Kadaifi rolls filled with pears and cheese, served with tomato jam

Here we play with some traditional ingredients which they are given a modern kind of twist- a very tasty dish and an excellent first course. "Kadaifi" is a popular Greek and Middle Eastern special form of shredded phyllo dough. It looks a bit like the "angel hair" pasta but when still uncooked it is not crunchy and it is easy to work with it since it is soft. The name "Kadaifi" not only indicates the type of this dough but also a specific dessert with nuts and syrup (see recipe in the category "desserts"). Mainly this phyllo dough is used to make desserts but the last couple of decades it is quite popular with savoury pies and other kind of appetizers

Chicken with okra baked in tomato sauce

I have posted the classic recipe of okra if you would like to have it as a plain vegetarian dish. Okra, though, goes very well with chicken and it is a popular Sunday lunch recipe during Summer

Fried cheese with roast Florina red peppers

The famous cheese "saganaki" in a different version. Another excellent Summer meze to enjoy along with a glass of ouzo!

Pork fillet cooked in balsamic and sweet red wine sauce

The wine we use in this recipe is the "Mavrodafni", a red sweet wine with origin from Patras in Peloponnese area. Not sure if you can find it abroad so use any good quality red sweet wine you might prefer

Saganaki with shrimps in tomato sauce

I explained to you what "saganaki" is all about and today we have sea food cooked in this way. An easy and quick recipe to make because shrimps don't need much time to cook. Very tasty meze to share with friends while drinking some good quality ouzo

Pork with yoghurt and ouzo sauce

This is really a delicious recipe with aromatic spices and a tasty sauce. It can be cooked in big quantities to please a crowd

Aubergines braised in tomato sauce

Delicious recipe which you can have as a main vegetarian course or as a side dish with rice pilaf or potatoes or any kind of grilled meat

Htypiti ---- Cheese dip

This is another meze dish which you will find everywhere in local tavernas in Greece especially in places where mezedes are their specialty. Htypiti is a thick dip/spread dish rather salty and rather spicy (very spicy on some occasions) and it varies a bit from region to region regarding the herbs or the cheese they use. It is a very quick and easy recipe to prepare in no time

Soutzoukakia Smyrneika

"Soutzoukakia" are a (usually) smaller type of meatballs, different in texture, shape and taste. The name "Smyrneika" is related to the region the recipe comes from. Smyrna (the today's Izmir in Turkey) was full of Greeks for centuries and when they were forced to go back to the mother land (many of them for a first time) they brought with them - beside anything else - their spicy, exotic, mysterious and delicious cuisine. So, any type of food with the term "Smyrneiko" next to the recipe name indicates that the origin is Smyrna in the Asia Minor area

Roast chicken with potatoes in the traditional Greek way

Oh, this is a real classic! There is not a single household in Greece not to have cooked chicken in this way! A very popular dish regardless the season! Together with the potatoes in the pan it is so juicy and tasty that there is never enough! An easy recipe to prepare and the perfect idea to cook for big company

Pasta Flora tart

This is a classic Greek tart with (usually) homemade jam. The keys to this tart are the thick pastry (thicker than the usual tarts have) and the jam, which in case it is a bought one it should be a very good quality. Decades ago it used to be a very "posh" dessert to serve but although it is so delicious and quiet Summery not a lot of people honour it nowadays. Not long ago, watching a Greek cooking programme on TV,  I heard from one well known pâtissier that the name of this dessert refers to the kind of pastry it is made of and that actually we should call it "Frolla" and not "Flora"..... Frolla is the Italian name for the specific kind of pastry. It is what the French call "pâte brisée" and I think this is what the English call "shortcrust pastry"... Whatever the name or where it derives from in my opinion it is a must for everybody to taste at least once in their lives

Loukoumades - The glorious Greek doughnuts!

You see the doughnuts are not only an American perogative... many countries have their own version and so does Greece. Loukoumades are deep fried dough puffs which are first dunked in syrup and then sprinkled with ground walnuts and ground cinnamon. It is one of Greece's best known sweets/ desserts/snacks/street foods and very popular to natives and tourists alike. The outside is sticky from the syrup but the delight in eating Loukoumades comes from the crunch one gets from biting into the walnuts, penetrating the puff and then getting a little burst of the syrup which has penetrated the inside. Fortunately there are still some old fashioned (or old fashion style) cafés in Greece where they serve loukoumades and this makes things easier for those who don't feel very confident to make them at home. Generations after generations have been raised with this sinfully delicious puffy treat. It doesn't matter if it is not so healthy a sweet, it is a must!!

Summer mixed veggies braised in tomato sauce

A light and tasty Summer dish, easy to put together

Galaktoboureko - Custard cream dessert with phyllo pastry

Galaktoboureko, although it is an all-seasons dessert it is, probably, the most common dessert people have after a great Easter Sunday feast! No matter how much they have eaten there is no way to neglect to have a tempting piece of galaktoboureko with crunchy phyllo and creamy custard! It is a very popular dessert because, although it is syrupy, it is considered one of the rather light(ish) desserts of that kind

This recipe is dedicated to my dear husband, not only because it is his favourite Greek dessert, but also because I want to thank him for all his support and help he gives me with this blog

Manti - Traditional stuffed dumplings from the "Lost Lands"

