PANZANELLA

This is my version of an Italian Panzanella salad - some recipes call for sliced red onion and capsicum also, feel free to add if you want... but I just made it today with the ingredients I had! Dress the salad up to an hour before serving to let all the flavours soak into the bread. Also fab with pieces of left over roast chicken or torn mozzarella pieces mixed through.

• Tomatoes
• Telegraph cucumber
• ILIADA Kalamata Olives
• Stale ciabatta or french stick  
• ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Messino red wine vinegar
• S & P
• 1/2 clove garlic crushed
• Fresh basil leaves to serve

Cut tomatoes into quarters and place into a salad bowl. 
Peel the cucumber, cut lengthways, and remove the seeds with a teaspoon. Cut the cucumber into 1 cm slices and add to the tomatoes. Throw in a handful of olives and toss to mix.

Heat a small pool of olive oil in a pan on medium high, and while it heats cut the stale bread roughly into 1cm cubes. Toss the cubes in the heated olive oil and fry until golden all over. Leave to cool then scatter them over the tomatoes, cucumber and olives.
Mix 4 TBLSPN olive oil, 1 TBLSPN red wine vinegar, pinch of salt, a few grounds of black pepper and garlic in a screw top jar, dress and toss through the salad. Leave to sit covered at room temperature for up to an hour (don't refrigerate)
Scatter with a few basil leaves to serve.
Delissimo!

ROAST PUMPKIN, GREEN BEAN & HALLOUMI SALAD

A fabulous combination of flavours and so easy to make...lucky for me the Greek guy doesn't like pumpkin so when I make it I have it all to myself on his pork chop night (And not 'Greek' at all, but uses some ingredients you can find at our shop)

• 1/3 of a whole pumpkin
• Fresh green beans - a good handful
• ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• S & P
• Halloumi  195g
• Kalamata Papadimitriou Balsamic Cream

Peel and de-seed pumpkin, cut into 1cm cubes, place in a roasting pan and drizzle all over with olive oil and season well with salt and ground black pepper. Toss to coat. Roast @ 180o C for 15 - 20 minutes, or until golden and cooked through. Leave to cool.

Meanwhile steam the green beans until cooked to your liking, drain and leave to cool also.
Place cooked pumpkin and beans into a serving bowl.Cut the halloumi into fingers and fry in olive oil or coat in flour, egg and breadcrumbs and fry until golden.
Arrange cooked halloumi on top of the pumpkin and beans, drizzle with more olive oil and a lovely swirl of the balsamic cream.

Mm mmm

LAMB BAKED WITH ORZO (YIOUVETSI)

Another one of the Greek guys recipes - absolute comfort food on a plate! 
In Greece,a special clay pot called a yiouvetsi is used to make this dish, hence the name.

• 1 kg lamb bbq/stewing chops,trimmed of fat and cut in half
• 1/3 cup ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• 2 x 400g tinned tomatoes pureed 
• 1 cup water
• 4 garlic cloves,crushed 
• 1/2 tspn sugar
• 500g orzo
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 cup grated Kefalograviera or Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large pan.
Add the meat and cook over medium heat, turning occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned all over.
Add the pureed tomatoes, 1 cup of water, garlic and sugar,season well with salt and lots of pepper. Cover and simmer on low heat for about 1 hour. 
Scatter the uncooked orzo over the base of a large greased ovenproof dish. 
Place the pieces of lamb on top of the orzo. Add 3 cups boiling water to the tomato sauce, mix well and and pour over the lamb and orzo.
Cover the dish with tin foil and bake at 180o C for 1 hour. Check from time to time and add more water if necessary if it starts to dry out. In the last 10 minutes of cooking time, remove the tinfoil and sprinkle all over with the grated cheese.
Return to the oven and bake, until cheese has melted. The liquid should almost have all been absorbed and the pasta al dente.
Serve with a simple salad like maroulasalata. 

Mm mmm, kali orexi!

You can also use beef,pork or chicken instead of the lamb.

