I made my Cranberry sauce with sugar, whole cloves and simmered them until the cranberries popped and the sugars and started to thicken with the pectin in the berries. I then spiked the cranberry sauce with a sweet fortified Greek  wine called Mavrodaphne and finished it with some orange zest and a good squeeze of orange juice. Crostini gets smeared with roasted garlic, baked Brie gets topped with warm cranberry sauce then Brie and cranberry sauce top the garlic and bread. Slip in the mouth and hum with delight then wash down with your favourite sparkling wine.

Baked Brie With Roasted Garlic & Cranberry-Mavrodaphne Sauce

Cranberry-Mavrodaphne Sauce

1- 340gr. package of fresh or frozen cranberries

1 cup of sugar

1 cup of water

3-whole cloves

1/4 cup Mavrodaphne wine (or other fortified red wine)

zest and juice of 1/2 orange

1 round of Brie cheese

some extra-virgin olive oil

splash of sparkling wine

1 head garlic

1. In a small pot, add your water, sugar, cloves and Mavrodaphne and bring up to a boil over medium heat. Now gently drop in the cranberries and return to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes stirring occasionally. Take off the heat and add the orange zest and juice and allow to cool.
2. Pre-heat your oven to 300F and slice a baguette into thin slices and brush both sides with olive oil and place on a baking tray. Now take a hold head of garlic and slice off enough of the top to just expose the garlic cloves and place in some foil, drizzle with olive oil and tightly close the foil around the garlic. Place the Crostinis and garlic in the oven and bake the bread until just toasted and the garlic for about 30 minutes.
3. In the meantime, unwrap your Brie and if it came in a wooden container you may bake it in that or use a Brie baking vessel with a lid. Drizzle the brie with olive oil and some sparkling wine and place the cover on and slip into your oven for 20 minutes.
4. Arrange your Crostini on a platter and carefully squeeze the roasted garlic beside the bread. Place the baked Brie on the platter and pour some cranberry sauce on the baked Brie.
5. Smear roasted garlic on the Crostini then place some hot Brie and cranberry sauce on top and enjoy! Serve with a Domaine Tselepos Amalia Brut Sparkling White.

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Yorkshire Pudding

(makes 12)

12 Tbsp. of beef fat/drippings

6 large eggs, beaten

2 cups of milk

2 tsp. sea salt

2 cups all-purpose flour

Pre-heated 450F oven, middle rack

1. In a bowl, add the eggs and beat with a whisk then add the salt and milk and whisk until blended. Now add the flour and mix until the there are no lumps. Place in the fridge for an hour and return to room temperature before baking.
2. Place a tablespoon of the beef dripping/fat from your Prime Rib’s roasting pan and place in your pre-heated 450F oven for 5 minutes. Carefully remove the muffin tin and pour equal amounts of batter into the muffin tins and place back in the oven. Reduce the temperature to 400F and bake for about 35 minutes or until golden (do not open the oven or the Yorkies will deflate).
3. Remove from the oven and serve on or beside each serving of Prime Rib and serve “au jus” on top.

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

This is a firm cheese, a little spongy and porous, made of sheep’s or goat’s milk and briny with a back-end tang on the palate. It has a colour that ranges from egg-white to yellow. The cheese is in essence a Kefalotyri (salty) that’s shaped like a large head after being strained in cheesecloth then it’s sliced into slabs and place in metal containers with coarse sea salt sprinkled in between each piece and topped with the whey ( or a brine).

Batzos is often enjoyed in the style of “saganaki”, that is to say it’s fried in the two-handled vessel and often flambeed with Tsipouro (local eau de vie) or brandy and finished with a good squeeze of lemon. Fried cheese is enjoyed by most Greeks and those who patronize Greek restaurants order this favourite all the time. You won’t find Batzos here in Toronto but it’s certainly avaialable in Thessaloniki and surrounding regions.

Batzos Saganaki (Μπάτζος Σαγανάκι)

1 piece of Batzo 1/2″ inch thick

1 generous Tbsp. of olive oil

all-purpose flour for dredging

optional for flambe: 1/2 shot glass of Metaxa (brandy) or Ouzo

wedge of lemon

1. Pre-heat a heavy-bottomed skillet (a cast-iron pan works very well) to a medium-high heat. Place your slab of cheese under running tap water then dredge in all-purpose flour. Shake off any excess flour.
2. Add your olive oil to the skillet. Add a sprinkle of flour into the pan to test if the oil is hot enough. As soon as it sizzles, add your cheese to the skillet and sear for a couple of minutes. Carefully flip the cheese with a spatula and allow to sear for a couple of minutes on the other side.
3. Turn off your heat source and carefully carry your cheese saganaki to your table and pour the brandy ( or Ouzo) over the cheese and ignite with a lighter. Move your head back, shout “OPA” and squeeze the wedge of lemon over the cheese.
4. Serve immediately with crusty bread, some Ouzo on ice.

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© 2011 – 2012, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

In Greece, one would order a “horiatiki” or village salad. The Greek Salad outside of Greece is also known as a “Greek” or you’ll see it on menus as a “Village” Salad. When ordering a Greek salad it’s always good to read the menu card carefully or ask the waiter what’s in the salad. If you don’t, you mat see a salad arrive that also contains….iceberg lettuce (gasp).

