Greek Recipes

The humble chicken is really a culinary blank canvas, just waiting for the right combination of herbs and spices, to bring it up to its true gastronomic potential. This is where the lovely Gina of Homer St , has once again stepped in with inspiration, generously providing me with some of her incredibly aromatic herbs and spices, direct from carefully sourced, high quality Greek producers.  Most recipes for Greek style roast chicken always involve lemon in one form or another. Taking a tip from this tradition, in this recipe I have used a zesty lemon herb and spice blend from the producer Sparoza. The spice contains coriander, ginger, pink pepper, peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, bay leaves, mustard seeds, lemon zest, sage - and my favourite, lemon verbena. Opening the packet is just like walking into one of the spice merchants on Evripidou Street in Athens. To enhance the aromatic qualities of the chicken, I also added some balsamic bay leaves from the producers 'Daphnis and Chloe'

In a few of the recipes I have posted recently, I have used mizithra cheese. Mizithra is an incredibly popular cheese in Greece and it comes in both dried and fresh versions. In Greece, mizithra is made from either goat, sheep or cow’s whey to which whole milk is sometimes added. Mizithra is one of the simplest cheeses to make: milk is brought to a slow boil for a few minutes and then curdled by adding rennet or whey from a previous batch or an acidic substance such as lemon juice, vinegar or - in some cases, a fresh broken sprig from a fig tree. As soon as curds have formed they are poured into a cheesecloth bag and hung to drain. The whey dripping out of the bag can be used to curdle the next batch of mizithra. A fresh chalky white colour, this slightly sweet cheese is perfect with honey, fruit and nuts. It is also used to fill all manner of small pies, such as the kalitsounia of Crete. The fresh version of mizithra cheese may also be salted and hung to dry from cheese cloth, in the

Bakaliaro (Μπακαλιάρος) or salt cod, is hugely popular in Greek cuisine. None more so than on two days during Lent, the Annunciation on March 25th and then again on Palm Sunday. It also just happens to be one of Mr K's most favourite dishes, when it served batter-fried in crisp pieces with pungent, garlicky skordalia. You can find a recipe for this style of bakaliaro here . While fried bakaliaro is really delicious, this traditional "cucina povera" fish can also been enjoyed in a variety of other ways. For our Palm Sunday celebrations this year, I decided to forgo the fried affair and instead opted to try a traditional Ionian preparation for the salt cod, called a bourdeto. A bourdeto (Μπουρδέτο) is an Ionian style of cooking, most commonly associated with the Island of Corfu. It is said to hail from the Venetian word 'brodeto' meaning broth. In its most basic form, a bourdeto involves fish, slowly simmered in a fresh in tomato sauce with onion, garlic and spicy r

One of nature's greatest gifts has to be figs. A nutrition packed sweet treat, that plays such an important part in Greek and Mediterranean diets. For the few short weeks at the end of summer and the beginning of autumn, I love to enjoy figs fresh from the tree - or when they run out, from our local farmer's market. The closer we get to winter though, the less perfect figs become. However, that said, oven-roasting figs will bring out the flavour of less-than-perfect, end of season figs. In Greek cooking traditions, figs are often pared with spices - particularly when they are dried. In Corfu, black pepper is the spice of choice. In the other Ionian islands and the Peloponnese, bay leaves are often used to scent and help preserve the dried figs. On the island of Ikaria, dried figs are sprinkled with antioxidant-rich oregano when stored. In Chios, the spice of choice is of course mastiha and in other Aegean islands the choice of spice is often cinnamon. In Crete, another regional

The delights of Easter are only one short week away and I can't wait to celebrate with a little cheese indulgence. In our house, the effort of abstaining from meat during great lent is not too hard a chore - given that Greek cuisine has honed so many wonderful vegetarian dishes over thousands of years. However, when it comes to cheese, its a different story. Abstaining from cheese in all its forms during lent is a true and honest act of sacrifice. After what seems like one hundred weeks sans cheese, dairy and eggs, I'll be savouring these soft pillowy morsels - made with homemade mizithra and kefalograviera. They are simple to prepare and then baked in rich, spicy tomato based sauce - irresistible!! When making the tomato sauce, I like to use the "Sparoza herb and spice blend for tomato sauce". It  has the most amazing aroma - it takes me straight to the spice shops of Athens (which I am looking forward to visiting later this year!!).  The other bonus in using the Spa

Sometimes in life, there are those days or weeks when you need a soup that takes the better part of an afternoon to make. Be it the pangs of cooler days or the need to just get back to basics, this is the kind of soup that rewards you. Not only just from the flavours in the bowl, but also from the little bit of mindfulness that comes from an hour or two of simple, pressure free and uncomplicated pottering in the kitchen. As much as I adore traditional avgolemono, the much-loved Greek chicken soup with egg and lemon that has nourished many generations, this soup (sans egg) is comforting in its simplicity and punchy lemon tang. While a more traditional avgolemono soup would use rice, in this soup I prefer the almost kitschy addition of some really old school noodles, in the form of a short pasta called 'koftaki' or 'kofto miso' in Greek. Keep this recipe in your back pocket for the winter months ahead, or for when you just need a little uncomplicated and undemanding time