GREEK ORTHODOX EASTER

Christ Has Risen from the Dead

A very happy Easter to all Orthodox Christians, around the world.  To followers of other Christian denominations and other religions, may they have a lovely, peaceful Sunday with their families and friends.

Our heart goes out to all who are sick, grieving and impoverished.  May they soon recuperate from their illnesses or injuries, find comfort and peace, and may all their financial problems be satisfactorily solved.  

We cannot forget countries that are at war, where, daily, many innocent people are being killed and injured due to animosity, greed, extremism and religious intolerance.

So, let us all pray for better circumstances in this troubled world, where love, peace, friendship and sanity will and must predominate.

Christos Anesti!!

Here are a few recipes for typically Greek, Easter dishes.

                                       TRADITIONAL EASTER SOUP
                                

 After the Easter midnight service, the fast for lent is broken with magheritsa, a delicious and comforting soup.

1 kg (2 lb) lamb offal such as liver, lung, heart or substitute with a leg of lamb or use both in equal quantities                                                      

5-6 spring onions, finely chopped

2 cups cos lettuce, finely chopped

2 tbsp butter

125 ml (½ cup) white wine

Salt and pepper to taste

6 tbsp short grain rice

3-4 tbsp dill, finely chopped

4 egg yolks, or 2 whole eggs separated, whites whipped into soft peaks

2 lemons, juice only, according to taste

 Cover the lamb offal or meat with cold water and bring to the boil. Strain and discard the water.  Add enough hot water to cover the meat, sprinkle with1 tbsp of salt and simmer for 30 minutes.   Strain, refrigerate and de-grease the stock and chop the lamb into very small dice.

Sauté the spring onions and lettuce in butter. Remove the lettuce and reserve.  Stir in the meat and cook for about 10 minutes, drizzle with the wine and cook for 3 minutes more or until the alcohol evaporates.  Pour in the hot stock, let it come to the boil, taste and season with salt and pepper, if necessary.  Add the rice and the reserved lettuce, and simmer for 10 minutes.  Then add the dill and cook 10 minutes more, until the rice is cooked.

Just before serving, bring the soup to the boil and remove the saucepan from the stove.   Beat the egg yolks and, if the whole eggs are used, gently fold in the whites, pour in the lemon juice and stir. Very slowly, pour 1½ - 2 cups hot stock into the egg mixture, beating constantly, and pour it back into the saucepan and give it a swirl.

Return the saucepan to very low heat and keep on stirring.  Do not let the soup boil!  Taste and add more salt, freshly ground pepper and lemon juice, if necessary.

                                         EASTER MUSHROOM SOUP

                                             

This is a delicious vegetarian soup if it is prepared with olive oil and vegetable stock.  It has been inspired by “magheritsa”,  without the avgolemono.

  

500 g (1 lb) fresh mushrooms finely chopped

1 dried porcini, soaked and chopped, soaking water strained and reserved

2 tbsp olive oil or butter

1 medium onion, grated

1 clove garlic, finely chopped

2 tbsp flour

The tender leaves of 1 cos lettuce, shredded

1 tbsp dill or fennel, chopped

3-4 spring onions, trimmed and finely chopped

250 ml (1 cup) white wine

1.500 litres (6 cups) well-seasoned vegetable or chicken stock

Lemon juice to taste

Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated nutmeg, optional

In a medium saucepan sauté the grated onion in 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter.   Add the fresh mushrooms, the porcini and garlic, and cook until all the liquid evaporates.   Stir in the flour and cook for 2-3 minutes more.  Then pour in half the wine and keep on stirring, until the wine evaporates.   Pour in 2 ladlefuls of chicken or vegetable stock, the reserved porcini liquid, a little grated nutmeg, if using, and simmer for about 15 further minutes.  It should, now, have the consistency of a thick mushroom sauce.

  

 In a large saucepan, sauté the spring onions in the remaining oil or butter, add a pinch of salt and the shredded lettuce and cook for 3 minutes more.   Pour in the remaining wine and let it evaporate.   Add the remaining stock and simmer, until the vegetables are almost done and combine with the mushroom mixture.

   

Add the chopped fennel or dill and cook the soup for 5 minutes more.  Drizzle with lemon juice, according to taste, and sprinkle with salt, if necessary.   Also, add a little hot water if the soup is too thick.   Bring the soup to a gentle simmer, sprinkle with freshly ground black pepper and serve immediately.

             LIVER COOKED WITH LEMON AND SUGAR FROM CEPHALONIA

If you like liver, do try this dish.

