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!)

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

Hazelnut & Golden Syrup Rice Crispy Treats and Some “Preparing Ahead” Tips

Tags

chocolate, dessert, golden syrup, hazelnut, honey, nut butter, nuts, rice crispies, rice crispy treats, sweet, vegan, vegetarian

Well, this is new to me. Just diving in and writing about a recipe that is barely even ready to eat. In order to do this, I had to rely on Instagram for my photos, as there was really no time to find the right spot/light/props for each photo I was taking. But let me start from the beginning.

Tomorrow we are having friends round for a barbeque. The next day, we are going to a (different) friend’s house for another barbeque. I always make stuff to take to her parties, as she likes my food and.. well, any excuse for me to make stuff. This time, she has invited around 50 people (it’s a house warming do) and that’s not counting the 15 or so kids. Yikes. My friend has it covered, she always does, as she has a talent for throwing things together that taste lovely, but I would like to help out and do something special in support! Also, my friend and her partner are fitness freaks, so I’m the one who makes the really fattening sweets that their kids are normally deprived of! (just joking… but they do get an extra hit of sugar when I visit).

So after much thought, I set about planning my 3-day weekend. This is an operation that requires much organisation and fine tuning! Today was Day 1 – Prep Day. I don’t like making things too far in advance, as I get anxious about whether they will be good enough to serve when the time comes. But there are many little things that can be done; things that help enormously when it’s time to actually make the final dishes. Here are some tips.

Plan. Make a note of what you are cooking. If you’re like me, write them down, then cross at least two off the list. Try and include some things that can be made ahead, or at least have some steps that can be completed beforehand. Check you have the recipes, and check what ingredients you have/need. Then, do the shopping list.

Next, make yourself a schedule. I am a fan of schedules, so that’s not too difficult for me. I don’t mean down to the last 5 minutes of your day. But think about all the things you will need to do, like supermarket (allow for botched credit card machines and shops that don’t have rice crispies..), other irrelevant tasks that might take time (catching up on Twitter and Facebook), and a break for lunch.

An important part of the schedule are the “make ahead” steps for each recipe. For example. Salad. You think, I can’t possible make it a day in advance. True, but you can wash the veggies. And mix your dressing and keep it in a jar in the fridge. That has just saved you more than half the prep time on the day. Are you baking? You can probably bake a day in advance, especially brownies! But if you don’t want to do that, go through the recipe and complete any steps you can. For example, measure and mix the dry ingredients and keep them in an airtight container. Measure the butter or oil, chocolate, beetroot (brownies on my mind again) and mix if the recipe tells you to. It might seem that all this is unnecessary, but I find that measuring out ingredients is the most time consuming of all stages in baking. But that’s me! Label your containers so you know what’s what.

One has pieces of Twix in it!

For tomorrow’s BBQ, one of the things I’m making is a pasta salad. Again, I could probably have prepared the whole thing today, they are usually better the next day anyway, but mine will have raw courgettes (zucchini) in, so I don’t want it to get very watery overnight. So, I boiled the pasta, coated it in olive oil and it’s now patiently waiting in the fridge. The only downside to these methods, is the full-to-the-brim fridge, and the washing up of all the containers! But desperate times call for desperate measures! The dishwasher can do most of the work.

If you are wondering what the sponge is doing next to the courgette, read on..

Finally, if you have a lot planned, splurge on something you wouldn’t normally, to save time and energy. For example, I am making a potato salad on Sunday. I like it with new potatoes, the little ones. My supermarket does these packets of pre-washed new potatoes that need 7 minutes in the microwave. Definitely worth the extra money. Pre-cut and washed salads are also life savers, although these can be much more expensive and not cost effective for a large number of guests. Washing lettuce though? One of my pet hates.

At this point I would like to share another couple of tips, which have nothing to do with planning. As mentioned above, lettuce. Love to eat it, hate washing it. I do however have a good method that keeps it fresh for quite a while. If you’re eating it the same day or the next, chop (after getting rid of the outside leaves), put in a colander, wash and leave in the colander to drain, shaking up at regular intervals to get rid of water. If you’re keeping the lettuce for a bit longer, peel off the leaves whole (disgard the outside ones), wash them and spread them out on some kitchen paper to dry. Try to shake as much water off first, but be careful not to bruise the leaves. Do something else for a while. When they are just about dry (don’t leave too long as they will wilt), layer them in an airtight container with kitchen paper between the layers. Yes, I use lots of kitchen paper. If you have chopped the lettuce, pop a sheet of… kitchen paper in a zip lock bag, add the lettuce and seal, trying to push as much air out as possible without crushing the salad. Gosh, how long can one talk about lettuce…?

