Greek Recipes

So it's the first day of Summer here in Sydney - and is shaping up to be another 30C+ day. When it's so hot, I rarely feel like cooking much in the evening after a day in the office and a steamy city commute. However, my efforts can stretch to chopping a few tomatoes and whipping out the fry pan for a batch of tomato fritters, called domatokeftedes (ντοματοκεφτέδες). These brightly coloured delights are a speciality of Santorini and they are traditionally made with the island’s native tomato.  Santorini is also home to amazing fava (yellow spilt peas), capers and wine. Happily you can now buy the crisp white wines from Santorini easily in Australia - and it's a perfect match for these domatokeftedes. Another essential for a warm evening and eating outdoors! My version of domatokeftedes uses very ripe Roma tomatoes and I have flavoured them with plenty of mint - both dry and fresh. I use a dried wild mint from Greece, which is incredibly aromatic (You can buy a similar wild

  Traditional Greek rice pilaf is a serious comfort dish - perfect to be enjoyed all year round. However this version, a vine shoot pilaf called ambelokorfades pilaf (Αμπελοκορφάδες πιλάφι) is just for spring and early summer when the shoots of the vines are still incredibly tender. I have always loved the way in which traditional Greek cooking uses grape vine leaves in such a variety of ways, but it was a real revelation to have been given a recipe, from a Greek friend in the Ionian Islands, for just the vine shoots themselves. Another novel wild green I would never have thought of using, except for the wisdom of my Greek friends! I love how absolutely nothing goes to waste in the Greek kitchen - and the way in which a few good quality humble ingredients can really make for a very special dish.   This is a great dish to try if you have very productive grape vine at home - or perhaps a neighbour or friend who does - and who won't mind you taking some scissors to it! Even better if

     In Greece there are three different types of yogurt, depending on the milk (goat, sheep or cow) used to make it.       Yogurt made from cows’ milk is the most popular because of its mildness; it has a less sour taste compared with yogurt made from the milk of goats or sheep.      In Greece we call yogurt ‘’strained ‘’ if it has undergone a straining process after it has been created. As a result it has far less whey than plain yogurt. Its dense silky texture makes it ideal for cooking too.       If you are lucky enough to have access to fresh milk from local farms, you should definitely try at some point to make yogurt at home and experience its wonderful taste. If you have kids, they will be fascinated by the process that magically turns milk into yogurt.      We make yogurt at home when we have extra milk that is close to its expiry date; this way we give it at least an extra week of shelf life. To be honest, we don’t always strain it to turn it into the so-called ‘’Greek yogurt

Prawn saganaki is one of those 'holiday to Greece' dishes, which everyone recalls with fondness. It is served in nearly every Psarotaverna (fish taverna) in Greece and a favourite with tourists and locals alike! It is certainly a favourite in my dinner party repertoire - it makes a great 'shared plate' style entree and is ready from scratch in less than 20 minutes. It also makes for a comforting and colourful mid week dinner - without the normal calories that come with starchy comfort foods. Some recipes for prawn saganaki call for deglazing the dish with a little ouzo. I prefer to have that on the side and instead, I use a little Metaxa brandy in the tomato sauce, which you could replace instead with a little white wine. If you are a fan of aniseed flavours you can always add a little fennel seed or dill to the tomato sauce base. Prawn saganaki (Γαριδες Σαγανακι) Greek olive oil 1 red onion, finely chopped 3 - 4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced 1 tablespoons Greek tomato p