WALNUT SKORDALIA

Make walnut butter and then incorporate it into a recipe. One can thicken sauces with it or mix it in with vegetables. It can become a secret ingredient in soup! However, my favourite way to use walnut butter is to make walnut skordalia with it! Walnut skordalia is a Greek walnut-garlic sauce. It's simple to put together and very, very tasty. 

Skordalia is a popular Greek side dish which can be made with potatoes or walnuts. Its name comes from one of its key ingredients, skordo, which means garlic. Skordalia usually accompanies fried fish or fried/boiled vegetables. 

Walnut skordalia is a regional variation. It's made in Northeastern Greece, in the provinces of Macedonia and Thrace. My maternal grandmother, who was a true and proper Northeastern Greek, always made her skordalia with walnuts, never with potatoes. Of course, it helped that grandfather had planted walnut trees near one of his vineyards. There was always an ample supply of walnuts at their home. Traditionally, a mortar and pestle were used to pound the walnuts and garlic. Today, the food processor makes this job much easier.

Make a walnut butter: Place two cups of shelled, roasted walnut pieces in a food processor, and pulse until the walnuts are finely ground. 

Ingredients:

In addition to the walnut butter you will need:
1 cup of stale bread pieces without the crust
2 garlic cloves. Can use fewer or more than two: how much depends on social engagements and digestive tolerance. 
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
8 tablespoons olive oil
water

Directions:

1. Soak the bread in a bit of water. When it has softened, squeeze out the excess water. Discard the water and place the bread in a food processor.
2. Add all the other ingredients, including the walnut butter. Process until well blended.
3. Taste, and if the mixture feels thick, thin it out by adding a little water and then processing. In the end, the skordalia should have the consistency of thick mayonnaise.
4. Remove to bowl, cover and chill. Serve as an accompaniment to fish or vegetables.

***Walnut skordalia also makes a delicious dip or appetizer. Serve it in a bowl surrounded by toasted bread rounds, or top toasted bread slices with walnut skordalia and shrimp: use sliced French bread sprinkled with olive oil and toasted, then topped with skordalia and with shrimp which has been seasoned with lemon juice, black pepper and parsley.

GREEK SALAD FOR A CROWD

Hello, everybody! Today's topic is Greek salad, a salad that's pretty popular these days. Here's a recipe that's a little different from the everyday Greek salad but is just as good. It has enough portions to feed a crowd, so it's something great to make if you are having company or a large family gathering. Of course, the ingredients can be cut in half if you're not feeding lots of people. The star of this salad is the feta vinaigrette. It makes the salad special and is delicious, delicious, delicious! 

The recipe is based on one from the book "How to Roast Lamb," written by chef Michael Psilakis. The book has been part of my collection since this past Christmas when I bought it with a gift card I received. Don't bookstore gift cards make the best gifts? I made the salad for Easter when we had a large gathering, and now I am making it again for a summertime barbecue I am hosting. This salad can be assembled up to an hour ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator. The vinaigrette can also be made ahead of time. Dress the salad just before ready to serve. 

Ingredients: 
(Serves 10 to 15 as part of a buffet)

• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 or 3 heads of romaine lettuce hearts, outer leaves removed. Use the crunchy younger leaves. For the salad you see in the picture I used two heads of romaine
• 1 fennel bulb sliced very thin
• roasted bell peppers, or 3 small store-bought roasted red bell peppers, cut into thin strips
• about 24 cherry or grape tomatoes, halved.  I used some heirloom cherry tomatoes so as to vary tastes and colours.
• 1 English cucumber, peeled, halved, and sliced.  If it has too many seeds, remove them
• 5 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup fresh dill, coarsely chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
• 1 tablespoon dried Greek oregano
• About 15 Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
• 15 whole caper berries *** see note  (if you don't like caper berries, use large capers)
• 3/4 cup Feta Vinaigrette
• 2/3 cup feta cheese, cubed
• 4 pepperoncini, sliced and add a few whole ones as well (pepperoncini are small, yellow, and mildly-hot peppers which are pickled and sold in jars)

Directions:

Getting the salad ready, with my heirloom cherry tomatoes, and with the caper berries right on top.

