A taste of Greece! - Recipes by “Rena tis Ftelias" (preview) by Stergiou Limited

A Taste of Greece! Recipes by “Rena tis Ftelias” Rena’s collection of the best Greek, Mediterranean recipes! EIRINI TOGIA

Written and cooked by Eirini Togia

Photos by

Vangelis Paterakis

Direction and food styling by Konstantinos Togias

Gourmets

Bessy Togia, Gina Togia

Translated into English and edited by Vasileios Tziovaras

Proofreader

Kayleigh Hames Copyright A taste of Greece! Recipes by “Rena tis Ftelias”: Rena’s collection of the best Greek, Mediterranean recipes! Greek title: Rena Tis Ftelias: Dishes we have loved! Parent ISBN: 978-1-910370-08-7 Authored by © Eirini Togia, 2014 Photos by © Vangelis Paterakis Photo stock agency: Dreamstime.com ii

English - print edition ISBN: 978-1-910370-04-9 (Paperback, Stergiou Limited) ISBN: 978-1-910370-53-7 (Hardcover, Stergiou Limited) ISBN: 978-1500939403 (Paperback, CreateSpace) English - digital edition ISBN-EPUB: 978-1-910370-05-6 ISBN-MOBI: 978-1-910370-06-3 ISBN-PDF: 978-1-910370-07-0

Published by Stergiou Limited Distribution: Worldwide, exclusive STERGIOU LIMITED Publications & Media Services Suite A, 6 Honduras Street, London EC1Y 0TH, United Kingdom Tel.: +44 (0) 20 7504 1325 Fax: +44 (0) 20 76920609 Email: publications@stergioultd.com Web: http://stergioultd.com

To my family and the people I love!

SPECIAL THANKS Many thanks to Sarrisâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; catering, and especially to Mr. Manolis Pangalos for his supply of the tableware used for the photography. iii

Contents

Colourful salad with potatoes and courgettes ............................................................. 20

Introduction ..................................................................... 7

Fried eggs and tomatoes .......................................... 22

My childhood’s gemista (stuffed peppers and tomatoes)! ................................................................ 8 Salad with black-eyed beans, flavouring & olives ....................................................... 10 Crispy domatokeftedes (tomato fritters) with lots of peppermint .............................................................. 12 Aromatic hortopita (vegetable and cheese pie) with homemade filo (dough) ................................. 14 Octopus salad with multi-coloured peppers and lots of flavouring ........................................................... 16 Stuffed squids ............................................................... 18

Crispy kadaifi pastry stuffed with a variety of Greek cheeses .......................................................... 24 Stuffed beets with yoghurt and grated walnuts ............................................................................ 26 Shrimps saganaki with fresh tomatoes, feta cheese and ouzo .......................................................... 28 Rena’s pâté with Greek smoked salmon .............. 30 Vegetable garden... cooked in the oven ............. 32 Dolmades (stuffed grape leaves) with fresh leaves! ......................................................... 34

Bean stew with potatoes .......................................... 36 Sofrito (pan-fried veal with potatoes): the original recipe from Corfu! ....................................................... 38

Bite-sized pieces of veal cooked in the pot with feta cheese and Kalamata olives ............................ 52 Artichokes with peas, potatoes and lots of lemon ......................................................... 54

Chicken stew with okra ............................................. 40 Stuffed aubergines (imam bayildi) ........................ 42

Braised chicken with chilopites (Greek noodles) ............................................................ 56

Hearty fasolada (bean soup) with plenty of celery and sweet Florina peppers! ..................................... 44 Stuffed courgettes with minced beef and avgolemono (egg-lemon sauce) ......................................... 46 The traditional pastitsada... with cinnamon flavour .............................................................................. 48 The famous oven-baked lamb with lemon and Stuffed meatloaves with omelette oregano ........................................................................... 58 and graviera ................................................................... 50 Giouvetsi cooked in the pot (veal stew) .............. 60 Cod bites with skordalia (garlic dip) ..................... 62 Perch bianco (white) stew with lemon juice and potatoes ................................................................. 64 Our grandmotherâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s giouvarlakia (meatball soup) ............................................................ 66 v

Pork stew with leeks and celery... no further comment necessary ................................................... 68

Shrimp salad with rice; full of colours and aromatic! ................................................................ 86

