hold a bit, you could try adding them a couple of hours after you’ve started the potatoes and carrots. I’ve not done this, so if you do please come back and let us know how it worked out!

Slow Cooker Artichokes A La Polita

Serves 2-3
What you need:
400g frozen artichokes
3 small potatoes, cut into smallish pieces
1 medium carrot, sliced
1 spring onion (or more if you like), thinly sliced (I used only the white bit)
1 cup chicken stock
½ cup water (I added this because my stock was homemade and quite thick and jellied. It may not be necessary if your stock is watery)
½ lemon (juice of)
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3 sprigs of fresh dill weed, finely chopped (I forgot to buy some so I didn’t use it, but it’s nice)
For the egg lemon sauce
1 egg
3 Tbs lemon juice (or more if you like it quite lemony)

What you do:

1. Add potatoes, carrots and onions to the slow cooker. Mine is a 4quart.
2. Add artichokes on top.
3. Pour the rest of the ingredients over the top.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours or until potatoes are cooked through. Stir occasionally so they cook evenly, but be careful not to crush the artichokes.
5. An hour or so before the end of cooking time, take the egg out of the fridge so it comes to room temperature.
6. When the veggies are ready, take a clean bowl and crack the egg in it. Add the lemon juice and whisk.
7. Without turning the slow cooker off, take the insert out and place it on a heat proof surface. Carefully temper the egg mixture by taking a spoonful of sauce at a time from the slow cooker and adding it to the bowl while whisking continuously. Do this slowly and patiently so your egg doesn’t scramble. You want the mixture in the bowl to slowly warm up enough so that you can pour it into the slow cooker. When you have a good amount of sauce in the bowl and it feels nice and warm, pour it into the artichoke stew. Hold the insert with both hands and swirl it in a circling motion so that the egg mixture goes everywhere and mixes into the stew.
8. Put the insert back in the slow cooker and let it warm through again (on low). I test the sauce with a food thermometer just to make sure the egg is cooked. Temp should read at least 160F.
9. Enjoy with feta cheese and crusty bread.

Stove top method:

What you need (extra to above ingredients):
1/3 cup olive oil
Water (enough to almost cover veggies)

What you do:

1. In a saucepan warm the oil over a medium heat and add onions. Cook gently till soft and fragrant.
2. Add the carrot and potatoes and cook for 3-4 minutes stirring frequently.
3. Turn the heat up to medium high and add the artichokes. Sauté for a couple more minutes.
4. Add dill, lemon juice, salt & pepper, chicken stock and water until just covering the veggies. Bring to a boil.
5. Turn heat down to low so that the stew is slowly simmering. Cook for about an hour, or until veggies have the desired tenderness and the sauce has reduced.
6. Prepare your egg mixture and temper as above, before returning it to the heat for a few minutes.

Notes: You can omit the egg lemon sauce and use only water or veg stock instead of chicken, in order to make a vegan version. Thicken the sauce at the end of cooking (if necessary) using a corn flour slurry.
The slow cooker version is also Dukan Diet friendly (Consolidation Phase).

Other recipes using artichokes:
Spaghetti with Artichoke Hearts and Tomatoes by The Pioneer Woman
Artichoke Soup by Simply Recipes
Chicken and Artichokes in Wine Sauce by The Kitchn
Slow Cooker Shrimp and Artichoke Barley Risotto by Cara’s Cravings via Slow Cooker From Scratch recipe collection

Other traditional Greek recipes adapted for the slow cooker:
Slow Cooker Village Rooster “Kokkinisto”
Stuffed Courgettes (Zucchini) with Egg Lemon Sauce (as featured on Slow Cooker From Scratch)
Revithia from Sifnos (Traditional Chickpea Soup)
Pork Lemonato (as featured on Slow Cooker From Scratch)

Greek Green Bean & Tomato Stew – Shark is Optional!

Tags

dukan, Fasolakia, Greek, green beans, stew, tomato, tomato sauce, vegetables

One of the traditional Greek dishes my mum learnt and used to make often when we were kids, is Fasolakia. The word translates to “little beans” and refers to the long green ones. The way they are cooked here in Greece is in a tomato sauce, often with potatoes and carrots. It can also be made with beef but we never had it that way in our house. This was a great kid-friendly meatless dish, always eaten with loads of feta cheese and bread to mop up the sauce! It’s very good.

The other day I thought I’d make us some Fasolakia as it’s so easy and healthy, and Dukan friendly too (if made without potatoes). Following a recent success, when I decided to serve fish alongside a tomato based dish, I thought I’d try this out paired with the leftover shark in my freezer. My intention was to make the Fasolakia and then fry the fish lightly and serve them together. When I got the packet out of the freezer I glanced at the recipe on the back and saw that it was for something quite similar cooked in a saucepan. So I decided I would experiment some, and lay the fish on top of the beans half way through cooking. Since fish cooks so quickly and easily I thought the steam and heat from the veg would do the trick. Sure enough, the fish cooked beautifully and gave lots of flavour to the beans beneath it.

