Fava pantremeni ... or the married fava

Can fava get married? Culinary creativity can make it happen. When Greek cooks decide to cook fava pantremeni, meaning the married fava, they have to choose carefully the ingredients. Like any successful marriage, the way different elements connect in the dish is of vital importance.

Advice for good marriage:

The groom                                               The bride

2 cups of green split peas (fava)                1 small onion or 2 green onions

1 medium onion                                       1 Tsp capers

3 Tsp olive oil                                          Extra virgin olive oil for serving

Water

salt

The ceremony

Wash the split peas under cold water. 

Put the split peas in a medium pan and cover with water. Turn the heat on and bring to a boil. Remove the foam and discard the water. 

In a deep bottom pan heat the olive oil and saute the onion. Add the split peas and give them a spin in the hot oil. Add enough hot water to cover the peas.

While the peas are cooking, keep adding hot water if needed. When the peas are almost soft add salt to your liking. The peas are ready when they are soft and most of the water has evaporated. 

During the cooking peas will start dissolving, creating a puree with big chunks of peas. If you like the puree smoother you can always use the food processor.

Serve the fava in a bowl. Cut the onion in whatever shape you like and decorate the top along with some capers. Finish with a hearty serving of olive oil.

Marriage counseling

The two parties can always bring more into the wedding. For example, many cooks like tho flavor the fava with some kind of stock, such as vegetable or chicken.

On the bride's side, fava can be served with some kind of protein, usually seafood. On Greek islands cooks serve it with grilled octopus or fried cuttle fish. This is an excellent combination, as the ocean breeze of the seafood compliments well the earthy flavors of split peas. However, the choice of protein is entirely to your liking.

Just remember that when it comes to serving fava the Greek way it works as simplistic as a marriage. You don't need many ingredients. After all, a little more adds flavor, but a lot more is a crowd!

 

Bougatsa with custard cream

Most people give me a weird look when I say that I do not like chocolate. On the contrary, I adore creamy desserts. Wrap some custard cream in crispy dough and you have served me a dessert that can make my heart melt. 

The recipe for bougatsa is fairly easy, given that the phyllo dough is readily bought. Professional bougatsa makers  roll their own dough, which is based on butter. The good quality of the butter as well as the refined rolling technique used to create the dough make the bougatsa special. Modern house cooks choose to purchase phyllo dough for the dessert, which normally does not contain any oil, but still makes a crispy result. 

 Let's see how to make this delightful dessert, home cooking style.

From the grocery store                           For flavor and serving

12 sheets of fyllo dough                             salt
5 cups  whole milk                                    vanilla extract
1/2 cup semolina flour                               orange zest or lemon zest or lime zest
1 cup sugar                                               confectioner's sugar
1 Tsp corn starch                                       ground cinnamon
1 container good quality butter

Put in a heavy pan the milk, semolina flour, corn starch and sugar. Turn the heat in medium and stir constantly until the mixture thickens. Do not stop stirring or else the milk will burn at the bottom of the pan and will give a bad smell to the mixture, plus it takes a lot of scrubbing to clean the pot.

When the mixture is thick turn off the heat and let it cool. While it is still warm add 3 Tsp of butter and the vanilla or the citrus zest. Stir to melt the butter.

In a small saucepan melt the rest of the butter in low heat. For better results clarify the butter, by removing the foam on the top and leave the water and white proteins at the bottom of the pan.

Take a big oven pan and sprinkle the bottom with a generous quantity of butter. Lay one fyllo sheet. Sprinkle the top of the sheet with more butter and lay another sheet. Repeat the process until you have six sheets at the bottom of the pan. Empty the custard cream on top of the sheets and cover with another fyllo sheet. Sprinkle with butter and alternate fyllo sheets with butter until you cover the pie with six sheets of dough. Fold the edges of the dough down  to create a sealed envelope for the custard. Sprinkle with more butter on top.

Bake the pie at 375oF (180oC) for 30 minutes or until the top becomes golden brown and crispy. The butter between the fyllo sheets with get hot in the oven and fry the dough to crisp perfection. Thus, be generous with the quantity of butter you sprinkle.

Serve by sprinkling it with confectioner's sugar and cinnamon. It is better enjoyed when it is still warm.