Stuffed aubergines with feta sauce ...................... 70

Bouillabaisse... fish soup ........................................... 88

Cuttlefish stew with flavouring and orzo ............ 72 Loukoumades with yoghurt .................................... 90 Crispy, pan-fried meatballs ...................................... 74 Cauliflower yiahni (stew) .......................................... 76 Oven-baked aromatic butter beans with herbs ...................................................................... 78 The classic moussaka; aromatic and light .......... 80 Samali (semolina cake with syrup) ........................ 92 Homemade jam of 3 kinds of peaches ................ 94 Vissinada (cherry juice): offer it to your guests! ................................................ 96 Chef ﾎ品rini Togia ............................................................ 98 Chicken bites with dill and courgettes ................ 82 Pork stew with beans ................................................. 84 vi

Introduction 35 full years have passed and we haven’t even realised it! Together we’ve travelled from Mykonos to Athens and wherever else our taste memories led us. Together we’ve remembered our childhood flavours, and together we’ve discovered and fell in love with new ones through simple and traditional recipes. I have wanted for a long time to share some of the best recipes of all these years with you. So here I am now, ready to make this happen! And, by the way, I would like to thank you all for those moments we’ve shared together throughout these years. This is not where inspiration and creations stop. To be continued...

vii

My childhood’s gemista (stuffed peppers and tomatoes)!

It’s a recipe every household used to prepare, especially in the summer, as this dish’s ingredients are seasonal to summer after all. We enjoy it with a slice of feta cheese and some bread.

Serves

••••••

80’

Method

Ingredients

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.

4 mid-sized tomatoes,

Slice off the top of the tomatoes, scoop out their pulp with a spoon, put some sugar inside and turn them upside down. Slice off the tops of the peppers, discard the seeds and make small cuts in 2-3 places of each pepper. Scoop out the pulp of the aubergines and cut them as you did with the peppers. Do the same with the courgettes.

3 mid-sized green peppers,

In a saucepan, put the onions, half the oil, the pulp of the courgettes, the diced aubergine (all chopped in small cubes), parsley, peppermint, half the tomato juice, salt and pepper. Sauté for 2-3 minutes, add some water and, when boiling, add the rice and stir to prevent sticking together. Remove from the heat and let the filling cool slightly. Once it has cooled a little, start filling the tomatoes, peppers, aubergines and courgettes with it one by one. Cover the tomatoes and peppers with their tops. Put them all into a baking dish. Season the potatoes with salt and pepper and spread them among the gemista. Dress the gemista with the remaining oil, the tomatoes’ flesh that was scooped out earlier in chunks, the rest of the tomato juice and the water. Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and put it in the oven for 40-45 minutes. Remove the foil from the baking dish and leave the food in the oven for about 15 minutes, until it gets a bit of colour.

3 mid-sized aubergines, 3 mid-sized courgettes, 1kg quartered potatoes, 500g round grain rice (such as risotto or paella rice), 4 grated onions, 1 bunch of chopped parsley, 1 bunch of chopped peppermint, 1 water glass of tomato juice, 1 water glass of olive oil, salt, pepper, sugar, 1 wine glass of tomato juice, 2 glasses of water

Secret Don’t boil the rice much because it will boil in the oven anyway.

Salad with black-eyed beans, flavouring & olives

A simple, aromatic salad with Mykonian beans. That’s right, Mykonos! That’s where we tasted it for the first time! It’s filling, nutritious and a great choice as a main course for someone conscious of their diet.

Serves

••••••••

25’

Method

Ingredients

Wash the beans thoroughly.

500g black-eyed beans (dried, not tined),

In a pot, add plenty of water and let it boil. Once it starts boiling, add the beans and let them boil well. Strain them, rinse thoroughly to remove their blackness and let them drain and cool. Put the beans into a salad bowl and add all the onions, parsley, dill, peppers and tomatoes. Add salt and stir all the ingredients together. Cover the bowl with cling film and put it in the fridge for an hour or two to cool. Shake oil and vinegar vigorously together in a shaker and dress the salad with it. Add a little salt and pepper, the olives and serve the salad cold.

