Fyllo leftovers=Instant cheese pies

Ok, the family wants spinach pie (spanakopita) today.

I take out my movable surface ("plastiri") and my rolling pins to make the fyllo.
The long one is called "verga" and I use it to make very thin fyllo, for Baklava. The short one "plastis" works better for pies.

I assemble the pie, but the fillo is always larger than the baking tray so I have to cut it.

However I don't throw away those small pieces. Some times I cut them in stripes, sprinkle them with coarse sea salt and sesame and bake saltted cookies.



Most of the times I knead them again and roll out a smaller fyllo.
I add some feta cheese crumbles, a little paprica and oregano.

Then I brush the edges with some water and fold it in the sape of an envelope.
I fry it for a few minutes in a little olive oil, and voila! something to eat until the big tray comes out of the oven!

Rocks 'n Rolls, Part 2

So, here comes today the second recipe for "roxakia" but I like to call them rolls, as you can see from their shape. Let's Roll then.

We need
For the dough
- 1 tall glass of sunflower oil
- 1 tall glass of  tepid milk
- 2 eggs
- 3 tsp cocoa powder
- 1 sachet (20 gr) baking powder
- 1 sachet dry yeast
- 1 kgr plain flour
For the syrup
- 1 kgr of sugar
- 4 glasses of water
- the zest and juice of 1 orange
(Let them simmer for 4-5 minutes.)

Disolve the yeast in the milk, add the sunflower oil and the eggs and mix. Take half a glass of this liquid mixture and keep aside. Add flour to rest of the mixture, as much as you need so as to form a medium hard dough. Divide it into three parts and roll out three thick fillos. Put a sheet of grease paper between them and keep aside.
Go back to the liquid mixture that you kept aside. Mix in the cocoa powder, then add flour and make a second dough. Divide again in three parts and roll out three fillos. Now, put every cocoa fillo on top of each white fillo. Roll them together, forming three loaves. Cut them into discs of 1cm in diametre and bake them in a preheated oven of 180 C until they have a nice light brown colour. As soon as they come out of the oven we dip them in the COLD syrup and let them absorb it.

If you want two more different versions (however in greek) visit my friend Helena at http://syntageskardias.blogspot.gr/2008/12/blog-post_05.html.

Good Luck.

Rocks 'n' Rolls, Part 1

Browsing my personal cookbook, I found two recipes, both called "roxakia", meaning "little rocks".
In some places they are a traditional Christmas treat, in others an Easter one. I like them both, but I prefer this one for the long Easter Lent, since there are no eggs in it. So, Let's Rock:

We need:
For the dough:
- 1 & 1/2 tall glass of olive oil
- 2 tall glasses full of water
- 1 small wine glass full of sugar
- 1 sachet of vanilla powder or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 sachet dry yeast
- 1 sachet baking powder
- 1 kgr of plain flour
For the stuffing:
- 100 gr of walnuts, roughly grounded
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 1/2 tsp clove powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon powder
For the syrup:
- 1 lt of water
- 1 kgr of sugar
- 1 lemon peel

Extra Grounded Coconut for the icing.

1) Mix the ingredients for the stuffin in a small bowl.
2) Boil the ingredients for the syrup for 4-5 minutes and keep it warm.
3) In a large basin put the olive oil, the water, sugar, dry yeast, and vanilla and mix them with your hand until the sugar is disolved. Slowly, add the flour and the baking powder and mix until you have a soft dough which does not stick to your hands. Cut small balls from the dough, the size of a small egg, make a little hollow opening, put inside half a tsp of the stuffing and close the opening. Lay a sheet of baking paper on your baking tray and arrange the little rocks in rows, leaving some distance between them. Bake them in preheated oven at 180 C, for about 30 minutes. While they are still hot, drop them in the syrup and let them absorb it, until the second batch comes out of the oven. Arrange them on beautifuul platters and dust them with grounded coconut.

Don't miss the second recipe : Let's Roll!

Sweet Milk Pie

Sweet Milk Pie

By Nick Tsirkas

A’ Class          

Ingredients

1 lit milk

1 tall glass fine semolina flour

1 tall glass of sugar

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 vanilla tube

4 eggs

1 packet of fyllo pastry or puff pastry

Method

Put the milk and the semolina flour in a deep pan on low heat and stir until it thickens. We take it off the heat, add the sugar, the baking powder and the vanilla and stir again. Let it cool down for a while and then add the eggs lightly whipped. Stir again and the filling for the pie is ready. We spread some olive oil or melted butter on a baking tin and cover with two layers of fyllo pastry or one of puff pastry, up to the rim.

Pour in the mixture and cover with fyllo pastry again. Drizzle the surface with some olive oil or melted butter and bake in a preheated oven at 180C for 45 minutes. Cut in square pieces and if you like it you can dust the surface with some icing sugar and cinnamon powder.

Muffins with Chocolate praline

Muffins with chocolate praline

by Dimitra Pappa

A’ Class

 Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 glasses (500 ml) milk

2 glasses (500 gr) sugar

500 gr self-raising flour (farina)

4 small tubes of vanilla powder (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)

1 cup (250 gr) butter

cinnamon powder

for the decoration:

readymade chocolate praline (such as nutella or merenda)

icing sugar

Put half the butter in a saucepan and let it melt in low heat. Put the melted butter in your mixer bowl, add the sugar, the eggs and the flour and whisk them for three minutes. Add the milk and the vanilla and whisk for three more minutes. Butter a tin baking tray for muffins, pour in the mixture and sprinkle with cinnamon powder. Put the tin in a pre-heated oven, at 180C, for an hour. Put the muffins on a clean surface and let them cool down. Cut them in half, open like a sandwich, spread the chocolate praline inside and close them again. Sprinkle with icing sugar on top and serve on a nice plate.