Please take the time to prepare the following dishes, you will certainly not regret it.
SAVOURY CAKE
Do prepare this delicious, tasty cake. You can use any kind of cheese and chopped ham if you prefer.
1 cup plain flour
1/2 cup wholemeal flour
2 tsp baking powder
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Snipped chives
4 eggs
125 g butter
300 g feta, crumbled
125 ml (1/2 cup) cream
Heat the oven to 180 C (350 F) and butter a loaf tin and sprinkle it with flour.
Whip the eggs until pale and fluffy, fold in the butter, feta, season with salt and pepper and chives and add the flour mixture and cream alternately. Scape the batter into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 45 minutes or until a tester inserted in the centre of the cake come out clean.
Serve warm with a cup of coffee, fruit-infused tea or, why not with a glass of excellent white wine.
HERB BREAD
Do make this aromatic, tasty bread!
750 g (3 cups) plain
flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 packet active yeast
2 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
2 tbsp snipped chives
1 tbsp chopped thyme leaves
312.5 ml (1 ¼ cups) warm water
2 tbsp butter
Mix 2 cups flour with the sugar, salt and
yeast in a large bowl. Add the herbs
and the warm water and beat slowly adding the remaining cup of flour until
smooth.
Scrape the batter from the ridges of the
bowl cover and let prove for 35 minutes, until doubled in bulk. Punch the dough down, and knead for 3-4
minutes. {lace the dough in a greased
loaf tin, cover and let it rise once more for 30 minutes more or until doubled
in bulk and bake in an oven preheated to 180 C (350 F) for 40-45 minutes. Brush
the top with butter and remove from the pan to cool, before using.
A delightful main dish.
8 rashers lean bacon
2 tbsp garlic scented olive oil
500 g (1 lb) mushrooms, whipped, trimmed and sliced
250 g (½ lb) chicken
thighs, skinned, boned and cut into bite-sized pieces
90 g (3 oz) plain flour
1½ tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp butter
2 liqueur glasses Metaxa brandy
500 ml (2 cups) tasty chicken stock
Freshly ground black pepper to taste but be sparing with the
salt, due to the chicken stock
1 sheet kanaki puff pastry
Preheat oven to 180 C (350 F) and sauté the bacon in olive
oil until crisp. Then add the mushrooms
and let them simmer gently, in the pan, with the bacon. Toss the chicken pieces in flour and thyme
until well coated and cook them in butter until brown. Pour in the brandy and when the alcohol evaporates
pour in the hot chicken stock stirring until a sauce is formed and let it bubble
for 5 minutes until is thickens.
Spoon the mixture into a round Pyrex dish. Cut the puff pastry into a circle larger than
the dish’s circumference, brush with a
little water for that it sticks to the dish and frees with your fingers to make
a fluted pattern.
Brush with butter and bake for about 30 minutes or more
until puffed and golden.
SWEET AND SOUR CHICKEN
This is a low calory dish which I hope you will enjoy
Chicken stock
1 onion, halved and thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tsp grated fresh ginger root
2 skinned chicken breasts cut into strips
2 capsicum peppers deseeded and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 carrot, peeled and cut into matchsticks
Sauce:
1 ½ tbsp vinegar
Sugar to taste
1 tsp tomato paste
½ cup chicken stock
Sweetener of your choice
(Stir well to combine)
Heat a little chicken stock, in a wok, add the onion and
garlic and cook for 2-3 minutes approximately until the onions turn
translucent.
Add the chicken and cook on all sides, pouring in more and chicken
stock if necessary. Add the ginger,
peppers and carrots and cook for 2 minutes more. Finally, stir in the sauce ingredients and
simmer gently for 2 minutes more.
An impressive and tasty dish.