• In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the vinaigrette, feta and pepperoncini. Toss really well to combine.  
• When ready to serve: with really clean hands or with really clean hands and food gloves ... drizzle the vinaigrette on the salad and toss the mixture (this part is called getting to know your food)!
• Scatter feta and pepperoncini on top.
• Ready to serve!

Feta Vinaigrette 

(makes 1 1/4 cups, and it's kind of thick, but it dresses the salad well, and it tastes absolutely delicious).

Ingredients:

• 2 small onions, sliced 1/4 inch thick
• 4 cloves garlic, smashed
• 3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus a little more for the onion
• Coarse salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 cup white balsamic vinegar (if you prefer red-wine vinegar, use it)
• 6 fresh basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons dried Greek oregano

That's the feta dressing poured on top. It has incredible flavour! It looks rather thick and greenish, but don't let the consistency or colour fool you. Once mixed in it turns the salad into something fabulous!

Directions:

• Preheat a grill pan.
• Brush onion slices with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Place onions and garlic on a grill pan and cook, turning, until tender. It should take 4 to 5 minutes for the onions and a much shorter time for the garlic. Make sure that the garlic isn't burned.
• Transfer to a small bowl; drizzle with olive oil and lemon juice. Toss to combine.
• Transfer the grilled onion and garlic into the bowl of a food processor and add the vinegar, basil, thyme, feta, mustard, shallots, oregano, 1 tablespoon salt, and 1 tablespoon pepper; pulse to combine.
• With the processor running, slowly drizzle in 3/4 cup olive oil until dressing is smooth; season with salt and pepper.

I've made this vinaigrette again and again! The original recipe calls for red wine vinegar, but I substitute with white balsamic, which I sometimes combine with lemon juice.  I just don't like the taste of red vinegar. One final comment: the grilled onions and garlic? A brilliant idea, it makes for fantastic flavours!!!

***Note: What is a caper berry? 

There is a difference between the caper and the caper berry. Caper is a bush that grows wild in rocky coastal areas throughout the Mediterranean region. The capers that we eat are the pickled buds of this bush. If the buds are not harvested, they will flower and then turn into fruit. That fruit is the caper berry. Greeks pickle the caper berries and use them in cooking or serve them as a mezé. Both capers and caper berries have a piquant, mustard-like flavour. The caper berry has a stronger taste and is larger and fleshier than the caper. It's a lot easier to find capers at the store than caper berries, so go ahead and substitute if necessary.

Caperberries, this variety imported from Spain 

I had to include this photo (taken at a recent dinner) which shows caperberries accompanying a Mediterranean seafood feast. 

A jar of cappers.

flowering caper bush

Best cheesecake in the world: Cordon Rose Cream Cheesecake!!!

Raspberries, or strawberries... it's all good!

Cordon Rose Cream Cheesecake, a New York style cheesecake, is the best cheesecake in the world!!! No exaggeration whatsoever. The recipe comes from the book "The Cake Bible," by Rose Levy Beranbaum, published in 1988. This is an outstanding dessert cookbook, still available for sale.

I love cheesecake, and I have tried many cheesecake recipes. This one is the best, the creamiest, and the most flavorful. It's firm enough to be unmolded and served without a base, but it can have a ladyfinger base, as shown by Ms Beranbaum here, or a cookie crumb base, as it has on my post. Truthfully, I prefer it without a base. I just don't want anything to interfere with the custardy, creamy goodness of this cheesecake.

Purchased in the early 1990s - I love this cookbook; its author is a baker extraordinaire. 