A Village (Greek) Salad should not contain lettuce of any kind and for the record, iceberg is not indigenous to Greece and it’s arrival to Greek supermarkets came after Greece’s markets were opened-up to a flood of produce and goods from the rest of Europe in the early 90′s. Here in Canada and the US many Greek restauranteurs have added lettuce as filler and to add insult to injury – bland tomatoes tossed with suspect olive oil and Feta cheese of dubious origins. Much of the blame is pointed towards Greek restaurants in the West who have dumbed-down Greek food, added filler (like iceberg) and continue to serve inferior Greek food. Ask the server what olive oil they use, where’s the Feta from and taste the tomatoes. Here’s my revenge on lame Greek restaurants…send the Greek salad back if you’re not satisfied.

Greeks are often asked what we put in our Greek Salad that makes it so delicious and Greeks will agree with me when we snicker before we respond. I’ve also been asked to bring a “Greek Salad” to parties or to pot-luck lunches or dinners. Could it get more easier? The Greek Salad is easy to pull off and even easier to screw-up!

The proper Village Salad contains tomatoes, cucumbers, onions, peppers, olives, olive oil and Feta cheese, oregano. No lettuce of any kind. This simplistic Village Salad will earn you major points but if you want your dinner guests to laud you, go the extra mile to assemble this otherwise easy salad.

Make this salad with ripe, in-season tomatoes. I may make a Village Salad as early as April when decent hot-house tomatoes arrive and as late as early October when the last of the local, vine-grown tomatoes are in the markets. A tasty, ripe tomato will make or break your salad. I like to use red onions as they are mild (they don’t repeat on me) and I like the colour and natural sweetness. Then there’s cucumbers….whole slices or cut into halves – your choice. I also like my cucumber with the skin on – just more flavourful but again, your prerogative. There’s slices of green pepper and you can use bell peppers, banana peppers or red, yellow or orange peppers if you don’t like green peppers.

That rounds-out the vegetable component of your Village Salad. On to the dressing. The dressing…the non-recipe. The dressing is the best, BEST Greek extra-virgin olive oil you can find. Here it Canada, I recommend Acropolis Organics, Christine Cushing’s two olive oils, Kalikori and Artemis olive oil. There are many quality olive oils out (especially the Greek ones) and I encourage to try one of them, you’ll taste the difference and for Heaven’s sake…you’re making a Greek salad…use a Greek olive oil.

The proper Greek salad does not contain wine vinegar or lemon juice but a splash of good wine vinegar or squeeze of lemon juice is totally acceptable. What isn’t acceptable is to use any Feta cheese that contains cow’s milk. It’s a sin, it’s not really Feta and you’re just short of eating cottage cheese. Use a Feta cheese that’s made in Greece with goat, sheep or a combo of both these milks to make the Feta. Perfectly aware that not everyone lives in a part of the country with Greeks and therefore no Greek deli or market, then look for a domestic Feta that at least is made of goat or sheep’s milk. NO COW’S MILK FETA!

You’re going to need a sprinkle of sea salt, some pungent dried Greek oregano and a garnish of Kalamata olives.  You may certainly use your favourite olive and I on occasion top my Greek salad with the wrinkly, salt-cured Throumpa from Halkidiki. Other variances to a Greek salad made be witnessed while in Greece: In the Cyclades (islands) I’ve seen the Greek salad topped with Anthotyro, a tangy ricotta cheese and the islanders will also often garnish with some local capers (also acceptable). I’ve added a handful of purslane that’s growing wild in my garden, adds to the salad without being distracting.

Village (Greek) Salad (Χωριατικη Σαλατα)

(serves 4)

2 large, ripe tomatoes, rinsed & cut into 6 wedges

1 cucumber, washed well and sliced

2 sweet banana pepper, sliced or 1/2 cup sliced green bell pepper

1 medium red onion, thinly sliced

12 Kalamata olives

extra-virgin olive oil to taste

Feta cheese, served in cubes, batons or slabs

sea salt to taste

2 tsp. dried Greek oregano

garnish of capers or purslane (optional)

1. Add your tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers and onions in a large bowl along with the olives and sprinkle some sea salt. Now drizzle in some olive oil and sprinkle some dried Greek oregano. Top with Feta and olives, drizzle a bit more olive oil on the Feta and sprinkle some Greek oregano on it. Garnish with  capers or some purslane from the garden.
2. Serve with good crusty bread.

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.

After sitting down for a coffee and getting settled into our seats, I noticed one of the gals behind the counter piping some creme patisserie onto layers of puff pastry. As it turns out, she’s also been to Toronto and stayed at her uncle’s place. Her uncle is someone I know in Toronto. BINGO! Another connection in Thessaloniki.

Thessaloniki is littered with cafe’s and shops where one can stop in for a brief drink, snack or both or simply grab something to take with you on the go. Yesterday I had the good fortune to enjoy a coffee at the Paradosiako deli in Thessaloniki’s shopping district, just south of Tsimiski. In Greek “Paradosiako” means traditional and although the shop(s) are new there’s an eye towards tradition and making things from scratch like their coffees, sandwiches, tarts and other desserts. Next time I’m going to try out their Mille Feuille and their yummy croissants are some of the best I’ve seen in the city!

This central location of Paradosiako is great for people watching, friendly and attentive service and in case you’re not in the center of the city, there are a few other Paradosiako stores out there.

enjoy this slide show I’ve prepared for you and i’m sure this will give you yet one more reason to visit Thessaloniki!

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© 2011, Peter Minakis. All rights reserved. If you are not reading this post in a feed reader or at http://kalofagas.ca then the site you are reading is illegally publishing copyrighted material. Contact me at truenorth67 AT gmail DOT COM. All recipes, text and photographs in this post are the original creations & property of the author.