In anticipation of my upcoming Greek Cuisine, Culture, and Wellness tour, I held a class with some delicious flavors inspired by the lovely Mediterranean islands. Many of my followers requested the olive bread recipe, so I decided to share the entire menu...perfect for Sunday supper or your next gathering.Want to learn to make mouthwatering Greek classics in person? Sign up for my class on April 20th here!
Rustic Olive Bread
Even
newcomers to baking will love the simple techniques and delicious flavor of
this bread. Keep in mind that you can also use all-purpose flour or whole wheat
or barley flour exclusively.
Makes:
3 8-inch, round loaves
Ingredients:
1
tablespoon active, dry yeast
1
teaspoon kosher salt
4
cups all -purpose, unbleached flour
2
cups whole wheat four
½
cup pitted Kalamata olives, finely chopped
3
teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
Preparation:
Pour
2 1/2 cups warm water into the large bowl of a standing electric mixer. Sprinkle yeast over water and stir until
dissolved. Add salt and gradually stir
in both types of flour, until dough pulls away from the side of the bowl. Roll
the dough into a 12-inch log. Fill with olives and re-roll, kneading a few
times to distribute olives. Shape dough into three 4-inch dome-shaped loaves.
Place loaves on a baking sheet. Cover with a kitchen towel and place in a
draft-free area to rise. Allow to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled.
Preheat
oven to 350F degrees. Uncover loaves and brush with 1 teaspoon olive oil each.
Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until lightly golden .Let cool slightly, and
serve warm.
Makes
3 round loaves.
Bean, Lemon & Herbed Feta Dip /
Pourés lefká fasólia me feta
Did you know that the average Greek consumes approximately
22 pounds of feta cheese a year? If you are a Mediterranean food
fan, this dip will make a great addition to hummus in your repertoire. Note
that if storing this dip in the refrigerator, it will have a tendency to firm
up. Simply stir in water, a tablespoon at a time, until it becomes the desired
consistency before serving.
Serves: 4
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups (15 ounces) cooked cannellini beans
1 cup Greek feta, cut into small pieces, or crumbled
Juice and zest of 1 lemon
¼ cup fresh mint, plus extra for garnish
¼ cup fresh oregano leaves, plus more for garnish
Sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Preparation:
Combine cannellini beans, feta, lemon juice and zest, olive
oil, mint, and oregano in a food processor.
Puree, pulsing on and off until smooth.
Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Greek
Cinnamon-Scented Lamb Meatballs/Soudsoukakia
Recipe from The UltimateMediterranean Diet Cookbook.
The Greek word for these long, croquette shaped meatballs is Keftedes.
When slowly simmered in tomato sauce, they become Soudsoukakia. This recipe tastes delicious both ways. If
you’d like to serve the meatballs without the sauce, simply grill or broil them
until you achieve the desired doneness. I sometimes serve them plain the first
night and then simmer the leftovers in tomato sauce the next day. The sweet,
spicy aromas of the tomato sauce are so delicious that they entice even those
who don’t generally eat lamb meat! You can use veal, turkey, or beef in this
recipe as well.
For the meatballs:
2 pounds (910 g) ground lamb
1 medium yellow onion, quartered
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon pure cinnamon
½ teaspoon unrefined sea salt or salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the sauce:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 cups (1 kg) tomato purée
Unrefined sea salt or salt
Freshly ground pepper
1 cinnamon stick
Preheat the broiler. Combine the lamb, onion, garlic, cumin, cinnamon,
salt, and pepper in a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture turns into
a rough paste. Turn the mixture out onto a work surface. Form 12 meatballs that
are about 21/2-inches (6.5 cm) long and 1-inch (2.5 cm) wide in the center and
tapering off to blunted tips at each end.
Place the meatballs on a baking sheet. Brown for about 10 minutes per side,
turning after every 2 to 3 minutes. Turn and brown until they are golden on the
outside and cooked through on the inside. If the meatballs are finished before
the rest of the meal, wrap them in tin foil until needed.
Make the sauce by heating the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add
the onion and sauté until lightly golden and tender, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in
the garlic and cook until it releases its aroma, about 1 minute. Add the tomato
purée, salt and pepper to taste, and cinnamon stick. Bring the mixture to a
boil and reduce heat to low.
Gently add the meatballs to the sauce and turn to coat. Cover, reduce heat
to low, and simmer until sauce has thickened by half, about 15 to 20 minutes.
Mediterranean Tradition
These meatballs are often threaded onto skewers and grilled, like kabobs.
