Greek Recipes

The summer grilling season ensures a steady supply of grilled vegetables on our table. One of my father's favourite salads during this period is also one of the most notorious in our family. Grilled hot banana peppers - Click to Enlarge I'll never forget the day I first sampled this recipe. You have probably walked by them a thousand times in the vegetable section wherever you shop, and yet, you may never even have given them so much as a second glance. Here is what I often think about whenever I see hot banana peppers in a market: My father proffered a plate and slid a cousin of one the beauties from the photo above on to my dish. He instructed me to roll it up, slip it into a wedge of folded pita, and take a large bite. My mother, meanwhile, warned me not to listen to my father, that the pepper was too hot. But, I was a child, and a wilful one at that, so my mother's warning served as nothing more than the equivalent of a challenge. I did as my father instructed, th...

This is the first posting in a new series of spotlight articles on Greek food products and ingredients which I will be presenting on this blog. A slab of Feta served up in classic Greek fashion - Click to Enlarge My grandmother used to make her own cheeses. When I was a child, I used to love watching the woman set herself on a small wooden stool for the milking of the sheep and goats. She would call for me to bring the collection pails and I would run to fetch them. As she milked the swollen teats of the ewes and does, I would offer to help, but she always refused saying that the animals required practised, familiar hands. So, I had to content myself with helping her by swapping the buckets when she instructed. She always made sure to leave some milk for the sucklings; and there was always a cup of warm milk set aside for me, before she thickened the rest and drained off the whey from the curds for cheese-making. Although she used rudimentary equipment i.e., wicker baskets, mus...

Grandma would be proud of my variation on her Greek 'risotto' recipe. I will never forget the first time I tried a Risotto dish at an Italian restaurant. My vegetarian date was all aflutter about this particular Italian recipe called ‘ Risotto al pomodoro ’ so it was the must-have dish on the menu for me that night, and it was not cheap! Now, when the ‘ Risotto al pomodoro ’ arrived at our table, I could not suppress a quick laugh. Immediately, I recognized the dish as similar to my grandmother’s recipe for ‘ Domatorizo ’ (pronounced “Doe-ma-TOW-reezo”). But, my grandmother had never been to Italy, and in fact, I would have been surprised if she would have been able to point Italy out on a map… About all that my grandmother knew about Italy and Italians was that they had attacked Greece along with the Germans in the Second World War, when she was a young woman. So, I ate the ‘ Risotto al pomodoro ’ that night and it was tasty enough, but with the memory of my grandmother’s...

My Greek Rigatoni in my special pasta bowls This pasta dish is one of my original signature dishes. I make it when I am short on cooking time, as it only takes 15 minutes to prepare. However, this does not mean that this dish is lacking in any way; as far as I am concerned, my Greek Rigatoni is one of the healthiest and tastiest pasta recipes around. Try it and let me know what you think… A couple points: As much as possible, I use only authentic Greek ingredients for all my recipes as I know it makes a difference in the taste of the final product(s). Any style of pasta noodle can be used for this recipe, though I recommend using something like rigatoni, penne, and farfalle as opposed to linguine or spaghetti type shapes. I alternate between rigatoni and a Greek pasta type known as “makaronia kofta” or “cut macaroni”, which is short-cut tubular pasta (“tubetti” in Italian). Same recipe with the Greek short tube pasta Recipe: ½ lb. Rigatoni (or other) pasta ½ lb. G...

Feta and Roasted Red Pepper Piquante When outdoors in the late summer and early autumn, in neighbourhoods where there are Greeks, chances are you'll catch the scent of roasting peppers wafting on the breeze. With our family this practice is almost a ritual. My father visits the farms north of Toronto to find the best peppers available. We then set aside the better part of a Saturday afternoon and we hold a pepper roast! The wonderful scent of grilling peppers is one of my earliest and fondest reminiscences of family cooking as a child. So, I just love going into the freezer and pulling out the roasted red peppers we froze from last summer. I roasted an entire bushel of red peppers on the barbecue and then we packed them in small batches and put them in the icebox for use throughout the winter months. This recipe is one of my favourite things to do with those roasted red peppers; it is easy and quick to make, and is an excellent appetizer dip for entertaining guests. Recipe 1...

This is one of my favourite cheese appetizer dishes. Once you try this, you will have a hard time going back to eating plain feta cheese.  It is really important that you use a good quality feta cheese for this recipe. I used the best: Feta Tripoleos, which is authentic Greek feta cheese from the southern Greek city of Tripolis. This particular feta is stored in wooden barrels and not tins or plastics. Some of the finer cheese shops will stock this variety and I highly recommend it. Recipe: 250g of Greek feta cheese 1 egg 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 teaspoon oregano fresh ground black pepper sesame seeds 1. Using a sharp knife and without hesitation, cleanly slice the feta into 1/2 inch thick slices, be careful not to crumble or break the cheese when slicing. When the cheese is cut, put the slices on a plate and place in the freezer for 10 minutes to ensure that the cheese is firm. 2. In a shallow bowl, be...