20 medium-sized onions, parboiled, peeled, a thin slice
removed from the top and 3 – 4 inner rings scooped out and reserved
Filling:
500 g minced beef or veal
Olive oil, separated
1 cup of reserved onion rings, finely clopped
4 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 carrot, peeled and finely grated
250 ml (1 cup) dry white wine
Tasty chicken stock
1 cup chopped parsley
1 heaped tbsp. chopped dill
1 tsp chopped mint
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Béchamel Sauce:
2 tbsp butter
1 bay leaf
2 tbsp plain flour
2 cups hot milk
½ cup grated San Mihalis or Parmesan cheese
2 eggs separated, whites whipped to soft peaks with a pinch
of salt
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Nutmeg, grated
Salt and pepper to taste
Prepare the béchamel,
melt butter with the bay leaf, sift in the flour and stir for3-4 minutes, to
prevent the taste of raw flour. Then add
the milk, in portions, stirring and cooking each time until the sauce bubbles
and thickens. Discard the bay leaf and remove sauce from the heat to cool a
little. Then, stir in the cheese and add
the beaten[J1]
egg yolks until very well combined. Taste
and season with freshly ground black pepper and grated nutmeg, and salt if
necessary. Finally, gently fold in the
whipped egg whites
For the filling, sauté meat and cook, stirring, until it
changes colour the add the onion, the spring onions and the carrot and cook,
stirring until the meat turns crumbly.
Pour in the wine and cook for 3-4 minutes until the alcohol evaporates.
Then season with pepper and nutmeg, but be sparing with salt. Cover with chicken broth and simmer covered
for about 10 minutes then stir in the herbs. Simmer for 10-15 minutes more or
until the meat is cooked and dry. Taste
once more and add a little salt, if necessary.
Place the onion cups in a buttered pyrex dish. Brush them
with olive oil, sprinkle them lightly with salt and fill them with the
stuffing. Pipe a pretty pattern with
béchamel on the top, sprinkle with grated cheese, dot with butter and bake in a
oven preheated to 180 C (350 F) for about 20 minutes on until the onions are
soft and top puffed and golden.
TWO LAYER CHOCOLATE CAKE
A superb chocolate dessert.
180 g (6 oz) bitter dark chocolate, melted
180 g (6 oz) butter
625 g (1 ¼ lb) sugar
4 eggs
1 vanilla
250 g(½ lb) plain flour sifted with
1½ tsp baking powder
A pinch of salt
250 ml (1 cup) milk
Ganache:
210 g (7 oz) dark chocolate (I use Ygeias Pavlidou a lovely
Greek chocolate), chopped
210 ml (7 fl oz) cream
2 tsp Greek honey
(Heat the cream almost to the boiling point, pour over the
chopped chocolate and the honey and whip well until thick and shiny. Cool)
Preheat oven to 190 C (375 F). Brush a cake tin with butter and layer the
base with buttered baking parchment.
Beat the sugar and butter until, light and creamy and add the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then fold in the melted chocolate and the vanilla. Add the flour in three portions alternately with the milk mixing very well each time.
Scrape into the prepared tin and bake
for 35-40 minutes or until a tester inserted in the centre of the cake comes out
clean. Remove from the oven and reverse
the cake on a rack to cool.
Spread the top of the cold cake with ganache and garnish with any fruit of your choice, cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
PUMPKIN CHEESECAKE
A delightful dessert.
Crust:
90 g (3 oz) cinnamon biscuits, thinly blended
60 g (2 oz) butter at room temperature
Filling:
1 kg (2 lb) pumpkin, peeled, seeded and baked until soft and
blended to a smooth puree
600 g (1lb 4 oz) cream cheese, whipped with
300 g (10 oz) icing sugar
Cinnamon to taste
A pinch of salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 small tub of cream whipped to soft peaks
Mix the cinnamon biscuits crumbs with the butter well
together and press evenly on the base of a springform tin.
Mix all the filling ingredients, except the cream, well
together. Then gently, but thoroughly fold in the cream.
Pour the filling over the crust, level the surface, cover
with cling film and ice for 4 hours at least.
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