The resulting dish was definitely not traditional, but it was tasty nonetheless. Next time however I’ll be sticking to the original green bean stew, but that’s purely because of objections from a certain Mister, whose favourite food was apparently vandalized by this foreign concept of experimenting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, that’s his motto!

Greek Green Bean & Tomato Stew (Fasolakia) – The Original
Serves 3

What you need:
3-4 Tbs olive oil (if you’re on the Dukan Diet use a tiny bit of low calorie non-stick spray)
1 small onion, finely chopped
500g frozen green beans (you can use fresh if you can face prepping them!)
1 carrot, sliced
1 tin (400g) chopped tomatoes
1 Tbs tomato paste diluted in 3-4 Tbs of water
1 tsp sweet paprika
Salt & pepper to taste (I use about a tsp salt and ½ tsp pepper)
½ tsp sugar (or sweetener of choice)

What you do:

1. Add the oil to a medium-large size saucepan (that has a good fitting lid), and warm it over medium heat (or just heat the pan and then add the spray if you’re using that). Cook the onion gently, until translucent. If you want you can sprinkle some salt on it to prevent it from browning.
2. Add the carrots and stir until coated with oil. Cook for 2 minutes.
3. Add the frozen beans (no need to defrost), turn the heat up to medium high, and stir well so they all get coated in oil. Cook until the beans have become shiny and wet looking, about 4-5 minutes. They should now have started to soften.
4. Add the tomatoes (with juices from the tin) and tomato paste mixture. Don’t worry if the beans aren’t completely covered by the liquid.
5. Add paprika, salt & pepper and sugar. Give it a good stir and wait for it to come to the boil.
6. When it boils, turn the heat down low, cover the pan, and simmer for about half an hour, stirring a few times. You might find that it’s simmering pretty wildly (mine does even on the lowest setting), in which case after the first 20 minutes tilt the lid to the side leaving a small gap, this helps.
7. From now on you want to be checking the liquids fairly frequently. If it’s looking very soupy, leave the lid off. If it’s more saucy looking and thick, leave the lid on with the gap and add a little water if and when necessary (no more than a ¼ cup at a time). Cook for approximately another half hour, stirring well once in a while.

Note: Here in Greece most people like the beans very soft, almost falling apart. If you prefer they have a bit of bite, start taste testing them after about 45 minutes of total cooking time.

Shark Infested Variation

What you’ll need:
All the above plus 3 pieces of white fish. Choose a sturdy one that won’t disintegrate in the pan, Blue Shark is what I used, Cod and Swordfish fillets might also be good options. Or any other type of fish fillet you feel would hold well.

What you do:

1. If you want to try this variation, start with steps 1 to 5 as above.
2. While the beans are simmering, rinse and pat dry your fish pieces, using paper towels. Sprinkle them with some salt, and pepper if you like it.
3. At step 6 open the pan, take some beans and tomato sauce out and pop them on a plate. Make sure the bottom of the pan is still completely covered with veg and sauce. Gently place your fish on top of the beans, and cover with the rest of the beans from the plate. Stick the lid back on the pan (no gaps).
4. Let the fish cook like that (with the lid closed) for about half an hour. Check once in a while to see what’s going on under there. If it’s looking short of juice add some hot water carefully, trying to miss the fish. It shouldn’t need it since the lid will be on and the steam will stay in.

Whichever variation you choose, make sure you eat this with lots of crusty bread. Unless you’re on the D word diet. Then just be patient because the day will come again…

Other recipes using green beans:
Green Bean, Tomato, and Feta Salad Oreganato {by Kalyn’s Kitchen}
Roasted Parmesan Green Beans {by Skinnytaste}
French Onion Green Bean Casserole – It’s Soupy! {by Food Wishes}
Green Beans with Almonds and Thyme {by Simply Recipes}

Stuffed Courgettes (Zucchini) with Egg Lemon Sauce – My Slow Cooker Success

Tags

avgolemono, courgettes, crockpot, egg lemon sauce, Greek, slow cooker, vegetables, zucchini

A couple of weeks ago I decided to experiment with another slow cooker adaptation. I had prepared myself towards a possible flop because after all, I was trying something quite tricky. I started by looking for a traditional recipe for this dish as it wasn’t something I knew off by heart. I’d only ever made it once, the regular way, a few years ago. I found one I liked the look of, and kept the quantities to a minimum, just so that if it was going to be a disaster, I wouldn’t end up hyperventilating at the waste of good food! Well. I needn’t have worried! After the first taste test I was high fiving myself, punching the air and doing a little victory dance round the house. Yes, I was mighty proud of myself, and I still wear a bit of a smug expression when I look at the pictures!

