GREEK RECIPES: GRAPES SPOON SWEET

by.George Portokalakis

HOME COOKING STEP BY STEP:

Grape Spoon Sweet, called Stafyli Glyko

Crete is known for the grape spoon sweets and the raisins!

Spoon sweets, are one of the Mediterranean’s healthiest sweets - as have no fat - served the traditional way, offered to guests served by the teaspoon in a small porcelain or  crystal dish with cold water as a gesture of hospitality!

Made with simple, natural ingredients that transform them into something entirely new, exciting, and delicious. The fruit remain firm and sit in a nice pool of syrup thick enough to coat a spoon.

They are also an excellent match, Greek yogurt,

The following recipe for grape spoon sweet is a specialty of Crete... But whether or not you’ve been to Crete, you can appreciate the rich taste of grape spoon sweets by making them for yourself at your kitchen.

NEEDED:

1000g grapes (sultana kind)

1000g sugar

1 cup water (enough to cover grapes and sugar)

2 springs of “amberosa” (aromatic plant) called rose geranium or if you cannot find this plant vanilla

1/2  a lemon juice

DIRECTIONS

Separate the grapes, remove the stems, wash and drain them

Place the grapes in a pot, the sugar and water

Boil till the syrup binds.

Deep the amberosa leafs or the vanillas stick for 10 minutes in the boiling grapes

Few minutes before is done add the lemon juice (lemon juice is for not allow the sweet be sugared later)

As soon as is done, 

store the desert into clean glass jars and seal tight. Keep jars at a cool place or in the fridge

Enjoy!! 
Questions? Feel free to contact: info@portoclub.gr 

GREEK RECIPES: PANCAKES or TIGANITES

We Cretans call them tiganites which is from the ancient Greek taginites (ταγηνίτης) and they have been a popular breakfast food in Greece since at least the 6^th century B.C. 

by.George Portokalakis

HOME COOKING STEP BY STEP:

What we need:

1 1/2 cups flour (1 cup = 250 g)

1/2 teaspoon salt,

1/2 teaspoon sugar,

1/2 teaspoon baking powder,

A little water: (as much as needed aproximately 1 cup)

or soda water replacing the  baking powder and the water (I prefer to use soda water)

The way we make them

make it to a mush.

Cook it in olive oil

Serve it with sugar and cinnamon 

or honey 

or greap must syrup (greaps molassa) 

Questions? Feel free to contact: info@portoclub.gr 

GREEK RECIPES: WILD GREENS PIE

by.George Portokalakis

HOME COOKING STEP BY STEP

STRIFTOPITA: SPIRAL WILD GREENS PIE

A traditional Greek pie made of thin handmade pastry and filled fresh wild greens or spinach

Sweet memories frommy grand mother and my mother made this savoury pie of greens, herbs, from afamily recipe. My sister and my wife have taken the charge to make it thepresent days:

Greens and herbs are the secret to a successful and fragrant hortopita. In Crete, we have access to a big variety of greens year round so we can enjoy this hearty, nutritious meal any time. (Spinach, fennel leaves, leeks, nettles, dandelion sorrels, white beets, endive leaves, wild chicory, spring onions, dill, parsley, coriander) You can use some of them or all of them at same time.

The combination of greens for this pie (pita = pie), include dandelion, sorrel and white beet greens combine with plenty of green onions and fennel leaves coarsely chopped, parsley and dill, olive oil, salt and pepper and the aromas of Cretan countryside will fill your kitchen.

Needed:

Filling

1000g wild greens and spinach

1 bunch fennel leaves

4-5 spring onions

1 cup finely chopped dill

1 1/2 cup olive oil (1 for the filling + 1/2 for sprinkle before taking the pie in the oven

salt and pepper

Dough:

2 cups flour (1 cup = 250g)

3 tbls olive oil

1 teaspoon salt

Rinse the greens well before adding to the pot. Chop greens and scallions into bite size pieces. You don’t want pieces that are too long in your pie. It just makes the pie harder to eat.