3 finely chopped onions, 1 bunch of finely chopped spring onions, 1 bunch of chopped parsley, 1 bunch of chopped dill, 4 finely chopped multi-coloured peppers, 5-6 diced juicy tomatoes, oil, vinegar, salt and a little pepper, Kalamata olives

Crispy domatokeftedes (tomato fritters) with lots of peppermint

ÂŠ Vangelis Paterakis

An original, traditional recipe from Santorini. This is a quick and delicious snack accompanying ouzo, beer and white wine.

Serves

••••

25’

Method

Ingredients

In a mixing bowl, stir the flour and water together thoroughly (take care of any remaining lumps).

4-5 diced juicy tomatoes,

Add the tomatoes, onions and peppermint and stir well.

1 bunch of fresh chopped peppermint,

Pour the oil into the pan and, when hot, add the mixture spoon by spoon and fry on both sides. Fry the tomato fritters carefully to avoid burning them and, every time you turn them over, take care not to make any holes as these let oil into them.

2 diced onions,

1 teacup of water, 2 teacups of plain flour, salt, pepper and oil for the pan

There you go! Domatokeftedes with a nice reddish-beige colour.

Secrets 1. If the mixture is not thick enough, add a little more flour. 2. If you want, you can add a courgette and an aubergine, cut into small cubes.

Aromatic hortopita (vegetable and cheese pie) with homemade filo (dough)

ÂŠ Vangelis Paterakis

Besides Îą gold award, it has also won a place in our hearts! A classic pie, salty to just the right degree and aromatic to your liking. Add herbs of your choice and you will get delicious variations.

Makes Serves

1 baking dish

45â&#x20AC;&#x2122;

Method

Ingredients

Prepare the filo dough. In a mixing bowl, mix and knead the ingredients thoroughly until you form a homogeneous dough. Separate the dough into two halves.

For the filling

Preheat the oven to 160 degrees. Remove the roots and discard the yellow leaves from the spinach then rinse it well. Let it drain. In a pot over low heat, add the oil along with all the onions, leeks, dill, salt and pepper and let them boil for about 10 minutes to wilt them down. Add the welldrained spinach and leave the pot on the heat until the spinach reabsorbs its juices. Remove from the heat and let the mixture cool. Add the eggs, feta cheese, grated Cheddar cheese and milk to the mixture. Mix all the ingredients with your hands thoroughly until they become a homogeneous mixture. Separate the dough into two equal pieces and use a rolling pin to spread each filo into a thin layer. Make two filos. Spread a little oil in a baking dish, lay one filo and add the mixture. Lay the second filo over the mixture and add a little oil on top. Cut the hortopita into pieces. Put the baking dish into the oven and cook for about an hour.

1.5kg fresh chopped spinach, 1kg leeks cut into rings, 2 grated onions, 1 bunch of finely chopped spring onions, 1 bunch of finely chopped dill, 6 eggs, 400g feta cheese cut into chunks, 200g grated Cheddar cheese, 1 wine glass of olive oil, 1 wine glass of undiluted evaporated milk, salt and pepper, a little oil for the baking dish

Ingredients for the filo dough 1 packet self raising flour (500g), 1 egg, 1 cup of yoghurt (200g), 1 teacup of olive oil, a little salt, 100g grated mature cheese. 15

Octopus salad with multi-coloured peppers and lots of flavouring

ÂŠ Vangelis Paterakis

A glass of ouzo accompanied by an octopus salad... is there a better combination?

Serves

••••

30’

Method

Ingredients

Wash the octopus thoroughly with plenty of water. Put it into a pot over low heat for about 3-4 minutes. Add the wine, a little water and let it boil. When it boils, remove it from the pot and cut it into pieces.

1 octopus about 1000-1200g,

In a large salad bowl, combine the octopus, onions, peppers, fennel and celery. Add a little salt. Cover the bowl with cling film and put in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

1 green pepper cut into rings,

Shake oil and vinegar vigorously together in a shaker and dress the salad.

half a bunch of finely chopped fennel,

Serve with freshly ground pepper and a few olives.

half a bunch of finely chopped celery,

1 water glass of red wine, 2 onions cut into rings, 1 red Florina pepper cut into rings,

1.5 water glass of olive oil, half a water glass of vinegar, salt, freshly ground pepper, a few olives for the garnish

Stuffed squids

ÂŠ Vangelis Paterakis

Squids in cooked in an alternative fashion. Winey, light and... fantastic!

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