Day 27: April 9, 2016 - Greek Style French Fries -Ελληνικές Τηγανητές Πατάτες

When we were young, we would visit with Yiayia and Pappou every week.  In some lucky families, these visits are more frequent since Yiayia and Pappou live in the same house!  But, one of the things that we remember very clearly is that Yiayia always had something to eat in the oven, on the stove, or laid out on the table.  If we were lucky, she would be in the process of making something yummy when we arrived, and we would get the freshest of fresh food.  One of our all time favourites was the fried potatoes.

Today, we may just refer to fried potatoes with a generic title of French Fries.  But, what about Greek fries?  Is there such a thing?  In some restaurants, there are Greek Style Fries, which typically have a plate of fries topped with feta cheese and oregano.  After all, once you add feta cheese, food automatically becomes Greek, right?  We are making fried potatoes like Yiayia used to make -- and they are real Greek fries made by Greeks for Greeks and eaten by Greeks, but we are not using any feta cheese!

The first thing that we want to do is introduce our new gadget.  You have seen all through this blog that we like various appliances and gadgets to make cooking easier.  Well, this gadget does that for us, too.  This is the Curtis Stone Chop Chop Deluxe Food Chopper.  We love the red colour, and more so, we love the ease of cutting potatoes.  With the different attachments, we can have a variety of shapes including potato sticks (fries), wedges, or slices.  Yiayia, of course, cut her potatoes by hand, and you can do that, too.  We thought it would be fun to use the tool!

Some people will say that you have to choose the right kind of potato to make fries.  They say the same about having the right kind of potatoes for baked potato.  For us, we lean toward Russet potatoes for baked or fried potatoes, and yellow or Yukon Gold for other dishes.  The 'drier' potatoes make for fluffy fries.  Yiayia would have chosen potatoes that were in the kitchen already -- the one she bought on her weekly shopping trip, whatever colour or type they were.   Regardless of the type of potato she sued, her fried potatoes were always yummy.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

Potatoes
Oil for frying
Salt, Oregano, Lemon Juice to taste

Wash the potatoes.  You can wash the potatoes and cut them with skins on, or you can peel the potatoes, wash and cut them.  Regardless of which one you choose, please make sure to remove any eyes, blemishes, and dirt.

Cut the potatoes into stick shapes (fries).  You can cut them thin or thick, but they should be as even as possible.  Our Chop Chop Deluxe cuts pieces uniformly.  If we had square, uniform veggies, we could have perfectly uniform pieces.  Since nature does not produce uniform, perfectly shaped food, cut the pieces as equally sized as possible.

Rinse the potato pieces one more time and allow the water to drain.  You don't want the fries perfectly dry, but they cannot be dripping wet, either.  Once you shake the colander and allow it to sit there while you heat the oil, the potato pieces should be dry enough for cooking.

Heat frying oil in a pan so that it is just deeper than the potatoes.  You want the top of the oil to skim over the top of the potatoes.  Yiayia would use a deep pot and deep fry the potatoes.  We find it is easier to manage in a frying pan.  This is a personal preference, and you will have to choose whichever cooking utensil you prefer or have handy.  Either pan will work, and you will know the oil is hot enough when you drop a small piece of potato into the oil and it fries on contact, or when the oil reaches 325º F (about 163º C).

Put enough potato pieces in the hot oil so the pan is full but the potatoes are not touching too much.  You may want to do this in smaller batches.

Cook (fry) the potatoes for 5-7 minutes, moving them around the pan regularly.  You will see the first side of the fries turn that beautiful golden brown.  Make sure to turn the fries over so that each side has a chance to tan.  After the potatoes cook and have uniform colour all around, remove them from the oil and place them on a bundle of folded paper towels to collect any excess oil.

While the fried potatoes are draining, sprinkle them with salt, oregano, and lemon juice.  The residual oil from frying will hold the salt and oregano on the potatoes.  And, the lemon juice will drip all over the outside of the fries.  Toss the fries around to make sure that all are coated with some of each seasoning.  Then, put them on a serving dish and serve.  In some houses, the fries never make it to the serving dish, we eat them off the paper towels.  Enjoy!