Courgettes/zucchini. Have you ever started to wash them only to find tiny prickly invisible hairs on them? Keep a clean dish sponge (the one with the rough green side used for pots) in your draw. Use it to lightly scrub the zucchini skin. You can also use it to scrub potatoes, if you want to cook them in their skins. You probably already knew that…

And now, a recipe. A recipe I never imagined would be this good. This is my own version of Chocolate Covered Katies’s 5 Ingredient Rice Crispy Treats. They can be stored in the freezer, so I decided to make them today. They’re for the kids on Sunday. Well, they were until I tasted them. Now I think the kids can have the beetroot brownies and the grown-ups will have the Rice Crispy Treats. The Hazelnut & Golden Syrup Rice Crispy Treats. Or maybe I won’t take them with me at all…

Hazelnut & Golden Syrup Rice Crispy Treats

Ingredients

1/2 cup (8 Tbs) hazelnut butter (in the UK this is available at Holland & Barrett)
1/2 cup (8 Tbs) golden syrup (you could use honey, unless vegan)
1 tsp sea salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 1/2 cups rice crispies or similar puffed rice cereal (mine was the Lidl brand – use an appropriate version if you are vegan)
160g dark chocolate, cut into pieces
1 Tbs golden syrup
Optional: 1 Twix Xlarge bar (42.5g), cut into small pieces (I had one left over, it was either that or eat it..)

Instructions

1. Place the hazelnut butter, syrup, salt and vanilla in a small saucepan and warm over low heat till melted and combined.
2. In a large bowl, combine rice crispies and hazelnut butter mixture. Stir gently and patiently with a spatula till all the rice crispies are coated.
3. Transfer mixture to a baking tin lined with grease-proof paper. Put another piece of paper over it and press down on it with your hands or the bottom of a glass. Press down well making sure you get into the corners. Put the tin in the freezer for about 20 to 30 minutes.
4. In the meantime, melt the chocolate and 1 Tbs of syrup in the same saucepan you used earlier, over low heat, stirring constantly. When it’s melted, add the Twix pieces and stir until these too have melted. You will have some lumps from the biscuity part of the Twix.
5. Spread evenly over the rice crisy base and return to the freezer till the chocolate topping sets. Use the parchment paper to lift out the set mixture, carefully cut it into pieces (won’t be very easy!) and store in the fridge (or return to freezer). They would also be fine at room temperature (unless you are here in Greece) for a few days.

A sliver, just to taste test!

Other Rice Crispy Treats from around the blogosphere
50+ Rice Krispie Treat Recipes from Something Swanky (need I continue?!)
Rocky Road Rice Krispies Treats from Brown Eyed Baker
Homemade Coconut Luna Bars from V. K. Rees Photography

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

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)

Slow Cooker Jacket (Baked) Potatoes – Best Idea Ever!

Tags

baked potatoes, crockpot, jacket potatoes, potatoes, slow cooker, sweet potatoes, vegetarian

As you may have noticed, I’m a bit obsessed with my slow cookers. I’m in love with the things. I can talk about them all day. Strangely enough, until recently I hadn’t got round to trying baked potatoes, even though I’d seen a number of blogs saying how great they are. Then finally I did, and thank goodness for that! I still can’t believe how good they are, and how easy it is to make them.

When I decided to do my little experiment, there were two methods I wanted to try. One involving tin foil and one not. The tin foil method means wrapping up each one of the clean, scrubbed spuds and baking them in the foil, whereas the other method means rubbing them with some oil and salt and baking them au naturel. So it’s oil or foil! (Sorry, that was too tempting…)

The result was the same in terms of deliciousness although in the first case –and maybe this is my imagination- I thought I could detect a hint of tinny taste. Anyhow, the way I see it is if you get the same results, why waste loads of foil each time? I ate these with a topping of gouda cheese and a quick yogurt based sauce as an alternative to sour cream (which is sadly not available in Greece).

