Kalofagas - Greek Food & Beyond » Cheese

Phyllo-Feta Cigars With Agourida & Niagara Ice Syrup Salad Dressing

Peter Minakis — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 12:28:56 +0000

There’s alot of good things happening with this salad, you’re gonna learn a couple of things, be frugal and fancy all in one dish! The centerpiece of the salad is the phyllo cigars filled with Feta cheese, walnuts and almonds, some lemon zest and ground anise. There’s more licorice flavour echoed in the salad greens as I’ve added some sliced fennel bulb, tossed with salad.

The dressing is where we get creative. Ever buy some grapes only to find that they are so tart that they make your face pucker when you taste them? You want those grapes for what we’re making here…verjuice or agourida in Greek. When one makes a salad you need fat (olive oil) and acid, which is usually vinegar or lemon juice. The acid in this instance is the agourida made from tart white grapes and made by simply plucking the tart grapes off the stems, placing them in a food processor and then straining them. What you’re left with is a tart green-hued liquid called verjuice or agourida in Greek!

So, if life gives you no lemons, make an agourida – same dressing ratios…I like 3 parts oil to 1 part acid and I always add a little mustard to emulsify the dressing. Keeping with the grapes, we’re going for balance in the salad as I’m using a unique ingredient from the Niagara wine region called ice syrup.

Ice syrup was created by Steve Murdza who instead of making ice wine with the frozen grapes he turned them into ice syrup. Much like with ice wine, the grapes are left on the vines through part of the winter and when the temperature hits -8 Celicius, they can be picked then turned into sweet grape juice with the fermentation being bypassed (that’s when ice wine is made).

This salad is about contrasts: crunchy baked phyllo filled with soft Feta cheese, tart agourida balanced by the sweet nectar of Niagara ice syrup. Greek extra-virgin olive oil, walnuts and almonds, sliced grapes and some sultana raisins, ground anise in the cheese filling and some sliced fennel in the salad. I loved this salad and I’m looking forward to making it for family and friends in the near future!

Phyllo-Feta Cigars With Agourida & Niagara Ice Syrup Salad Dressing

(serves 4)

4 sheets of thawed commercial phyllo

1/2 stick melted butter

Filling

4 sticks/batons of Feta cheese

1/4 cup chopped almonds

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

zest of 1/2 lemon

ground anise

Dressing

2 Tbsp. verjuice (agourida)

1/2 tsp. Dijon-style mustard

1/4 cup extra-virgin Greek olive oil

1 small clove of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh chives

fine sea salt and fresh ground pepper

garnish

sultana raisins

halved grapes

sesame seeds

Niagara ice syrup

4-6 cups of mixed salad greens, rinsed and spun-dry

1/2 fennel bulb, thinly sliced

Ensure you’re using tart, unripe grapes to make the agourida (verjuice). Rinse the grapes, pick off the stems and place in a food processor and whiz until a purée. Pass through a strainer and you’ve your tart verjuice/agourida.
Take your thawed phyllo out of the fridge and pre-heat your oven to 350F. Cut your phyllo vertically into two, brush each sheet of phyllo and place one sheet on top of the other.
Cut your sticks of Feta to about 1 inch smaller than the width of your phyllo and place near the bottom of sheet. Sprinkle the chopped nuts above the cheese, grate some lemon zest and sprinkle some ground fennel. Now fold the bottom flap of phyllo over the cheese and tuck-in the sides and roll-up. Brush with butter and place on a baking sheet and bake in your oven for about 15 minutes or until golden.
In the meantime, wash and dry your salad greens, slice the fennel and place in a bowl. Place your verjuice, mustard, olive oil in a jar along with the garlic, chives, salt and pepper and place the lid on and shake to emulsify. Taste and adjust seasoning, oil to acid ratio.
When the phyllo cigars are golden, take out of the oven and now toss your salad with the dressing. Cut your phyllo cigar in half on the bias, place on your plated greens. Garnish with grape halves, sultana raisins, sprinkle with sesame seeds and drizzle with Niagara ice syrup.

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© 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.

Salad of Smoked Eggplant Dressing With Graviera Croutons & Roasted Peppers

Peter Minakis — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 12:23:41 +0000

I love eggplant and it especially excels when its given a smoky flavour. The best way to do that is by blackening or charring it – ideally over a charcoal grill but a gas grill or stove-top works pretty good too. Broiling eggplant in the oven doesn’t do the job, save your time. When charring eggplants, I always prick them with a fork or a knife because often (but not always) they burst if you do not pierce them. Tough this cooking business, huh?

