TASTE OF A GREEK SOUP!

Trahanas is a Greek pasta, which is made in summer and can be kept for long periods even if it contains milk or yogurt; this is why our grandmothers used to make trahanas in large quantities so as not to run out of trahanas in  winter. Trahanas is made in two versions, sweet and sour. Trahanas was considered a food for the poor people but nowadays it is used widely. 

This recipe is one of my favourites trahanas recipes but I am gonna post more recipes with trahanas soon. So the next time you visit Greece, do not forget to buy trahanas to cook these delicious soups!

Ingredients

1 glass sweet trahana
2 large ripe tomatoes
3-4 tablespoons tomato paste
5-6 tablespoons olive oil
4 glass water
1-2 sausages (any of your preference)
1 pinch of sweet paprika
1 pinch of sugar
1 bay leaf
Salt
Pepper

Execution

Let's start with the prep work! Slice the sausage into small pieces, boil the water and grate the tomatoes. Now we can cook! Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. 

Then add the sliced sausage and cook until sausage is no longer pink. Pour the tomato paste in the pot. Add the grated tomatoes, the sugar, the bay leaf and the sweet paprika. Let them cooked for 1-2 minutes.

Pour the hot water in the pot. When it starts to boil, add the trahana. Salt and pepper. Don't forget to stir the soup frequently. The soup is ready when it thickens. (It depends on your preferences.) At the end you can add crumbled feta! Serve immediately!

Tips

If you add feta, use less salt as feta is quite salty!
For extra flavour, you can use a meat stock cube.

SUMMER FOOD MEMORIES

Today, Greek Debt Gastronomy travels in Crete! Actually, I do not know anyone who has been to Crete and did't promise himself to return at least once! The Cretan people, the landscapes, the beaches, the  drinks and of course the food - are all wonderful! It is the authenticity of the island that makes it so special! From my holidays to Chania I cannot even remember one restaurant or a tavern that I didn't like the food!

My uploaded photos will give you a brief view of Chania and my Ntakos (a local and famous appetizer) recipe will  give you a taste of Cretan gastronomy!

Materials

100 gr. feta cheese
1 ripe tomato
4 tbsp olive oil
4 black olives
2 Cretan rusks
Capers (optional)
Salt

Execution

1. Chop finely the tomato.
2. Crumble the feta cheese using your hands.
3. Remove the stones of olives and cut them into slices.
4. Put the rusks under running water for a moment (only 1-2 seconds to avoid over-soaking).
5. Place the rusks on a plate and put on them the chopped tomato.
6. Salt.
7. Sprinkle rusks with the crumbled cheese and the olive slices.
8. Pour the olive oil and sprinkle with capers.

TODAY I DON'T FEEL LIKE DOING ALMOST ANYTHING

Today I don't feel like doing anything, I just wanna lay in my bed; as Bruno Mars' song goes. I think that everybody feels the same sometimes but then you get hungry and you have to change the lyrics a little bit to " Today I don't feel like doing almost anything". When this day comes, cook the following omelet. It is healthy, low-cal, delicious and of course easy-to do! 

Ingredients

2 servings

3 eggs

50 grams broccoli florets

60 grams feta cheese

1 soring onion

4 black olives

1 tomato

Olive oil

4 tbsps. milk

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

Instructions

Put broccoli in boiling water for 2-3 minutes to soften.

Cut the broccoli, the spring onion, the tomato and the feta in small pieces.

Halve the olives and remove the stones. There is an old trick to halve the olives quickly. Put them on a cutting board and press only one each time with a wooden spoon. 

Break the eggs and beat them gently in a bowl. Add milk, salt, pepper, oregano and continue to beat until they combine together. Preheat the olive oil at medium heat in a round pan. Add the omelet to the centre of the pan. Tilt the pan so that the eggs spread out evenly over the bottom. When the edges begin to turn yellow and thicken flip your omelet using a spatula. Leave the other to be cooked.Slide the omelet onto a plate and sprinkle the vegetables, the olives and the feta over the omelet. Salt and pepper and  good appetite!

SPICY TIC TAC TOE

When my friends gather at my house, sometimes they ask me if there is something to eat or to order food delivery … I always answer something like that “we don’t need to order, I will cook...something…” so I open the fridge and I try easy recipes for quick meals. In a similar situation an idea of a spicy tic tac toe came on my mind. Keep it in mind; the preparation process is really easy and it catches visitors' eyes.