When this photograph was taken, there was a cluster of salt (bottom left) which we
distributed by tossing the paper towel lined container for about a minute.  Although the lemon is seen being squeezed here, we actually put the lemon after the salt and dried oregano had been evenly distributed.

“Let the mouth also fast from disgraceful speeches and railings. For what does it profit if we abstain from fish and fowl and yet bite and devour our brothers and sisters? The evil speaker eats the flesh of his brother and bites the body of his neighbor. "

St. John Chrysostomos

Source of quote: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4589154.John_Chrysostom

Day 26: - April 8, 2016 - Lenten Orzo and Lentil Dish - Νηστίσιμο Κριθαράκι με Φακές

We were first introduced to this dish by some Cypriot friends of ours.  We are told that in Cyprus, people make this for a quick meal, a side dish for meats, or for children who may be picky eaters.  The flavours are so gentle that this is sure to please any palette.  We were impressed by how easy it was to make, and we wanted to share our version which has been slightly adapted from what our friends make.

Lentils, Orzo, and Onions are typically found in the kitchen.  We use lentils regularly to make Fakes, but we use them in salads and in other dishes.  Orzo is one of those pastas that is a nice alternative to rice without feeling heavy like a typical noodle.  There are so many variations to make with either of these ingredients, but when putting these two versatile ingredients together in one dish, it is a thrill to have one masterpiece.  Oh, and the onion, well, if you haven't noticed, onions go in most Greek recipes.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

1 cup lentils

1 cup orzo

1/2 onion, chopped

1-2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 tsp oil

about 2 cups water

sal and pepper

chopped parsley to garnish

Start by washing the lentils.  Wash them and sort them to remove any stones or bad lentils.  Then, put them in a pot to boil.  You want to boil until the lentils are just more than half way cooked.  Rinse the lentils and drain all the brown water.  Then, return them to the pot and get the onions ready.

In a separate pan, sauté the onions and caramelize them.  That means cook the onions long enough that they become soft and golden brown.  We diced our onion, in the past we have sliced it in small slices and that worked better for caramelizing, but it is your choice.  Once the onions start to gain colour, add the garlic and cook it fully with the onions.  This will take a few minutes.

Once the onions are ready, turn off the heat and leave them in the pan.  We want to put the water in the pot with the lentils, and bring that to a boil one more time.  Add the orzo to the boiling lentils.  Then, add the onions to the lentils/orzo pot.   Mix this all together to make sure that all three ingredients are well distributed.

Next, cook this on a medium heat, stirring occasionally until the orzo and the lentils are fully cooked.  If you need to add a little more water because all the liquid has been absorbed, then do so, but you have to stir every few minutes so nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot.

Adjust the seasoning to your liking.  We use only salt and pepper.  Our friends would add a bit of tomato paste here, but we like it without.  You could also squeeze a bit of lemon juice to lighten up the flavours, but we like it just a little salt and pepper so we can taste the onions and the garlic.  Sprinkle with some chopped parsley before serving, and enjoy this dish hot.

It is a 30 minute meal if you like, or a dish that can be made in advance and served at room temperature.  You will find whatever variation works for you.  If Cypriots can have this light and healthy meal regularly, so could we!


“Happiness can only be achieved by looking inward & learning to enjoy whatever life has and this requires transforming greed into gratitude.”

-St. John Chrysostomos

Source of quote: https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/4589154.John_Chrysostom

 

Day 25: April 7, 2016 - Quince Spoon Sweet - Κυδώνι του Κουταλιού

Quince is a different kind of fruit -- you don't eat it raw.  While everyone touts the benefits of raw fruit, this is one that just does not fit in that category.  Quince has many unique properties, and today we are focusing on two of them.

So, why don't you eat quince in the raw form?  Well, it could be because of the grey fuzzy outside of the fruit, or it could be because of the tough, yet spongy flesh.  It is an unconventional type of fruit.  You can taste it, but may find that it is bitter and hard.  Or, you may find that it is like a raw potato.  Either way, you know they may be perfect for cooking, and that is when the quince will become an amazing fruit.  