The Cari Cake

Ask any cook, from a highly decorated chef to a humble home cook. There is nothing more satisfying than the elated face of the one who has taken a bite of her food. One of my best moments was when I served a pumpkin birthday cake to my friend Cari. The cake looked poorly shaped, but just one bite made Cari, the guests and myself ecstatic. The combination of spicy pumpkin with cocoa pleased our palates and enchanted our hearts. Most of all, Cari was so joyful for her birthday surprise that I chose to name this cake after her.

To make the cake we first stop at a garden or the farmers' market, where we buy a nice juicy pumpkin. We can also find beautiful pumpkins at the fresh produce section of any grocery store. And once you are at the store make sure you buy eggs, all-purpose flour, baking powder, butter, sugar, both granulated and confectioner's, some whipping cream, at least 35% fat, and some cocoa powder. If you cannot find good pumpkin or if it is out of season a small can of pumpkin purée should be added to your list of groceries.

Selecting the perfect pumpkin might be the trick of the Halloween spirit, so here are some tips. While pumpkin for carving must have a perfectly round shape, there is no need to worry about this when we are selecting a pumpkin for cooking. As a matter of fact, a badly shaped pumpkin is a good sign that the plant and the vegetable were the receivers of the least amount of agricultural interventions. In the true spirit of organic farming no vegetable should look the same as the next one, thus the uglier the pumpkin the healthier it is. That does not mean that it must have other flaws, like scars or soft spots. The pumpkin must be robust and heavy for its size, which means that it is fleshy. Last but not least, if we are not using the pumpkin immediately we need to make sure that the stem is still attached on the produce. The stem assures that the vegetable lives longer, as long as we store it in a cool and dry place. 


For our recipe we cut the pumpkin in wedges, seed it and put it in the oven, with the skin still on, in high heat for about an hour or until the flesh becomes soft. We take the flesh out with a spoon and purée it. If we have pumpkin carving leftovers, they are excellent for puréeing too. We just peel them and boil them with a little water (about half a cup) until they are soft. We need about a cup of pumpkin purée. The more pumpkin we add to the batter the heavier the cake will become. Personally, I like dense cakes, so I use about a cup and a half, but for a fluffier cake a cup of purée is enough.

For the cake, we separate four eggs and whip the whites on medium speed until they form soft peaks. We add a cup of granulated sugar and keep whipping until we get a shiny meringue. We combine the mixture with the egg yolks and shift in the mixture a cup and a half of flour and one Tsp of baking powder. We mix well with the electric mixer.

Then we add 2 sticks of melted butter (about one cup) and the pumpkin purée. If we have boiled the pumpkin, we make sure to strain it well, so that the least amount of moist goes into the batter. We add one tsp of ground cinnamon or any pumpkin mix of our liking. I like the clean taste of cinnamon for this cake, but any spice mix can work well. Finally, we give the mixture a good whip.

As I have mentioned before, I like to bake my cakes in silicon molds, because they do not need any oil coating. If you are not using this kind of utensils, oil well and dust with flour, or use cooking paper at the bottom of the pan. Bake for 35 minutes at 350oF.

While the cake is baking, we freeze a bowl and the whisks of the electric mixer for 10 minutes. We make sure the whipping cream is cool too. The lower the temperature of the utensils and the cream, the better the cream will be whipped. Next, we mix 2 Tsp of confectioner's sugar with one small container of cream and whip until we get a soft, buttery and delicious cream. We shift in 2 Tsp of cocoa powder and whip some more in low speed (we do not overdo it with the whipping, or else we will get some white butter).

We take the cake out of the oven and let it cool. We cut it in half horizontally and fill one half with cream. We place the other half of the cake on top and cover it with the rest of the cream. In the end, we sprinkle with chocolate syrup on top. 

The cake is simple, but delightful. Although pumpkin pie in the US is served with plain whipping cream, the cocoa in this recipe really brings out the earthy taste of pumpkin in combination with the sensational aroma of the cinnamon. It is worth trying!

Pomegranate liquer

Every New Year's Day morning Greek families wait impatiently for a knock on the door. The first person who will walk into the house the first day of the year should bring good luck and prosperity enclosed into a pomegranate. The lucky visitor breaks the pomegranate at the doorstep and the more seeds are spilled the better luck the household will have the entire year.

Pomegranate tree gives its fruits from September through February. If we save one or two for New Year's Day, what should we do with the rest? Pomegranate liquer to treat the guests of course!