Ingredients

1-2 cucumbers 

½ kg.  Touloumisio or soft feta cheese

3 tablespoons strained yogurt (in case you use feta cheese)

1 tablespoon white vinegar

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 chili green pepper

1 red pepper

½ tablespoons hot red paprika powder

Steps

Preheat oven at 200 degrees Celsius. Wash the cucumber and cut it at medium pieces as in the picture. Remove the soft inner part (you can use it to make Tzatziki instead of throwing it away) and place the pieces of cucumber at a serving dish. In a bowl crumble the feta using a fork (Touloumisio is already crumbled), put in the vinegar, the olive and the yogurt and mix well. Put the peppers in the oven and bake them till they slightly brown on both sides turning them once. Let them cool a little bit. Take another bowl and put in the half portion of the mixture. Peel the peppers, remove the seeds and crumble them. Put the crumbled green pepper in the first bowl and the red pepper at the second bowl. At the second bowl add the paprika. Combine well. Now that the mixtures are ready, fill some cucumber pieces with the white mixture and the rest with the red. You can garnish with mint leaves the pieces with the white mixture. Place sticks at the serving dish so as to resemble a tic tac toe (I used sticks for Souvlaki, you can use Chinese sticks.  Use your imagination…you can find something better). 

Ready for a tic tac toe game!!!

Tips

Touloumisio is a traditional cheese that is made in some regions of Greece. The way that is produced is the same as Feta except for the last stage of hardening, that’s why it has quite the same flavor as feta but its texture is much more soft.

You can adjust the proportions of chili peppers and paprika depending on your preferences. Don’t forget some like it hot!

INSPIRATION FROM THE EAST

Greek gastronomy has many influences from East due to its geographical position. Personally I find eastern recipes very interesting. One of the salads that I cook often is this one, that undoubtedly will remind you a worldwide known Lebanese recipe, the Tabouleh. My recipe has many differences as you can see but it remains nutritious, tasty and a quick solution to get a fresh salad.

Ingredients

1 bunch parsley 
2 spring onions
2 tomatoes 
1 red pepper 
2 tbsps. lemon juice
4 tbsps. olive oil
1 cup bulgur or couscous
200 gr. Feta cheese 
2 cups chicken broth
Salt
Pepper 


Steps

In a pot, heat in high temperature 2 tablespoons olive oil, then add the bulgur (or couscous) and cook for 30 seconds stirring to avoid burning the bulgur (or couscous). Pour the chicken broth in and wait till all the broth has been absorbed. Leave it aside to cool. 

Chop the parsley and the spring onions. Seed and chop the tomatoes and pepper. At the end cut the feta into small cubes. When the bulgur reaches room temperature, place it on a bowl and add the vegetables, the parsley and the feta. Add the lemon juice and the remaining olive oil. Season to suit on your sense of what the right flavor is. 

Before you serve it you can put it in the refrigarator for an hour.

Bon appétit!!!

BEFORE PIES GREW UP

In Greece there are so many (maybe hundreds) recipes for little cheese pies that is so hard for me to pick my favorite. At the same time it's always so easy to find a reason for you to bake some! This time the occasion was a weekend at a camping in Halkidiki. So apart from the necessary preparation of special equipment such as tents, mattresses, mosquito sprays and sunscreens, it was necessary to prepare some delicacies for breakfast outside the tent or for some evenings after some beers when you want desperately something to snack. The little cheese pies (or in Greek tyropitakia) are so tasty and can be kept several days without refrigeration, are made quickly and everyone liked them ...seemed really good idea to me. Even if it was difficult as I told you to pick one recipe, I decided this time to do the following that was in an old recipe notebook that I keep. (However I intend to post other recipes of tyropitakia in the future.)

Ingredients

For pastry  

500 gr self-raising flour

1 egg 

A pinch of salt 

3 tsp. olive oil

1 cup of water (or maybe less)

For filling

250 gr feta cheese

250 anthotyro or cottage

2 eggs

A pinch of salt 

A pinch of pepper

Beat the egg in a big bowl. Then add the flour, the salt, the oil while continue beating. Pour half cup of water in until well combined. Continue pouring the rest of water until the dough is soft but no longer sticks to your hand. (Unfortunately I cannot give you exact proportion of water because it depends from the flour that you will use.) Allow the dough to rest for 20 minutes.  Preheat your oven at 220 C.

In the meanwhile prepare the filling. First beat the eggs for a while and then add the rest ingredients of the filling and stir them well. 

You can use a rolling pin to make little cheese pies (as we do in Greece) but in case you don't have one don't worry! :) Take a small bit of pastry and make a small and thin cycle (try not to make them too big as they will get bigger while baking). Take an empty glass of water and use it to make all the circles that you made same. With other words, press the glass backwards on the pastry so as to cut the dough.

Put some filling in each pie using a spoon press with a fork around the edges to avoid opening while baking. Fold over and place on a baking tray without touching each other that you have already sprinkle it with some oil.  Brush the tops with a beaten yolk and put the temperature of the oven about 20 degrees down and bake until golden!

READY!!!

I have to confess something...The truth is that when I baked them, their smell made ​​them irresistible, as a result I took only a few pieces with me at camping... Please keep it a secret!!!