Ingredients: 

2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 cup of sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 large eggs
3 tablespoons lemon juice, freshly squeezed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3 cups sour cream
about one cup of cookie crumbs, made up from your favourite cookies, to serve as a crumb crust.
fresh raspberries or blueberries, rinsed and allowed to dry thoroughly
1/4 cup raspberry jelly or blueberry jelly
1 tablespoon Chambord or water
A 9-inch by 2 1/2-inch or higher springform pan, greased, the outside of the pan wrapped with a double layer of heavy-duty foil to prevent seepage, the bottom of the pan lined with greased parchment paper.
A 12-inch cake pan or roasting pan to serve as a water bath.

Here is a version I made with a strawberry-blackberry topping and without a base.

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• In a food processor beat the cream cheese until soft. Add the sugar and beat until very smooth.
• Add the cornstarch, and pulse to blend. 
• With the motor running, add the eggs one at a time.
• Add the lemon juice, vanilla, and salt, and mix until incorporated.
• Add the sour cream and mix just until blended.
• Pour the batter into the prepared springform pan. Set the springform pan into the larger pan and surround it with 1-inch of hot water.

WOW! A cheesecake that did not crack in the middle! Make sure your pan is well greased, so the cheesecake can separate from the sides of the pan as it settles. This will keep it from cracking.

• Bake the cake for 45 minutes. Ideally, you should turn off the oven and let the cake cool inside the oven for one hour without opening the door. 
• Okay, I opened the oven door and took a peek, then decided to let the cake bake for an extra 10 minutes, then I let it cool in the oven for one hour. The cheesecake is done when it's kind of firm around the edges and still jiggly in the middle. If you must check on it, don't leave the oven door open for too long.
• After one hour, take the pans out of the oven and remove the springform cake out of its water bath. Remove the aluminium foil from around the springform pan. Place the springform pan on a rack and allow the cheesecake to cool for about one hour. 
• Cover with greased plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

To unmold, which is something easier done than described:

• Take the cheesecake out of the refrigerator. 
• Have a serving plate at the ready. 
• Have ready a flat plate at least 8 inches in diameter, covered with plastic wrap.
• Place the springform pan on a heated burner and move it around for 10 to 15 seconds.
• Wipe the sides of the pan with a hot, damp towel.
• Run a thin metal spatula around the sides of the cake and release the sides of the springform pan. Carefully remove the springform pan. 
• Place the plastic-wrapped plate on top of the cheesecake and invert. Remove the bottom of the springform pan and the parchment from the cheesecake base.
• If you want a cookie base, now is the time to sprinkle cookie crumbs on the base of the cake.
• Place the serving plate on the cheesecake base and reinvert the cake. Remove the plastic-lined plate.  
• Use a small metal spatula to smooth the sides of the cheesecake. If you like, sprinkle some crumbs on the sides as well. 
• Refrigerate until shortly before serving.

For a simple topping:

• Arrange raspberries or blueberries on top of the cheesecake. Remember that they should be thoroughly dry.
• In a small saucepan or microwave oven, heat the jelly until melted and bubbling. Strain it into a small cup and stir in the Chambord or water. Brush it onto the fruit, or pour the jelly on the cheesecake and place the fruit on top.
  

  An excerpt From The Cake Bible by Rose Levy Beranbaum: "Chocolate cookies blend well with cherry topping. Ginger, graham, and lemon-nut cookies go well with fruit-flavoured fillings or toppings. As crumb crusts become soggy if placed in the pan before baking, I prefer to pat the crumbs onto the cake after baking and unmolding. You will need about 3/4 cup if you wish to do the bottom as well as the sides. If the cake is not too heavy, support it on the palm of your hand. Tilt the cake a bit toward the other hand, cupped to hold the crumbs, and press the crumbs gently into the sides. Alternately, if the cake is too heavy, place it on a large sheet of foil and use a wide, flat spatula to lift the crumbs onto the sides of the cake."