Cooking will bring a new light to your enjoyment of quince.  Most people use quince for jams, spoons sweets, or baked goods to add a new flavour to a pie, or a pita.  We followed the traditional formula for making a spoon sweet.  The ratio is 2 fruit : 2 sugar : 1 water.  That translates into 2 cups fruit, 2 cups sugar, and 1 cup water.  You can adjust the actual quantities to fit the amount of fruit that you have -- just keep the same ratio.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

2 cups quince, peeled and chopped or grated
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup water
a few (5) cloves (optional)
a squeeze of lemon juice

Start by cleaning the quince.  You have to peel the skin, then core the fruit.  The centre core is hard, hollow, and never looks good.  Make sure you take away the residual white skin that surrounds the middle seeds.  This will get very hard when cooked and can ruin the overall soft texture.  When chopping the quince, cut it into pieces that you like.  Often, people will grate the fruit on a box grater or with a food processor.  We like the larger chunks and find them more satisfying when enjoying a spoon sweet, so we gave our quince a rough chop.

Soak the fruit in water with a squeeze of lemon juice.  This will prevent the fruit from turning brown while you get ready the other ingredients.  Before you cook the quince, you will need to drain all the water.

In a pot, put the drained quince and the sugar.  Then, pour the water over the sugar and mix it up until the sugar is somewhat dissolved.

Add the cloves.  We chose cloves to enhance the overall flavour.  You can use vanilla, or lemon zest, or something else.  We have seen recipes that use masticha or geranium leaves.  But, cloves are something that most people have on hand, and are easy to pick out in the end.  We have also tried putting the cloves in a tea strainer and allowing that to sit in the pot.  You have to make sure that he tea strainer is fully submerged in the water, and that can be difficult sometimes.  So, add the enhancing flavour and mix everything together.

Now, turn the heat on a medium high and bring this mixture to a boil.  This will take a few minutes.  Allow it to boil for about 10 minutes.  You will see the fruit start to change colour and it will look softer than where it started.

After ten minutes of boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer, and put a lid on the pot.  You are going to keep in all that moisture, flavour, and heat.  Allow the mixture to simmer for 30 minutes.  Stir it occasionally to make sure the heat is evenly distributed.

As you check the mixture and you are stirring, you will notice that the syrup (sugar and water) will thicken.  You want to cook this long enough to have the consistency similar to that of thick honey.  It may take longer than 30 minutes, depending on your stove and the type of pot used.  Continue to check the mixture and stir every 5 minutes until it reaches the consistency you want.

Put the lid back on the pot, turn off the heat, and allow this to sit for 30 minutes to slightly cool.  Then, it is time to put it in a glass container to keep and serve guests.  Serve the glyko at room temperature or cool, not warm.  Typically, glyko tou koutaliou (spoon sweet) is served with a glass of cold water.

"Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."

Proverbs: 16:24

Day 24 - April 6, 2016 - Calamari Kokkinisto (Calamari with Red Sauce) - Καλαμάρι Κοκκινιστό - (Originally posted on March 26, 2014)

(The delicious recipe below is one of our favourite dishes during Lent; it was originally posted on March 26, 2014)

Tonight's dish, our calamari kokkinisto (Calamari with red sauce),
on top of one of favourite pasta varieties - Scooby Doo!

Some people really love kokkinisto!  In fact, in our house, it is a topic of conversation regularly.  We talk about the many foods that we can make kokkinisto - the famous Greek red sauce, including vegetables, seafood and even meats.  We are trying to find the best kokkinisto out there.  We have tried various cookbooks, family recipes, friends' suggestions-- and we like many of them.  But, we are in search of the best.  Today, we are adding to our research by trying another recipe, this one from an online source at FoodReference.com.  The recipe was for Octopus (Octapodi Kokkinisto), but we had kalamari (squid) and thought that was close enough.  It's funny how the two are very different animals, but cook in a similar way.  You can use various cooking  methods to get squid or octopus to turn into a delicious, velvety seafood dish.