POOR MANS SUSHI

An ab fab friend of mine who I have known since kindergarten introduced this to me several years ago (Linda you know who you are x) and it became an absolute favourite of my daughters and I. Don't know why it is called Poor Mans Sushi, but we just call it PMS! 
Luckily for me the night I made it recently, the Greek guy a. is off carbs, so no rice, b. hates raw fish, avocado and soy sauce...so I got to enjoy it all to myself with loads of leftovers for lunch the next day. (he had a pork chop and salad night - no surprises there)

Cook 1 cup sushi rice in the microwave with 1 ¾ cup cold water – cook on high for 10 minutes, stir about half way through.
Once it’s cooked, stir in about 5 - 6 tblspns of sushi vinegar and mix well. Leave to cool slightly. This amount of rice is enough to cover 3 sheets of nori.

Choose to use what you like from the following

• finely sliced fresh salmon or tuna
• smoked salmon
• tinned tuna 
• shredded cooked chicken mixed with a little teriyaki sauce
• slices of avocado
• thinly sliced red capsicum
• thinly sliced Lebanese cucumber (or telegraph)
• thinly sliced sticks of carrot
• sushi mayonnaise (to die for)
• pickled ginger

• nori (seaweed sheets)
• soy sauce
• wasabi

To assemble, place a third of the warm rice onto one seaweed sheet and spread it out with the back of a spoon. Place your fish or chicken in a line about one third of the way up the sheet, top with any of the vegetables, then a generous amount of the mayo. Roll up as firmly as you can, cut in half or smaller if you like, dip in sauces and enjoy.

FALAFEL

A delicious vegetarian meal I love to make! But you just have to think ahead a day or two in order have time to soak the chickpeas. It is definitely worth the effort - canned chick peas just don't turn out the same for me! Serve with tzatziki, tahini, fresh tomatoes and coriander

• 500g dried chickpeas
• 1 x red onion finely diced
• 2 - 3 cloves garlic crushed
• 1 tspn salt
• a few grinds of black pepper
• 1 tspn cumin
• good pinch red pepper flakes
• 1/3 cup parsley finely chopped
• approx 1/4 cup plain flour

Soak chickpeas overnight in cold water. Drain and add to a saucepan with some fresh water, bring to boil, reduce heat and simmer for 1 - 2 hours until they are easy to mash with your fingers. Drain.
Throw everything except the flour into a food processor and pulse until chunky (not pureed) Transfer to a large bowl and gradually add the flour, mixing with your hands, to form a firm dough. Wrap the dough in greaseproof paper and leave in fridge for about an hour (it is worthwhile doing this otherwise the falafel patties can fall apart when you fry them)
Make walnut sized balls of the dough, flatten slightly in your hands and fry in a small pool of preheated ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil on medium/high heat until golden - about 3 minutes each side...
Delish

FRIED HALLOUMI

Absolutely loving this at the moment - but who can seriously resist fried cheese? Serve on a bed of salad leaves and you won't feel so guilty...

195g Axelos Halloumi
flour
1 x beaten egg
panko breadcrumbs
ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
fresh mint and lemon to serve

Slice the Halloumi into 'fingers', cover with a fine dusting of flour, dip in egg then roll in the breadcrumbs.

Heat a small pool of olive oil to medium high heat and fry the fingers a couple of minutes each side until golden and crispy.

Best served on a bed of salad leaves with chopped fresh mint and a squeeze of lemon.

Delissimo

TZATZIKI (pronounced ja-jee-ki)

This is one of the most popular dips in Greece! Of course in Greece they don't need to strain the yoghurt because theirs is the 'real deal' - not like some watery versions we get in the supermarkets here in NZ. By straining the watery liquid out of the yoghurt, the end result is thicker and more like the traditional Greek tzatziki. Mm mmm

• 500g Greek style yoghurt
• 1 x grated unpeeled telegraph cucumber
• 2 cloves garlic crushed (or more if you like it quite garlicky)
• 1/4 tspn salt
• 3 - 4 tblspn ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 x tblspn finely chopped fresh dill 

Strain the yoghurt through a clean tea towel in a sieve for about an hour.
Trim the ends off the cucumber and grate, lightly squeezing any excess water.
Then place all ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly. Refrigerate for a while before serving to allow the flavours to develop.
Serve with an extra sprinkle of fresh dill and some drops of olive oil.
Fabulous with souvlaki, keftedakia, roast lamb, pork chops, barbecued calamari, as a dip or just by the spoonful...
Kali Orexi!!!