This is a dish which has travelled quite a lot from country to country and was brought to Greece by the Greeks coming from the southern coast of Black Sea area which we call "Euxeinos Pontos", meaning "Hospitable Sea". It is a traditional recipe which you can find also in the Turkish and various Central Asian and Caucasian cuisines. "Manti" consists of a spiced meat mixture, usually lamb, in a dough wrapper either boiled, baked or steamed. The "Euxeinos Pontos" variation usually is served with a nice yogurt/garlic sauce and then drizzled on top with tomato sauce. Another variation is topped with yogurt and garlic and sprinkled with ground red pepper and melted butter, and then topped with ground sumac and/or dried mint. It is one of those traditional recipes that we try to save regardless if our families come from that area or not. It is a part of our history and we try our best to keep it alive. I must warn you that this is a recipe which needs time and patience and it's not one of those you can come up with at the last moment... If you want to try it out, and believe me it worth the trouble, it's better to do it during the weekend

Marinated rabbit with rosemary

Rabbit is another kind of meat which we cook in many different ways. Perhaps the "rabbit stifado (stew)" is the most common recipe but believe me rabbit (as well as hare and wild rabbit) can be cooked so easily and they are quite popular. Today we have a traditional and very easy recipe of fried rabbit coming from Crete and it can be served with french fries or mashed potatoes or a nice rice pilaf or even plain with a nice green salad

Fried courgettes in batter

Well, this is one of my best Summer meze as long as somebody else has to fry them!:-) The easy way (and not bad in taste at all) is to pass them through flour and fry them but with the batter they are really delicious! The secret for really crispy courgettes is to slice them thinly and fry them at high heat so to have the time to fry properly but not to absorb a lot of oil

"Papoutsakia" - Baked aubergines stuffed with ground meat and topped with bechamel sauce

A classic and very popular dish which will remind you of the moussakas but it is not! The dish is called "melitzanes (aubergines) papoutsakia (little shoes)" and the reason is because after they are baked they look like little shoes... funny name for a dish isn't it? But I'm telling you, it's delicious. Normally, in the good old days, they used to fry the aubergines before adding the filling. Nowadays a lot of people in their effort to eat lighter and healthier food they prefer to bake the aubergines so to keep calories and cholesterol under control without missing any of the taste dishes like this can offer.... It is up to you how you will prepare the aubergines but be sure that both ways will give an excellent taste

Sweet peas cooked in tomato sauce

Cooking peas in this way is a very common vegetarian Greek recipe and I think it is the best way of letting our bodies recover after all that meat during the Easter feast. It is a popular dish all through the year and not only during Lent period. Easy to prepare and it doesn't take long to cook, especially if you use frozen peas (which are just as suitable)

Classic Greek lettuce salad

On Easter day, as you are aware by now, we have so many different dishes on the table and to be honest most of them are rather "heavy", from the point of view that some grease is involved in the recipes one way or another. So we keep the salads of that day rather simple and light. Now that Romaine lettuce is in season it is a good chance to use it in a salad since it is fast to prepare with simple ingredients in it and still tasty. As my husband says it is the best salad because "it cuts through the grease and it is so refreshing"

Kokoretsi ---- Greek Easter meze

Well..... what can I say? It goes the same with the comments I made yesterday about the mageiritsa soup. Kokoretsi is not for everybody, only for those who are familiar with cooked internal organs of an animal and the.... bold ones. Kokoretsi is the main meze dish on Easter Sunday table. While the lamb or the goat is on the spit (slowly cooking) the kokoretsi - cooked on the spit as well - is done already and along with other tasty mezedes and wine and/or ouzo keeps company to the people under the sounds of cheerful Greek folklore music. The recipe may vary a bit from region to region but, again, the idea is the same. One of the areas of Greece which is famous for the kokoretsi and other kinds of meat on the spit (as well as many other delicacies like pies etc) is the prefecture of Fthiotida in Central Greece and its capital Lamia is full of great meat tavernas with all these delicacies in the best quality. All these mezedes can be found in tavernas all year round (in Athens as well) but some of them, like kokoretsi, are related more to Easter period. Like mageiritsa it has its preparation but the result is worth the trouble

Vegetarian Easter mageiritsa soup

For those who don't eat meat or those who don't feel comfortable with the idea of eating the internal organs of an animal there is a solution and actually a very tasty one. The vegetarian version of the classic "mageiritsa soup" is an alternative for Holy Saturday's evening feast. Definitely it is lighter and according to many people healthier, and has nothing to be jealous of the meaty version. This is only one of many vegetarian mageiritsa soups but I think it's the most easy and quick one in case you have to prepare a big feast for the Easter weekend

Easter cheese pie with four cheeses

The Easter table is full of various mezedes and drinks. Don't forget that family and friends are gathered to celebrate since middle morning, while the lamb and the kokoretsi are on the spit, and in the meantime various tempting dishes are passing in front of them, together with plenty of drinks, helping even more their cheerful mood... One of the dishes that never misses an Easter table is a pie and especially a cheese pie like this one which is very easy to prepare

Easter Lamb leg in the oven

Lambs and baby goats (kids) will be the king of the meat on Easter Sunday in Greece. Some of them in whole on the spit (the classic Easter tradition), some of them cooked in the pot and some of them in the oven. Regardless the way of cooking the spring lamb or goat are delicious! For those who live abroad the "on the spit" method is not so easy for various reasons, even if you live in a house outside the big city.... the alternative is to have the lamb in the pot or in the oven (wrapped in baking paper or not) and the most common way is together with potatoes in the same oven pan. We are not the greatest fans of lamb in this house, so the version I'm giving you is quiet adjusted to our preference regarding method and spices etc.