500 g (1 lb) liver, trimmed and cut into small slices 1.25 cm (½ inch) thick

Plain flour

About 62.5 ml (¼ cup) olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 tbsp sugar or more, diluted in

2 tbsp lemon juice, or according to taste, and

125 ml (1/2 cup) water or more

Coat the liver in flour and shake off the excess.   Heat the olive oil in a frying pan, and fry the liver for 1-2 minutes on each side.  Do not overcook.  Sprinkle with salt, remove from the frying pan and keep hot.

Discard almost all the oil from the frying pan.   Pour in the lemon, sugar and water mixture scraping any brown bits with a spatula.  Stir and boil the sauce briskly, then taste and adjust with more lemon juice, water and sugar, if needed.

 

 Return the liver to the frying pan and barely simmer until thoroughly heated, making sure that each slice is coated with the delicious sauce.   Taste once more for seasoning and adjust, if necessary.  Serve with a salad of your choice and warm, crusty bread.

                             LEG OF LAMB BAKED IN BAKING PARCHMENT

Thanking the BBC for this Photo

This is a favourite meal and very easy to prepare.

A 2 kg (4 lb) leg of lamb, trimmed of excess fat

1 lemon, juice only

Salt and pepper to taste

½ tbsp fresh oregano or rosemary

1-2 cloves of garlic, sliced

150 g (5 oz) kefalotyri or pecorino cheese, cut into tiny sticks 

50 g (1¾ oz) butter

Place the leg of lamb on a large piece of baking parchment.  Rub it with lemon juice and sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano or rosemary.

Make small slits in the meat and fill them with garlic slices and cheese sticks.  Dot the lamb with butter, fold the baking parchment over, and wrap it in foil.

Roast the leg of lamb in an oven preheated to 190 C (375 F) for 1½ hours. Then uncover the meat and roast it for 15 minutes more or until golden brown.   Serve with roast potatoes and a green salad.

         BABY LAMB ROASTED WITH RAISINS, PETIMEZI AND CRAKED WHEAT

Thank you, Anna, for this superb recipe!   Anna Traiphorou lives permanently in the castle town of Monemvassia.  She is charming, intelligent, a wonderful mother and a fabulous cook.   

1½ kg (3 lb) lamb from the chest including part of the chops, split but not divided into serving portions

500 g (1 lb) cracked wheat

Marinade ingredients:

2 tbsp petimezi (grape-must syrup)

1sprig of rosemary

1 sprig of fresh oregano

2 cloves garlic

1 liqueur glass of red vermouth

One 2 ½ cm (1 inch) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced

200 g (about 7 oz) raisins, stems removed

125 ml (1/2 cup) olive oil

1 tbsp salt or according to taste

Freshly ground black pepper

A pinch of dried chilli-flakes

2 Florina peppers, sliced and de-seeded

250 ml (1 cup) hot water or more if necessary.

Mix all the marinade ingredients well together.   Place the lamb in a dish, pour the marinade over, and rub the meat all over.  Cover the dish with cling film and refrigerate overnight.

The next day, heat the oven to 250 C (480 F).  Form the chops into a crown and roast for 30 minutes, so that it browns all over.  Also, discard the ginger from the marinade and reserve.

Lower the heat to 180 C (350 F).   Add the water, cover the meat with baking parchment and a deep inverted baking tin that fits snugly, and roast for almost 1½ hours.    When the meat is almost ready, add the cracked wheat in any empty space of the tin where the cooking liquid accumulates, pour in a little of the reserved marinade and cook for 30 minutes more, stirring occasionally.  Taste for doneness, adding a little hot marinade, if necessary.  Stuff the crown with cracked wheat and serve with grated kefalotyri or pecorino.  

                 ROAST LEG OF KID WITH ORANGE JUICE AND BRANDY

This is an easy and tasty dish.  

2 kg (4 lbs) leg of kid

Salt and pepper

2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

Marinade:

500 ml (2 cups) orange juice

125 ml (½ cup) brandy

2 small garlic cloves

A piece of orange rind

A sprig of thyme

A few peppercorns

2-3 tbsp butter cut in small pieces

A little olive oil

Hot water

Simmer and cool the marinade ingredients.  Discard the orange rind and pour over the meat.  Refrigerate for at least 8 hours, turning the meat over once or twice.

The next day, strain the marinade and reserve.   Pat the meat dry, season with salt and pepper and place it in a covered roasting tin, large enough to hold it comfortably.   Sprinkle half the butter pieces over, and pour a little olive oil and 1/3 of the marinade around it. 