Once the greens are chopped, place the greens in the pan. 

Add the olive oil, salt, pepper 

and cook for approx 15 – 20 minutes or until the greens are wilted down to about a third of their original amount. 

Remove pan from the heat and allow greens mixture to cool before use it to fill the pie.

 I use a 36cm round pan to make the spiral green pie.

Phylo Dough:

Feel free to replace their homemade phylo (easy to make thought) with the store-bought variety and make the pie in a 36cm round baking pan.

It's important to note that the phylo dough doesn’t need to be the extremely thin version we see in pastries, but rather reasonably thin and easily worked dough rich in olive oil.

Mix all the ingredients together. Form long sausages with the rectangle pastry sheets. 

Place them in rounds in the pan. We started our spyral from the centre. 

Form the strips into a continuous spiral. When all the twists have been laid, pour on with olive oil (a completely vegan Lentel version)

Once the green rolls are placed in the pan bake the pita in 180 Celsius / 360 degree oven for approx 45-50 minutes. 
At 20 minutes cooking time, open the oven and quickly, lightly sprinkle the top of the pie with water for a little bit of crunch.

Allow pie to sit for at least 20 minutes after coming out of the oven. Serve warm or at room temperature.

When you are ready to serve the pie, cut it in 5 pieces. The pie is meant to be eaten in spiral bits. 

Questions? Feel free to contact: info@portoclub.gr 

GREEK RECIPES: CHRISTMAS HONEY COOKIES

by.George Portokalakis

HOME COOKING STEP BY STEP:

Melomakarona: Christmas Honey Cookies

Melomakarona are traditional Christmas cookies, wonderfully spiced and soaked in honey-based syrup. Sweet, delicious and addictive! Soft, dipped in honey syrup and covered with chopped walnuts and roasted sesame. One of the most popular treats during the Christmas Holidays and their smell makes every house smell just... Like Christmas!

Melomakarona is a dark, succulent cookie, juicy and dripping honey, walnuts and roasted sesame all over the place and are made with olive oil, honey, orange juice, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, spiced with cinnamon and a shot of brandy and flour. Soaked with simple syrup of honey and water. Walnuts and roasted sesame sprinkled on top 

INGREDIENTS

For the dough (makes 50 - 55 bisquits)

1 1/2 cups (1 cup = 250g) olive oil

1/2 cup margarine (125g) (room temperature)

1 cup sugar (250g)

4 cups flour (1000g)

3/4 cup orange juice (200g)

1/2 cup brandy

2 tea spoon baking powder

1 tea spoon baking soda

1 tea spoon grated orange rind 

1/2 cup wallnuts crushed 

1 tea spoon cinnamon

For the syrup

2 cups honey

2 cups sugar

2 cups water

To Sprinkle:

5 table spoons sesame roasted

2 cups diced walnuts 

1 tea spoon cinammon 

DIRECTIONS

Mix the sugar, margarine and olive oil together and 

whisk them to get a thin white paste.

Add the baking soda (dissolved in the orange juice), 

the orange rind, 

the baking powder,

the crushed walnuts, 

brandy, 

cinnamon 

and the flour little by little 

until we have a soft dough that doesn’t stick to the hands.

Let it stand for half an hour 

and divide into small portions egg size 

which you roll out into sticks 2 -3 cm wide, 6-7 cm long and 1 - 1 ½ cm thick a little thicker in the middle taking like an oval shape.

Bake the sticks at 180o C = 360 Far for approximately 10-15 minutes (depending the oven). 

When done let them cool down

While they are cooling make the syrup.
While the syrup is boiling over low hit ip and soak the melomakarona one by one or two by two in the syrup for 1-2 minutes to absorb syrup and to moisten. Take them out with a slotted spoon

Place them in a large plate
Sprinkle them with the mixture of walnuts / sesame / cinnamon 

Questions? Feel free to contact: info@portoclub.gr