Since the eggplant is charred I also blackened some red peppers because I love them with crusty bread and Feta cheese and in this instance, they are going to join the smoky eggplant doing double-duty in this hearty salad that becomes creamy with the use of eggs or mayo. Eggplant is like a sponge and in this case they are absorbing garlic, chives, extra-virgin olive oil and good red wine vinegar.

This salad is rounded-out with some ground walnuts and topped with some fried Graviera cheese, the Gruyere of Greece. A firm Kasseri, Kefalograviera or Halloumi cheese would also work in a pinch! I’m using a slender Japanese eggplant because it is sweet and rarely any bitterness. Japanese eggplants are similar to the DOP Tsakonian eggplants from Leonidio, Arcadia.

Salad of Smoked Eggplant Dressing With Graviera Croutons & Roasted Peppers

serves 4-6

1 Tsakonian or slender Japanese eggplant

1 clove of garlic, minced

approx. 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

2-3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

1/4 finely chopped chives (or scallions)

1 cup of cubed Graviera cheese

water

all-purpose flour

1 cup of bitter greens (arugula), rinsed & pat-dried

1 head of Romaine lettuce, hand-torn, rinsed & pat-dried

1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts

2 roasted red peppers

fine sea salt and fresh ground pepper

Pre-heat your gas or charcoal grill (or gas stove-top) and poke the eggplant a few times and char/blacken the entire surface of the eggplant. Simultaneously char/blacken the red peppers in the same fashion (you do not have to pierce the peppers). Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic and place the charred eggplant on a plate to cool.
Once the eggplant has cooled, slice it open with a knife and remove the smoky meat with a spoon and roughly chop and place in a bowl. Add the minced garlic, chives, pinch of salt and the olive oil and vinegar in stages while stirring. Adjust with salt and pepper and set aside.
Remove the cooled peppers from the bowl and peel the charred skins and discard along with the stems and seeds. Slice and toss in some sea salt and olive oil and reserve.
Dip your cubes of Graviera cheese in a bowl of water then dredge in all-purpose flour and then place some oil in a pan and fry the cheese for a bout a minute a side or until golden. Fry in batches and reserve on paper-lined platter.
To assemble your salad, add about 1/4 cup of the dressing to the greens and toss until incorporated. Add more dressing to taste, some ground walnuts and toss and divide and serve or present in a large bowl or platter. Arrange the ribbons of red peppers on top along with the fried Graviera cheese and serve. Serve with a chiiled Boutari Moschofilero.

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Phyllo Pies For Sale!

Peter Minakis — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 01:08:57 +0000

This is one of the most exciting moments since this blog first began back in May of 2007. After many hours of learning the craft of making homemade phyllo, I am confident enough to be able to make it on my own with consistency and some degree of speed. I am indebted to y Mother who taught me this craft, art, technique which is not made by hand less and less as the years march on.

I am now selling Spanakopita (spinach and cheese), Tyropita (cheese) pitas, all made with hand-made, opened/stretched phyllo. The Spanakopita’s filling is made of spinach, Feta and ricotta cheeses, eggs, salt, pepper, scallions and fresh dill.

The Tyropita contains Feta and ricotta cheeses, eggs, salt and pepper and it is available in both rectangular and round trays. The round Tyropita is what us northern Greeks call a Boureki and it’s also called a Strifti pita. In English i is known as a spiral pie.

I am also offering a sweet Bougatsa…a Greek breakfast and snack offering. Adults and kids will indulge in Bougatsa in the morning be it in the store where it’s made or taken “paketo” with them. My Bougatsa is made just like in Greece with hand-made phyllo, semolina cream filling and baked until golden and flaky. All you have to is cut it into fork-sized pieces, sprinkle with icing sugar and cinnamon and enjoy with a Greek coffee, frappe or chocolate milk!

The large pies are 16″ X 11″ and sell for $30.00 and the small pies are 11″ X 8″ and sell for $15.00. The Spiral pies come in large and small sizes and again, $30 and $15 respectively. They are made and frozen in foil pans and you may either that overnight in the fridge before baking or bake from frozen (takes longer to bake).

These phyllo pies are great for entertaining, serve as part of a light lunch or dinner with a salad or soup and they always go over well at parties (they are the first to go).

