MARINATED MIXED OLIVES

This is a nice way to serve olives. The marinade is a delicious and colourful combination. It's served as a "mezé," which in Greek means something to nibble on: An appetizer to be served with an aperitif before dinner. 
This recipe can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator. 

Ingredients:

1 cup Kalamata olives
1/2 cup oil-cured olives
1/2 cup green olives
2 tablespoons of capers
the peeled zest of 2 lemons

the peeled zest of 1 orange
1 tablespoon dry red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil 

2 tablespoons good vegetable oil 
3 tablespoons chopped dill
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
1 tablespoon dried oregano
a few sprigs of thyme

Directions:

• Make sure all the olives are pitted. They can be purchased that way, or if you like, you can do the job yourself.
• In a large mixing bowl, add all the ingredients and mix well. 
• Serve the olives as an appetizer. They are delicious when accompanied by slices of crusty bread or warm pita slices.
• This dish can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator for about two days prior to serving.

ROAST LEG OF LAMB AND POTATOES GREEK STYLE FOR EASTER! ARNI PSITO

For this year's Easter Sunday dinner we roasted two legs of lamb. Very easy to make. The lamb was out of the way once it started to roast, and that freed us up to do so many other things...The recipe given below is for one leg of lamb. Since I cooked two, I doubled it. Sometimes I make this same recipe with lamb that's off the bone. Works just as well. I cook lamb the low and slow way which makes it very juicy and meltingly soft. If you scroll down, don't get discouraged by the length of the recipe. I give detailed instructions, that's why the length, but let me reiterate that this is an easy recipe. And boy oh boy, no tough, fatty lamb for dinner with this one!

Ingredients:

1 leg of lamb on the bone (about 6 pounds) 
salt and pepper to taste
6 cloves garlic, peeled and cut in half
4 or 5 celery stalks
3 carrots  
6 Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
4 sprigs rosemary
2 tablespoons dried oregano
6 sprigs thyme
Some grated pecorino Romano cheese
olive oil
1 large lemon
water
1/4 cup lemon juice


Directions:

• Trim some of the fat from the lamb. How much? As much as your conscience wants you to. 
• With a small knife make about 6 slits in the lamb and insert a piece of garlic into each one. Twist some kitchen twine around the lamb. Three rounds will be enough. I have devised this method so that I can keep the herbs attached to the meant as it cooks. 
• In a small bowl, add two tablespoons of olive oil and the juice of one lemon. Whisk to combine, and rub the mixture over the surface of the lamb. Season with salt and pepper and with one tablespoon of the oregano.
• Leave the carrots unpeeled; place them along with the celery on the bottom of a heavy baking pan and add the lamb on top. These vegetables are meant to serve as a rack, therefore arrange them accordingly, letting them rest mostly beneath the lamb. They are to be discarded once the lamb finishes cooking.
• Pour one cup of water around the lamb.
• Place in a preheated 450 F oven and roast for 20 minutes. Take the pan out of the oven, turn the lamb over, and roast for another 20 minutes. 
• Lower the heat to 300 F and remove the pan from the oven. 
• Arrange the potatoes and any remaining cloves of garlic around the lamb. 
• Season with salt, pepper, the remaining oregano and with a small portion of the thyme and rosemary. 
• Add the rest of the rosemary and thyme on top and underneath the lamb, wedging it in the twine. 
• If the water was evaporated, replenish it so that it measures about 1/4 of a cup. Add the lemon juice to it.  
• Sprinkle the Pecorino Romano cheese on top of the meat and potatoes. 
• Cover with parchment paper and aluminium foil and place back in the oven. If the pan has a lid, add the lid on top of the aluminium foil. This will give you an exceptional seal, and that's what you want. 
• Bake at 300°F for about 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until the meat can easily be pulled away from the bone.
• Remove the aluminium foil and parchment paper and raise the temperature to 400°F; allow the lamb and potatoes to brown some more (about 20 minutes, but you be the judge with your own oven).
• Take the lamb out of the oven, cut the twine and dress with some olive oil and if you like lemon juice, get yourself another lemon and go to town squeezing its juice over the lamb. 
• Let rest before serving. 

Hints:

1. It will be more convenient to slice the lamb on a cutting board and then place the meat onto a platter; it's just easier and more efficient to do this in the kitchen and not at the dining table. 
2. Remove the potatoes to a serving dish. None of that fancy surround the lamb with them! Forget about it! Make things easy for yourself on this busy day.
3. For those who want jus, strain the fat out the pan juices, then pour them into a gravy bowl. 
4. This year we served everything buffet style by placing all the dishes on the server in the dining room. We had two tables set for guests, and both tables were within close proximity of the server; everyone helped themselves. One of the best ideas ever!!!!! It was informal and a lot of fun. And it was also more enjoyable for moi, the hostess!!!