LETTUCE & DILL SALAD - MAROULOSALATA

An unbelieveably simple green salad that the Greek guy introduced to me - it is fabulous served alongside practically anything! (And I thought they only eat Greek salad!!!)

• 1 large romaine or cos lettuce
• 3 - 4 spring onions, finely chopped 
• 2 tblspns finely chopped fresh dill
• oil lemon dressing 

Wash lettuce after removing outer leaves. Cut remaining lettuce into very thin strips and place into a salad bowl along with the spring onions and dill. Toss to combine. Refrigerate until ready to serve and just before serving pour the dressing over and toss gently.

Oil lemon dressing - Ladolemono

• 2 tblspn Iliada Extra Virgin Olive Oil 
• 1 tblspn lemon juice
• S & P

Put all ingredients into a screw-top jar, fasten lid and shake until thoroughly blended

GROUND MEAT SAUCE - SALTSA ME KIMA

(Greek version of  'Bolognese' Sauce or as my family calls it 'Spag Bol!)

Incredibly easy - no dried herbs or anything out of the ordinary - the real flavour comes with the good quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil, lots of pepper and the time spent simmering to reduce the sauce.

• 1/4 - 1/3 cup ILIADA extra virgin olive oil
• 1 x red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 500g beef mince
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• pinch of sugar 
• 1 x tblspn Messino Red Wine vinegar
• salt and a lot of pepper 
• finely chopped parsley to serve

Heat the oil in a large pan and add the onion and garlic and stir over low heat until softened, for about 5 minutes.

Add the mince, increase the heat to medium high and cook, breaking up the meat with a fork, for about 15 minutes. Add the tomatoes, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper and stir well, cover and reduce the heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally for about 1 hour. Remove the lid for the last 10 minutes and simmer to allow the sauce to reduce even further.

Belissimo served with spaghetti, sprinkled with chopped fresh Italian parsley and some Italian parmesan or Greek Kefalograviera!

STIFADO

I was looking at an old recipe book of mine and found a recipe for Stifado which I had made for dinner for my sisters 24^th birthday in 1980!!!

Little did I know it was Greek! I was 18 years old at the time, flatting and obviously experimenting with new recipes then.

I remember those flatting days well – the stock standard meal my flatmates and I prepared if we were having friends over was lasagne, coleslaw and garlic bread!

My recipe for Stifado from then used BUTTER to fry the meat in (horror of all horrors – no OLIVE OIL???) I guess we didn’t use much olive oil in NZ in those days…so I have changed the recipe to use olive oil instead!

·      1 kg stewing steak cut roughly into 2 cm chunks (I use gravy beef)

·      salt and pepper

·      ¼ cup ILIADA Extra VirginOlive Oil

·      ½ cup red wine

·      1 tblspn Messino red winevinegar

·      100g tin tomato paste

·      1 tblspn brown sugar

·      250ml beef stock

·      1 x large clove garlic crushed

·      9 x small onions (pickling onions)

·      2 x bay leaves

·      ½ cinnamon stick

·      4 x cloves

Heat the olive oil to a medium/high heat in a heavy based pan. Season steak with the salt and pepper and fry in batches until browned. Put the steak to one side. Add the wine, vinegar, tomato paste, brown sugar, beef stock and garlic to the pan and stir to combine. Return the meat to the pan and give everything a good mix.

Place the peeled onions on top, add the bay leaves, cinnamon stick and cloves, give it all a wee mix, cover with a lid and bake @ 150oC for 2 – 2/12 hours until meat is tender.

Remove the cinnamon stick and bay leaves and serve with a robust pasta such as tagliatelle or parpadelle.

Buon appetito!!!

CARROT CAKE WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

In my early twenties when I worked in a bank, one of the girls in the office decided to start a ‘recipe tree’, where we each chose 5 friends to send one of our own recipes to, and those 5 friends would send one back, so we each ended up with 5 new recipes to try.

This carrot cake recipe that a friend sent me ended up becoming one of those ‘no fail’ recipes that I have made many times over the years…

·      1 cup wholemeal four

·      1 cup plain white flour

·      2 tspns baking soda

·      2 cups raw sugar

·      ¼ tsp salt

·      2 tspns cinnamon

·      1 cup salad oil

·      4 beaten eggs

·      3 cups grated carrot

Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl. Add oil and beaten eggs, stir then add grated carrot and mix thoroughly.