A few days later I saw a couple of sweet potatoes beckoning to me from the supermarket crate. Yup, you guessed it. Into my CrockPot they went. Washed, scrubbed, oiled and spiced. 5 hours later, gorgeously soft and squishy, my baked sweet potatoes were ready. I followed Stephanie O’Dea’s idea (O’Dea’s idea! Sorry, sorry, I’ll stop) for these, and I must say that squirting some lime juice on these babies is the right way to go. It really balances out the rich sweetness. The next day I had a throw-it-together lunch of sweet potato (scooped out of the skin) with leftover roast chicken pieces. Lime juice over the top, freshly cracked black pepper, salt… and voila, a seriously yummy (and healthy) meal.

If you have a slow cooker you really need to make jacket potatoes in it.

Slow Cooker Jacket (Baked) Potatoes

What you need:
Potatoes, whichever kind you fancy
A bit of olive oil (or whatever oil)
Salt (for regular spuds)
Spice mix of 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp chili powder, 1 tsp salt (for sweet potatoes)

What you do:

1. Wash the potatoes very well, scrubbing if necessary, but don’t scrub off the skin! Dry them with kitchen paper.
2. Put some salt or the spices in a little bowl (don’t wait till your hands are oily, it’s messy!).
3. Rub some oil between your hands and then rub the potatoes so that they get lightly coated.
4. Take some salt or spices from the bowl and rub them on the potatoes too.
5. Stick the potatoes in the slow cooker (you can stack them – mine came up to the top!). A good idea if they aren’t too long is to put them in vertically (“standing up”). I had one long one that didn’t fit so they went in horizontally and it was fine.
6. Sprinkle any remaining salt/spices over the potatoes, cover and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4-5. If you only have a few (the first time I did only two) they might be ready earlier (approx. 3 hours on high), so try them by sticking a fork in to see if they’re soft. My sweet potatoes (again only two) were definitely ready before the 5 hours on high, I’d just forgotten about them. No harm done though, they were just really soft inside.
7. If you find yourself with oily salty hands, before washing them rub them together, massaging the backs and cuticles. It’s fab for exfoliating and leaving beautifully soft mitts. Slather with hand cream afterwards. And another trick; for getting oil off your hands more easily, rub soap or washing up liquid on before you wet them. It won’t lather until you do, but oil and grease washes off much better this way.
8. When ready, cut the potatoes lengthwise and top with your favourite toppings. Butter, cheese, crumbled bacon, cheese, sour cream, chives, cheese, baked beans, chili con carne, cheese… anything! For the sweet potatoes squeeze some lime juice, it really suits them.

Note: to be honest, I’m not sure how much of the spice actually penetrated the skin of the sweet potatoes and gave it taste. However I didn’t prick them before cooking, so maybe that had something to do with it. Next time I’ll try it.

Yogurt Sauce
Serves 1

What you need:
2 Tbs natural yogurt
Salt, white pepper, black pepper
Pinch of dried coriander leaves (or 2 tsp fresh chopped)
Pinch of smoked paprika
A good squeeze of lemon juice

What you do:
Mix it all up!

Other baked potato goodness:
8 Creative Toppings For Baked Potatoes by HuffPost Taste
Slow Cooker Baked Potato Soup Recipe by Stephanie O’Dea
Southwestern Stuffed Sweet Potatoes by Pennies on a Platter
Chicken and White BBQ Potatoes by Prevention RD
Reminiscing A Little Over Vegetable-Stuffed Potatoes by The Cozy Apron

Melitzanosalata: 2 Ways to make Aubergine (Eggplant) Dip

Tags

aubergine, dip, eggplant, melitzanosalata, salad, spread, vegetarian

You’ve probably come across the –salata ending on a couple of Greek salad/dip types of food, the most common being Taramosalata (it’s with an “o” not an “a”). Salata obviously means salad, and in some cases when it’s on the end of a word it refers to a dip or spread made out of whatever the first part of the word is. So taramosalata is a dip made with taramas (fish roe), tyrosalata is a dip made with tyri (cheese, usually feta), maidanosalata is a dip made with parsley, and the list goes on… Every Greek restaurant has at least some of these, and they are best eaten with crusty bread or in some cases chips (French fries). Greeks will rarely order a starter each, they mostly have a selection of nibbles in the middle of the table and share these before the main course arrives. And more often than not, these “mezes” are enough to feed an army, let alone the people at the table!