First the hard part: juicing the pomegranate. Bear in mind that the juice might seem delicious, but it leaves dark stains on the hands, so wear latex gloves to handle them.

Generally there are three ways to get the juice out of the fruit. You can crack the fruit open and take out all the seeds in a sieve, squeeze the seeds and collect the juice. A more simple way is just to cut the fruit in half and squeeze it with a citrus squeezer. That might leave a bitter aftertaste to the juice. Alternatively, you can seed the pomegranate, pulp the little rubies using a blender and strain the juice with a sieve.

For the liquer you need 330 ml pomegranate juice, which you might get from 4-5 big pomegranates.

As for the alcohol used in the process, Greeks produce their own, usually in October when the grape harvesting is coming to an end. For example, in Crete a delicious alcoholic beverage, called raki, is produced, while in the Greek mainland another strong alcohol, called tsipouro is extracted. Housewives use those alcoholic extracts for their pomegranate liquer. However, since it is hard and expensive to find those in other countries, Russia can provide a solution. Vodka is an equally good and strong alcohol to make our paradisiac beverage.

Ingredients
From the garden             From the pantry                  From the booze cellar 
4-5 big pomegranates      250gr sugar                            1lt good quality vodka
      juiced                       1lt water
                                      1 cinnamon stick

Boil the sugar and the water in low heat until you get a light syrup. Remove from heat and let it cool in room temperature.

In a clean glass bottle, put the pomegranate juice and the syrup. Lift its spirit by adding the vodka. Spice it up with the cinnamon stick. Mix well.

Let the magic potion still for 3 months to allow the ingredients to blend and exchange their aromas. It is worth the wait!

After 3 months strain the liquer and put it in a nice bottle. Take a sip and taste this amazing liquor. Store it in a cool place.

Serve it to your guests in shot glasses or experiment with creating incredible cocktails.
 

The salty taste of a cupcake

Cupcake frenzy has taken over the world. Cupcakes everywhere, in all shapes and sizes. With frosting or not, made of common ingredients or elements from foreign lands. A cupcake might be more than a mini-size cake. It fits the whole world in the palm of your hand and the taste universe in a single bite.

A cupcake is a tabula rasa not just for cooking techniques, but for imagination, combination capabilities and creativity. And if that sweet miniature has sparked such creativity spree, why not give salty ingredients a place in the cupcake universe?

Take any food you like for your dinner, vegetables, meat, fish or cured meats. Mix them with some common ingredients, like flour, eggs and milk and cheese. Season with your choice of herbs and spices. Bake and you have the perfect savory delight in a bite. 

My favorite recipe is squash blossom cupcakes (which is probably one of the few vegetarian dishes I'd rather eat in the place of meat). Let's prepare them...

From the garden                     From the pantry                       From the fridge
10 squash blossoms                    3-4 Tsp all-purpose flour              2 eggs
2 medium size zucchinis             salt                                          1/2 c whole milk
1 potato                                   freshly ground black pepper        1c crumbled feta cheese
1 onion
half a bunch of fresh spearmint
A few chives

Preparation

Wash the squash blossoms and remove the stamens, which is the bright yellow part inside the flower. You don't  want that into our mix, because it is bitter. Chop the flowers. (Remember, the blossoms should be cooked the day you cut them from the plant or buy them from the market. This flower is extremely perishable, even if we store it in the refrigerator). 

Coarsely grate the zucchinis and the potato. Finely chop the onion and the chives.

Mix all the vegetables in a bowl.

Lightly beat the eggs and add the milk. Combine with the vegetables. Add the feta cheese and mix.

Shift the flour in the bowl and combine with the rest of the ingredients into a batter. If the mix is too liquid, add more flour.

At the end season with salt and pepper. Finely chop the spearmint leaves and add them to the batter. Wait until the last minute to cut the spearmint, because it turns black.

Let the batter rest for 20 minutes in the fridge.

Cooking

You can simply fry spoonfuls of the batter into hot oil. However, cupcake molds offer a healthier way to enjoy this delight. Just fully fill cupcake molds with the batter and bake in the oven in high temperature for 30 minutes.

If you are using a classic muffin tin, do not forget to pour the batter into cupcake liners or make sure to coat the mold with oil and a sprinkle of flour. Personally, I prefer silicon molds. They come in fantastic shapes, they need no oiling and they are easy to clean.