While shaping them, be sure to keep a bowl of water next to you to wet your
hands which helps to make the meatballs adhere to the skewers. Pierce skewer
through the middle of them. Thread three keftedes onto each skewer.
Shape them around the skewer so that it doesn’t break or fall off during cooking.
Do not crowd or push them too close together. Grill over a medium-high heat,
turning often, until cooked to an internal temperature of about 160°F (71°C).
Cypriot
Green Grocer’s Salad with Feta/
Choriatiki Salata
Recipe from The UltimateMediterranean Diet Cookbook.
Big, open air vegetable markets are commonplace on the island of Cyprus
and in the rest of the region. For people who live too far to reach them,
greengrocers usually set up stands or stalls in most neighborhoods. Almost
every country in the Mediterranean has this style of salad that is known as
Greek salad in the United States. Some cultures may chop the vegetables
differently, or add different spices, but the salads themselves are pretty
similar. Many cultures also refrain from preparing the dressing in advance, and
serve salads with little olive oil and vinegar decanters or lemon slices
nearby.
1 head Romaine lettuce, washed, dried, and cut into bite-size pieces
2 ripe tomatoes, diced
1 baby (Persian) cucumber, or 1/3 English cucumber, sliced thinly on the
diagonal
¼ pound (115 g) feta, cubed or crumbled
¼ cup Greek olives, pitted
1 yellow onion, sliced into rings
1 small green bell pepper, cut into rings
3 tablespoons (45 ml) red wine vinegar or lemon juice
Unrefined sea salt or salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
½ cup (118 ml) Arianna Trading Company Organic Olive Oil
Place the lettuce in a large salad bowl. Add the tomatoes and cucumber, and
toss to combine.
Scatter the feta, olives, onion, and pepper over the top in an attractive
pattern. Pour wine vinegar or lemon juice into a small bowl. Add a pinch of
salt and pepper, and slowly pour in the olive oil while whisking vigorously.
Once the dressing is emulsified, pour it over the salad and serve immediately.
Yield: 6 servings
Mediterranean Tradition
Clever home cooks in the region usually stretch the leftover meat from
meals by adding pieces of chicken, beef, veal, and lamb to salads. In Italy,
this tradition is called Insalata del
Lunedi, Monday Salad, because it incorporates the leftover meat from the
ritual Sunday gathering.
Kataifi (Known as k’nafeh in the Middle East) is made from pastry strands which are sold as “Shredded Phyllo Dough” in English. The name, however, is a bit of a misnomer because it implies that Phyllo sheets are prepared and then shredded. Actually, the strands are made by brushing batter onto a hot griddle in a circle pattern.
Kataifi can be filled with nuts, sweet cream, or sweet cheese and stored in the refrigerator, for up to 3 days, but it is best eaten the day it is prepared. Keep in mind that this dessert needs to be weighed down in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Serves 10
Ingredients:
For the syrup:
1 ½ cups sugar
2 large strips of orange peel
Juice of 1 small orange
For the filling:
2 cups blanched almonds, chopped
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon orange blossom water
For the Kataifi:
1 (1 pound) package kataifi (can be purchased from Mediterranean and Middle Eastern markets, thawed
4 sticks unsalted butter, melted
Preparation:
Make the syrup by putting sugar, 1 cup water, orange peel, and orange juice into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved. Stop stirring, reduce heat to low, and let simmer approximately 10 to 15 minutes, until syrup thickens. Remove from heat and cool. Remove orange peel from syrup.
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees. Make the filling by combining walnuts, almonds, pistachios, peanuts, sugar, and orange blossom water in a food processor. Pulse on and off until mixture is coarsely ground.
To assemble the Kataifi, place melted butter in a large, deep bowl. Holding the kataifi strands over the butter, pull them apart, and toss them with the butter. Use your fingers to combine and continue breaking the strands up until they are 1 to 2-inches each.
Press half of strands into the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking pan. Spread the filling evenly over the top. Press the remaining kataifi strands over the filling to cover.
Cover the surface of the Kataifi with tin foil. Place 2 (5 pound) weights on top (bags of sugar or cans work fine). Refrigerate 1 hour or up to overnight. Take weights off and uncover k’nafeh.
With a sharp, long serrated knife, carefully make 30 squares inside the pan (only cut three-quarters of the way down). Place in the oven and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes, rotating pan every 20 minutes to ensure even baking. K’ataifi is finished when it is golden in color. Carefully pour the syrup over the top after removing from the oven.
Let cool completely and use a spatula to serve.
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