SKORDALIA/ SKORTHALIA (Greek Potato - Garlic Sauce)

The Greek sauce that's named skordalia (from the word skordo, σκόρδο, meaning garlic) is a thick sauce somewhat similar to aioli. It's made with garlic, olive oil and some type of bulking agent such as potatoes, walnuts, almonds or bread. The bulking ingredients vary by locality, but the garlic itself is always present.
Skordalia is a favourite accompaniment to salt cod (bakaliaros), and other types of fish. It's also served with fried or boiled vegetables. It's tantalizing and delicious, but beware: the amount of garlic used is plentiful, so don't eat skordalia if you're planning a romantic tête-à-tête after dinner. My maternal grandmother, as I have often been told, always made her skordalia by using walnuts to bulk it up. However, the most popular version is made with potatoes. I make my potato skordalia by using lemon plus two types of vinegar: white balsamic and white wine. This acidic combination lends a fruity delectable taste that elevates the humble skordalia to a whole other level. Here's the recipe:

 Ingredients:

•  3 potatoes (should add up to little more than a pound)
•  2 cloves garlic, chopped 
•  1/2 cup olive oil
•  juice of one lemon
•  2 tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons white balsamic vinegar
•  ground black pepper to taste
• salt is optional
• Parsley, well chopped, to sprinkle on top
• One scallion sliced very thinly to sprinkle on top (optional)

Directions:

• Peel the potatoes cut them into pieces and place them in a saucepan. Cover them with water, and boil them until soft. Drain but reserve some of the water to use if necessary.
•  Mash the potatoes by hand. 
• In a food processor puree the garlic. 
• FLASHBACK: today most everyone uses a food processor, but I remember as a child watching an aunt prepare garlic for skordalia by mashing it up with a pestle in her beautiful marble mortar. I was completely fascinated and I wanted that mortar and pestle for my toy box! She didn't let me play with it even though she was otherwise very kind ... Well, flashbacks are fun! 
• To the processor, add the oil, vinegar and lemon juice. Mix it well. 
• Slowly pour the garlic/oil mixture onto the potatoes, mixing all the while. 
• The skordalia should be thick and soft. If it is too lumpy add some of the reserved water and mix to soften it.
• Season with pepper as needed. 
• Skordalia should have a garlicky taste. Use as much garlic as you are comfortable using. No more and no less. 

PAN SEARED HALIBUT WITH SKORDALIA

March 25 is an important day in Greece, a double holiday with national plus religious significance. Orthodox Christians celebrate the Annunciation of the Theotokos, the day that the Archangel Gabriel announced to the Theotokos that she was to bear a child, and wouldn't you know it, Christ's birth followed exactly nine months later, on December 25! Gabriel knew what he was talking about, right? I've never heard of a gynaecologist who could predict a delivery day with such certainty ... 


Okay, I am back. Suddenly, I was hit by lightning, and I have no idea why or how because I am indoors. How did lightning get to me? I am mostly fine, I had to reboot my computer, and my hair is a bit singed and smoking but I'm not too concerned because I'll use the smoke and stuff as a fashion statement.  

Anyway, in the year 1821, on Annunciation Day, a prominent bishop of the Peloponnese named Germanos, proclaimed the beginning of the struggle for Greek independence. Since the fall of Constantinople in 1453, Greece had been stifling under the occupation of the Ottoman empire. A revolution began in 1821 and in 1832 Greece was recognized as an independent nation! 

Bishop Germanos is depicted in the centre. The painting is "Epanastasis" (Revolution), painted by Theodoros Vryzakis. One of my favourites of his is "Farewell at Sounio," seen below.

March 25 is and has been for Greeks a day of parades and great national feeling, and also a day of religious devotion and fasting. In Greece, religion and tradition pretty much regulate what will be placed on the table for dinner. On March 25, most Greeks will eat some type of seafood accompanied by skordalia, a garlicky potato dish. Today at my house, halibut is on the menu. All of us love its firm texture and its delicately sweet flavour. In cooking halibut, I've learned not to let it dry out. This is important as the fish contains little oil of its own, and can easily become tough if overcooked.

My favourite way of preparing it is to quickly pan sear it. One can play with a lot of sauces and spices while pan searing, but for today's holiday, considering that we fast, we'll cook it plain. Then we'll serve it with a bit of skordalia and a nice tomato salad.


Ingredients:

1. 4 halibut fillets, about 6 ounces each
2. Salt and pepper to taste
3. Lemon juice to taste
4. Flour for dusting the fish
5. 3 tablespoons olive oil
6. 3 tablespoons butter

Directions:

• Sprinkle the halibut with some lemon juice and season it with salt and pepper. Dust both sides with flour, then shake off the excess flour.
• Heat the olive oil in a large heavy pan. When the oil starts to smoke faintly, add the halibut. Let it cook on medium high for three to four minutes, until the seared side has turned dark golden brown.
• Turn the fillets over carefully, and lower the heat to medium. Cook for another four minutes or until the internal temperature of the fish reaches 120° F. Check by inserting a cooking thermometer into the thickest part of the fillet.
• Add the butter to the pan and swirl. Don't let it burn. Using a spoon baste the fish with the butter, cooking for another minute.
• Transfer the halibut to a serving platter and let it rest for a couple of minutes before serving.