The secret of baking into silicon molds is to turn off the oven after baking for 30 minutes (or until the surface of the cupcake turns golden brown) and let the cupcakes rest in the over for 5 minutes. Take them out of the oven and let them cool for another 10 minutes. Do not unmold the cupcakes until the mold has cooled down. If the temperature of the mold has not dropped then the shape of the cupcake could be ruined while trying to take it out. And that is a shame, because the purpose of using a silicon mold is to create cupcakes in graceful shapes. 

Serve with strained Greek yoghurt or sour cream.  

(Ένα μεγάλο ευχαριστώ στο κατάστημα Επιλογές - House Style για τις υπέροχες φόρμες σιλικόνης.)

Gözleme, Lesbian style

     First session in the Cultural Diversity in the Media class and I am a Teaching Assistant. The assignment is simple: introduce yourself by sharing some information about your culture. I stand in front of my students, a rather representative sample of the American melting pot, and I deliver my introductory statement. "Hello! My name is Eleonora and I am a Lesbian".
    My writing coach in high school always told me that if I want to get the attention of my audience all I need is a strong opening line. He was right. After my introduction there was this vast silence, instantly followed by 40 jaws dropping and 40 pairs of eyes, filled with an amalgam of shock and curiosity, staring at me.
     In order to comfort my students' distress and fulfill their curiosity, I explained to them that being a Lesbian has nothing to do with my sexual orientation, but rather it is a matter of my descent. I grew up on the island of Lesvos (or Lesbos in its alternative spelling), thus, due to my origin I am called a Lesbian, like every other woman or man that live on this island. Although the name of the island habitants raises a big debate between the locals and the female homosexual community, I personally find this common misconception whimsical.

                                             The island of Lesvos (in Red) on the Greek map


The recipe for today is the Lesbian style gözleme, which is popular delicacy on the island.

Groceries                              Dairy section                               Herb garden

1lb all-purpose flour                1lb feta cheese                              Fresh Spearmint leaves

2 Tsp Greek olive oil                (preferably sheep-milk feta)            (or dried leaves)

   plus more for frying              

1 tsp white wine vinegar           2 eggs

 (or ouzo)

1 cup of water

For the dough

In a bowl add warm water, 2 Tsp of olive oil and vinegar. Shift in the flour and mix until you get some soft dough. Add more flour if the dough sticks to the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean towel and let it rest for an hour.

For the filling

Lightly beat the eggs and crumble the feta cheese with a fork. If you are using fresh spearmint, finely chop it. If the spearmint is dry, chip it with your fingers. Mix all the ingredients together.

Making the eyes of the angel

Cover your working station with a thin layer of flour. With a rolling pin roll thin rounds of dough. Make sure the dough is very thin. There is no standard size for the gözleme, so you choose the size of the dough circle, according to the portion you wish to serve.

Envision the dough circle as divided into two half-moons. Add a Tablespoon of the filling on the first half-moon and cover it with the other, creating a perfect eye-shaped envelope. Press the edges of the eye with your fingers or a fork, so that they stick together.

Alternative shape – Making an envelope

Stretch the dough with the help of a pasta machine, as if you were making ravioli. Again the dough has to be stretched very thinly. Cut the dough in rectangular shapes.

Add a Tsp of filling in the middle of the rectangle. Connect all four edges right in the center of the rectangle, creating an envelope. Press the edges of the envelope to stick together.

                               Envelope-shaped gözleme

Frying

Heat the olive oil in a heavy pan. When the oil is really hot fry the gozleme.

If you are making the envelope-shaped gozleme, make sure you fry first the side where the edges connect. In this case, the hot oil will seal the connecting points of the envelope and the filling won’t run in the pan. Then fry the other side.

Take the gözleme out of the pan when they are turned golden brown from both sides.

Serve when they are warm with a sprinkle of spearmint and a shot of ouzo.