GRILLED RED SNAPPER

Once upon a time the poor little fellow in the picture above was happily swimming, minding its own business. The fish could not foretell the future. Otherwise, it would have swum faster, or slower, or in a different place. Sorry, my lad or lass. Sooner or later, in its various ways, the ignobility and maliciousness of life will lay waste upon us all.   

The red snapper came from the store cleaned and ready to cook. I rinsed it, seasoned it, placed it in aluminium foil and cooked it on the grill. 

Ingredients:

1 red snapper, large enough to feed four people.

1 large onion, sliced into rings
olive oil

lemon juice
lemon slices

fresh parsley

fresh thyme

fresh basil
fresh dill

salt and pepper

garlic powder

Directions:

How much seasoning and herbs to use? I did not really measure them - I just used what I felt was enough to flavour but not overpower the fish.

• Rinse the fish inside and out and pat it dry with paper towels. 
• Rub olive oil and lemon juice all over, including the cavities. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. 
• Cut slits on each side of the fish and put a slice of lemon into each slit. 
• Stuff the cavity with parsley, thyme, lemon slices and dill. 
• Lay the onions, some dill, parsley, and thyme in the middle of a piece of parchment paper that is large enough to enclose the fish. 
• Place the fish on top of the herbs.
• Top the fish with basil and sprinkle a little more olive on it. Seal the parchment well.  
• Place the parchment package on a piece of heavy-duty aluminium foil. Crimp the foil edges together to form a packet. 
• Place the fish on the grill and cook with the cover closed. 
• Cooking should take twenty minutes to half an hour maximum. The fish will be ready when the meat is soft and flakes off easily. 
• Remove it from the foil and parchment and place on a serving platter. 
• The herbs and onions the fish was cooked on can be discarded. 
• This is important: sprinkle some olive oil and lemon juice on the cooked fish and let it rest for about five minutes before serving. The fish will absorb additional flavours. 

KOULOURIA

Koulouria are a very popular street food all over Greece. They are made in commercial bakeries and are sold as a morning or mid-morning snack. By 1:00 pm or so, vendors are sold out. I guess you can say koulouria are a street food with pedigree since there is historical evidence that they were sold in the streets of Constantinople, the capital of the Byzantine Empire, as early as 800 to 900 CE. (They are discussed in an army manual of the 9th century. See my entry about koulouria here). If you are far from Greece and miss the crunchy, sesame taste of koulouria, here is a recipe you can try that will ease your nostalgia.


Ingredients:

3 cups bread flour plus more for dusting
1 cup lukewarm water
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil, plus extra for greasing the bowl and the dough
1 cup sesame seeds (you may need more)
one medium-sized bowl filled with water at room temperature

Directions:

• Place the yeast, sugar, salt and 1/3 cup of oil in the bowl of your mixer. Add the water and mix everything with a wooden spoon, stirring until all the ingredients are well incorporated.
• Add one cup of flour, place the dough hook on your mixer and start mixing on low speed. Add the rest of the flour one cup at a time, mixing well after each addition. Keep mixing until you have a smooth dough. You'll know it's ready if it does not adhere to the sides of the bowl as it's being mixed.
• Remove the dough to a large bowl that has been greased with vegetable oil. Grease the top of the dough ball with vegetable oil, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and then cover it with a kitchen towel.
• Place it in a spot that is free of drafts and let it rise until doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• When the dough has doubled in size punch it down, cover it again in the same manner, and let it rise until it's doubled in size once again, about 1 hour.
• Punch the dough down once more, remove it from the bowl and cut it into chunks of dough that are about one-inch square.
• Sprinkle a small amount of flour on your working surface and roll each piece of dough into a strip. Line up the strips and sprinkle flour over them until they are lightly covered.
• Have the following ready: a bowl filled with water, a clean dish towel, and a flat pan filled with the sesame seeds.
• Dip each strip of dough into the bowl of water and lightly dry it on the towel. Dry it just enough to remove excess liquid. The dough needs to be somewhat wet.
• While the strip of dough is still wet, drop it in the pan with the sesame seeds and roll it around until it's coated in seeds.
• Cover all the strips in sesame seeds.
• Twist the strips into round shapes and pinch the ends together to make rings. Why should koulouria have a round shape? Look at the picture below:

A modern-day vendor. Round-shaped koulouria are easy to stack and easy to carry and sell. If you have a  few wooden dowels you're in business. Merchants have carried them around in this manner for centuries. 