MASTIC, MASTIC GUM, MASTIC FLAVORING & MASTIC TREE TEARS FROM CHIOS

A lovely mastic grove at Chios Island.

Mastic is harvested from the sap of the broadleaf evergreen mastic tree. This tree is endemic to the Greek island of Chios (birthplace of the poet Homer), and it has been cultivated there in large numbers since antiquity. Its crop is valued internationally, and for that reason, it has made the island of Chios famous. Homer and mastic: it doesn't get any better!  

Today mastic is used in folk medicine preparations and more importantly as a flavouring in food and spirits. It is also an ingredient in Chrism or Myrrh, the consecrated oil used by the Orthodox, Roman, and Anglican churches. 

Mastic is sold in small jars.

To harvest mastic, incisions are made in the bark of the trunk and branches of the tree. From these incisions, a resin begins to appear. It is pea-sized, globular and translucent, and it is commonly referred to as “tears.” As the resin begins to fall to the ground the tree is said to be “weeping.”

The resin really does look like tears!

Below is a photograph of an older mastic tree. The expertly placed cuts in its trunk are visible in the closeup of the photo.

Before the mastic tears are collected, cleaned and dried, the ground around the tree is must be prepared: It's cleared, smoothed and covered with calcium carbonate, CaCO3.

Here a harvester is scoring the trunk of a mastic tree. The harvester must be covered with clean clothing from head to toe so that no impurities such as hair or sweat fall on the white soil surrounding the tree. 

Calcium carbonate has multiple uses. It's used as an antacid and as a calcium dietary supplement. In the case of mastic harvesting, it's spread on the soil to help the mastic resin solidify when it falls to the ground. CaCO3 is inert and doesn't affect the properties of the resin. Furthermore, it must be used because its white colour preserves the clarity of the resin. If the soil is on the dark side, then the resin itself turns dark and is not marketable. 

Mastic for flavouring is sold in airtight containers that contain small pieces of mastic tears. Before using them in recipes these tears must be pulverized into powder form. To make powdered mastic, a mortar and pestle are used to pound the resin. It is easier to smash it by adding a little sugar or salt. Mastic flavour is slightly sweet and reminiscent of cedar. 

Historically one of the more popular uses of mastic was to chew it in order to freshen the breath. Thus, it was given the name mastic, which derives from a Greek verb meaning to chew. The English verb masticate derives from the same root, and the Greek word for chewing gum is “mastiha.”

As a young child growing up in Greece, I remember that I could buy a small package of about 3 pieces of "mastiha from Chios" for the cost of half a drachma, which back then amounted to less than a U.S. penny. I could afford it better than the tiny box of minty chicklets which cost one whole drachma. So I would chew my gum from Chios, carefully at first because its texture was hard at the outset. Soon it would take on a gummy consistency and it would release its distinct freshening flavour which would last for a good half hour. Then it would be time to discard it and buy some more. Alas, I gave up chewing it when I discovered bubble gum!

Mastic gum flavouring can be purchased locally in speciality Greek or Middle Eastern stores or it can be gotten through the internet.

A close up of the mastic tears found inside the bottle. Each tear has to be pulverised before it can be used. Use a mortar and pestle and remember that mastic flavour is strong, therefore be careful about how much of it to use. 

Here's some mastic placed next to its frequent companion, mahlepi. The two flavourings are a popular duo in recipes of the Greek Easter bread known as Tsoureki.

MAHLEPI

Mahlepi is derived from the St Lucie Cherry tree. 

What wonderful blossoms! They have the aroma of mahlepi, sweetly fragrant. 

Mahlepi has been widely used throughout the Mediterranean for centuries to flavour breads, biscuits, and less sweet cakes and pastries. In Greece, mahlepi is used for holiday desserts such as tsoureki and other egg based yeast cakes. It's an unusual and fragrant spice made from the kernels of the black cherry tree Prunus mahaleb, which grows throughout the Mediterranean and Middle East.

The cherry stones are cracked and the kernels are extracted, dried, and sold as mahlepi. Before using, the kernels must be ground to a powder either with a mortar and pestle or with a coffee grinder. The flavour of mahlepi is a combination of almond and cherry, and it gives a sweet nutty tone to the desserts it flavours. It can be found in Greek or Middle Eastern stores where it is available both whole or ground. However, as it quickly deteriorates once ground, it is preferable to purchase whole and grind the kernels when needed. Store it in airtight containers. Tip: for a subtle note add one teaspoon of ground mahlepi to pastry for fresh fruit flans. Try adding a bit of mahlepi to rice pudding.

The gorgeous trunk of the St Lucie cherry tree!

The measuring spoons hold the tiny kernels that reside inside the stones of the St Lucie cherry tree. The stones are cracked and the kernels are extracted and dried. They are then sold as mahlepi. As seen in the top measuring spoon, the kernels are pulverised before they can be used in recipe preparation. Next to the mahlepi is a bottle of mastic. Mastic flavouring frequently accompanies mahlepi, especially when making tsoureki, the Greek Easter bread.