Stuffed vine leaves "Dolmadakia"

Stuffed vine leaves with ground beef and rice

It is a different flavor. It is true that not everyone likes them, especially if your first try is with preserved vine leaves which sometimes are very tough and leave the impression that chew a package along with its string!
But the fresh leaves are tender and melt in your mouth. Their sour taste raises the usually indifferent ground beef and make them memorable.
For a few days a year, April and May, when I find fresh leaves in the market, I wash, drain and put them in the freezer. From there directly to scalding and I have fresh leaves for another three months at least. I like to stuff them with a mixture of ground beef and rice but there is also the vegetarian alternative, only with rice.
For 4 people we need:250 grams of grape leaves
1 large onion, chopped1 1/2 cup of olive oil 1 cup of rice300 grams of ground beef1 shot of ouzo (optional)1 cup warm watersalt, pepper, a handful of fresh mint, choppedthe juice of a large lemon
Wash the leaves and add little by little in salted boiling water. Let stand 3 minutes, then put into a bowl with cold water. Once you finish the process put them in a colander until you prepare the filling.
In a small bowl put the minced meat, onion, rice, 1/2 cup oil, mint, salt, pepper and ouzo. Mix to make a mixture soft enough, and if necessary add a little water.
With a spoon take a bit stuffing and place on the base of the leaf. Fold both ends and then wrap them in a 
roll. The truth is that at the beginning it needs a little effort to get down to the point but after the 4th or 5th dolmadaki you'll have no problem.
We throw the remaining oil to the pot and place each dolmadaki in concentric circles from the outside to the center. Depending on our pot we will make one or two layers.
Sprinkle with a little more oil to the surface and cover into the pot with a plate upside down. This will help to keep them firmly in place and not unfold with cooking. Add enough hot water to reach the middle of the dish, cover the pot and simmer for about half an hour.
Once ready, remove from heat and pour the lemon juice. Cover again and leave to cool completely. So it is better to start cooking early.
We can accompany with extra egg-lemon sauce or even with tzatziki.
Good appetite.

You can find the recipe in Greek here.
 

"Red" Giouvarlakia

Few tourists in Greece ever get to know the dishes that make us bow to our "mama's" comfort food.
One of these, is "Giouvarlakia", that is meatballs with rice, either in the form of a soup or with a thick egg-lemon (avgolemono) sauce.
Actually I prefer the second version - that's the way my mum used to cook it - so I like to pay homage to her cooking many times during the winter.
However, I'm such a fun of the dish that I experimented with this summer alternative, using fresh tomato instead of the egg-lemon sauce. The result was a fusion between "giouvarlakia" and "soutzoukakia" which made us all clean our plates with big chunks of freshly baked bread.
I thought you would like this version which is much easier, since it doesn't require the tricky "avgolemono".

- 750 grams of beef mince (or any kind of mince)
- 1 cup of rice, the type you usually buy for soups
- 1 thinly chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 of a teaspoon grounded cumin
- 1 crashed garlic clove
- 1/2 cup red wine
- 500 grams finely chopped fresh tomatoes or tomato juice
- 1/2 cup of olive oil
- a pinch of each: grounded pepper, cinnamon, clove
- 1 fresh or dry bay leaf.

In a large bowl, we mix together the minced beef, the rice, the onion, the spices, half the olive oiland the wine. While mixing, add some spoonfuls of water until you have a very soft mixture. Put the bowl in the fridge and let it rest for about 1 hour.
In a large cooking pot we put the rest of the olive oil, 4 cups of water and the tomato and we let come to the boil. Then we add some salt, and the bay leaf and we turn down the temperature to medium. We form small balls with our mixture, the size of a walnut, and we drop them carefully into the simmering sauce.
Cover the pot and let it simmer until the rice is well cooked (about 1 hour). In the meantime you can add some hot water if you thing it is needed.
The final consictency should be that of a thick soup as it will become thicker when it cools. It can be eaten warm or in room temperature, after all that's why I cook it in the summer.
You can also experiment with your favorite spices, either inside the mixture or in the broth.
Finally if you want the original version, don't add tomato in the beginning but when the food is cooked add the "avgolemono" sauce.
You can see my step-by-step tecnique here.

