Marinated deer ragoût with quinces mash

A delicious alternative for those who are not such big fans of roast turkey. An interesting dish which can be served anytime during the festive season but not only then, it can be a great Sunday meal!

Festive stuffed pumpkin with chicken (or turkey)

A delicious recipe! Very festive and a colourful addition on your Christmas or New Year table as a first dish. It needs its time but it is worth the trouble. Choose a good looking pumkin, well ripened and preferably a round one without any long "neck". Try it out to see if it is flat enough on the bottom so to be able to stand easily while cooking and for later on the table. Depending on how well ripened it is and the thickness of the flesh you might need to reduce or raise the time of cooking accordingly. You can always try the well known trick with a wooden skewer to be sure, it has to be soft inside

 

Isli - Traditional Christmas stuffed cookies

"Isli" are traditional Christmas cookies coming from the Greeks of Asia Minor and the origin of the name comes from Cappadocia (central Turkey region) which in a Turkish dialect literally means "this which exclusively is hand made". We could say that "Isli" are the Anatolian version of the "melomakarona". They are semi-syruped cookies which, according to the legend, were first invented by the "Karamanlides" (a Greek Orthodox, Turkish-speaking people native to the Karaman and Cappadocia regions of Anatolia. Today, a majority of the population live within Greece, though there is a notable diaspora in Western Europe and N. America). Karamanlides used to make Isli during the fasting periods of Easter and Christmas for the Orthodox Christians in Anatolia. Isli are shaped into triangles and the surface is then decorated with a fine (hand made) design with a special tool they used to have. This technique needs experience and patience so to make it last long after the cookies are baked. The basic ingredients for the stuffing are the walnuts and various spices, with the clove as the main one. The syrup needs to be light and in a specific temperature so to infuse the baked cookies properly without destroying their shape and texture. As I said, the recipe arrived with the Greeks of Asia Minor and until a couple of decades ago was not really as popular as other Christmas sweets. You would not find Isli easily in households others than those which had roots back in Smyrna and Constantinople or other places of Asia Minor which were full of Greeks. Nowadays though more and more people appreciate this special sweet and it is easier to find and buy even in sweet shops

Rice pilaf with chestnuts, walnuts and root vegetables

A tasty side dish to accompany the turkey or the roast meat at the Festive table this year but it can be served all year round. Rich in colour and ingredients this recipe will fully satisfy yours and your guests' appetite

Classic Vassilopita cake - Greek traditional New Year's Cake

"Vassilopita" or “Saint Basil's Cake" is basically a sweet bread and depending on the area it comes from, the recipe differs in texture and ingredients. Some resemble to a classic sponge cake with various spices and flavours added and others resemble more to the "Tsoureki" bread (a brioche type of dough which we also prepare for the Easter period). All recipes though have one thing in common, a coin which is usually baked along with the ingredients. Sweet flavouring is added to the bread which symbolize "the sweetness and joy of life everlasting". It also symbolizes the hope that the New Year will be filled with the sweetness of life, liberty, health, and happiness for all who participate in the cake's cutting.

This, usually, takes place on New Year's Day (or often on New Year's Eve when the clock strikes midnight) and the bread is traditionally cut by the senior member of the family. The individual who receives the portion of the cake which contains the coin is considered blessed for the New Year. Each slice has a purpose starting with the piece cut in remembrance of Jesus. The second is for the Virgin Mary. The third is for St. Basil the Great, the other slices are cut for the members of the family beginning with the eldest. Slices may also be cut for the house, the traveler, the guests of that day and the poor.

This old tradition started in the last half of the 4th century, when Saint Basil the Great, who was a bishop, wanted to distribute money to the poor in his Diocese. He wanted to preserve their dignity so as not to look like charity. So, according to the legend, he commissioned some women to bake sweetened bread, in which he arranged to place gold coins. Thus the families in cutting the bread to nourish themselves, were pleasantly surprised to find the coins. St. Basil was born in 329 AD and he was one of the greatest Fathers of the Christian Church and he was Bishop of Caesarea, Cappadocia (in Asia Minor). He was the first person in human history to establish an orphanage for little children. He also founded the first Christian hospital in the world. His fame as a Holy Man spread very fast throughout the Byzantine world. He was considered one of the most wise and compassionate clergymen in the entire history of the Church.

His Feast Day is observed on January 1st, the beginning of the New Year and the Epiphany season. The Church, therefore, in respect for his many contributions to mankind in general, combined the joy and happiness of the New Year with the glory of the birth of Jesus and the Epiphany into what is known in the Orthodox Church as the "Vassilopitta Observance". I should mention that, for the Greeks, Saint Basil is the equevelant of Santa Claus and that's why we exchange our presents on New Year's Eve.
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The following recipe of Vassilopita is only one of many versions which can be found around Greece and the one that comes closer to my mother's recipe. Beside the sweet type of New Year's cakes (which they are the most common), in some regions like Epirus and Thrace, savoury versions of this special treat can be found which they are more like pies with phyllo pastry

Greek kataifi rolls

Kataifi, along with Baklava is one of the most popular and delicious Greek Desserts. It is made with a special type of shredded pastry called "kataifi" or "kadaifi" and so the specific sweet got its name from it. The pastry is like angel hair pasta and when rolled up resembles shredded wheat. It is often referred to as "shredded wheat dessert". A delectable nutty centre is rolled inside crisp, thread like strands of pastry, baked, then soaked in a sweet syrup. Like many other Greek desserts a sweet syrup is poured over to keep them from drying out and well preserved. This is a recipe that is also found in Turkey in a bit of a different form and other Middle East countries. Some versions of Kataifi use only almonds, but the recipe here today has a mixture of almonds and walnuts. You could also add pistachios. As the pastry is full of strands, it doesn't matter if you cut them or pull apart a bit. Kataifi is a dessert which can be served as one of the Christmas treats in some areas of Greece