Marjoram tea

   Moving to the US was a little gastronomic shock. My stomach was used to the Greek diet and had a slight difficulty adjusting to the American food plethora. In addition, I must admit that I have a certain yearning for junk food, and although it can satisfy my spirit, my stomach does not always agree.
   It was one night enjoying pizza at my place in Moscow, Idaho, when a friend asked me to make some oregano tea after the meal. According to the tradition in his country, Ecuador, oregano tea was a remedy for the hurting stomach. My experience had taught me that boiling oregano produces a bitter tea, which is definitely not very pleasant to drink. Instead I prepared a remedy from my Greek tradition, marjoram tea, which is certainly more gratifying.
   Little research revealed that both oregano and marjoram are in the same plant plant genus, the Origanum. Thus they exhibit similar healing features. But, it is marjoram tea that has a sweeter taste.

When you have a hurting stomach, do not worry. Just make some marjoram tea and enjoy its many benefits. In order to make marjoram tea you will need:
1Tsp of marjoram leaves, dried or fresh
1 cup water
1 tsp honey

Bring the water to a boil. When it is hot, add the marjoram leaves and turn off the heat. Let the leaves steep for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how strong you want the tea.
Pour into cup and dissolve the honey.
Enjoy it after meal with friends! 

Braised beef with orzo pasta

The Butcher              Produce section                  Groceries                        Spice cabinet

2lb bottom round        2 medium yellow onions       1 cup Greek olive oil              4 allspice
       beef                      2 carrots                                 1 tsp tomato paste             3 cloves
 or chuck-eye roast    3 garlic cloves                       1/2 cup red dry wine           1 tsp cinnamon
                                     3 big ripe tomatoes                Feta cheese                 salt & pepper (to taste)
                                     1 leek (if it is in season)         3 cups orzo pasta             4 dried chilies
                                                                                       or any other small        or 3 bird-eye chilies
                                                                                       shaped pasta                for more heat!                                                                                    (egg noodles is also an       
                                                                                    excellent choice)  

 A twist on the original recipe, made with traditional egg noodles from the island of Lemnos

Preparation

Trim the beef and cut it in 2-inches cubes.

Grate the tomatoes after you have discarded the seeds. Grate the carrots.

Finely chop the onions and the leek.

Mash the garlic with a garlic press or finely chop it.

Cooking Phase I

In a heavy pan put the meat cubes and cover it with cold water. Bring to boil. Discard the water and all the dirt* that comes out of the meat.  

Wipe the pan clean and heat the olive oil in maximum temperature. Season the meat with salt and pepper. Sear the meat until it gets brown on all sides. Stir occasionally but not constantly, so that the meat creates a crust that will keep all the juices inside the meat cubes. 

Add the onion, the leek, the garlic and the carrot. Give them a stir or two and pour the wine in the pan. That will create an instant smoke, and when it settles scrap the bottom of the pan so that you get all the flavorful pan drippings and incorporate them in the sauce. Allow a couple of minutes for all the alcohol to evaporate.

Add the grated tomato and the tomato paste. If the sauce is too thick, add a little hot water*. Dissolve the honey in the hot sauce, to balance the sourness of the fresh tomatoes. Adjust the taste with salt and pepper. Add the chilies, the cinnamon, the cloves and the allspice.

Cook in medium heat until the meat is tender but not completely cooked, about an hour to an hour and a half. If the sauce runs too think add hot water during the cooking. The sauce has to be watery.  

 Cooking Phase II

Preheat the oven to 325^oF/200^oC. Transfer the meat with the sauce in a clay pot*** and put it in the oven.

When it is fully heated add the orzo pasta. Make sure the sauce fully covers the pasta. If not, add hot water. Cook in the oven for 30 – 45 minutes. If the pasta absorbs all the water during cooking, add more hot water.

  

Taste a little bit of the pasta and make sure it has enough salt and it is cooked al dente. Make sure that the sauce in the pot is still watery and not completely dried out. Let it rest in the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve while it is still hot with crumbled feta cheese on top.  

Notes

* In this process you get rid of all the bad substances meat might have, but you will also lose some of its flavor. If you know where your meat comes from and that it is antibiotic-free, you can skip this step.

** It is common in braising and stewing to use some kind of stock. Beef or vegetable stock would go great in this recipe. My mother and grandmother never used stocks in most of their cooking. In my opinion, the vegetables and spices give such strong flavors in this dish that hot water is working as well as any stock.

*** Traditionally in Greece a clay pot is used, as it cooks the pasta better and gives out the earthiness of the dish flavors. It might be hard to find a good clay pot for cooking, as people who can truly master the craft of the clay are rare. A heavy pan that goes into the oven is a good substitute for the clay pot.