So, Stuffed Courgettes (or Zucchini if you’re reading from the US) in an Egg Lemon Sauce. Delicious. Ok, I admit, anything in egg lemon sauce is delicious for me, but this dish really is good. Here in Greece, up until a few years ago, you could only get the long green courgettes. Recently though, you see these really cute variations that have the same colour and taste, only they look like they’ve swallowed a tennis ball! Seriously, I find their almost perfect round shape hilarious, I don’t know why. When I saw some in the supermarket I thought right, I am going to try these stuffed, in the slow cooker. Actually they are ideal for stuffing as they have so much flesh, thus lots of room for filling, once the flesh is removed.

Now I must warn you, this isn’t a throw-everything-into-the-slow-cooker-and-turn-on type of recipe. It takes some prepping. But it’s worth it, and you do avoid the whole palaver of trying to boil the stuffed zuckes with an upside-down plate lying on top of them (yes, I know, weird – I think it’s to stop them moving around).

I’m not big on taking photos of each step when trying a recipe, usually because it’s what’s for dinner and needs to be completed in a reasonable amount of time. Also, more often than not, I’ll forget to snap a step or two and then it’s all messed up anyway. This time however, I couldn’t resist a couple of extra photos during the preparation of the courgettes – they are just so pretty. And I thought it might help readers to visualise certain aspects of the process (i.e. gutting the zuckes). And they’re so pretty.
So, here they are. See I told you they were cute (ok, sorry, I’ll stop now). You start by slicing the tops off, to make little lids. Keep them aside. To get the insides out I suggest the following tools: a knife (smallish, you want good control) and –ideally- a melon scoop (at least I think that’s what that is). What a useful contraption. It came in a set of three, a citrus zester, an apple corer and this spoon-like thing that looks like a mini ice cream scoop with a hole the middle. I gather it’s for making little balls of melon or watermelon. It’s great for scooping out the courgette flesh because it’s sharpish around the edge and you can position it at a good angle inside. So, you start scooping leaving a wall around the bottom and sides of the veg. You want them to be sturdy enough to hold, but you also want room for a decent amount of filling. I left just under one centimeter of flesh. It’s a good idea to lift the courgettes and hold them in your hands while scooping; this way you can sort of feel how close you’re getting to the sides. If you’re using regular, long zucchini you might find an apple corer useful, at least in the beginning. After you get the first chunks out continue with a small spoon.

Remember you need to keep the flesh. Some of it goes in the recipe, some of it you can keep for something else. I made the most unbelievable zucchini bread and was planning on doing a double post today; then I promptly ate the two last pieces before I’d taken any photos of it. I do that often, I think I’d have twice as many posts up already if I remembered to take pictures of all the things I make. Aaanyway. The two round zuckes gave me 1 ¼ cups of flesh. This of course largely depends on the size of the vegetables.

After I made the filling and stuffed the two courgettes I discovered that I had quite a bit of filling left over. I rummaged through the produce drawer in the fridge and discovered this lovely white aubergine (eggplant), so out it came. The two zuckes fit perfectly in my slow cooker (it’s only a small one), leaving no room for anything else. So now I also had to employ the services of my second slow cooker! Now that the extra room issue was solved I decided to plop some potatoes and carrots in with the aubergine as well. All set.After they cooked for about 5 ½ hours on low and were pretty much ready, I decided to make the egg lemon sauce. This is easy, but needs some attention when it’s transferred back into the slow cooker. I tempered the eggs (for more details on this see my Egg Lemon Chicken Soup) and then poured the sauce into the slow cookers with the veg and left it for about 5 minutes on low. I then tested the sauce with a food thermometer and it was well over 140F which is the minimum for cooking eggs, so I turned the cookers to warm and served shortly afterwards. The total cooking time was about 6-6 ½ hours.

Result? Gorgeous. Really tasty. And I was pleasantly surprised that they didn’t fall apart when I took them out of the slow cooker. The courgette skins had cooked to a perfect consistency. Not pull-apart-with-your-fork soft but cut-with-the-side-of-your-fork soft. The eggplant was also just right, as were the potatoes and the carrots. Success!