This dip is called Melitzanosalata because it’s made with melitzana, which means aubergine or eggplant depending on where you’re reading from. You may recall a previous post, where I used aubergines from a friend’s garden. I still had some left over and they were beginning to look very unhappy. Actually I’m surprised they lasted that long. So yesterday I decided to test a couple of recipes, to see which I liked more. They are both taken from Greek websites, so I’ll link because it’s the right thing to do, but I’ll save you a click by telling you you’d have to read Greek to make any sense!

I made small quantities because these were tests, and also because garlic is just about forbidden in this flat by a certain Mister. And these are pretty garlicky!

Both recipes start out with cooking the aubergines, preferably on a charcoal BBQ or an open flame. This is not possible in a flat, so I thought I’d stick them under the grill (broiler) till they blackened on all sides. You know, like we do peppers. Yeah, this is all good if you are aware of one thing. Aubergines explode. Literally. The first batch was ok, with a small piff and a few seeds popping out of one of the fruit. During the second round though I heard a loud (and I mean loud) bang, which I thought was a door slamming. It wasn’t. It was an aubergine Molotov that had just ruined the next half hour of my life (spent cleaning splotches of goo and seeds off the inside of my oven). I don’t know if pricking them beforehand would have helped. Anyhow, I saved most of the flesh and used it, hoping for the best. It was fine in the end, but I’m sure it would have tasted even better if the skins had fully charred and the insides softened more. Apparently, if you have a gas cooker (the ones with a flame instead of a hob) you can cook them on that. I have no idea how you would go about it though, so don’t hold me to it.

Melitzanosalata #1 – From Mount Athos (the place where no women are allowed. Yes, there is such a place in Greece. In this day and age!)
Serves 2

What you need:
3 small aubergines (eggplants)
1 small or ½ large roasted red pepper (from a jar)
1 garlic clove, peeled
2 Tbs olive oil
1 ½ Tbs vinegar
Salt & pepper

What you do:

1. Preheat grill (broiler). Place the aubergines on an oven rack or tray under the grill. Get them up close to save time. Grill until they are black on all sides. You want the skin to burn. You don’t want them to explode, but you’ll have to risk it because I don’t know how to avoid it. You can try pricking them first with a fork in a few places. Cross your fingers.
2. If all goes well, let the aubergines cool for a few minutes. Then cut into the skin at the top (where the stem is) and make a slit down to the bottom. Open up the skin and scoop out the flesh. Put it into a bowl and mash it with a fork. I used a knife and fork and sort of mashed/chopped it.
3. Chop the roasted red pepper and add it to the bowl.
4. Put the garlic, oil and vinegar in a food processor and whiz into a dressing.
5. Add half the dressing to the bowl with some salt and pepper, and stir it all well. Taste and add more dressing if necessary (I didn’t).
6. Put it in the fridge and leave it for a while so the tastes can mingle and get to know each other. While you clean your oven.

Note: This is really garlicky. It was a bit strong for my taste, but I’m not a huge garlic fan to begin with. I took some to my mum who is, and she loved it. It’s actually supposed to be like this, but you can adjust it to suit your palate. Original recipe on Matia website.

Melitzanosalata #2 – With Yogurt and Walnuts, by chef Argiro Barbarigou
Serves 4

What you need:
2 medium aubergines
4 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs vinegar
1 clove garlic, mashed (or pressed through the garlic-press-thingy)
½ cup walnut crumbs (use a food processor to blend them until sand-like)
½ tub (100g) Greek yogurt (I used 2%)
Salt & pepper to taste

What you do:

1. Follow steps 1 & 2 from above.
2. Add oil, vinegar, garlic. Mix.
3. Add walnut crumbs. Mix.
4. If it’s cooled down enough add yogurt. Mix.
5. Refrigerate.

Note: This has a mellower taste. Original recipe (in Greek) here.

Enjoy both dips on top of crusty bread, rusks, or toasted baguette slices.

Other great looking recipes using aubergines:
Slow Cooker Punjabi Eggplant with Potatoes from The Perfect Pantry (I’ve tried this, love it!)
Spicy Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini Salad with Thai Flavors from Kalyn’s Kitchen
Italian Grilled Eggplant Cakes by Andrea Meyers
Easy Baked Eggplant Parmigiana by Food Blogga