When buying squid, there are a few things you want to look for.  First, try to get the squid cleaned.  It really is so much easier for you.  And, unless you are making a squid ink pasta or squid ink sauce, then why suffer the smells from your garbage can when the fish monger can clean the squid and dispose of the icky parts for you?  Also, look for fresh looking squid.  The fresh ones will have clear eyes and moist flesh.  The smaller squid are going to cook faster.  Some may say that the smaller ones are more tender, but we believe that the tenderness generally has to do with the cooking method.  This time, we bought just the tentacles.  If you can buy fresh seafood, that's great.  If not, then buy the frozen stuff-- it is really just as good in the end!  If you cannot find squid, octopus, cuttlefish, even conch are good substitutes.

For this recipe, you will need the following:

4 large calamari tentacles (squid)

12 ounce (355 ml) can whole tomatoes (we used canned San Marzano plum tomatoes)

1/4 cup olive oil

1 small onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 1/2 cups white wine

1 Tablespoon basil

First, wash the calamari well, removing any residues.  If the squid was not cleaned for you, then make sure to remove all the cartilage and the ink sack.  We cut out the beak and any remaining cartilage that was attached at the top of the tentacles.  You will be able to feel these pieces -- they are like plastic.  Use kitchen shears to work your way around the cartilage.  Rinse the calamari very well and feel carefully to make sure you removed all the cartilage bits.  Then, put the calamari in a dry pot.

There is no oil or water in the pot, just calamari.  This is to allow the squid to stew in its own juices for a moment.  We want those juices to flow out of the calamari so we can add flavour to our sauce.  Allow the calamari to cook for a few minutes until it is bright pink in colour and the juices are collecting in the pot.  You will even see that the ends of the tentacles start to curl.

Next, take the calamari out of the pot and set it aside.  Also, set aside the liquid.  We want to return to having a dry pot to make the sauce.  It is fine if the squid and the liquid are aside together, we want them both to cool a bit.  

Now, prepare your onion and garlic.  Both should be chopped.  We are going to start the sauce with the first step of sautéing the onion in the oil.  Add the garlic and allow this to cook for three minutes.  You should smell the onion and see it turn translucent.

Add the bay leaves.  We put the bay leaves in now so they have a chance to heat and infuse the oil into the onions and garlic.  The bay leaves actually cook a little, too, and will add more flavour.  Allow the bay leaves to simmer for two minutes.  Then, add the basil.  The aromas in the kitchen will be powerful, but lovely.  

At this point, add the liquid from the canned tomatoes.  Add the liquid first because this gives you a minute of simmering the sauce to reduce it a bit before adding the solid tomatoes.  We removed the whole tomatoes from the can, put them on a plate, and chopped them with our kitchen scissors.  This was an easy, clean way to chop the tomatoes.  You could use canned chopped tomatoes, but if you cut the whole ones yourself, you can control how big the chunks of tomato are.  Many of them will cook down to paste, but some will remain in chunks.   Once they are all cut up, put the tomato pieces into the sauce and allow this to simmer for about 20 minutes.  And, add the wine to the pot.

While the sauce is cooking, this is the time to continue preparing the calamari.  We have it sitting aside in its juice, but now, we have to prepare the calamari into the size of pieces we want to eat.  So, pour the liquid from the cooked calamari into the pot so it has a chance to simmer while we cut the calamari tentacles.  We first cut the calamari's tentacles where they are connected, separating all the tentacles from each other. Then, since many of these were quite long, we cut the tentacles into small pieces of various sizes.  Afterwards, we put the pieces of cut, semi-cooked calamari into the sauce.

Allow the sauce with the calamari to simmer with a lid on the pot for the next thirty minutes or so, until the calamari is tender. As the whole dish is cooking, you'll notice that the sauce becomes increasingly thicker and the flavours more concentrated.

While the kokkinisto is stewing, get ready the rice or pasta or bread that you will be serving with this rich and delightful dish!  Then, enjoy!

"Fasts and vigils, the study of Scripture, renouncing possessions and everything worldly are not in themselves perfection, as we have said; they are its tools. For perfection is not to be found in them; it is acquired through them. It is useless, therefore, to boast of our fasting, vigils, poverty, and reading of Scripture when we have not achieved the love of God and our fellow men. Whoever has achieved love has God within himself and his intellect is always with God."

St. John Cassian

Source of quote: http://theodorakis.net/orthodoxquotescomplete.html