Greek Recipes

Nearly every culture has its own version of a vanilla cream or custard. In Greece, it is called a 'krema' and is usually heavily dusted with layers of cinnamon. It is a standard in all Greek homes and is a favourite childhood dessert, along with rizogalo, a rich and creamy rice pudding flavoured with orange zest. It can also be used a a filling for many Greek pastries, like the delectable morning breakfast pastry, bougatsa. The first time I tried this pudding was during our honeymoon, on the Island of Lefkada. It had been many years since Mr K had tried a krema. The traditional milk shops, which can be found in the streets and winding alleyways of Lefkas Town, sold them in little teracotta and white plastic tubs, for 1euro each along with complimentary dustings of cinnamon. This sort of traditional shop has long died out in Australia. Even the 1950s style milk bar and corner store is close to extinction. On every trip back to Lefkas, I am always happy to see the milk shops are ...

Happy Valentines Day and Happy Copycat Friday!   I have the perfect Valentines Dish for you to make today! It's Olive Garden's Parmesan Crusted Prosciutto Tortellini. This was a request by one of my Facebook Foodie Friends. Terri wanted me to recreate this dish so she could make it at home. Why go out to eat when you can make this dish at home in less time then it will take you to get into a restaurant tonight? This dish is really simple, all you need to do is purchase some good cheese filled tortellini, prosciutto, and YES, pancetta, why both you ask?   Because I think it gives the dish more flavor! Fry up the pancetta, and prosciutto until crispy, remove from pan, reserve the grease. The pan greases holds the key to extra flavor people. Add about 1 small chopped onion to the pan greases, cook for about 5 minutes, add some garlic, heavy cream, lots of parmigiano reggiano cheese, and a little sharp cheese for an extra bite of flavor and color. While the sauce simmers and the ...

      What might characterize our family meals in Greece is the variety of dishes served. Housewives rarely cook only one dish for the family and, even when they do, three or more side dishes are usually served as well. We love little bites of this and that, what we call mezedes ; they are most often cheese, olives, pickles, all sorts of savory spreads,and flaky pies with fillings that vary according to the season of the year. Preparing them at home demands some effort but they cost less and offer flavorful snacksevery day.  Meze bites are also served when you want to have a snack with your wine, beer or ouzo but not eat an actual meal. In Greece there are restaurants that serve only meze dishes from an endless list; these places are called ‘’mezedopolia’’ (μεζεδοπωλεία).  Feta balls are a wonderful meze to prepare ahead and can be served straight from the jar to the table or spread on slices of bread. Toasting the bread with feta under the grill for a few minu...

Yep...what's better than a big bowl of cheesy, bacony, mayonnaisy (new word) bowl of potatoes! I say, almost nothing! This dish is simple, but so full of flavor. I boiled red potatoes with the skin on, you can peel them if you like or use peeled Idaho potatoes. After boiling the potatoes we cook them a second time in bacon grease...you heard me people, bacon grease! Mix up a dressing of mayonnaise, sour cream, green onions, apple cider vinegar, and loads of cheese and lots of spices. Mix everything together, top with bacon if serving immediately, or chill potato salad for a few hours and top with bacon immediately before serving. Baby Girl and I ate the potato salad hot out the pot, and it was so good. This is the perfect spring is near dish, it's screams, Summer is coming soon, light up the pit! Enjoy. Loaded Baked Potato Salad Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 30 minutes Total Time: 35 minutes Servings: 8 Ingredients: 10 medium red potatoes 1/2 pack of bacon, diced 1 cup shar...

I really need to find the appropriate words to describe this dish! I've decided my words for the day are...magically delicious! First, let's talk about Callie's Cheese and Chive Biscuits . When the wonderful people at Callie's Charleston Biscuits reached out to me to try their products, they had me at biscuits.   If you've never had a southern biscuit, then you really haven't eaten! Yes, southern biscuits are the best thing ever, and Callie's Charleston Biscuits are little bites of biscuit joy! Light, fluffy, and did I mention the cheese, let's say they taste, just like grandmas. This dish is really simple to put together, while the biscuits bake, cook up the sausage, remove the sausage from the pan and set aside. Use the sausage grease...YES, the sausage grease, and some olive oil and saute an onion with garlic to start the base of our gravy. Next, we add chicken broth, lots of spices and some heavy cream and cheese. Whisk everything together and wait f...

One of the things I miss so much after returning from our trip to Greece this year are the fresh wild greens, which grow in abudance and are served in just about every taverna. You can see some we ordered in Kefalonia, here . Lucky for me, my beautiful father in law planted some Green Amaranth or Vlita (as they are called in Greek) in early spring. Today he presented me with a gorgeous green bouquet and so it is that this month, my kitchen is blooming with these delicious greens. Vlita grows wild in gardens all over Greece (and Greek-Australian backyards) in the summer. Unlike many wild greens which are usually very bitter, vlita has a very clean, sweet taste. For this reason, it is my favorite green. Most commonly, vlita is boiled and served as a warm salad dressed with olive oil and either lemon juice or vinegar. Sometimes it is also combined with other abundant summer vegetables such as zucchini. It can also be cooked slowly with tomatoes, onion and garlic - in the same way that the...