You can also find the recipe on my sister Greek blog here.



Kali orexi!

Stuffed vineleaves and zucchini (Dolmadakia kai kolokythakia gemista)

This vegetarian dish originates from the district of Macedonia in Greece and it belongs to the "ladera" category of dishes. That is, food cooked until all the juices have evaporated and there is only some olive oil left in the pot.
"Ladera" compose a whole school of thought in Greek cuisine, being the main solution during our long fasting seasons when even fish is forbidden most of the days. Moreover they play the major role in the Mediterranean diet, making great use of  vegetables, legumes and olive oil.
If we were in Italy, we cood call it "cucina povera" since it needs only some rice and what it can be found in your vegetable garden this season.If you don't have a garden, you can find everything at your greengrocer's or your supermarket. Vineleaves are also sold in jars, preserved in brine.

It can also be tranformed to a more rich dish if you add beef/lamb mince in the rice stuffing and some egg-lemon sauce in the end. But this is only a matter of taste.

As I said the ingredients are mainly found in our garden:

- 350 grams vine leaves (fresh or in a jar)
- 1 kilo of zucchini, big enough to be stuffed (see the picture above)
- 500 grams spring onions, chopped
- 1 dry onion, diced
- 1 bunch of dill, chopped
- 1 tablespoon dry mint or 2-3 sprigs of fresh mint, chopped
- 500 grams of olive oil (2 large water glasses filled)
- 500 grams of rice (risoto type)
- the juice of 5 lemons
- (optionally) some tomato juice, fresh or canned
- salt & pepper

If you have fresh vine leaves, you must wash them thoroughly and blanch them in a pot with some water, salt and the juice of half a lemon. Take them off the boiling water and let them cool on a plate until you prepare the stuffing. If you use leaves from a jar, you must also wash them because they are preserved in brine and this makes them extra salty.

Grate the zucchini from the outside, then cut them in the middle and hollow them (just like toy boats) with a small spoon or the special gadget we also use for fruit salads. Keep the stuff from inside in a bowl.

In a deep frying  pan add the dry onion, the spring onions, the dill and the mint, salt and pepper and half a cup of water. Let them simmer for five minutes and take the pan off the heat. Now add half the olive oil, half the inside of the zucchini finely chopped, the rice, salt and pepper and the juice of the other half of the lemon. Stir well and the stuffing is ready.

Put a layer of vine leaves at the bottom of your cooking pot. Take each zucchini boat and fill it with 3-4 teaspoons of the rice stuffing. Put them in the cooking pot in rows, next to each other.

Lay flat a vine leaf on your kitchen board and put a tablespoon of stuffing in its middle. Fold the sides of the leaf so as to form a small cylinder and the stuffing is secured inside. (You can see how to do it in the sketch).

 Put it in the cooking pot over the stuffed zucchini. Continue until all the leaves are stuffed and in very tight rows in the pot. Try not to leave gaps between them or they will open and the stuffing will pur out.

Add the rest of the olive oil in the pot, the juice of 2 lemons and enough water to cover the food. Take an old dish and put it upside down in the pot over the vineleaves. This will serve as a weight to prevent them from opening. Simmer for about 30 - 45 minutes. During the cooking time we can add the tomato juice and some hot water if the liquid is absorbed.

Let them cool totally and then serve on a plate, putting the zucchini in the middle and the dolmadakia around them. Serve with some plain yoghurt or tzatziki if you like but feta cheese is essential to all lathera dishes.

Kali orexi!

Μπορείτε να δείτε τη συνταγή στα Ελληνικά εδώ.

Black Risotto with Cuttlefish from the Aegean Islands (Σουπιοπίλαφο)

Ok, I know this sounds very Italian, however it’s a traditional recipe of the Cyclades, the Aegean islands. 

It is also expected from a maritime people who had long-term relationships with the italian cities of Venise and Genoa, through conquer and trade, to adopt and adapt many of their recipes. 

