Greek Recipes

One of the most loved home style Greek recipes, psarosoupa (fish soup) is a perfect dish for those cooler autumn nights that are coming our way here in Australia.  Mum's recipe starts with a simple vegetable stock, which uses plenty of celery leaves in lieu of the Greek grown herb 'selino'. If Ma were in Greece she would use selino, the wild celery, that is both a herb and a vegetable. It has much thinner stalks than our ordinary celery and more leaves. Hence, Ma's use of plenty of celery leaves in this dish.  Once the vegetable stock is created, the fish is then cooked in the stock. Ma's fish of choice here in Australia is snapper, but you could use any fish with firm white fillets. The odd red mullet (called barbounia) can also be added. Before the fish is cooked however, Ma's secret for perfect fish soup is to scrupulously clean the fish. They should be cleaned to the point where, when they are placed under a running tap, the water runs clear and is not cloud...

March 25 marks Greek National Independence Day and the Annunciation. While this day usually falls during lent it is the custom, allowed by the Church, to pause in fasting and eat fish. By far the most popular fish of choice on this day (and one of the pillars of Greek cuisine) is Fried Salt Cod Fillets accompanied by skordalia, a garlic spiked potato puree. A simple boiled beetroot salad (which includes the beetroot leaves) dressed in olive oil and Greek wine vinegar, is also a traditional side dish. While fried salt cod seems a simple dish, the Greek version of fish and chips, it is far from it. The crunchy coating of the cod, fried in olive oil, has a soft savoury inside - an addictive combination. Ordinarily, the dish is made with a fluffy beer batter ( you can find the traditional recipe here ). However, this year I decided to opt for a change and prepared the cod in with a lighter lemon zest and herb flavoured crust, using gluten free flour. Fried salt cod (Μπακαλιάρος) Serves 4;...

There is nothing my mother in law likes more, than to be in her kitchen creating food for her family. After a serious illness over the last few months, it has been wonderful to see Ma feeling just well enough again to be back in the kitchen doing what she loves best - cooking. When she is not cooking, then there is nothing more that we like to do together more, than talk about food and recipes. Yesterday, Ma shared with me two of her recipes, octopus pilafi, a traditional Greek Lenten dish and her own, more revolutionary (and certainly not traditionally Greek), chilli puree.  My lovely brother in law recently shared with me a story about Ma's discovery of chilli. It was about 20 years ago and after a period of experimenting, she hasn't looked back since! Ma loves chilli for its reported health benefits as well as the heat and flavour it brings to her dishes. However, as it is not a traditional Greek ingredient, Ma uses it sparingly in the form of a milder chilli puree made from...

These Greek prawn fritters are super easy to make and are the perfect kind of meze for spring days, as the weather becomes warmer. The most simple accompaniment to these fritters is a big squeeze of lemon and a chilled glass of rose wine - preferably Greek of course. However, if you have a bit of a party going on, the keftedes can be joined by some pickled octopus , dolmades and spicy feta cheese spread for a more substantial set of mezedes. What's more, all of these meze are gluten free, so they make a great option if you are catering for any one who is following a gluten-free diet. Greek prawn fritters (γαριδοκεφτέδες) serves 4; prep time 35 mins; cooking time 30 mins  600g fresh uncooked / green prawns, roughly chopped (use pulse option on a food processor) 1 small red onion, finely chopped 2 green onions/shallots, finely chopped 2 tablespoons of ouzo 1 tablespoon of fresh dill, finely chopped 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, finely chopped 1 teaspoon of paprika 1 teaspoon of dri...

The arrival of spring always signals the start of salad days in our home. The days are longer, the weather is pleasantly warm and you can smell jasmine in the air. Apart from salad, the other great delight that I associate with spring is our cephalopod friend, the octopus. In Greece, octopus is a traditional fasting food, popular during lent, which falls during the springtime. Anecdotally, I have often been told that in Greece, the best season for the tastiest octopus is also the spring time. Whether there is a best season for octopus, I remain unsure. However, here in Australia, whatever the season octopus is consider a resilient and sustainable seafood option - just one more reason to make this satisfying salad. Inspiration to make this salad struck me recently on a trip to Tasmania. In between commitments, the a small old fashioned neighbourhood grocer caught my eye with a chalk board promising 'locally grown new season potatoes' amongst a range of other Tassie treats. I qui...

Skordalia often makes a regular feature on our weekly family menu. The thick, creamy, garlicky puree is definitely not for the faint hearted! It's the perfect partner for really any kind of seafood - so good a pairing in fact, that on my mother in law's home island fish stock or the cooking liquid from the fish is usually used to make the skordalia.  The other traditional ingredients for skordalia are usually potato or bread and almond meal.  My usual skordalia recipe required a tweak recently, when we had friends call in for a casual lunch. Gluten, dairy and potatoes were strictly off their menu - hence my milder cauliflower skordalia came to be. The almond milk in this recipe is a little nod to the traditional almond meal that is often used to make skordalia. The creamy puree contrasted nicely with the crunchy, lemony coating of the garfish. In this recipe I have used the excellent Sparoza herb and spice blend with lemon zest, which is available online from Homer St. ...

Naxos is well known for its incredible culinary heritage and its reputation rests largely on the amazing produce of the island. This super easy to make meze, which hails from Naxos, can be easily recreated outside of the island, with produce from your local farmers market. We enjoyed this meze in Naxos recently ( you can read more in my guide to Naxos ). The recipe comes from a small fisherman's taverna, which sits right on the main ferry port. It was the perfect start to a leisurely evening meal, accompanied by a very chilled ouzo, set against the spectacular backdrop of the sun setting over Naxos' famous Porta. This was one of those holiday dishes that was really going to stay in my memory and I just had to ask for the recipe. I could have seen myself back in Sydney regretting a missed opportunity if I had not asked. Luckily the taverna cook was more than happy to oblige and the recipe was shared, along with the secret tip to use plenty of fresh herbs - a common theme in much...

Agrigento's Valley of Temples is one of Sicily's most popular tourist destinations. This spectacular Ancient Greek site is set against a backdrop of incredible trees; almonds, olives and Sicily's ever present citrus fruits. Indeed, it would be hard to imagine Sicily's unique cuisine without them. While there are a large number of differnt types citrus fruits grown across Sicily, Agrigento's main crop is the navel orange, called 'Brasiliane'.  The province of Agrigento stretches from inland Sicily to the coast. As such, the food of this province of Sicily has a good deal of spectacularly varied produce to choose from - navel oranges included. Sardines and anchovies are some the most favoured seafood, enjoyed fresh on the coast and in times past, preserved in salt to also be enjoyed by those in the more inland region of this province.  When we recently visited Agrigento, I had the good fortune to be able to try some of the spectacular local sardines. Whenever ...

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...

Καλή Χρονια! Kali Xronia – happy new year!! Καλή Χρονια and happy new year to our new host of 'In my Kitchen" Maureen and the same wishes - plus a big thank you to the creator of this series and host for many, many years, Celia . A happy new year also goes to you lovely readers and all of my fellow 'In my kitchen' bloggers. The sentiments of Francesca, of Almost Italian are ringing true in my kitchen for the start of the new year. It's been a time for sea breezes and taking a break from anything too frantic in the kitchen department. This last week, post Christmas, has been about enjoying simple Greek flavours, fresh seafood and delicious summer vegetables. In saying that however, the creation of our Christmas feast for 2015 - this year hosted by my mum and myself - was not exhausting in the least. My very clever Mr K had presented me with an early leave pass from work this year, in the form of a few beach filled couple of days in mid December. It was all heavenl...