Here's a modern-day display stand, but in the old days, a nice plain dowel did the job just as well!

• Although koulouria are traditionally made into ring shapes, I like to make both strips and rings. Strips take up less space on the baking sheets, allowing me to fit more on each sheet and finish the job faster. 
• Place on sheets lined with parchment paper and bake in a preheated 425°F oven for 10 to 15 minutes, until they are golden brown.
• Koulouria should be crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Serve them warm. They taste best if consumed the same day they are made. Unless you are feeding a crowd, you won't be able to eat them all in one day. Store them in an airtight container and enjoy them during the week. They tend to get really crunchy-hard if they are left over, but believe me, they still taste great and can be enjoyed as breadsticks. 

SHRIMP SAGANAKI (GARIDES SAGANAKI)

 

A saganaki is a small two-handled frying pan that was traditionally used in Greece to prepare pan-seared mezé (appetizers). The saganaki would usually go from oven to table and thus gave its name to various dishes that were prepared in it, the most popular of which seems to have been cheese saganaki, a dish made with fried, bubbly cheese.

Another favourite saganaki dish is the one I have made here, garides saganaki, or shrimp saganaki. One doesn't need the special frying pan to make this. These days any ovenproof dish will do. 

I've increased the ingredients in this recipe because I will be serving a larger crow. But ideally, a saganaki appetizer is meant to serve just a few people. Let's say it's meant to be shared by two. Therefore, feel free use a smaller amount of ingredients, something which will serve two.

The shrimp must be quickly sautéd and then mixed in a tomato base, topped with feta cheese and heated before served. It makes an absolutely delicious appetizer or first course. If you like shrimp and feta cheese, blend them together to make this wonderful dish. You will love it!

Ingredients:

20 to 25 large shrimp, peeled and deveined
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon butter
1 onion, chopped
2 scallions chopped
1 small green pepper or better yet one sweet Italian frying pepper, very finely chopped
3 large ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons parsley
2 tablespoons dill
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
optional: 1/4 cup shredded kasseri cheese, or use gruyere. 

Directions:

• In a large skillet heat 4 tablespoons of the oil and add the onion and pepper. Cook stirring until the onion is soft. 
• Add the tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook until they are soft and most of the liquid in the skillet has evaporated. Place the tomato mixture in a bowl and keep it warm. 
• Heat the remaining oil and the butter in the same skillet, add the scallions and shrimp, and cook about 2 minutes. 
• Stir in the parsley and dill and half of the feta, and cook until the feta is soft, about 2 minutes.
• Mix all the ingredients together and add them to an ovenproof serving dish. 

In this case, the shrimp was "to go," which means I transported it to someone's home and finished cooking it there. I picked a convenient, inexpensive container to transport it in.

• Sprinkle the rest of the feta cheese and all of the kasseri cheese on top.
• Place in a pre-heated 425°F oven and heat until the kasseri starts to melt and brown, about 3  minutes. 
• Serve as an appetizer accompanied with bread to mop up the sauce. 
• Total cooking time for the shrimp is seven minutes ... It's usually enough time, not too long. If using frozen shrimp make sure it's completely thawed before starting to cook. Make sure all shrimp is dried with paper towels before placing it in the cooking pan.

Sparky waiting for something ... 

And good luck in your cooking adventures,  and if you try this shrimp saganaki, I hope you enjoy it!

Sparky's the man! He loved sampling the shrimp saganaki!!!