Lightly grease and flour a 22cm ring tin and pour in the mixture.

Bake 180oC for 50 – 60 minutes until cooked through.

When cool, ice with cream cheese icing and decorate with grated lemon rind and walnuts. Mm mmm…

CREAM CHEESE ICING

·      100g cream cheese

·      2 tblspns softened butter

·      1 tspn lemon juice

·      1 – 1 ½ cups icing sugar

Mix cream cheese and butter until well combined, add lemon juice, sift in the icing sugar so there are no lumps and stir. Add a few drops of boiling water from the jug and more icing sugar if necessary until it reaches a nice smooth and thick consistency.

RICE PUDDING (RIZOGALO)

This brings back very fond memories of my childhood when my mother used to make it – the Greek guys mother made the Greek version called Rizogalo for his family! A delicious creamy, milky dessert , best eaten cold, topped with a sprinkle of cinnamon (if you can wait that long!) The lemon flavour gives it a wee zing.  Delish…

• 1/2 cup medium grain rice
• 3 ½ cups full cream milk
•  1/4 cup sugar
•  Very thinly sliced peel of half a lemon ½ tsp vanilla extract

Combine milk, rice, sugar, and lemon peel in a large pot, bring to the boil, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon.

Lower heat to medium low and allow to simmer for 30 – 35 minutes until thick, stirring regularly. Discard the lemon peel.

Remove from heat, mix in the vanilla and pour into small bowls. Place in fridge once it has reached room temperature.

Serve when cold sprinkled with a little cinnamon.

This will last covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.

KALAMATA OLIVE TAPENADE

Want an easy spread to whip up at a moments notice? Delicious on crackers, toast, crostini with avocado...mix with fresh breadcrumbs and stuff mushrooms, then add a slice of mozzarella and bake...thin with olive oil and make a sauce for pasta... mix a little into plain hummus...

• 1 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 1 ½ TBLSPN ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/2 tsp Messino red wine vinegar
• small pinch oregano
• small grind of black pepper 

Blend all together in a food processor until well combined.

Delissimo

KALAMATA OLIVE HUMMUS

One of my favourite dips and so easy to make. Perfect with crackers, on toast, in your sandwich (or just by the spoonful!!!)

• 4 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 cup water
• 3 Tbsp tahini
• 3 Tbsp ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 x 390g can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives
• 1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• dash of cayenne

Combine the lemon juice and water in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, mix the tahini and olive oil together.

Place the chickpeas, olives, garlic, salt, cumin, and cayenne in a food processor and process until almost fully ground. Scrape down the processor bowl.

Add the lemon and water and process. Scrape down the bowl again then add the tahini and oil mixture and process until smooth, about another minute.

Place the hummus into a small bowl, cover and put into the fridge – it will last up to 5 days refrigerated.

Yum...

YIOUVARLAKIA AVGOLEMONO (soup with meatballs with rice and an egg and lemon sauce)

To be honest I was a bit unsure whether I would like this soup when the Greek guy made it for me...I grew up eating 'thicker' soups with lots of veges and a ham bone! But I was pleasantly surprised and really enjoy it - we have been having this a lot this winter, mm mmm.

•     500g beef mince
•     1 small red onion, finely chopped
•     1/4 cup medium grain rice
•     3 TBLSPN parsley, finely chopped
•     2 TBLSPN mint, finely chopped
•     2 TBLSPN ILIADA Extra Virgin Olive Oil
•     salt and 1 tspn ground pepper
•     5 cups beef stock (or water will do)
•    100g butter
•    2 eggs
•    1/4 cup lemon juice

In a big bowl mix the mince, onion, rice, herbs, olive oil, salt and pepper.
Knead the mixture for 3-5 minutes then shape into small balls, the size of a walnut. Place them on a plate and refrigerate for an hour (so they don’t break up while cooking)
In a deep pan put the beef stock or water plus the butter and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs and simmer with lid on for approx 30 mins.
Whisk the eggs and lemon juice in a small bowl, then add 3 TBLSPN of the hot soup liquid, whisking continuously . Pour this avgolemono sauce (egg and lemon sauce) back in to the pan, stirring briskly so you don’t end up with a ‘scrambled egg’ consistency!
Serve immediately. Serves 4-6
Kali Orexi!!!