Sour cherry liquor

Home made liquor just as my mum used to do it. A traditional treat in many greek houses for visitors on celebration days.

The recipe is very simple. In a big jar we put 1 kilo of fresh sour cherries, 1 kilo of sugar, 1 liter of brandy or other spirit, such as "tsipouro", a cinnamon stick and 10 cloves. Stir carefully to dissolve the sugar and let it in a sunny place at least for a month.

You can strain it in bottles and you can serve the sour cherries as decoration at the bottom of the glass. I also like to use it over fruit salads. Divine!!!

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. 

Deep Fried Courgette Flowers (Frittata)

Deep fried courgette flowers

(with cheese and bacon)

By Nefeli Nefrou

B’ Class

Ingredients

About 15 flowers of courgettes

300 grams white cheese

200 grams cheese Edam and Gouda

1 egg

½ glass of milk

3 slices bacon

200 grams self raising flower

1 cup of water

Method

Cut off the stamens of the flowers and wash them. Leave them in a drainer. In a bowl grate the cheese, put the Edam, add the Gouda, the glass of milk and the slices of the chopped bacon. In a dish whisk an egg and add it to the mixture. With the mixture fill one by one the flowers of courgettes. Make a batter with the raising flour and the water. In a frying pan put enough olive oil, dip the flowers in the batter and then fry them. After that, put it in a dish and sprinkle them with grated cheese.

Good luck and good appetite!

Pastitsio

Pastitsio (Macaroni Bolognese Gratin)

By Chris Safakas

C’ Class

Ingredients

A pack of macaroni no2 or penne

A kilo of minced meat

3 eggs

1 tablespoon tomato paste

Gouda cheese grated

1 onion

1 teaspoon of oregano, some pepper, some salt

some parsley chopped

some cloves, 2 cinnamon sticks

For the béchamel sauce:

4 tablespoons of olive oil, 4 tablespoons of flour, 1 egg, 1 nutmeg,1 lit of milk

Method

In a cooking pot put some oil, the grated onion and the minced meat. Let it get a little brown and after that, pour the tomato paste, the cinnamon sticks, the pepper, the salt, the cloves and some water. Let it simmer in low heat for about an hour. Take it off the heat and in a separate cooking pot boil the spaghetti in salted water for ten minutes. Drain them and put them in a bowl. Add the grated cheese, 2 eggs, some milk and pepper.

In a baking tray, put a layer of the macaroni mixture, then the Bolognese sauce and another layer of macaroni. On top we add a layer of béchamel sauce, sprinkle with cheese and put in the oven at 200C for about 45 minutes. Let it cool down for a while and cut in square pieces. Serve warm.

Béchamel sauce:  In a sauce pan on a low heat put 4 tablespoons of olive oil and 4 tablespoons of flour. Stir for 2-3 minutes and add 1 lit of warm milk. Keep on stirring until it becomes a smooth cream. Take it off the heat and add 1 whisked egg, some salt, pepper and some ground nutmeg. Pour immediately over the baking tray.

Pecan Pie with Vanilla icecream

Pecan Pie with Vanilla Ice Cream

By Lidia Nefrou

B’ Class

Ingredients

20 eggs

400 grams sugar

300 grams flour

200 grams honey

200 grams chopped pecans or walnuts

200 grams cocoa

For the syrup: 1 Kilo of sugar, 1 lit water, 150 grams glucose, 2 slices of lemon, 1 tube vanilla powder.

Method

We separate the whites from the egg yolks. We whisk in the mixer bowl the egg whites with the sugar for about 20 minutes. In another bowl we mix the flour, the cocoa, the honey, the walnuts and the egg yolks. We mix carefully the two mixtures. We butter a baking tray and pour in the mixture. We bake at 200C for about 30 minutes. We let the pie cool down in the tray.

We boil the syrup for 25 minutes. We pour the warm syrup over the cold pie. We can decorate with whipped cream and walnuts. We serve with vanilla ice cream.

Good Luck!

Walnut Pie

Walnut Pie

By Alexandra Migdou

B’ Class

Ingredients

6 eggs

1 packet (250 grams) of butter

1 cup of flour

1 cup of finely chopped walnuts

1 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of baking powder

1 espresso cup of brandy

½ tablespoon of cocoa

1 ½ cup of dry breadcrumbs

For the syrup: 2 ½ cups of sugar, 2 cups of water

Method

Whisk the sugar with the butter. Add the eggs. Add the breadcrumbs. Add the walnuts. Add the flour. Add the baking powder. Add the cocoa. Add the brandy. Mix them all together. Bake at 180C for one hour. Let it cool down. Cut in square pieces. Boil the syrup for 5 minutes. Pour the hot syrup carefully over the cool pie. Decorate with icing sugar and cinnamon sticks.

Cuttlefish with small Pasta

By Nasia Nakou

B’ Class

Ingredients

2 cuttlefish

1 packet of small pasta (such as orzo or short macaroni)

2 chopped carrots

2 chopped onions

2 big tomatoes, in small cubes

½ cup of olive oil

salt, pepper

Method

We clean carefully the cuttlefish, wash them and cut them in pieces. In a big saucepan we put the oil and the onions on a moderate heat. When they become golden, we add the tomatoes, the cuttlefish and we mix until they become a nice sauce. We add the carrots, salt and pepper, and enough water so as to avoid sticking on the bottom of the sauce pan. We cover with a lid and let it simmer for about an hour. We stir occasionally. When the cuttlefish is soft enough, we add the pasta and some water. We keep on stirring until the pasta is cooked.

Our dish is ready now and it smells delicious!