After all, the use of seafood such as octopus, cuttlefish and calamari is extensive throughout the coastal cities of the Mediterranean. 

You can buy fresh cuttlefish from your seamonger or deep-frozen ones, which usually come from the Indian Ocean. 

One way or the other, you have to clean them carefully so as not to destroy the precious little pouch which contains the black ink. This is responsible for the black colour of the rice and also those black spaghetti that you so much admire at the shelves of your local deli.

You wiil need:

• -        1 kilo of cuttlefish (fresh or frozen)
• -        2 large onions, diced
• -        1 large cup of olive oil
• -        3 large ripe tomatoes, diced
• -        500 grams rice
• -        2 level teaspoons of salt, a little pepper
• -        the ink of the cuttlefish

The traditional recipe suggests that you use all the ink pouches from 1 kilo of cuttlefish, though I wouldn’t recommend it if you cook this for the first time. Just use 1 pouch and if you like the result you can increase it the following time.

Clean carefully the cuttlefish and wash it under running water. Cut it in bite size and let it dry in a drainer. Put the ink in a bowl and disolve it with a little water. Usually there is some sand which will naturally sit at the bottom of the bowl, so be careful when you add the liquid to the food.

Saute the onion with the olive oil, add the cuttle fish and stir in high temperature for a few minutes. Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper and let it simmer for one and a half hour. When the are cooked (they must be soft, not like rubber) add the ink and as much water as to amount up to 4 cups of liquid. Let it come to the boil, add the rice, stir once, turn down the heat, put the lid on and let it simmer until the rice is cooked to your liking. Don’t forget to stir occasionally because the rice tends to stick at the bottom of the pot, and then you’ll literally have “charcoal”  rice.

Serve it in room temperature accompanied by cool white wine or beer.

Good apetite! Kali Orexi!

Spanakoryzo Avgolemono (Spinach Risotto with Egg-Lemon sauce)

This a controversial greek dish. People either love it or hate it. 

It is usually cooked in two versions, a simple spinach risotto on which we drizzle some lemon juice or with tomato juice and it’s definitely vegetarian. 

My version, however, is finished with avgolemono (egg-lemon sauce) which completely transforms it. I’d like to thank my aunt Lefki who made me change my mind about spanakoryzo with this recipe, and my son Chris, who helped me with the photos.

For 4 hungry people we’ll need:

- 1 cup olive oil

- 250 grams spinach leaves, coarsely chopped

- 1 finely diced dry onion

- 4 spring onions, chopped

- 1/2 cup chopped dill

- ½ cup chopped herbs, I use “kafkalithres” (Hartwort) and “mironia” (Venus’ comb)

- 200 grams rice for risotto (Arborio or Carolina)

- 2 large eggs, preferably organic

- 1 lemon

- 1 lit warm water

- salt, pepper

Put the olive oil in a large deep frying pan, add the diced onion and cook until tender. 

Add the chopped greens and stir lightly until they reduce in size and their juices are evaporated. 

Then add the rice and stir until it becomes opaque white. 

Add a glass of warm water and wait until it forms bubbles on the surface. Repeat this procedure until all the water is added. 

Season well, put a lid on the pan and turn down the heat. 

Let the rice simmer until it becomes as tender as you like. 

When we are satisfied with the texture of the rice, we check the remaining liquid in the pan. It must have the consistency of thick soup, otherwise add some more warm water. Taste the seasoning and take it off the heat. 

It’s time to make the avgolemono sauce.

Pour the sauce over the risotto and mix well with a wooden spoon. 

The risotto must have the consistency of rice pudding. 

Serve warm with some cheese.

Good apetite!

Avgolemono - Egg-Lemon sauce

This is a traditional greek sauce, very characteristic of winter recipes. It is usually added in the pot in recipes such as chicken soup but sometimes it is poured over the served food, such as in dolmades.
Basically you whisk the eggs with some salt and lemon juice and then you add some broth from the soup. Easy, isn't it? Then why do the greek cookers bear the same respect to this sauce as to mayonnaise?
Because as everything concerning raw eggs, it needs total devotion to the procedure and the temperature of the ingredients, or else... goodbye avgolemono, hello scrumbled eggs!
Rule of thumb, the raw ingredients must be at room temperature.