Roast the meat in a hot oven preheated to 200 C (about 400 F) for the first ½ hour.  Turn it over, dot with the remaining butter and pour some marinade around it, to prevent it from burning.  Return it to the oven, and roast, keeping the same temperature, for the next ½ hour. 

Reduce the heat to 180 C (350 F), sprinkle the kid with the remaining marinade and chopped rosemary. Add some hot water around it.  Cover the tin and roast the meat, at 180 C (350 F), until tender.  During this period, turn it over, at least once, adding hot water, when and if required.    Remove the meat from the roasting tin and keep it hot.  

Skim off the fat and deglaze the baking dish with hot water. Pour the liquid through a fine strainer into a small saucepan.  Boil the liquid rapidly to reduce it slightly. Taste it, and if it is too salty, add a little hot water and thicken with flour.

Carve the meat and serve it with gravy, roast potatoes and a green salad.

     ROAST LEG OF LAMB WITH MUSTARD WINE AND A TOUCH OF GARLIC

This recipe was given to me by our Elpida’s beloved Mother and my very dear friend Lina Diakopoulos.

2 legs and 1 shoulder of lamb, all visible fat removed

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large garlic clove, peeled and minced with

1 ½ tbsp mustard

1 tbsp butter cut into small pieces

500 ml (2 cups) sweet white wine

Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F).   Sprinkle the lamb with salt and pepper and rub it all over with the garlic and mustard mixture and place in the Dutch oven.   Pour in the sweet white, dot with butter and roast, covered for about 1 ½ hour until the meat is tender and succulent.

Serve sliced with gravy, roast potatoes and a zesty green salad.   

                                  

         SHREDDED LETTUCE WITH FINELY CHOPPED SPRING ONIONS AND DILL

The title is almost all you need for preparing this plain but delicious Greek spring salad.

 1 large cos lettuce, trimmed, washed, patted dry and shredded

2 spring onions, trimmed, and finely sliced

1 tbsp finely chopped dill

Vinaigrette:

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp good wine vinegar
1 tsp mustard with honey

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

(Whip everything together until thick)

Place the salad ingredients in a salad bowl.  Just before serving, drizzle with the vinaigrette and toss gently, but thoroughly.

                                             STRAWBERRY PAVLOVA

This is a recipe for my favourite dessert.

6 egg whites of medium-sized eggs

A pinch of salt

300 g (10 oz) caster sugar

1 tsp vinegar to make the meringue chewier (optional)

1 tsp vanilla essence

500 g (1 lb) whipped cream

500 g (1 lb) hulled strawberries, sliced in half

Several whole strawberries

60 g (2 oz) dark chocolate or milk chocolate if preferred, melted

Whip the egg whites with a little salt to the soft peak stage, add the sugar by the spoonful, whipping constantly until the mixture is thick and glossy.  Add the vinegar, if using, and the vanilla and beat for a minute more until well combined.

Line a tin with baking parchment and trace two circles 26 cm (10 in) in diameter each, and brush with oil.   Pipe the meringue on the traced circles, forming two equal disks. 

Bake in an oven preheated to 150 C (285 F) for about 1 hour.  Then, turn off the heat and leave the meringues in the oven until the next day, when they will be completely cold.

Place one meringue disk on a serving dish, spread with a third of the whipped cream and arrange the sliced strawberries evenly over.  Cover with the second disk and garnish the Pavlova, attractively. with the remaining whipped cream and whole strawberries, dipped in melted chocolate.

                                                   EASTER BREAD

Tsoureki

If you cannot find mastic and mahleb, just use freshly grated lemon or orange rind.

1 kg (2 lb)  plain flour

250 g (1/2 lb) soft butter, cut into small pieces

250 ml (1 cup) warm milk

4 eggs

150 g (¾ cup) sugar

19-20 g (2 packets) dry yeast

1 tsp freshly grated lemon rind

1 tsp mahleb

1 tsp powdered mastic

1 egg beaten with a little water

2-3 tbsp almond flakes for garnishing

Place all the ingredients (except the butter and salt) in a mixer and beat for 2 minutes at low speed.  Then raise the speed and add the butter gradually and salt and beat until the dough forms a ball around the pastry hook.

 

Remove the dough from the mixer, shape it into a ball, cover with a cloth and a small blanket, and let it rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk.

Then knead the dough for 10 minutes, using a little flour, if necessary.  Shape into buns or loaves, or both, cover and set them aside to prove.  When almost doubled in bulk brush with the egg and water mixture, and sprinkle with almond flakes.

Bake in an oven preheated to 190 C (375 F) for about 20 minutes for the buns and 30-40 minutes for the loaves.

From the Kifissia Flower Show