Slow Cooker Stuffed Zucchini in Egg Lemon Sauce
Serves 2-3

What you need:
2 large or 3 medium round courgettes (zucchini). You can use long ones, I’d say probably 4 large (I suggest you have one or two extra on hand in case you end up with lots of leftover filling. Don’t gut the extras till you know you need them, to avoid waste)
200g minced/ground meat (I used a combination or beef and pork)
½ medium onion, minced
2 Tbs fresh chopped parsley
2 Tbs fresh chopped dill weed
¼ cup risotto rice (like Arborio)
Salt and pepper
½ tsp dried thyme
1/3 cup olive oil
1 ½ cups vegetable or chicken stock
1 egg
Juice of ½ lemon

What you do:

1. Slice off the top of the courgettes in order to form little lids. Scoop out the insides as described above, leaving a wall of flesh around the inside of the veg.
2. Keep ¼ cup of the flesh and chop it up. Put the rest away in the fridge till you find a good recipe for it.
3. Heat half the olive oil in a frying pan, over medium heat. Gently cook the onion being careful it doesn’t brown or burn, till it’s translucent.
4. Add the meat to the pan, and turn up the heat to medium high. Break up the meat clumps with a wooden spoon and keep stirring till you don’t see any more pink bits.
5. Add the parsley, dill weed, courgette flesh, rice and salt & pepper, turn down the heat a bit and continue to gently sauté over a medium heat, for about 2-3 minutes, stirring continuously.
6. Add ¼ cup water to the pan, and let it reduce, stirring the meat mixture frequently.
7. When the water has reduced almost completely, take the mixture off the heat and leave to cool slightly. Use a spoon to fill the vegetables with the meat mixture, leaving a couple of centimeters space from the top.
8. Replace the lids on the vegetables and put them in the slow cooker.
9. Add 1 ½ cups of vegetable stock to the slow cookers, so that the liquid comes up the sides of the courgettes by about 1/3.
10. Turn slow cooker on and cook on low for about 5 ½ hours. We have mostly cooked the meat, so the only thing that needs cooking really is the rice.
11. After 5 ½ hours try prying open one of the lids, and lifting out some filling. You will see it will have increased in volume and may now reach the top. If the rice is cooked and soft you can go on to make the egg lemon sauce.
12. Beat the egg and lemon juice in a medium/large bowl. Slowly add spoonfuls of the cooking liquid into the egg mixture, one at a time, being careful that the egg doesn’t scramble.
13. As you add the warm liquid you can slowly increase the size of the spoonfuls. When the mixture in your bowl is quite warm, with lots of the juice in it, take out the insert of your slow cooker and set it somewhere heat-safe. Carefully pour the egg lemon mixture back into the slow cooker, lift it and swirl it around to mix it.
14. Put the insert back into the slow cooker and leave on low for about 5 minutes. This should do it in terms of egg cooking time.
15. If you want to be sure, test the sauce with a thermometer; it should be over 140F.
16. Take out the veggies, spoon some sauce over them and enjoy with fresh bread and feta cheese.

For ideas on what to do with the leftover zucchini flesh, take a wander over to Kalyn’s Kitchen. She has lots of lovely recipes for this wonderful veg, including these gorgeous Whole Wheat Zucchini Muffins with Green Chiles and Cheese. I’ve made these and they’re yummy.

Lemony Peas. A Quickie.

Tags

carrot, Greek, peas, potato

This is another traditional recipe from Greece. It’s also quick, easy and quite nutritious. I haven’t experimented with making it in the slow cooker (yet) but it’s so simple to make, I don’t even think it’s necessary to adapt it. This was another one of the meatless dishes I made during Holy Week and it went down a treat with The Mister. Peas are one of the few vegetables he eats, so I have to remember to make this more often!

Lemony Peas
Serves 2

What you’ll need
1/3 cup olive oil
½ onion, chopped
1 medium/large carrot, sliced
3 small/medium potatoes, cut into chunks (I cut each potato into 4 pieces)
500g frozen peas
1 large sprig fresh dill, finely chopped (about 2 ½ Tbs when chopped)
1 cup veg stock
½ cup water
Salt & pepper (I use lemon pepper)
¼ cup fresh lemon juice

What you do

1. Heat half the olive oil over medium heat in a large saucepan. Add onion and cook gently for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently. Don’t let it brown or stick.
2. Add sliced carrot, cook for 2 minutes stirring frequently.
3. Add potato pieces and cook for another 4 minutes.
4. Add frozen peas (no need to defrost). Turn the heat up to medium/high and stir to coat the peas with the oil. Cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring continuously.
5. Add stock, water, salt and pepper to taste, and dill. Stir. Bring to a boil.
6. When it starts to bubble turn the heat down to low and simmer for about 15 minutes, covered.
7. Add the rest of the olive oil and lemon juice. Cover and simmer for another 15 minutes, then take the lid off the pan and continue cooking till the veg becomes very soft and the liquid reduces and thickens a little (about another 10 minutes or so).
8. Serve with feta cheese, extra lemon juice if desired, and crusty bread (as always with Greek food!)

Enjoy!

Sorry this was a quickie post, I’ve been working on my new “branch” of On Top Of Spaghetti which is in Greek! You can check it out (er, if you speak Greek) by clicking on the link at the top of this page.