You'll need 2 large eggs or 3 small ones, the juice of one big lemon and a pinch of salt.

Now, the procedure.

While your food is near the end of cooking, start preparing the egg-lemon mixture.

Separate the egg whites and put them in a large bowl. Add a pinch of salt and using a whisk, beat them until nice and frothy.

Add one after the other the egg yolks and the lemon juice in a steady stream while continuing to whisk.
You will notice that the mixture thickens and becomes shiny.


Supposing that your food has finished cooking by now, so turn off the heat. Ladle carefully (it's boiling hot) about 1-2 cups of broth into a jug or large measuring cup. Slowly add the hot broth to the egg-lemon mixture  while continuing to whisk. This will temper the eggs and prevent them from curdling once they are added to the hot pot.
If you are using avgolemono as a condiment, your sauce is ready at this stage. Otherwise, stir the egg-lemon mixture into the pot and heat over very low heat for approximately 5- 10 minutes until heated through. Be careful not to boil it again once the eggs have been added.

Some people who like their soups or sauces quite thick, prefer to add 2 tbs of corn starch into the pot before they add the sauce. But with practice comes perfection, so if you make a good avgolemono then you won't need the corn starch.

Have a nice cooking day!

Recipes with avgolemono:
- Chicken soup
- Lamb with letuce (fricasse)
- Pork stew with leeks and celery
- Yiouvarlakia (Soup with meatballs)
- Dolmades (Stuffed grape leaves with rice or mince)
- Stuffed Courgettes
- Lahanodolmathes (Stuffed cabbage leaves)
- Mayiritsa (Traditional Greek Easter soup)
- Spanakoryzo (Spinach Risotto)

Stuffed Courgettes with egg-lemon sauce

Stuffed Courgettes

(in egg and lemon sauce)

By Christine Maragoula

E’ Class

Ingredients

(for 4 people)

500 grams minced beef

8 courgettes

½ cup of rice

1 onion, finely chopped

½ cup of olive oil

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper

1 egg

1 lemon

Method

In a bowl mix together the minced beef, the onion, the rice, 1 teaspoon of salt and ½ teaspoon of pepper, 4 tablespoons of olive oil and the vinegar. Then we take the courgettes, cut both ends and scoop out the soft flesh from the middle, forming a small tube. Stuff the courgettes with the meat and rice mixture, and put them in a cooking pot. We fill half the cooking pot with water, add the rest of the salt, the pepper and the olive oil. Bring to the boil, and let it simmer for about 45 minutes. When it is ready, we whisk the white of an egg in a bowl until it stiffens, we add the egg yolk and the juice of one lemon and keep on whisking for a while. We add a few tablespoons of the warm broth from the cooking pot and then quickly we pour the egg-lemon mixture in the pot. We shake the pot so that the lemon-egg sauce mixes well with the broth and our dish is ready. 

Chicken with Cream sauce

Chicken with cream sauce

By Christine Mimigianni

ECCE Class

Ingredients

1 chicken breast (cleaned and chopped in small pieces)

2 peppers (cut in small stripes)

1 onion (cut in slices)

Salt

Pepper

½   glass of white wine

A tablespoon of mustard sauce

250 grams single cream

½ kilo rice for pilaf

250 grams grated gruyere cheese

Method

First of all we put salt and pepper in the chicken. We put it in the frying pan with peppers and onions. Just let them get brown for a few minutes. Add the mustard in the wine and put it in the pan with the chicken. Then we add 2 cups of water and let it simmer for about 20 minutes. After that, we add the cream and when the sauce thickens we switch it off. We boil the rice in a cooking pot and drain it. Then, drizzle the rice with a little melted butter and we serve it with the chicken and some grated gruyere on top. Finally, a delicious treat is ready on your plate.