Orders may be placed my emailing me at truenorth67 AT gmail.com, pick-up only (for now). Cash and paypal are accepted (firm).

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Baked Brie With Roasted Garlic & Cranberry-Mavrodaphne Sauce

Peter Minakis — Thu, 29 Dec 2011 21:36:59 +0000

One of the surprise hits at Christmas dinner was this baked Brie cheese i paired with cranberry sauce. Brie on its own is always welcome on a cheese plate but when baked it’s even creamier, more of its flavour comes out and it’s great when paired with something savory and something sweet. I’ve always loved Brie paired with roasted whole head of garlic. Usually I smear some of the slow-roasted garlic the Crostini and top with some jam and pop in my mouth. I was going to open a jar of this fig jam I brought back from Greece but I had some cranberries left in the freezer and thought to use them up rather than throw them out.

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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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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© 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.

Ultimate, Awesome & Easy Chili con Carne

Peter Minakis — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 14:11:00 +0000

Sometimes you’re busy, sometimes you don’t feel like cooking or sometimes you want something quick and easy. A comfort dish from your childhood also helps! Once again this past weekend I was called upon to cook-up a comfort dish at Toronto’s Harbourfront, near the skating rink. It’s cold outside and warming dishes is what’s cold for in the Canadian winter.

Chili con Carne suited the task (cooking demo), it was cold and windy out and this easy dish with a little heat was very timely. Chili con Carne means “chillis” or dried smoked peppers with (con) meat or “carne”. You can go all out and choose your favourite dried chilli pepper and make your own chilli powder: there’s dried garlic and onion, cumin, oregano, ground coriander seed, some cayenne and sweet paprika. Chilli powder is a combo of spices (much like a curry) and the flavours and quality of the mixtures can and will vary.

I’m fine with using a pre-made blend from the supermarket and then just adjusting or accenting the ingredients in chilli powder that I want to be more pronounced. I may add a pinch of cumin, some more oregano or ground coriander. It’s up to you as your mood can change and your chilli can vary depending on who you’re making it for. A party with adults may lead you to make a spicy chilli and if you’re making it with kids in mind – something more mellow would be offered.

Chili con Carne is a Tex-Mex dish and forget about calling it “Mexican”. It’s an easy dish where I begin with browning lean ground beef then I add onions, olive oil, red and green peppers, garlic, bay leaves, chilli powder, diced tomatoes, canned kidney beans and my added twist on Chilli, whole chipotle peppers in adobo. Chipotles are Jalapeno peppers that have ripened to a red colour then dried and smoked and finally added into an Adobo sauce. You can buy these small cans in the Mexican or International aisle at your supermarket and Latin grocers will carry an array of Chipotles in Adobo for sure! After I’ll adjust seasonings with salt and pepper and I may add some more accented flavour in any one or more of the chilli powder’s ingredients.

These recipe takes about 40 minutes from start to finish: brown meat, add vegetables, spices and seasoning and simmer until thick. This all-in-one skillet meal can also be adapted to slow cookers: brown all the meat and add all the ingredients into a slow cooker and simmer for about 3 hours. A lot of new slow cookers now come with timers but even if you have an old one, simply attach one of those household timers to your cooker’s plug and set the time for when you want the cooker to turn on and when to shut off!

I like Chili with a side of garlic bread or corn bread and some grated cheese on top. You like the cheese to slightly melt in the hot Chilli or place it under the broiler until hot & gooey? Your choice!

Chili con Carne

(serves 4-6)

¼ cup. of extra-virgin olive oil
1 lb. of lean ground beef
1 large onion, rough diced
1/2 green bell pepper, rough dice
1/2 red bell pepper, rough dice
3 large cloves of garlic, smashed
1 – 796ml can of diced tomatoes
2 Tbsp. of chili powder
1 bay leaf
½ tsp. of ground cumin
½ tsp. of ground coriander
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 – 16oz cans of kidney beans (plus liquid)
1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped (according to taste)

In a large skillet, add your oil and set the heat to high and brown the meat and add some salt and pepper.
Add your onions, garlic, bay leaf, peppers and saute under medium heat for about 10 minutes to soften. Add your diced/chopped cans of tomatoes, the beef, chili powder, kidney beans, oregano, coriander and chipotle peppers.
Simmer for approx. 30-40 minutes or until most of the liquid has cooked and the chili is thick. Check the seasoning and adjust seasoning with salt. Serve with some corn bread and stay warm with this very comforting meal.

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